After Julianne drove me home, I slowly dragged my feet to the porch. I'd spent n early an hour finding Tristan around the campus, but I'd had a tough luck for th at. He was probably away for the day, flirting with girls and playing billiards. So much for the long day.
Next to our yard stood Tristan's humungous residence. I saw mom and Lois, his mo ther, sitting on one of the white chairs in their wide yard. They'd been close f riends since we moved into this neighborhood four years ago-few weeks after Dad' s funeral-, and I couldn't help but like the Hartford family since they were so darn nice! Well, except for their only son, of course.
I waved my hands and called, "Hey, Mom, Lois!"
A beautiful, dark-haired woman who was sitting at Mom's side waved back at me, w hile Mom answered with a smile, "Oh! Hi, honey! I brought your favorite pudding a while ago. It's in the fridge."
As food suddenly registered in my mind, my eyes brightened despite of the wearin ess I had right now. "Really? Aw, yeah. Thanks!"
Quickly, I entered the house and in the living room, I spotted Lacey watching TV while reclining on the couch; her hair, which was two tones darker than mine, w as like long sun rays spread on the red throw pillows. She shifted half of her a ttention to me.
"Hey sis," she greeted, waving her fingers. "Where did you go?" She was obliviou s to what was happening to me, as usual, although we went to the same school tog ether.
"Where else do you think?" I groaned as I took off my bag and threw it on the co uch. "Of course, I'm fresh from another batch-"
Clattering sounds from the kitchen distracted me. I stood there, seething at him swaggering around the cupboards as if he owned the place. So he was here all al ong!
His eyes suddenly targeted mine. He waved a spoon at me in greeting. "Oh, hey, K yles! It's about time."
I marched up to Tristan and slammed my palms on the kitchen table. "What do you think you're doing?" I yelled so loudly that even Lacey had her head turned. She lowered the volume instinctively, apparently more interested in our argument th an the film.
Raising his eyebrows, he opened a familiar plastic cup without looking at me. "J eez, you're so effin' loud. Hey, I don't see anything wrong with eating a puddin g." He took a spoonful scoop and dug it in his mouth. "They say it helps you eas e the pain of a breakup."
My eyes practically popped out. "What! That's my pudding, you freakin' moron! Gi ve it back!"
"Wait, your pudding? But this doesn't have your name on it."
"Wha-how dare you! It's mine, so give it back! Give it back!"
"Huh?" He looked at me innocently. "Can't hear you."
I crossed my arms and let the frustration run riot; oh God, he was impossible. M y stomach was starting to grumble, yet I just kept on staring at the vanilla pud ding that was supposed to be mine. I'd been waiting for weeks just to have that flavor again, but now it was on the hands of the devil. There was no way I could snatch it from him since he was already halfway done with it.
"Why don't you just go to hell, Tristan?" I said between my gritted teeth.
He grinned, causing his dimples to show, the ones I wanted to dig into with a kn ife. "We'll still see each other there, Kylie."
"Ooohhh," my sister crooned.
Jaw clenching, I closed my eyes. "Lacey."
"Peace!" she chirped.
I opened my eyes and tried to compose myself. "Do you have any idea what happene d a while ago, Tristan?" I asked after a moment, trying to control the loudness of my voice. "Bella came to me, crying her heart out over you. Seriously, when w ill you ever get even a nip of guilt about it?"
He snorted. "You know I'm not the type, Kyles."
"Oh, right, because you're actually the type that always acts like arrogance is a virtue."
"'Virtue is knowledge,'" he pointed out nonchalantly. "So if you said a few week s ago that my arrogance is as big as the moon, then-wow, I already bested Newton , thank you very much."
I raised my eyebrow. "Wait, what did you say? Because all I heard was 'blah, bla h, blah, I am a jerk.'"
His hands flew up in surrender.
"Listen, Tristan," I griped, "if you want to be a playboy for a lifetime, you mi ght as well ship yourself to a research camp; because, you know what? You're lik e the perfect guy that could be used as an outline to build an asshole!" I just had to add the cussing. Otherwise, I'd have regretted it later. Any opportunity to insult Tristan was taken as often as it could.
"Ouch, Kyles," he said, putting a hand on his chest like I had actually hurt him . "You can't say mean things like that towards your best friend."
I stared at him blankly.
Seriously, "best friends"? I couldn't remember a time when we'd actually acted l ike best buddies. He always called me a 'tomboy', treated me like a servant, or instead made fun of my haggard appearance. Now, he was calling us "best friends" ?
Well I'd admit; we only put up that act when our parents were around, but in rea lity, the whole thing was in his overinflated head. I didn't really consider him a friend anymore, not even an acquaintance. Not since, he showed his true color s.
Besides, it wasn't like I got any benefits from the charade. Mostly it was just him enjoying everything while I clear up his mess, from his terrible household m anners, to his stupid personal relationships. Well, it wasn't like I barged myse lf into his affairs-jeez, I never wanted to do that.
Let's just say I was more like the "resident counselor" to that stuff, listening to all the pathetic dramas from those girls he'd broken up with, just like what had happened with Bella. And I couldn't do anything about it because they kept on coming to me like a horde of zombies.
I laughed at him mockingly.
He brushed his upper lip with his finger and grinned again. "So you don't like t he idea of best friends... That means you want to go to the next level, huh? We can have an intimate relationship if you'd like, Kylie."
Then again, Lacey made teasing sounds. She was surely enjoying this scene.
Tristan's words sent shivers down my spine. Just the thought of having that kind of relationship with him made me want to puke.
"I dare you-no. I double dare you to say that again. Are you out of your mind? I mean, who in their right mind would go out with you?" My eyes flamed with anger , and he cringed slightly. I could feel myself barely towering over him.
Clearly, it was a stupid question, since I knew many girls crave him and wanted to take their relationship with him to "the next level". After all, they weren't in their right minds. Too stupidly love drunk to see through the deceiving Prin ce-like aura he created and see the true evil, conceited jerk deep inside.
"Damn," he grumbled between his heavy breathing, "this is rich, coming from a gi rl no one wants to date with." His lips curled into a smirk as he reveled in his insult.
I clenched my teeth. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"
"Here we go again," Lacey sighed. I wasn't sure if she was referring to the figh t scene in the film or the fight scene inside this house, but trust me, she was already used to this kind of stuff.
Tristan shrugged; his eyes were focus, not on me, but on the ceiling. "Relax, Ky les. You might think that you're a guy and that you can pick a fight. But we bot h know what you really are."
My fists clenched. He had to be so stupid if he didn't know the reasons behind m y boy-like attitude, or if he did know, he just couldn't understand them.
Now he'd just reminded me about the shame he'd done to me back at school.
"Get out!" I yelled, pointing my finger straight to the door. "I don't ever want to see your face in this house again! And don't ever call me Kyles!" That was t he nickname he had made up for me, and I hated that-it was like a guy's name!
He was stumbling his way out of the front door while I shoved him forward, yelli ng death threats if he might come again.
"Go fly a kite or jump off a bridge! Just go away!"
"If I'd go away, your life would surely suck," he said.
"I don't care! So shut the hell up and get outta here!"
After he was gone, I took a deep breath to collect myself. I thought I was going to have a stroke. Seriously, all the blood inside my body was steaming away, an d so much of it had rush to my head that my temples almost exploded. I looked at the mess he'd made in the kitchen. Darn, another cleaning spree again.
"Chill out, sis." Lacey giggled; her attention now back to the TV. "You'll get o ver it someday."
I blew a short strand of blonde hair away from my face. You know how many times I'd heard those words from her? It was uncountable. Well, I couldn't blame her f or having a carefree view about life, particularly about her own. Anyway, what d id she have to worry about? Tristan never bugged her. He actually treated her li ke his own little sister so she always said that he was one heck of a nice guy. Tristan this and Tristan that.
Change the freaking record!
"Get over it someday?" Oh, come on. Someday was way too far away, for crying out loud.
They say that some people are like clouds - when they disappear, it's a brighter day. And I can't wait for the holy day when that "Prince" disappears from my li fe forever.