Seventeen
__________________________
Beep
Beep
Beep
Beep
Bee-
"Shut that bloody contraption off, Lauren!"
I groggily turned over in my bed to see Charlie burying his face into the pillow next to me, while my alarm clock went off.
Still a little disoriented, I hit my hand on my bedside table a few times before I found the alarm clock, finally ending the shrill beeps.
Charlie was mumbling incoherently, while I sighed, sitting up and throwing the blankets off of me.
"Why'd that stupid thing have to wake me up?" Charlie groaned.
I slid out of my bed, "Some of us have school today, Charlie."
He didn't say anything, his eyes closing as he drifted back to sleep.
Lucky bastard.
I took a quick shower, my strong, Lemon body wash waking me up all the way. After dressing in black skinny jeans, a grey tank top, and a thin black cardigan, I slipped into my black flats.
Since I had a little extra time this morning, I blow dried my hair before brushing it out. I applied a little makeup, before grabbing my school bag and heading downstairs.
I was leaning against the kitchen counter, munching on a red apple, when Tyler came in.
His hair was messy and disheveled, yet looked perfect on him. He had a black leather jacket over a plain white t-shirt, and dark blue jeans.
I realized I was staring.
He arched an eyebrow, "You coming small fry? Or would you like to stare some more?"
I rolled my eyes as I felt blood rushing to my cheeks, "Lets just go."
We walked out front to Tyler's car, but before he could go to the drivers side, I placed my hand on his arm, causing him to freeze.
"Can I drive today, please?"
"No."
I almost laughed at his firm expression, but instead put on the puppy dog face, which always worked for me because my eyes were already huge.
"Tyler, pleeeaasee?"
"Fine but if you hurt my car, you're dead."
I scoffed, "Whatever. Keys?"
He dropped the keys into my outstretched palm, and I immediately dashed around him to the door.
I smiled in excitement when I slid into the drivers side. Tyler had an uneasy expression on his face, which only helped encouraged me.
Before I could even start the car, I had to scoot the seat all the way forward, which caused me to blush from embarrassment.
He laughed as he saw me do this, but said nothing.
It was easy after that; driving his car was amazing. I just wish the drive to school took longer, because all to soon I was killing the engine and stepping out into the school parking lot.
Tyler nodded, "Not bad."
His approval caused me to grin in happiness, which seriously worried me.
...
The rest of the day and the next passed quickly, which made me sad because now it was Saturday afternoon and I was hugging Charlie goodbye.
We were at the airport, standing in front of the gate of his flight.
He wrapped one arm around my waist, and used his other one to ruffle my hair.
"Tell Everyone hi for me," I mumbled.
He laughed, and looked down at me, "Don't worry Laur, I'll come back soon."
I nodded and he let go of me, walking over to Tyler.
Charlie murmured something I couldn't make out to him, which caused Tyler to widen his eyes in surprise, but then nod.
They did a fist bump, then Charlie gave us one last wave, before disappearing down the tunnel that led to his plane.
That left me and Tyler alone.
All of the sudden, he grabbed my hand, which caused excited tingles to run throughout my arm.
"Come on, lets go get some lunch that isn't airport food."
Our fingers were still entwined as we walked through the airport; was he trying to give me a heart attack?
I reluctantly untangled our fingers when we reached his car.
Soon, we arrived at sonic. I smiled; I happened to love this place.
But that also meant we'd be eating in his car together. Alone.
We pressed the little button and ordered; Tyler got a cheeseburger with fries and a coke, while I got the same but with a chocolate shake instead of a coke.
While we waited for the food to come, I felt an overwhelming urge to ask Tyler the thing that had been bugging me for the past few days.
I looked over at him; he was staring through the windshield, lost in space.
"Tyler...", I hesitated, "Who's Diana?"
He visibly stiffened beside me.
Because I could tell he was about to shut me out, I placed my hand on his knee, "You can tell me."
He sighed, letting out a deep breath as his dark eyes met mine, "My mother."
My eyes widened, I really hadn't been expecting that.
"It's sort of a long story...", he started.
I nodded, encouraging him to keep going.
"When I was ten, my dad was killed in a car crash,"he gulped. "My mom had always been happy and supportive, but when that happened, she fell apart. She became addicted to alcohol and drugs and every time she gets any money, she blows it on more liquor. I can barely get our bills payed. It's been this way since dad died."
Wow, I had no idea Tyler's life was like this.
Then a thought struck me, "Wait, then how did you get this car?"
This thing has got to be 60k, if not more.
"My best friend, Will, bought it for me, as you can tell, he's the rich one, he's also the only one who knows about me...until now, because I'm telling you."
"I really just couldn't take being around my mom anymore; every-time I see her, she's either drunk, or hung over, and I needed to get away. That's why I'm staying with you."
I stared at him, his deep brown eyes held so much sadness, and he looked the most vulnerable I'd ever seen him.
I shifted in my seat, so I was right next to him, and wrapped my arms around him. At first he was stiff and unresponsive, but then he hugged me tightly, and buried his face in my hair.
We stayed like that for a few minutes, before I pulled away and gave him a small smile, "it'll get better, Tyler."
He didn't say anything, just stared intently into my eyes. Anticipation stirred in my stomach as he leaned closer to me, allowing me to breathe in his intoxicating scent.
My heart started pounding; Oh god, is he gonna...kiss me? Do I even want him to?
Um, hell yes.
Right before he brought his lips to mine, a sharp tap on the drivers window caused me to jolt back in surprise.
A young blonde girl, 18 at the oldest, was standing there with our tray of food. As she leaned down to meet the windows level, I could tell that her hair was bleach blonde with her roots growing out, and she had so much concealer on her face she looked almost orange.
Tyler rolled down the window, and let out a string of curses when he saw the girl holding our food.
"Shit," he muttered.
"Oh my gosh, Tyler, hi!" she shrieked in a high pitched tone that immediately made me want to slap her.
"Hey...Katie", Tyler said uneasily, running a hand through his hair.
"It's Kylie, you jerk. And why haven't you called me back?!"
Oh. Should've known she was one of Tyler's girls.
"Whatever, and because I don't like you." He proceeded to hand her a 20 for the food.
She glared at me before handing the food to Tyler and stomping off, almost falling because she was in rollerblades.
I stifled a laugh as I watched her, before turning to our food. I took a big bite from my burger, and moaned out loud before I could catch myself.
"Heaven," I mumbled.
Tyler was smiling at me, amusement in his eyes, "Enjoying that burger, are you?"
My cheeks got hot, "Maybe."
We ate in silence after that, and it felt a little awkward considering we had almost kissed.
A part of me was glad we didn't kiss, because that would have royally fucked everything up, but the other part, is sobbing because I was only 2 centimeters away from meeting his soft, sweet lips once again.
After eating, Tyler didn't say anything the whole way home, and I would die to know what he was thinking.
Was he regretful because he had almost kissed me?
Or maybe, did he want to?
__________________________
IM SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT. OKAY. THAT IS ALL.