50 Ways To Spend Your Christmas, Stuck With an Annoyingly Hot Emo Delinquent [19]

Last year, I got called into the counselors' office. I never had been so nervous in my life. My palms were sweaty and sticky, and without realizing it I was holding my breath in when the Mr. Branyon called me into his office.

He proceeded to tell me one sentence that made my body felt numb. I remembered it clearly...vividly in my head.

"Miss Cassity," he said, giving me a sympathetic look. "Your parents...they got into an accident back home."

All the colors drained from my face. I didn't even bother to lick my dry lips like I usually did. He further explained about the car crash and the fact that they got admitted into the ICU. He told me that it was okay if I left school to go and visit them.

It was early in the year. Around January when the blizzard hit.

So I went back home. In the flight, I curled up into a ball and rested my forehead on my knees before feeling a tear trickling down my cheek. It was followed by another...and before I knew it, I couldn't stop them from spilling over.

I thought I lost them.

The feeling of losing someone...

I never wanted to experience through that again...

Nathan.

* * *

"Give him some time, dear," my mother said, placing her hand on my knee. "I wish I could do something to make him feel better," I said, blushing. I meant it. I wish I could do something, anything. "He'll cool off and would eventually find you."

I wish I knew what happened here, I thought silently.

"Thanks mom," I said. "How was your massage?"

"Heavenly," she sighed happily. "At one time I actually fell asleep! The masseuse said that I snored and kept talking about George Clooney in my sleep though," she added, looking somewhat thoughtful. I laughed.

When we go to sleep that night, I couldn't help but wonder if Nathan was actually really concerned and hurt about his parents divorced, but decided to mask it with his arrogant, stubborn attitude again.

* * *

17) If you're in California for the first time and found yourself bored the next day, obviously you have some issues.

I mean, it had been a long time since I traveled anywhere, except if you count going back and forth from America to Britain and back to America as 'traveling'.

I went shopping with my mother that day and we bought a lot of stuff. Dad called a few times to check on how we were doing, and my mother would spend hours gushing about the restaurant we went to for lunch and how exceptionally great it was.

And my dad would listen until he was forced to go back to work.

That evening though, I decided to terrorize Nathan's room. When he opened the door, his hair was wet and a towel was wrapped around his neck as he cocked his head to the side. "Charlotte," he said. "I haven't seen you all day."

"I know," I replied, looking down to my feet. "I'm just here to ask if you're okay," I said, shrugging and trying to sound casual while the truth was, my heart was beating faster by the minute. I was worried about him. That idiot, why couldn't he see that?

He placed his hand on my shoulder comfortingly, giving it a little squeeze. "Want to go for a walk?" he said softly. I looked up and saw that he was giving me a small yet forced smile. For some reason, it was painful for me to watch it.

"Sure," I replied shortly after. "I'm fine," he answered when my eyes were on him a second too long. "Right," I said, giving a lame wave. He went back inside, living the door open and tossed his towel on the bed.

And we were off.

"This place sucks," he said wistfully. Somewhere, a jazz song was being played melodiously. As we got a bit far away from the hotel, it grew faint before all that could be heard was the sound of a few cars driving lazily past us.

"Mind telling me why?" I tried. I knew it was a vain attempt but...

My thoughts were cut short when I saw his lips parted, looking as if he was trying to say something but he didn't knew if he should. We stopped walking. "I..." he started, shaking his head. "It's nothing. I just hate it here."

See what I told you? Vain attempt. "Come on, we went too far," he said. "Let's walk back...hang out in my room?" he said, sounding mischievous. "No fishy business," I said, shooting him a look. With puppy dog eyes and an innocent pout, he said, "What makes you think I'm capable of fishy business?"

* * *

He pressed his lips against mine passionately as I wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing him closer to me. His arms went around my waist, his lips moving from mine to my neck, gently sucking the skin there.

I brought his lips to mine again. "Mmm," he moaned. "You're getting better at this," he said, smirking. Our lips met again and his tongue licked my bottom lip, pleading me to open my mouth. And so I did.

I felt his hand slid under my shirt, to the bottom of my bra...

"Stop," I said tersely, placing my palms on his shoulders and pushing him away roughly. "I'm sorry," he apologized, rubbing his temples. "I--"

"No," I shook my head. "It's okay. I better go to bed," I announced, giving him a tense smile and a peck on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow then," I muttered.

When I nearly ran outside, I placed my fingers on my cheeks. They were hot and they felt...tingly. My breathing was ragged. God, I was surely not ready for that, I thought with a grimace.