50 Ways To Spend Your Christmas, Stuck With an Annoyingly Hot Emo Delinquent [05]

6) Introduce your pet dog to said emo delinquent.

It was actually my mother's pet dog: A golden retriever named Helios. Contrary to what people thought about me, I actually didn't want a pet. Don't get me wrong, I love animals. I adore them so much. But the thing was, Helios once pooped on my bed when I was sleeping...on the same bed...

You get the idea.

"He grew into a big guy huh?" my mother said earlier, proud of her loyal companion. Dad just used Helios to get the paper from the lawn if he was too lazy to get it himself.

I prepared two hot chocolate. One for me and one for Nathan Bradley. Why make one for him?

It was partially because when he demanded me to make one for him, he had a potential weapon in his hand: a pen. God knows what he could do with that thing. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I was dealing with a potential murderer here.

A kid who was charged with attempt murder.

But something he said yesterday was still echoing in my mind. It was as if he was implying that it was a false accusation and he did nothing wrong. But I didn't know what to think anymore. I didn't care as much either.

All I cared about was that Nathan was living in the same roof as me now. And I couldn't even digest the harsh reality. I went outside, pushing the door with my hip and stepping onto the wooden patio. Helios was resting his head on Nathan's foot whilst Nathan was fiddling with a dandelion.

"What's his name?" he suddenly asked as I set the mug beside him. I sat near him. Well, near was the understatement of the year.

It was actually far. But not far enough until we had to shout to speak to each other.

"Helios," I replied. And suddenly, I saw a flicker of amusement passing through his eyes. Frowning, I asked, "What is it now?"

"Helios?" he echoed, stifling a laugh. "So what do you guys call him? Hell?"

"No!" I snapped and he snickered. "Really? Oh alright then, I shall call him Hell then."

Helios' tail suddenly acted as a broom, sweeping the ground from right to left rapidly. "See? He likes it. Hell likes it."

"Don't! Shut up!" I said, pinching his shoulder in a vain attempt to make him stop. I called Helios and he sprang to life, his tail wagging and his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he trotted towards me. He rested right next beside me and we all fell silent.

I looked up towards the sky aimlessly. There were dark clouds hovering at the dull, gray canvas. It was quite cold outside too as the winter was on its' way. "It's cold today," I said. He shrugged. "Do you like cold weathers then?"

"I do. Don't ask why."

"Why?" he said, ignoring me for like the umpteenth time since he set foot on this household. My fist clenches tightly as I tried to calm myself down. "I don't know, okay? I guess I'm just used to it."

"I'm not. I once live in the Southern part of California. So in one way or another I love to spend my lazy days at the beach."

"Oh, what happened then?" I asked, couldn't help but be curious about it. He shrugged casually and was in total silence for a while, as if trying to figure out if he should tell me or not. I took the chance to look at him.

What he was wearing was the complete opposite of what I wore in terms of color. He was wearing a black t-shirt with dark brown stripes on it. His piercings were a bit intimidating. And he was wearing a pair of old Converse shoes, a pair of jeans and a black watch around his wrist.

I, on the other hand, was only wearing a simple white blouse with a knee-length skirt made out of denim. The only piercings I had was on my ears, both had diamond earrings that my friend got me for my birthday last month.

He caught me staring and I blushed, turning away. "You could say that my parents disown me."

Nathan said it so casually that I thought he was joking at first.

"You...you're not being serious?"

"I know, disowning is a strong word. But ever since that little incident that got me into the detention center in the first place, they never once called me or visit me or anything," he said. For a moment, I could see something flashed in his eyes.

If I didn't knew any better, I would say that he was upset.

"But it's not really surprising. Both of them had their reputation to keep. My parents...they are high-class, respected bastards. My mother is a respected surgeon and my father is probably the only politician that survived more than 3 scandals. Two involving affairs, one about tax and the other one is bribery.

Having me suddenly disappearing behind the doors of a detention center would be the last nail to his coffin, I guess. So the cover-up story was that I was furthering my studies in Denmark."

I was horrified by this sudden discovery. If he was truly upset then he did a damn good job hiding it as he held his head high once again. My mother always said, "We don't care if you landed yourself in a pile of trouble, Charlotte. You're still our daughter, and we love you very much."

"No matter what you did, you're still their son," I said, barely in a whisper. "They should love you and help you."

"That's not the case here," he muttered. "And that's just the thing...I didn't even do anything much."

I was about to ask him about that attempted murder thing again when he swiftly changed the subject. I found it annoying as my curiosity grew bigger, but I decided that it was better that if I'll tone down my curiosity to a notch.

Obviously he didn't trust me or know me that well to tell me everything.

"When's your boyfriend coming?"

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and it was as if my breath was stuck in my lungs, unwilling to get out. Without saying anything, I dashed to the door before anyone could and swung it open. But it was not Scott. It was some important-looking man. The type of men who wears sunglasses indoors.

Turns out that he was working with the detention center Nathan was attending and wants to see how he was doing. Only he didn't ask that in a nice way. It was almost a demand. I decided to butt out and watched television instead.

But I couldn't concentrate as the hours pass by and my heart thumped faster. Scott was supposed to be here by now, and yet he was late. Was something wrong?

There was a bigger question in my head that kept haunting me from last night. How would I pull this off? Even an idiot could figure out Scott was gay once he talked and moved. And the way he dresses...

Oh shit.

DING!

Oh my god what if he wore a string bikini?

Stop it, Charlotte. He's certainly not a drag queen!

I ran as fast as I could to the door. Impressive, considering that my legs felt like jelly and my knees felt non-existent. When I swung the door open, Scott Terrence stood tall and dashing with a splash of confidence etched on his face.

God, you'd think he ruled England with that posture.

But there was something else.

Automatically, I reached up and ruffled his hair as it was so thick with layers of gel. And...oh my god, was that light brown highlights in his perfect blond hair? Since when did that got there?!

I ripped his goofy polka-dotted tie off. What on Earth was he thinking, wearing something like that? And I stripped his vest off, stuffing his tie in my pocket and throwing his pink vest into the coat closet. Suddenly, my mother appeared out of no where.

"You must be..."

"Scott," he said, grinning from ear to ear. I was nearly hyperventilating.

In fact...I was hyperventilating.

Any moment now I'll pass out.

"Nice to finally meet you Mrs. Cassity," he said, trying not to sound...like he normally was and he ended up sonding funny. "Sore throat, dear?" mom said politely and I realized how dead I was going to be.

This was never going to work. What was I thinking?

Nathan emerged and had a full view of Scott. He stopped dead in his tracks.

The look on his face was priceless.

"Her...er, boyfriend I assume," said Nathan, cocking his eyebrow towards me. Feeling as if I was on a stage with 2 dozens of spotlights aimed towards me in front of a big crowd, I nodded.

I couldn't even utter anything.

For the first time in months, I was utterly speechless.

"Nathan Bradley, I think. Charlotte have told me all about you!" he said, laughing.

Oh my god. OH MY GOD. It was his normal personality again.

Which was not good.

I cautiously looked towards Nathan who was looking at both of us with a puzzled expression, as if he was trying to figure something out. If anything, I felt as if my heart was thumping wildly in my throat. If he had realized anything about the truth yet...

...then he was doing great by not telling anyone.

I almost breathe out a sigh of relief...until I caught his eyes. And then I felt a flutter of nerves in my stomach. "You look exhausted," he said finally, looking at me as if I had grew a tail on my forehead. I jumped and rubbed my forehead. "Y...yes maybe."

I was more than exhausted. And to think that I was in less than 10 seconds after Scott arrived here.