Chapter 6

Throughout the journey, no one uttered a word once. Tyler kept his eyes on the road while I just looked out the window. I sneaked a peek at Tyler, wondering if I should break the silence. Being the person that I was, I did

I turned to him and asked, "Why don't you live with your parents?" I stared at him, blinking my eyes awkwardly as I waited for him to speak.

"It's none of your business," he stated with his eyes glued on the road.

I let out a small sigh and looked back out the window before laying my head on my palm. "Can I ask you something?" I mumbled. When he didn't reply, I took that as a yes. "Did something ever happen to you that made you this way?" My eyes still gazing out the window.

Well, just like I expected, still no answer. Now I didn't know if should take that as a yes or no. Boy, was it hard to understand this guy. Mom, I know you wanted me to get to know him but seems like this is getting nowhere.

"Can I ask you another question?" I proposed and twisted my head back to look at him. I didn't wait for his reply this time. "Are you.." My words sort of trailed off. Maybe it was a bad idea to ask that after all. Tyler was now raising his eyebrows at me. After contemplating, I decided to spit it out, "Are you gay?"

He scoffed and shook his head quietly to himself.

Uh, well, I guess not.

"Does that mean that you had a girlfriend before then?" I asked automatically.

"It's none of your business." I could feel that his words were colder this time. I shut my mouth and slowly rotated my head to the window again. The atmosphere got a little more awkward and tenser than it were before. Well, good job, Claire. You pissed that jerk off again. Greaaaat job. I have to give props to myself for being able to make him mad unintentionally though.

***

We sat in silence throughout the journey and just when I thought I was going to die from the awkwardness, the car came to a halt. I looked around and saw that we were outside a double-storey house.

"Get off," Tyler uttered and opened the car door.

I followed suit and shut the door as I stared at the house. It was b-e-a-utiful. The roof was gray in colour and the walls, white. Remember when I said the garden outside our house was eye-catching, the garden here was not only eye-catching but jaw-opening as well. There was a round table and a few round chairs made out of stone on the left of the wooden pathway, while on the right, there was a small pond surrounded by little brown fences. The pathway led up to the main door of the house. Bright yellow lights were shining through the windows on the bottom and top floor that made the house stand out on the streets.

I probably had my mouth opened again while studying the house in awe because I caught Tyler rolling his eyes at me before walking towards the door. Realising that I indeed had my mouth wide open, I quickly closed it and followed him. When I reached the door, Tyler was already ringing the doorbell. I was actually standing a few centimeters apart from him. Well, that was what I thought when I suddenly put him arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

"Act like we're getting along," was what he murmured and before I could push him and ask him what he was doing, the door was opened.

"You're here!" Aunt Sally exclaimed in delight with a big smile on her face. She extended her arms towards Tyler.

Tyler smiled as he gave her a hug and muttered, "How've you been. Mom?"

Aunt Sally responded, 'I'm doing fine, dear." She then turned to me. "Oh, Claire. I've been waiting for you," she said as I gave her a hug as well. "Your mom told me that you'd be stopping by soon."

I smiled and said, "It's been awhile, Aunt Sally."

She took my hands and fixed her eyes on me for a moment before she said, "Come, come inside. It's time for dinner." I glanced at Tyler before he walked into the house and I thought I saw a glimpse of sadness on his face.

To be perfectly honest. I was glad that Aunt Sally wasn't as rich as I thought. I wouldn't want Tyler to be a rich AND popular guy who got what he wanted. I mean, the Evans family was rich, alright, but I expected them to be like those rich families in movies, if you know what I mean. The living room of the house was normal in size, but bigger than ours at home. White leather couches were arranged around a brown circular table and faced towards the 70 inch flat-screen television on the wall. If you went straight from the living room, you enter the dining room. There was a large rectangular glass table in the middle with chairs made of marble surrounding it. To the right was the entrance to the kitchen, while you can find stairs leading up to the second floor on the corner on the left. The washroom was situated next to the stairs.

We sat for dinner as soon as we entered the house. We had steaks that night. Aunt Sally was seated at the corner of the table while I sat beside Tyler on her right. I was feeling uncomfortable the whole time. He was definitely not acting like his normal self that night. He had this smile on his face and I wasn't really used to it. I have to say, I might have a different opinion of him if he actually smiled more.

"So, how are the two of you getting along?" Aunt Sally asked as she cut the steak on her plate.

"We--"

"We're doing fine." Tyler interrupted me.

I glared at him. What? We're doing fine? What exactly are you talking about? WE, double-u e, are not doing fine at all. He didn't even glance at me.

"Oh! I'm glad to hear that. See, I told you Claire's a lovely girl," she said, switching her attention from Tyler to me and giving me a sincere smile. Tyler just took a sip of water and nodded. Since he said that we should pretend that we're getting along, I took the opportunity to tease him for a moment.

"It seems like he's taken a liking to me," I grinned widely at Aunt Sally and continued eating, trying to avoid eye contact with Tyler. I decided to change the topic, "By the way, Aunt Sally, I haven't seen you lately," I carried on.

"Just call me Sally, Claire," she requested. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit your mother." She frowned and groaned, "I haven't been able to do the things I want lately."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I was just wondering." She used to visit my mother once or twice every four months. It was weird since I haven't seen her for a year. Worrying that something might be up, I decided to ask, "Is everything go--"

"Mom, I think it's time for us to leave. We have school tomorrow morning," Tyler exclaimed while putting down his fork and knife.

Aunt Sally answered in shock, "Already? But.. I still have so much things to talk to Claire about."

"Yeah, Tyler. Why are we leaving all of a sudden?" I argued, staring at him as he gets up from the table.

Without giving her a reply, he just gave his mother a kiss on her cheek. "You have to get to bed early, okay?" He then turned to the housemaid who was standing behind us and said, "Make sure she doesn't stay up too late." The housemaid nodded in reply. Seeing that he really had to intention to stay any longer, I stood up hesitantly. I was feeling confused.

Giving in to Tyler's stubbornness, she sighed, "If that's what you want." She looked at me and smiled, "Claire, come visit me again with Tyler next time, alright?"

"I will, Sally. See you soon," I whispered as I gave her a hug and walked towards the main door. I will visit her, but I wasn't really sure if I would come with Tyler.

Once I got out of the house, Tyler was already heading towards his car. I half-jogged to it, opened the car door and planted my butt on the seat. Slamming the door after me, I immediately turned to him. "What the heck was that?" I spat. I felt my anger creeping up. "How can you just leave your mother like that? And why did you lie to her that we're getting along."

He stepped on the gas and responded, "I didn't want her to worry."

I paused and blinked a few times. "Worry that we wouldn't get along?" I questioned. "I thought she knew that you don't like me?"

"I said I didn't want her to worry," he repeated, adding force on the word, 'said'.

I scowled slightly in confusion. Had he always been such a nice son? "But--"

"That's all I'm going to tell, so just shut it for now," he ordered as he focused on the road in front of us.

I stared at him in disbelief. Oh, you 'didn't' just demand me to shut my mouth. Wow, instead of smiling like he did in Aunt Sally's house a moment ago, he's back to the normal, cold Tyler. I'd been seeing different sides of him in just a day. Oh, wait. Don't forget his childish side.. the contract.

***

Now we're back to standing in the elevator alone. The ride home earlier was filled with silence, just like it was before. We stood on opposite ends of the elevator and I was staring at the empty space in front of me when I remembered something.

"Hey, why wasn't your father there just now?" When the sudden realisation that his dad might not be around anymore, I wanted to slap myself. You idiot, Claire. Wrong question to be asked, and also at the wrong moment too.

I stood there stiffly when I sensed Tyler leaned towards the wall of the elevator and faced towards me. "Do you remember what we had agreed on?"

I stopped to think for a second and looked at him. "That we shouldn't meddle in each other's business," I stated. He nodded and walked out the elevator door after it stretched open.

***

I reached for the alarm clock as it rang. I finally switched it off after searching around it for the button with my eyes still closed. I lied in bed for what I thought was just a minute before I jumped up from bed and grabbed my clothes that I prepared the night before. It was just in time that Tyler got out of the bathroom. He glanced at me as I opened the door and headed towards his bedroom.

It has been a week since I have stayed here and to be honest, I had a feeling I was getting used to the routine. Wake up, get ready, get to the bus stop, go to school, come back for lunch, stay in my room or living room, dinner, repeat what I do before dinner, and go to sleep. Usually when I decided to come out of my bedroom and stay in the living room, Tyler would either go out, go back into his bedroom or not move. When he would stay, we wouldn't talk much and I would watch what he was watching. If I got to the living room first, he would watch what I watch. We sort of came to terms in that.

Knowing that Tyler had gone out of the apartment after I had showered, I picked up my bag and locked the apartment door behind me. After getting off the elevator, I started walking towards the bus stop when I spotted someone. Well, it wasn't just 'someone'. The person I saw was Natalie, the biggest Tyler fan, in my class. I stopped on my tracks and ran towards the tree just right a few meters from me and hid myself behind it. It would definitely be a bad idea if she saw me because she still thought that I was living with my parents. I knew that because she had came to my house for a science project once. If she spotted me, she would had a valid reason to get suspicious.

After making sure that she was out of sight. I quietly sprinted towards the bus stop just a few meters away. I gasped for air as I sat on the bench and turned my head back towards where I last saw Natalie to make sure that she hadn't seen me. I sighed in relief as it looked like I was safe.

"Claire!"

Uh oh. That was Ruby's voice.