"GOOD MORNING SUNSHINES!" is the first thing I hear before the sunlight coming in from the window blinds me. As my eyes adjust to the brightness, I can make out Syd standing at the foot of my bed with a huge smile on her face, after having opened the curtains.
She looks refreshed as ever as she bounces up and down on the bed "Come on guys wake up! It's a beautiful day outside! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and so am I!" she starts belting out to a song she's making up on the spot and my head starts throbbing. I hate that she's a morning person.
I throw a pillow at her and she stops to glare at me, as I hear Tyler groan from the floor, covering his face with the comforter to block out the light. I sit up feeling like I got no sleep at all last night, but looking at my phone I note the time: eleven o'clock. Which means I got at least a few hours of shut eye.
I try to rub the sleep off my face and glance at Syd who holds a mischievous smirk and silently points at Tyler. He's wrapped himself into a cocoon of sheets and only a few strands of his platinum hair peek out from under the covers. I know exactly what she's hinting at. I very quietly stand up looking down at Tyler while Syd holds up three fingers, then two, then one.
We both scream at the top of our lungs as we jump on poor Tyler and start tickling him. Despite being lean, he's strong enough to overpower both of us. But right now half of his brain is still half asleep, so he stands no chance against Syd and I. "Okay, Okay I'm up!" he holds up his hands in surrender while he sits upright and we stop tickling him. Syd and I high five as he runs a hand through his messy hair. I regret our plotting immediately, as my head throbs and I'm reminded of the amount of drinks I downed last night.
We all get dressed casually for a day in and jog downstairs for breakfast. As I step into the kitchen, the delightful smell of freshly brewed coffee fills my nose. My mom is standing near the stove flipping something on a pan and I can see my dad through the window sitting at the garden table. Lazy Sunday mornings have got to be my favorite thing.
"Morning," I say kissing my mom's cheek.
"Good morning sweetheart. I was wondering when you guys would come down. Did you get home very late last night?"
Ty, Syd and I exchange guilty glances before saying "No..." in unison.
"Mhm, sure you didn't." She smiles and rolls her eyes.
Over the years I feel like I've built a pretty good, trusting relationship with my parents. They used to be pretty strict, especially my mom. For example, I wasn't allowed to have sleepovers with my friends until I turned sixteen. If I wanted to go somewhere I had to let them know days in advance and I had to have all the information: where was going, what time, who was coming with me, how we were getting there, how we were coming back, the list goes on. I've never, ever dared to lie to them about any of these things, and apparently it paid off, because for about a year now, they've been more laid back. They trust me enough to know that wherever I'm going I'm being responsible and that I won't lie about my whereabouts. So now that I'm almost 18 and close to being legally considered an adult, they allow me to do pretty much anything I want, as long as they can be sure I'll be safe. They are still my parents though, so sometimes I do leave out some details, for their sake.
"I made french toast, you guys can go sit out there and I'll bring them right out."
"You are the best Meredith." Tyler says as he pulls the milk carton from the fridge and I take the coffee pot to bring outside.
"Oh, please don't make me blush Tyler." She smiles while she plates another one of her sweet treats. That's just the way she is, humble, caring, and loving without expecting anything in return.
Both my parents would do anything for me and the people I love. They treat my friends like their own children, and they're the type of people I aspire to be like when I'm their age.
"Good morning Mr. S." Syd greets my dad as we set down the stuff we brought from the kitchen for our breakfast on the garden table.
"Morning kids," he looks up at us over his glasses while scrolling through the morning's headlines on his phone. "How was the party?"
"Meh, it was fun, but pretty uneventful." I downplay, trying my best to hide my hangover from him.
"See Mer? That's the problem. Kids these days don't know how to live out their teenage years," he directs at my mom who's setting a huge stack of french toast in front of us. "You know guys, when I was younger, my friends and I..."
"Oh for the love of god, not this again Ling, they don't want to hear about your club for the millionth time." My mom complains.
My mom has always called my dad by those few letters of his last name. People usually find it weird that she wouldn't call him by his actual name which is Marcus, or by some term of endearment like 'sweetheart', or 'love', as most other couples tend to do. But I'm so used to it that it feels like the most natural thing. It would be weird if she called him anything else to be honest . They're high school sweethearts and she's been calling him that since they met. Too late to come up with a new nickname now.
"Wait, I do! I love that story, keep going Mr. S." Tyler ads, indulging my dad.
"Thank you, Tyler. See? He gets it." My mom rolls her eyes at him, going back into the kitchen.
"As I was saying, my friends and I put all our money together and opened a nightclub, we called it 'INSIDE'" he spreads his hands in front of his face for dramatic effect as if the name was appearing right there in shining lights, and all three of us mimic and mouth along with him as he does, already knowing the story by heart. "It was all the rage back then. People would line up around the block waiting to get in. We had the best music, the best booze, and we stayed open till dawn. It was a huge success. That was until the guys from the competing club across the street planted a bag of coke in our men's bathroom and got us shut down." he wears a pleased look as he puts his hands behind his head while leaning back on his chair and we all stare blankly at him, never having figured out for sure if any of that is true. "Those were the good old days." He sighs as he reminisces before stretching out and standing up. "Anyway, I've got stuff to do, Anthony's power generator won't fix itself," he says cheerfully.
My dad has a bit of trouble sitting still for more than 30 minutes. He loathes being unproductive. If he's not working he's always finding something to fix around the house, and if it doesn't need fixing he'll break it so he'll have something to do. "Enjoy your day kids."
"You too, dad." I reply just before he gets inside the house shutting the door behind him.
"So, Ty, I have a proposition for you." Syd speaks up as soon as my dad is out of earshot, leaning in with both arms on the table.
"Shoot." he replies, biting a piece of toast.
"Okay, so last night, while we were playing beer pong, Ashley might or might not have mentioned that she thinks you're really cute."
"So?"
"So, I can hook you up with her. And as a thank you, you can hook me up with that guy Jackson from your team. He caught my eye yesterday and I've decided he's my next target." She smirks devilishly.
Tyler takes a sip of his coffee and sets his mug down on the table. He clicks his tongue and takes a beat, looking up as if considering Syd's offer. "No." he deadpans.
"Why?!" Syd whines.
"I'll put in a good word for you with Jackson, but please don't return the favour. I'm not really interested in Ashley."
"Uhm, why not? She's beautiful, she's nice, she's a cheerleader. And you're a hot football player! You guys would be like the perfect blonde couple, like real-life Barbie and Ken."
"Oh yeah you're right Syd, for a second there I forgot my lifelong dream has always been being Barbie's arm candy." he mocks.
"I swear, you must have a square dick." she spits.
There's a pause during which Ty's eyebrows pinch together, "What?"
"No pussy ever fits you right."
I almost spit out my coffee, but Ty doesn't seem to find the humor in her comment, as he just stares daggers at Syd.
She does have a point though. Tyler is by all accounts very attractive. He's really tall, blond, lean, and he's got the prettiest light blue eyes. But he's more than that, he's also very sweet, caring and funny. I'm convinced the only reason he's single is because he prefers it that way.
After breakfast, Syd leaves to finish up some work for school tomorrow, but Tyler stays and we go back to my room where we spend the next few hours laying around bored, watching movies, and dreading the fast approaching Monday.
"You wanna order a pizza?" Tyler asks at around 2pm.
"You read my mind, Sir." I reply. There's a reason why we are best friends.
When the pizza arrives I bring it up to my room along with a couple of plates, napkins and a bottle of coke, I don't bother with glasses. We tuck Tyler's mattress from last night under my bed and settle on the floor to have our late lunch. As we chomp down on the greasy food, silence falls between us.
"Alright, let's talk about it." Tyler finally speaks, his mouth full of pizza.
"Talk about what?" I ask, pretending that I don't know what he's hinting at.
He gives me a look, "You know what."
"Do we have to?" I complain.
"Oh come on, Mads. Don't pretend like you don't want to, I know you've been going insane not talking about it. So spill."
"You know me too well," I say, straightening up before I start. I have a really big problem with keeping stuff in, whenever something even mildly interesting happens I have to talk about it with someone, I can't help it.
So I tell him everything that went down last night. From seeing Mason with Brianna, to my moment with Noah, to Mason's text. I figure he will help me work out what to do know since he's got that male perspective I'm lacking. Tyler just listens closely to my story until I finish, and stays silently chewing a piece of pizza as he figures out what to say next.
"First, let me just make it clear that I don't personally have anything against the guy. That being said, Mason can be a real dick sometimes. He's not necessarily a bad person, but he can be pretty stupid and immature when it comes to other people's feelings, or even his own. He doesn't really know how to deal with them.
"As for Noah...I don't actually know what his deal is. He's kind of unpredictable, and more often than not doesn't have an actual motive behind his actions. I'm afraid I won't be of much help with that one. But what I can tell you is that Mason has this weird competitive thing with Noah where he's always trying to one-up him. Like he has something to prove. Either to the other guys, to Noah, or maybe to himself. I couldn't tell you. And Noah, well, he is known to try to shake things up a bit when he's bored, so he might just be trying to get a reaction out of Mason for his own entertainment."
I'm a bit disappointed at that last part because I don't want to believe I was just used as a pawn in a dick-measuring contest between Mason and Noah. But I can't say I would be too surprised if that was the case and Tyler's assumptions were right.
"From what I've gathered talking to the other guys, and now that I know your side, I'll tell you this. And I know it's not what you want to hear but I'm your best friend, and as such it is my job to be honest with you and tell you not what you want but what you need to hear, okay?" I nod. "I think that to some extent Mason does feel attracted to you, because if he didn't he probably wouldn't even give you the time of day. But I don't think he reciprocates the same kind of feelings you have for him. He likes your attention and knows how to get it, and he uses that to keep you where he wants you, so he can have you when and if he wants you.
"But now, in comes Noah, switching things up. Mason is used to you only having eyes for him, and even though he doesn't want to be with you, it looks like doesn't want you to be with anyone else either, let alone Noah who he sees as his biggest rival."
"But it was just a meaningless kiss," I argue, "And I'm pretty sure he only did it as a favor to help me with Mason. It's not like Noah has any real interest in me, he barely knows who I am."
"Well Mason doesn't know that. He just knows what he heard and what he saw," he looks away, clearing his throat, "And you two gave him quite the show."
I don't necessarily feel like he's judging me, but for some reason I feel embarrassed at the confirmation that Tyler saw what happened in the living room last night.
The awkwardness dissipates when Tyler's gaze returns to me. "You need to understand that he wants monopoly over your mind." He explains, "So the more Noah gets your attention, the more Mason will want to take it away from him. Do you get what I'm saying? Because you have kind of a weird look on your face."
"This is an angry face," I say, pointing. "I don't want to be just a little toy to them, and I certainly didn't ask to be in the middle of their ego brawl."
"Mads, they'll only treat you like a toy if you let them. I hate to even consider it, but I think on some level you truly believe that you deserve to be just that. But, believe me, you don't. Not in the slightest. And until you realize that, things will always be the same. You have to know your worth and make it known to others too. If you think you are weak, then others will treat you like you are, and you'll keep constantly getting trampled by people who think they can just run all over you. The more you maleable you are, the more they'll try to test how far they can bend you before you break. Don't let them. It's high time you started standing up for yourself." he says.
I blink at Tyler, he's never talked to me like this before, but he's completely right. "When did you get a master's degree in psychology?" I joke with a little laugh.
"Come here," he says reaching his arms out and bringing me in for a hug. I let out a king sigh as he rests his head on mine. "You want some extra advice?" he asks, treading his fingers through my hair, "Free of charge."
"I'll take whatever I can get at this point."
"Now that you know what's going on, you have the power to control the situation. If you don't want to be a part of their game, then make them a part of yours."
"And how exactly would I do that?" I ask, intrigued.
I look up just in time to see a devilish grin spreading across his face. "I can help."