My Sister Got Me A Boyfriend For Christmas?

Tyler drove us to a part of town that I didn’t know very well. When I went out with my friends, I generally went towards civilization. You know, where they keep the mall and the movie theater. I followed him out of the car and into a small café. The lights were fairly dim, giving off more of an orange glow, and the tables were neatly placed. The sweet scent of food and coffee hit my nose, nearly relaxing me as I sat across from Tyler at a back table. I liked this place. A lot.

“So, care to share how you know me and why you’re here?”

He gave a small snicker, forcing me to stare blankly into his eyes. He must have instantly caught on to the awkward tension, because he cleared his throat and spoke.

“Righto. Well, your sister said you didn’t have many friends-”
“Excuse me? I don’t have many friends,” I was running face first into a rage-blackout without even realizing it. “Just because I’m not a party animal like her, doesn’t mean-”
“Ashley!”

Tyler raised both his eyebrows as he glanced around the room. I followed his gaze, seeing that the entire room had paused long enough to stare at me. A blush began forming on my cheeks, so with a sigh, I looked out the window in hopes to regain my composure.

“That’s just what your sister said,” he stated calmly. “And she asked me to do this.”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “Did she pay you to do this or something?”

The sarcastic smile on my face, which was supposed to turn into laughter, faded when he simply stared at me. With my jaw hanging open, I shook my head. Repeatedly. Almost as if I were trying to shake his answer into my brain.

“No, no, you’re kidding.” Still with the head shaking. “She didn’t.. She did, didn’t she?!”

“Can we talk about this later?” Tyler averted my gaze. “I’m kinda hungry.”

Now my laughter had decided to join my open mouth. Angry laughter, of course. I rolled my eyes, “Screw this.” And before Tyler could speak, I raked my chair across the floor and stormed out of the café.

She is so dead, I thought to myself. The anger was making my blood boil. Who did she think she was? Paying someone to be my friend? How low can you get?! My angry legs walked me all the way to the edge of the parking lot, but stopped dead in their tracks where I heard yelling behind me.

“Ashley, wait!”

“You were paid to be here!” I called back. “What’s wrong, if I leave, do you lose money?”

“Ah, come on! You don’t get it!”

“Sure I do,” I spun on my heel, flashing him a sweet-fake smile. “She paid you to take her little sister out on a date. So go, go have fun. Apparently I’m already bought and paid for.”

I, once again, turned on my heel, ready to run home if I had to and rip her face off. However, the moment I looked at the street, I realized I wouldn’t make it home because I didn’t know how to get there.

“Need a ride?”

“Maybe,” I mumbled.

“Come on, I’ll take you home, okay?”

Spinning around slowly, I stared at the boy for a moment. His beauty was damn near sickening, and the soft smile on his face made me want to spoon-feed him his own lips. But I was stuck. He was my only way home at this point. I bet he had it all planned.

“Fine. But no talking!”

“Agreed.”

_______

After what seemed like the longest car ride in history, we were finally at my place. My house seemed so big and empty. It didn’t look much like a home at all. I gave a soft grunt and flung the car door open.

“I’ll see you around,” Tyler smiled.

I glared at him as I climbed out of the car. “When I said no talking, I mean, no talking.”

After slamming his car door, I repeated my own actions with the front door to my house. Giggles echoed from my sister’s room all the way down to where I was standing.

She is so dead.