50 Ways To Spend Your Christmas, Stuck With an Annoyingly Hot Emo Delinquent [01]

"Dad, I think mom is going nuts," I whispered. He dropped what he was doing and looked at me in curiosity, barely able to hide his smile. "I'm guessing this is about the delinquent...or the garden gnomes she bought in a garage sale last week."

"Really? I didn't notice them."

"Are you blind?"

I chuckled and my father patted my shoulder. "Sometimes Charlotte, your mom have this wonderful feeling when she helps people. You know how she is," he said. I sighed. Linda Cassity was a kind woman. Kind to the point of sometimes, being stupid about it.

That was how she met my dad, Rick Cassity actually. He saved my mother when she was stuck in a tree.

My mother climbed a tree to save a kitten, only to find the kitty afraid of her and ended up running away from her by jumping off from the tree. And then my mom realized that she was afraid of heights.

A phobia that I sadly inherited along with her jet black hair. I had my father's blue eyes though, only slightly lighter. He was a chemical engineer working for a petroleum company. Everytime he was home, he would tell us these stories that would be really interesting...

...if we had the slightest clue of what he was talking about.

"School's over quite early this year huh?" he asked, dropping whatever he was doing and guiding me back inside the house again. I shrugged. "It's the asbestos and gas break out. Thank god the chemistry lab was deserted at that time."

I meant, who the hell would learn about chemical reactions in the dead of the night?

Plus, our boarding school had legends about a girl who killed herself in the toilet of the lab's block. It was said that the girl would float around aimlessly. All legends, of course. But that night, there wasn't only a 'gas and abestos break out'.

When the gas exposed, apparently it was so highly flammable it was enough to shatter the dorms windows...which was around 10-20ft from the school compound itself. Even a spark could trigger an explosion.

"Look on the bright side," my friend said groggily. "At least we could have a big campire tonight. Should I go fetch the marshmallows?"

"I'm going to help mom with dinner," I announced after a while of short talk. But before I could even get to the kitchen, the doorbell started to ring.

DING.

I changed my direction towards the door.

DING DING.

DING DING DINGDINGDINGDING.

"Could you just please hold on for a second?!" I screamed, now running towards the door. When I flung it open, I was...confused.

"You don't look like the mailman..." I trailed off. The guy looked like he was a year older than me with piercings and snakebites. His bangs were falling onto his face, hiding his eyes away from view. A convenient way to replace a pair of sunglasses.

He sighed, looking as if he didn't want to be here at all. "I'm Nathan Bradley. I'm your worst nightmare."

CRAP! What the heck was he doing here so early?!