Chapter 3

I quickly walked towards the elevators and pressed the button with an arrow pointing down repeatedly. Why exactly did I agree on coming here in the first place? Wait. Oh, right. It was because I thought I could live here for a year with someone I don't know and just walk straight to my parents and tell them that I have no desire to get married. But what happened, huh? Not only did I realise that it was truly a bad idea and that guy had to Tyler Evans. Oh, just why?

I laughed in disbelief and shook my head. I had some amazing luck. I realised that the floor indicators were showing that one of the elevators was still on the eighth floor and the other on the twelfth floor.

OH.MY.GOSH. Why did it have to take so long for two elevators to reach the twentieth floor? I tapped my feet continuously. Yes, I always tap my feet whenever I grow impatient.

After glaring at the floor indicator for a minute, I decided to take my phone out and call my parents. I was going to tell them everything. How that guy treated me, what that guy said to me and how he was too ugly for me. Please note that although I admitted he indeed was good-looking, he was also ugly, really ugly, to me at the same time. I tapped my mother's number and pressed the phone against my ears.

TOOOOOOT TOOT TOOOOOOT TOOT TOOO --

"Mom --"

"Oh, Claire. Sorry, but you can't call us until tomorrow --"

"But --"

"-- You need to make full use of your time to get to know Aunt Sally's son, alright? By the way, honey, we found out that your dad ran over a dead dog. It's not living at all, so don't worry. Enjoy your time over there!"

"What? Mom!" I called out to her once again. But all I heard was silence as the line was dead. I growled furiously. Tell me, why do I have parents like them? Honestly, was that promise between her and Aunt Sally that important? It wasn't like it was some sort of contract or something. We were not going to go bankrupt if I didn't agree to it. Heck, we won't even get threatened or anything.

The elevator finally reached and I found a few people in there, looking at me. I was wondering if I should enter or not. I didn't know where I was and I didn't even know if my parents were going to let me in the house. I could go to Dianna's place but I didn't feel like troubling her.

The people in the elevator were giving me stares now. I gave them an apologetic look and mouthed, "Sorry," before walking back to the door of the apartment I just got out from around five minutes ago. My hands went up to the door bell but I pulled it back and it went on like that a few times before I closed my eyes tightly and pressed the door bell for the second time.

I heard sound coming from the other side and the door opened. Tyler still had his intense eyes staring at me and I felt really uncomfortable.

"What?" He spoke in a dangerous voice.

I grabbed onto the handle of my luggage in front of me and squeezed it unconsciously. I swallowed my saliva, which wasn't even there. "First of all, I would like to say that I have no motives on coming here. It's all because of something that I think would be the easiest way to let this promise our parents made get over quickly. Secondly, I honestly and absolutely had no idea that you were Aunt Sally's son and it's not because of you that I'm here." I finished what I wanted to say in one breath. I didn't know why I was explaining all these to him, but I really needed some place to stay. Well, it was kind of a way to get to know someone too, wasn't it?

He didn't respond for a few seconds but when it seemed like he was going to, I found myself letting out a sigh of relief. It gave me hope that I was going to have a place to stay. "And so?" And that hope faded again, just like that.

I was speechless. I felt like saying something but it was too hard to say it. My mouth was just opening and closing. But I finally decided to just say it and get it over with. "So -- I was wondering, if I can stay here for maybe a few days --"

"No."

HA! I knew he was going to say that. He was not that nice enough to say, "Oh, of course you can, Claire. I'll be glad to welcome you. You can do anything want. Eat, sleep, or even slap me." Pfft. In my dreams.

"One night?" I asked, raising up my index finger. I raised my shoulders, squeezed my hand and clenched my teeth, smiling widely. I must had looked really desperate, but I didn't care. I just needed some place to stay. This apartment was the ideal place for me. It was clean, neat and beautiful. What kind of people doesn't want to stay here?

"I said, no." He said just that and slammed the door right in front of my face. I growled again and I silently screamed in my head.

Okay, no more playing nice. I was going to be bold and honest. I raised my fist and banged on the door. "Come on. Just one night! I'll do anything!" Nope, I couldn't be bold enough to cross this guy. I stopped the banging and waited for a respond. When there was no result, I went back to ringing the doorbell a few times.

He finally opened the door again and gave me a death glare. Woah, dude, calm down! While waiting for him to open the door and ringing the doorbell earlier, I had thought up of a great way to maybe make him let me stay here. "I have a suggestion," I started saying, "You said you could live independently if I stay here too, right? If you're not letting me stay here, doesn't it mean that you can't live here?" I saw his eyes getting less tense. "So, I'm thinking of staying here and having no relation with you for a whole year. I mean, we can just fake our relationship in order to make them think that we're getting along but we're not."

After a few seconds, he answered, "Alright. But in order to do that, we need to have a proof of what you said." He turned around and walked towards the apartment. I gladly followed him this time. "As he was walking towards the hallway where the rooms were located, he turned around and asked, "Why are you so desperate at staying here?" He had this scowl on his face.

"I have no reason to tell you why," was all I told him. He gave me one last look before heading towards one of the rooms. I must had seemed cool, huh? I needed to show him that I wasn't intimidated by him. Well, I was, but I wasn't going to admit it. Not to this guy. I went back to the seat where I was sitting earlier and laid down my head, feeling good.

Tyler got out of the room with a pen and a paper after a few minutes and came to where I was, taking a seat at where he was sitting at earlier on too. He set down the paper on the table and I could see words written on it. I wondered if he was actually planning to write a written-contract and had written down the rules while he was in the room.

"Read it quickly and sign." He held a bold pen in front of me, waiting for me to take it and I did. I picked up the paper and read what was written.

[ I, Claire Hayes, hereby agree to this contract and will abide to the rules. Once I break them, I will willingly leave the apartment and never again step into it.

· I will not meddle with Tyler Evans' business.· No one is allowed to know that I am living together with him.

· I am not to mention about our relationship to anyone, unless there is a reason to.

· I will have to complete my duties as a live-in stranger such as; doing the laundry, making lunch/dinner/supper and cleaning the house. No dusts should be seen on tables or whatsoever.

· I will not fall for Tyler Evans. If I already do, no annoying or clingy vibe shall be emitted.

_____________

(Claire Hayes) ]

I slowly lifted up my head so that I could look at him. I realised how childish Tyler Evans actually was. How could he have hidden this side of him to people? His admirers or, simply, his fan girls would be so disappointed if they knew about this. I didn't really mind the rules at all but I really wanted to laugh. What was with the fourth and fifth rule, anyway? Oh dear, I was going to burst out laughing if I didn't bite my lip really hard. Resisting the urge to laugh, I brought my hand to the piece of paper on the table and signed my name. My hands were trembling. It obviously wasn't because I was afraid to sign but really, it was just too funny.

"Remember. If you break the rules, you're out." I heard Tyler say. He took the pen and paper away. "You'll be staying in the second room on the right." He left and went back to his room after that.

I stood up, walking to where the rooms were located and entered the room Tyler mentioned. I reached onto the door knob and turned it. Once I opened it, I was amazed. The room was wide and big. I wondered how much this apartment really cost. There was a king size bed on the left, facing the television that was on the right side of the room. Next to the television was a table with a big rectangle mirror and next to the bed was a wardrobe. Across the door of the room was the balcony. It was separated with the other part of the room by a transparent glass sliding door. I dropped my luggage on the bed and went straight to the balcony.

Woah. The scenery of the neighborhood was beautiful. I could see the building in the city not far ahead as well as the houses around the neighborhood. There was also a lake situated in the middle of the forest. Although I had to live with that jerk, this neighborhood was enough to make my daily life better. I got ready for the days ahead of me, living in this apartment with that guy, Tyler Evans.