Tyler's Gem: A Teen Romance Read online

  Yeah. Every girl, except me.

  Matt disliked him not for that reason, but because of the years of torture that guy had put me through. My best friend didn’t have that much hatred toward him as I do. But if I decided to plot murder against Tyler, then he would definitely be on my side.

  Yeah, that didn’t sound as good as I thought it would.

  “You heard me loud and clear. I literally bumped into him while taking a run,” I said as I cringed when I recalled the memory, hoping that it was just a dream―no, a nightmare―and sooner or later, I would wake up. Though I knew too well that this was reality.

  “Oh my god, I was expecting you to bump into him soon but not too soon.” His voice boomed through the speaker.

  “Yeah, I know. I don’t think I could ever look at his face ever again,” I mumbled the last part.

  “Wait, did he recognize you?”

  I ran my hand through my hair, irritated, before I answered.

  “Yes,” I grumbled.

  “So, what did you do?”

  There was a moment of silence as I thought about how much of an idiot I was.

  “I ran away,” I said quickly.

  “You what?” Matt asked in disbelief.

  “I said, I ran away,” I said loudly this time. I knew what was going to come. Matt was like a coach on a football team, wanting to get the best out of each player. If they failed, then shit would break loose.

  “Crystal! Why on earth would you do that? I thought you were done running away?” His loud voice made me bring the phone away from my ear. Once he was done, I placed it back, imagining him drawing a picture of Tyler, hanging it on a wall as he threw knives at it.

  That’s a sight I was willing to see.

  “I am, Matt! It’s just that I freaked out.”

  I let myself fell on my bed, letting my head get sucked in by my fluffy pillow while looking up into the ceiling.

  “I didn’t know what to do when I bumped into my childhood bully. Tell me, what was I supposed to do?”

  “You know you’re the only one who can do it for yourself, Crystal,” he said. “It’s your decision on how you deal with each situation. I just don’t want to see you suffer like the old days. I want you to be careful.”

  Matt had always wanted the best for me, yet there were times where he would let loose. Not kidding. It was like he had two sides of him―the overly protective brother and a crazy best friend.

  “I know, Matt, and I’m grateful at you for being there for me.”

  We both sighed as we listened to each other’s silence which was comforting in some way.

  “So, what’s going to happen now?” he asked.

  I let a moment pass as I thought about his question.

  “Well, there’s only one thing to do.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Show Tyler’s he’s messing with the wrong person.”

  “And how do we do that?”

  “I honestly have no idea.”

  Chapter 5

  I walked down the hall, yawning. My backpack was hanging by one of my shoulders as I tried to straighten out the clothes I was putting on in a rush. The air was getting hotter throughout the days but never failed to surprise me every morning. I thanked the lords for I wasn’t sweating by the time I made it to school.

  My stupid alarm didn’t go off this morning, and living all alone means that I won’t have anyone waking me up if I was late. I woke up in panic, having only twenty minutes left. Thankfully, I got dressed in a new record of sixty seconds and got out the door twelve minutes before class started.

  When school ended a couple of months ago, I thought of spending my summer mornings running, and sleeping till evening like others do. But ever since I moved back here and started the new school year, I found it difficult to take a run and get ready for school, leaving me with only one option, and that’s running at night or when I’m not busy.

  I’d rather have a run in the morning than at night, but either way, it was pretty much the same thing.

  I quickened my pace as I ignored the strange stares I got from the students. Thankfully, I haven’t come across some hater who would make all her best friends go against you like in the movies.

  I headed to where my locker was. Unfortunately, my locker was nowhere near Matt’s. At least, Jasmine’s locker wasn’t too far. I opened it and took the things I would need for the class.

  I was startled by an unknown face staring right at me. A blond-haired guy who had a huge grin on his face was leaning against the locker next to mine. He was wearing those varsity jackets that the football players had.

  He was tall and muscular, but not as buff as those boxers and wrestlers.. He had the typical playboy vibe radiating from him. His straight white teeth were shining so bright like it was a light bulb or something.

  “So, you’re the new girl,” he said.

  I pulled my bag over my shoulder as I lifted an eyebrow at him. I looked around to see people staring at us.

  “Um… yeah,” I said awkwardly.

  Then out of nowhere, he took a step forward and hung his arm over my shoulders as the grin on his face widened.

  “That’s awesome. I’ve been dying to meet you like all the others!”

  I gave him a confused look and took his arm off of me. Geez, hadn’t this dude heard of personal space? I mean, I didn’t even know him. For all I knew, he could be a serial killer or something.

  Okay. Fine. I doubted a serial killer would attend school and play football, but hey, it’s possible. We live in a strange world.

  “Like the others?” I asked.

  “Yeah, everyone has been talking about the hot new girl.”

  I rolled my eyes and cursed under my breath. I always hated to be the center of attention. It just caused too much drama, whether it be a good or bad thing. Besides, I was only expecting some of them to get surprised that a new student had attended, and it wasn’t always that anybody moved into this small town. I wasn’t expecting them to like me just because of my appearance either.

  They weren’t too excited to meet me back in middle school.

  “Uh, okay…” I said as I looked at the time on my phone. I didn’t really want to be late for first class.

  “Oh, excuse my bad manners,” he said, stretching his right hand out for me to shake.

  “My name’s Dan.”

  I stretched my hand out and shook his as I gave him a little smile.

  “Crystal Clare.”

  Before he could even open his mouth and say anything else, the warning bell rang, informing everyone that it was time to go to class. I put my phone carefully into my bag.

  “Well, it was nice to meet you, Crystal. See you later,” he said and winked before turning around to leave.

  What a playboy.

  I turned around and started walking to my first period class, this time, without Matt. Speaking of Matt, I turned my head side to side searching for him, when I felt someone drop their arm over my shoulders from behind me. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

  Not again.

  I was about to turn my head to lecture the person about personal space, but stopped when I saw who it was.

  “That’s enough,” I said. “I already have a heavy backpack on me, and your arm weighs more than a ton.”

  My words caused him to glare at me.

  “Clare, you know it’s all muscle,” he said, pointing his body.

  “Sure it is. I’d prefer to call it fat.” I teased.

  “Ha ha, very funny. You know, sometimes, I think you enjoy watching me suffer.”

  “I do! It’s a passion of mine.”

  We walked over to Mrs. Visconti’s desk and waited in a short line of students to get seating arrangements. Once it was my turn, I gave her my name and was thankful to get a seat near the back. I was hoping for a seat next to a window, but this will do. I always liked to sit somewhere behind. It was more comfortable than sitting in front where everyone could practically stare holes in
to your head.

  I sat in my seat and watched Matt turn around, as he gave me a huge grin. He then took the seat next to mine, as he gave me a high five.

  “Knew it! This must be fate,” he said, making me laugh at his silly behavior.

  The final bell rang as a bunch of students rushed into the class, trying to hide behind one another so the teacher wouldn’t notice and give them detention. As everyone began to take their places, I couldn’t help but notice everyone staring at me…again.

  Had they never seen a new face before? Matt seemed to notice it and turned to me while lifting one of his eyebrows.

  “Since when were you this popular?” he asked, as the teacher walked to the front of the room. I shrugged and shook my head.

  “I’m not,” I said.

  We focused all our attention on the lesson. A couple of minutes passed as Mrs. Visconti instructed what we were supposed to do for today’s lesson. She then handed out a couple worksheets to work on for the whole lesson with the person sitting next to us.

  Once the word ‘partner’ escaped her lips, Matt and I turned our heads to each other, a smirk plastered on our faces as we nodded our heads slowly. We pretty much looked like two people trying to sell drugs to one another.

  Time went by quickly, and the next thing I knew, it was time for second period. I grabbed my bag and walked out the door with Matt following not far behind.

  ***

  I walked into my fourth period class which was ICT. This subject was one of those subjects I had neutral feelings for, which means one minute I’ll like it, and another, I’ll despise it with every fiber of my being. It really depends on my mood.

  I took a seat and pulled out my notebook, waiting for the class to start. When the final bell rang, Mr. Jones walked to the front of the room with everyone in their seats. The tables in this class weren’t single like all the other classes. They were the long ones meant for two people. I sat in the same seat I had yesterday with a random stranger.

  “Good morning, class. Today we will start with a project I have in store,” Mr. Jones said.

  “Each of you will have to pair up to work on this project together, and I will be choosing your partners.”

  Everyone groaned in annoyance.

  “In this project, I want you and your partner to make a presentation,” he added. “Whether it be a slideshow or a poster on how technology changed our everyday lives including its advantages and disadvantages. I’m pretty sure that won’t be hard for the start of the year.”

  “The partner you will be set up with will be your partner for the whole year’s future projects. So, let’s all get started. I want everyone to get up with all your belongings and stand at the back,” he said.

  Everyone followed what our teacher had instructed. Once all the seats were empty, Mr. Jones took out a paper that held all our names on it. But before he could open his mouth, the door suddenly opened, catching everyone’s attention.

  My eyes widened at the person who just entered the room.

  Of all people, why did it have to be Tyler? I mean, it could have been Justin Bieber or my dead grandma, but no, it was him.

  I saw every girl in the class stare at him with awe. Some began to fix their hair while others applied lip gloss. A couple twirled their hair, trying to look seductive, but to me, they all looked stupid. Why on earth would they try to impress Tyler Grey? He wasn’t worth it.

  It was obvious that Mr. Jones was annoyed at Tyler’s entrance.

  “Oh, Mr. Grey. How delighted I am to see you.” His voice was laced with sarcasm.

  “Thanks, Mr. Jones. You know how much I enjoy your class,” Tyler teased. His voice left every girl swooning except me. On the other hand, every guy glared at him, clearly jealous of all the attention he was getting.

  I noticed Mr. Jones mutter something under his breath, but it wasn’t loud enough for me to hear.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat when Tyler scanned the whole class and felt my breath stop when his eyes stopped on me, a huge grin now plastered his face. At that moment, all I wanted was for the ground to swallow me up and cover me from Tyler’s intense stare.

  I noticed some girls follow his stare and sent glares at me.

  Why? I don’t even know.

  Tyler walked to the corner of the room with his eyes still focused on me. He passed by me, smirking, and I glared at him.

  Oh, how much I wanted to slap that smirk off his face!

  “Okay, class. Now that you are all here,” Mr. Jones said, sending Tyler a warning glare, making the latter shrug his shoulders in return. “I’m going to call out your names and assign you seats with your partners,” he continued.

  Everyone nodded their heads.

  I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers, hoping that my wish would come true. I didn’t care who I’m paired up with, as long as it wasn’t Tyler.

  “Lucy with Sydney,” Mr. Jones began.

  “Alex with James.”

  I watched everyone walked to their seats with their partners they would be stuck with for the whole year.

  “Emily and Xavier.”

  Oh please, oh please. Give me some luck!

  I kept my face neutral as I tried to ignore Tyler’s stare, which was practically creating holes in the side of my face.

  He just doesn’t know when to give up, does he?

  “Sam with Bony.”

  I held in my breath, knowing that my name would pop out soon. I prayed to the lords that hopefully I would be paired up with someone nice.

  “Joseph with Amanda.”

  I bit my bottom lip nervously as I watched the number of students standing decrease.

  “And Crystal with David,” Mr. Jones said.

  I released the breath I was holding in relief and smiled happily. I grabbed all my stuff and was about to walk to the seat Mr. Jones pointed at when he stopped us.

  “Oh, wait a minute,” he said, observing the paper he was looking at.

  “My bad. I really need to get some glasses. Sorry about that.” He apologized for some unknown reasons.

  “David, you’re with Lilly,” he corrected, then his eyes turned to me.

  I felt my heart stop as his lips opened to speak.

  “And Crystal, you’re with Tyler.”

  Damn it! Damn it! I felt my world stop when those words escaped his lips. I looked at Tyler to see him grinning while every girl in the room glared at me. I just wanted to hide in the corner forever with everyone’s attention on me. I sent a deathly glare to Tyler as I tried to bury him six feet underground with my eyes, cursing colorful words under my breath.

  I must be cursed! That was the only explanation. My life was starting to get better until he came back into my life. It was like my luck just vanished into thin air. Now, I would have to work with Tyler for the rest of the year.

  Could things get any worse?

  Chapter 6

  I grumbled to myself and cursed my fate inside my head, making up words that no one has probably ever heard of. It were times like these that made me wish there was a button that could stop time, or at least make it go slower. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who wished for it every time school was going to start after a long summer break.

  Or when you were being paired up with your childhood bully who made your life a living hell.

  I made sure everything was in my backpack including my phone before I walk to my seat, not because I was afraid of losing something, but because I wanted to stall as much time I could. I wanted to spare the precious five seconds of looking into my bag before I had to sit in the same table with Tyler.

  Yes, that is how much I despise him.

  After a moment of searching, I knew I couldn’t stall any longer, so I forced my legs to move past Tyler who was looking at me with amusement. I ignored the glint in his eyes, obviously enjoying the fact that I was a nervous wreck. I stomped to my seat and dropped my bag to the ground as I scooted my chair as far as I could get.

  A large muscu
lar body sat in the seat next to mine, but I didn’t dare look up. His tall frame was still towering mine even when seated. I kept my face straight as I tried to ignore his stare. The scent of his cologne was overflowing my nose, making them twitch upwards. He was tapping his fingers on the desk, which was enough to distract me, but I kept my gaze on Mr. Jones who was pairing up the last couple of students.

  I looked at the clock hanging on the wall, hoping that time would pass by quickly than it normally does. But who could assume that when they’re in school? I mean, five minutes in bed was faster than five minutes in class.

  “Psst… hey,” Tyler whispered, trying to catch my attention. I ignored him and pretended to look at my notebook.

  “Hey, Crystal,” he whispered again, and poked my shoulder.

  Was it bad that I wanted to grab his finger and snap it?

  I still wasn’t going to give him the time of day. I was going to face my head forward and not let him bother me, but all that confidence went away when I heard what he said next.

  “So did you enjoy your run, Gem?”

  I whipped my head toward him and glared. I tried so hard just to pretend he wasn’t there, but sometimes, we don’t always get what we want, especially when it was caused by someone whose name started with the letter T.

  “What did you just say?” I asked, lifting my eyebrow.

  Tyler smirked as he leaned his back against his chair with his eyes on me.

  “I said, did you enjoy your run, Gem?” he repeated with amusement.

  Oh, how great the urge I had to punch him in the face. Gosh, I was becoming really violent.

  I shook my head at him.

  “No, I mean, what did you just call me?” I hissed quietly as Mr. Jones walked to the front of the classroom.

  “I don’t know. What did I call you?” he asked, looking at me innocently while shrugging his shoulders.

  I groaned as I ran my hands over my face then looked away and decided to drop it. I knew his intentions were to get on my nerves. I shouldn’t give him the satisfaction!