Chapter 8

Staring at the water that I was swirling in a cup with my right hand, I asked her for the umpteenth time, "Mom, I really can't move back home?"

She turned to me after she had finished frying the bacon that we would be having for dinner. "How is Sally's son? He's not that bad, is he?"

Thinking about the time that I have spent with him for the last few days, I've realised that he's not that bad of a person after all. He is kind of cold still, though. "He's not that bad. But mom, how could you and dad just let me live with a guy alone in an apartment? Don't you think that it would cause quite an uproar if other people found out about it?"

"Honey, she's Aunt Sally's son. He's not a stranger. Besides, if anyone finds out about it, we'd just let them know about your situation," she stated, nonchalantly. "Why didn't he come with you today? Your dad and I were expecting him."

"Who knows? I asked him and he just said that he had somewhere else to go. I'll bring him next time." Recalling what had happened within the last few days, I mentioned, "I visited Aunt Sally yesterday, and I'm wondering.. if this is a sensitive question."

My mom glanced at me for a moment and coincidentally, I heard the click from the living room. It was the sound of our front door. My dad was home. I shouted, "Welcome home, Dad!"

"Claire!" he exclaimed as he entered the kitchen. "Nice to see you again. It's been almost a week. How do you feel?" he questioned, grinning. "It must have been great, seeing that you greeted me enthusiastically."

"I feel sad that I'm not living with the both of you anymore, Dad. Other than that, I feel better. Tyler isn't that bad." I got up from my seat and gave him a hug.

Releasing me from the hug, he laughs. "Tyler, huh? So that's his name.."

"Anyway.." My mom intervened. "Was it about Tyler's father that you wanted to ask?"

"I'll tell her," my dad said. Mom gave him a look of agreement. "Follow me to the living room."

I obeyed him and plopped onto the couch on the left of our living room and he sat on the couch in the middle.

"Claire, about your marriage..,"he said, rubbing his temples.

I felt as if this is the time that he would explain why he and mom had put me together with Tyler in his apartment. An explanation on mom's promise with Aunt Sally. I also feel that this could be a little more serious than I thought it initially was.

"Tyler's father is not around anymore." My face turned stiff for a second and I stared at him for a minute. "He died in a car accident three months ago."

"Dad, is that — true?" I asked in disbelief. "I was so insensitive towards Tyler that I even asked him about it yesterday."

My dad sighed. "Yes, it was a little insensitive of you — but don't beat yourself up for it," he advised and patted me on my back.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I rubbed my eyes before the tears could fall.

"It was his last wish for his son to get married to a girl that he knows and inherit his business. Sally knew that because they have talked about it before," he said, rubbing my back a little as I let a tear fall.

"Is this why you and Mom want me to get to know him then?"

"Yes, Sweetie."

I felt conflicted as I realised that my perception on Tyler is a little different now that I knew about his father and the marriage. I would still have been a bit meaner to him if I didn't know about this. It was no wonder that he asked me to mind my own business. Now that I think about it, it is true that I am quite nosy, especially to him.

***

Closing the door behind my back, I looked around to see if Tyler was there. After switching on the lights in the apartment, I walked to his bedroom and noticed that the light was on.

I knocked on his door. "Tyler, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"What is it?" he shouted from the other side of the door. "Didn't I tell you to mind your own business?" he asked.

"It's something important," I stated bluntly.

I heard a creak from the bed and footsteps coming towards the door.

He opened the door. "What do you want?"

"Come with me." I gestured towards the couch.

He followed behind me and sat next to me on the couch.

"I hope you don't mind me butting into your business for awhile, but I asked my parents about your father."

I expected him to show an expression of some sort, but he just asked, "You did? So, you know why I agreed to this now?"

I nodded.

"And what about you?"

I sighed. "It's something important to my parents and yours. I disagreed, but ended up coming here, anyway." Hesistating for a little, I asked him, "How are you feeling?"

"About my father?" he questioned. "I'm alright, I guess. It's already been a few months."

I smiled. Trying to change the topic a little, I decided to talk about his whereabouts this evening. "Where were you, by the way? You said you were going somewhere else, instead of coming with me to my parents' home?"

"Are you scolding me?" He wonders in amusement, a small smile creeping up in his face.

I was surprised. "Oh. No, I'm not!" I exclaimed.

"Don't ask too much." He got up from the couch and walked back into his bedroom before he said, "Night."

He's warming up to me. And he just greeted me goodnight. The smile I had on was still on my face and before I realised it, I noticed that I felt happy about how this turned out.

***

"Claire!"

That was Ruby's voice again.

"Hi, Ruby."

She walked up to my side, and I knew that she would be coming here every morning just to see Tyler.

Walking together to the bus stop, she told me, "I know where Tyler lives now."

I stared at her, wide-eyed. "You — you do?"

She had a sly smile on her face. "Yeap, but I'm not telling you," she said in a sing-song voice.

Bewildered, I asked, "Why not?"

"I'll tell you next time."

***

I walked up to my seat in class to find Tyler there already. Not only were we lab partners, but we were also seatmates for the time being. He was laying his head on the table. He was lucky that Mr. Cruze wasn't here yet, or else he was going to get punished today.

I sat down next to him. "Tyler, can I speak to you in school?" I whispered.

He didn't respond. Since we're seatmates, anyway, I guessed we could speak in school now. "I saw Ruby this morning," I told him.

He raised his head a little. "Who's Ruby?" he asked.

I nodded my head towards her on the second column, third row, sitting next to Melanie. "She's been wandering around the area recently, and she told me that she knows where you live," I whispered hastily.

Tyler raised his eyebrow. "I've seen her before. She seems harmless. Has she told anyone about it?"

"I don't know, but how can you be so calm about it?" I asked, scowling a little.

"Knowing them, they'd find out about it sooner or later."

"But you said.." I muttered.

"Without you, or me, telling them, there's no guarantee that we live together."

I nodded in agreement. That makes sense. I saw Dianna and Ethan talking to each other on the other row. I wondered if they talked about Tyler and I. Does Ethan even know that I was staying with Tyler?

***

When I reached the apartment, Tyler was already sleeping on the couch. He was watching Prison Break again.

He took a look at me. "You got home just in time for lunch today," he said.

"Yeah. No school errand today."

I walked towards my bedroom and took my towel, red t-shirt, black coloured shorts, my skin-tone coloured bra, and white underwear from the wardrobe. I walked out to see Tyler staring at me before shifting his eyes back to the television.

After taking a shower, I went straight to the kitchen to make burgers by frying two sets of patties and heating two pieces of buns that were cut into half, and frying fries and eggs that I bought from the grocery store before I got back from Cateral High. I was thinking that I should used up the food in the refrigerator before they go bad, so I would need to think of something for dinner. I should find a part-time job soon as well, so that I can buy groceries on my own instead of relying on Tyler the whole time.

"Tyler, it's done!" I shouted over the dining table.

He left the couch and walked towards the dining table, taking a look at what we would be having for lunch.

I noticed that he nodded before he took a seat.

"You made burgers today. I was expecting fried rice again."

I laughed. "You hate it that much?"

He smiled. "No, not that I still hate it."

Oh-ho. Seems like he likes fried rice now! Next time, I'll cook something he doesn't like again and make sure that he'd eat them then. Muahaha.

"What else do you not eat? Do you like cheese and onions?" I asked him curiously.

"I like baked-cheese and I hate onions," he answered, smiling.

"I'll bake a cheese cake and fry some onion rings so that you would like them in the future," I said, noticing his smile. "Trust me, they're tasty."

"Alright. I'll give them a try."

Wow. That was easy. I thought he would disagree with me but it seems like he really liked my cooking.

After taking a bite off the burger, I asked him, "Tyler, can I ask you something?"

He laughed. "That again.."

Little did I know, my heart skipped a beat. He wasn't as cold as he was. Was it because I knew him better?

I coughed slightly. "Have you told Ethan about us? I've told Dianna about us so I'm wondering if they talk about us, you know?"

"Yeah, I did." He bit a fry as he said that. "Why does it matter if they talk about us?"

"Nothing. They're much closer to each other than us," I muttered.

He laughed a little again. "You're jealous?"

"Well, a little. We're supposed to get to know each other so we can get married, aren't we?"

Feeling a little sad, I looked up at him after finishing my burger.

He was back to his usual expression again, cold and stiff.

I felt like I got too comfortable a minute ago, and said something wrong. Maybe I was a little too transparent.

We sat in silence after. Seeing Tyler smile and laugh was something that had lightened me up recently and I felt as if I was starting to feel something for him. However, I forgot that he might not feel the same way. Just because he's warming up to me, that doesn't mean he has feelings for me as well.