50 Ways To Spend Your Christmas, Stuck With an Annoyingly Hot Emo Delinquent [04]

"Why is your guest room pink?" he said, clearly annoyed.

"Do you think I know? Last time I was here it was white. And could you be a little bit more appreciative?" I hissed. "My father sounds like he doesn't really agree with this shit that my mother did, a.k.a bringing you into our house. Neither do I. Just be effing' thankful that you have a comfortable place to sleep in."

He rolled his eyes, dumping his luggage near the bed. "Do you think I want this too, smartass?" he sneered. "Trust me on this one, the last thing I want is to move in temporarily into some stranger's house."

"My mother is not a stranger to you anymore," I said, glaring. "She's the person who invited you into our house, all expenses paid. So at least you could do is be nice--"

"I am. Can't you see?"

Oh right. That little stupid performance of him turning from the satan himself to an innocent boy in a blink of an eye. "Whatever. I don't know why I'm still even talking to a potential murderer."

"Pardon?"

There it was again. The 'I'm-so-innocent-I-could-shit-rainbows-and-halo' act. But judging by that look in his eyes, I guess he was really confused.

Which made me confused.

"Y...your record thing...you know, the one where it stated that you tried to kill someone before."

If I didn't know any better I would've said that the twitch at the corner of his lips were caused by his amusement--

Oh god he was laughing at me.

"You really believe that?"

I didn't even know what I should believe in right now. "That's a long story...a story that I'd rather not tell you, of all people," he sighed, looking up towards me again with a smirk. I held my head up high and said, "Well, I don't really want to know anyway!"

Nice, Charlotte. That was such an original comeback.

Nevertheless, I turned around and walked out of the room swiftly. But after I closed the door behind me, I couldn't help but wonder what Nathan had been through in his life. Surely must be more than me.

Must be adventurous and dangerous.

Not like mine. The only adventurous thing that happened to my life was the time when the school was on fire. I decided to play it safe my entire life. Better be safe than sorry, right?

But I couldn't help but yearn for something...thrilling.

My mind wandered off so far that I almost forgot about the boyfriend thing.

The boyfriend thing.

The. Boyfriend.

The invisible boyfriend.

"Hi mom, this is my boyfriend. You can't see him because he's wearing an invisibility cloak. You know, the one from Harry Potter's? Err, no...he can't take it off because...er, he superglued it to himself."

Yeah. Right. I would be strapped into a straitjacket before anyone can say, "Charlotte Cassity is a maniac."

I was going to be six feet under, buried by a snickering Nathan. I could imagine it right now, his smug smile spreading across his face as he tormented me. Ugh. I wished I could punch that smile right off his face.

Argh! I won't let that happen!

I marched straight into my room and took out my phone from my bag. My room was pretty much the same like before, if not a bit dusty. The floor was white wood, the walls were painted a soft cream color and there was a single bed pushed up against the wall, directly near the window.

Even the cream polka-dotted lamp I bought off eBay was still here. I loved the design so much that I figured it was a life and death situation...to go up against the bidder. Yes, in one way or another it was like a war.

A war involving a lamp.

My eyes scanned the screen. Name by name, trying to find out who lived the closest to where I was. When I found that I had a couple of friends that lived in New Jersey, I was overjoyed.

Only to found out that my previous excitement deflated instantly when I realized there were all girls.

But there was one. Oh, it was Scott!

Scott Terrence. Oh he was a friend of mine whom I've met in my first year going to the boarding school. We met at the cafeteria, became best buddies, became lab partners...got more close...

And then I found out that he was gay. Ish. Gay-ish.

Oh damn, who was I kidding? He was 100% gay and he's damn proud of it.

But he was my only hope.

I caught myself. Was I really going to do this? Just for the sake of my pride and ego? I mean, he could pass off as my boyfriend, right? If he wasn't gay maybe I could've be his girlfriend. And we said we love each other all the time.

With a shiver running down my spine as to the idea of what I was about to do, I called him.

"Carrot!"

I wished they would stop calling me that. It was either Carrot or Lottie. Apparently, my friends thought it was 'cute'. Me? Not so much. I didn't even know what Carrot had to do with Charlotte.

Hm, now that I've mentioned it, Carrot had a bit of similiarity with Charlotte huh?

"I knew it! You couldn't live a day without me," he said, bursting into laughter.

Deciding to play along, "Oh Scottie, you know that as much as I do. But that's not the reason why I'm calling."

Dead silence.

Before Scott sighed dramatically and said, "Oh Carrot!" he said. I swear to god this guy could enter a soap opera audition and get the part. "It hurts me to hear that from youuuu!"

"Cut the crap Scott, I'm being serious here. I need a boyfriend."

Again, dead silence.

"Darling, did you somehow hit your head in the showers?"

"Scott!" I hissed. "It's a long story okay? And I'm in dire need of one. I know I sound bitchy right now. But could you be my boyfriend?"

If I wasn't so determined and pissed off at the same time I would've laughed at myself for even saying that. I made it sound so casual that it sounded as if I was joking. "Okay...okay..." he said. "Forgetting the fact that I make out with people who have penises only."

I couldn't believe how straightforward Scott could be sometimes. I guess it was one of the reasons I loved being friends with him in the first place. Without delay, I spilled the beans. From my mother inviting that emo delinquent to my house to the fact that I actually said that I had a boyfriend since I didn't want to admit that Nathan was right.

"Typical," he answered finally. "So typical of you, Carrot. One of these days you have to learn to be wrong sometimes and--"

"I will I will!" I interjected immediately. "But he assumed I was this pathetic girl who watches reality TV and chick-lit on my Friday nights instead of going out!"

"You do."

"Well...yes but he doesn't need to know that..."

"He doesn't, true. He figured it out."

"Who the hell are you siding with?" I snapped teasingly and he laughed. After a couple more minutes of persuading him into it, he finally agreed. "Fine, but only because you're my best friend," said Scott.

I felt like high-fiving someone. "I love you!" I said. Instantly, I gave him my address. When I finally hung up, it was then I realized how...ridiculous the plan seems. How could I convince that a gay dude was...my loving boyfriend?

But there was something else. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

Excitement. Rush of adrenaline just by doing something so ridiculously stupid that it was somehow thrilling. I plopped back down on my bed, feeling my eyelids getting heavy and heavier until I fell asleep.

That night I had the weirdest dream. Nathan showed up in my dreams, oddly enough. He wasn't really doing anything except sitting right next beside me on a meadow, even more oddly. But that was all I could remember.

I was glad that when I woke up, I completely forgotten about it. It was, afterall, only a dream. A trick played by our minds. And I think, the only reason I dreamed about him was because I thought about him a lot in that day.

Panicking, rather than swooning at his good looks--

What, what did I just said?