50 Ways To Spend Your Christmas, Stuck With an Annoyingly Hot Emo Delinquent [09]

When we snuck back in that night, Helios was awake by our constant bickering...

...about lollipops. But that was another story. He had to wrestle the more than 100lbs to keep it quiet. But Helios knew Nathan well enough to not bite him or anything. So instead, he played with him. "Just go inside first," he said, looking like a very tired puppy.

No pun intended.

I said to him that the key was in the orchid pot and left.

Most unexpectedly, after I got back to my room, there was a tugging at my heart that said I should check on Nathan. Just because.

I sighed and ignored the feeling before stripping out of my clothes, changing into a new one and fell on the bed with another tired sigh. I never felt so guilty in my life. For lying, for sneaking out, for eating Tyler's ridiculous menu...

Which, by the way, consists of everything available that could feed a troop of soldiers. Er, if soldiers like ice cream, that is.

I drifted off to sleep whilst thinking about what happened to me in the past 24 hours, and ended up dreaming about chopping Nathan's bangs of with a humongous cleaver.

Not necessary, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

* * *

I woke up that morning with my hair perfectly straight and got out of bed to the smell of fresh-baked cookies and the unique aroma of coffee.

If only.

The truth was I fell out of my bed and bang my head on the bedside table, manage to drag down the lovely lamp I remembered buying from a garage sale for $2.99. My entire body felt sore and I was out of breath 5 seconds after waking up.

And as if to laugh at me, my phone rang inside of my luggage that I hadn't quite sorted out yet. I crawled from my place and took it out, pressing the faded green button. "Erro?" I said groggily, yawning.

I ran my hand through my hair. My fingers got stuck in a tangled mess. I yanked it hard so that the strands of hair would magically untangle themselves. Epic fail.

My hair was in such a tangled mess that even a scout would stay away from it. There were knots everywhere!

"Opened the school's website yet?" an excited Keira said in a heavy accent. She was a pretty 17 years old Scottish with flaming red hair and a pair of big, hazel eyes.

A.K.A The Catherwood Weekly's editor-in-chief. That was how I met her actually, since I was a part of her team. I was one of the school journalists. There were currently two of them, including me. "Half of the place had been renovated. Those people can work fast."

"Only to torture us once more, Keira," I joked. "You think you can make an article about this? The fire and everything? No pressure," she added and I could imagine her right now sitting on her bed, grinning.

"No problem. I got an entire month," I said.

"Anything else?" I continued. "I'm coming to NJ in a few days. My uncle lives there," she said, giggling. "D'you reckon we could meet up?"

"Totally!" I exclaimed excitedly and gave her my home address. To be honest, I was already missing several of my friends. "And boy, do I have a surprise for you!" I said, thinking about Nathan.

"Oooh, I love surprises," she cooed.

I couldn't help but smirk.

* * *

8) Ice skating rink could be fun.

"No," both of us replied in unison. But as usual, my mom decided to glare at me. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could show Nathan around town?"

Oh trust me mother, it was the other way around last night. "I haven't ice skated for years, mom," I argued. "The idea of falling onto my bottom in front of public is less than appealing."

"Who says bottom anymore?" Nathan said. I ignored him.

"Well, there's a lake near this neighborhood. You need to drive there though. Walking would take too much time."

"Mom, it's not snowing nor freezing yet."

"Really? I could have sworn..."

Nathan and I exchanged looks.

"Oh well. You could go there when it's frozen then. But if you feel bored, Nathan dear, you two can walk Helios out."

A slow smirk spread across his face. "Oh I am, Mrs. Cassity."

Bloody fuck!

Excuse my French.

"But mom, Helios is too hyper in the morning," I said, frowning. But Nathan was already on his feet. "What safety-first girl? Do we need a helmet to go out? Or one of those radioactive suits thing? Or should we just go with an astronaut's suit then?"

That's it. I had enough of him making fun of me.