JENN
I woke up the next morning in a better mood, not only because I knew I had made Tyler jealous the day before, but because I had a date with someone I had met at the movie theater. And no, his name wasn’t Josh! How I wish as I would have rubbed that in Tyler’s face. I went downstairs ready to make some breakfast for the family, but Tyler was already sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. I wanted to ignore him initially, but I needed to be the bigger person and brush everything under the carpet.
“Hey Tyler. Where’s Stacey?”
“Who?”
“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten her. That was quick.”
“Oh, Stacey from yesterday?”
“Yes, that Stacey.”
“She doesn’t live here. Why should she be here?”
“Dunno. You have a knack for getting women to love hanging around you, so what can I say?” I smiled at him and walked to the fridge to grab the gallon of milk. I could feel his eyes digging into my back as I stood there in my sleeping shorts, which I knew were way too short to be decent. I was in a naughty mood and wanted to make him see what I could give him if he wasn’t busy chasing after every other thing in a skirt.
“What are you saying?” He was right behind me.
I turned around in surprise, nearly dropping the milk. I had been so engrossed thinking about how to make him mad I hadn’t heard him walk across the kitchen.
“Did I startle you?”
“What the heck? Don’t do that again,” I said, trying to move aside and away from him; he was still standing right in my face.
“Do what? Startle you or come up behind you?” He was grinning.
“You know what I mean,” I said, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet and sitting at the table next to him. I was more upset about the fact that him standing so close to me was arousing.
He sat with me, and for a few seconds, no one talked. When the silence became a little uncomfortable, I tried to change the atmosphere.
“So what are you doing today?” I asked. I was hoping I could use my question to slide in the fact that I had a date with Kevin.
“Oh, nothing much. I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to the movies later in the afternoon,” he said.
“So tempting, but I already have a date.”
“Josh?”
“No, Kevin. And no, you don’t know him.”
“And I don’t like him,” Tyler said.
“How can you not like someone you haven’t even met yet?”
“Just saying I don’t like him. I don’t understand how you met another man while on date.”
“Well, it happened,” I said, scooping a large spoonful of cereal into my mouth, hoping that chewing it would buy me time to respond to whatever he said next.
“I see. Have fun.”
“Thanks. I surely will.” I thought he would leave, but he sat at the table next to me, saying nothing. After a few more moments of silence, I said something that almost broke my heart. “Why don’t you hang out with Stacey?”
Tyler looked at me like he hadn’t thought of that possibility.
“She’s your friend, right?” I continued.
“If you say so. You’re right. She wanted to go shopping today and I was going to skip. Maybe I should go hang out with her. You’re not available anyways, so it doesn’t matter.”
I nodded in agreement, but deep inside, I was kicking myself for making that suggestion to him. My goal was to get them apart, not pitch them so close together that I’d be the loser. But it was too late to take my words back, so I tried to make light of the situation. “Shopping? You’re going to have a very interesting day.”
“And I’ll be happy to blame it all on you.” He grinned at me.
I knew Tyler hated shopping with females. One part of me was glad that he wouldn’t have a blast with Stacey; the other part was suddenly mad that I wasn’t tagging along.
“Well, I’ll make the best of it,” Tyler said.
“Best of what?” His mom was standing by the kitchen door, dressed for work.
“Jenn has a date,” Tyler said before I could get a word in.
“Oh yeah? Someone we know?” Lauren asked.
“No, someone she just met,” he replied. “Not sure if that’s a wise move.”
“She’s old enough to go out on dates, Tyler,” Lauren said.
“It’s just that it’s someone she just met. Maybe I should go with her?” Tyler asked.
“What? Did I hang out with you and Stacey?” I replied loudly.
“Who’s Stacey?” Lauren asked as she poured some coffee into a mug.
“Someone he just met,” I said, stressing JUST.
“Looks like you two have been busy. We need to talk about these dates when I come home from work,” Lauren said as she bade goodbye to us and rushed off to work.
“No way you’re coming with me. What am I, a two-year old?” I stormed out of the kitchen.
“Wait Jenn, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, running after me.
“What did you mean?” I slowed down just enough to give him a second to talk. He wasn’t fast enough, so I kept moving. I yelled, “I guessed as much. You have nothing to say.”
“Jenn. I just care that you’re okay,” he said.
I looked at him, unsure whether to believe him or not, but he had made one of those faces that always made me smile. Before I knew it, I was laughing like crazy.
“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” he asked, coming closer to me.
“No Tyler. It means you’re no longer on my blacklist, but you’re far from being forgiven.”
“Come on, Jenn, you know I was only kidding.”
“I know, but I’d like to punish you just a little bit,” I said, smiling and walking past him. He followed me to my bedroom door.
“Hmmmm, that might not be so bad,” he said.
So many pictures flashed through my mind on how I could punish him. I had to get a hold of myself. He probably didn’t mean for me to punish him the way I was thinking. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Tyler. If you’d excuse me, I do have a date.”
“You’re still going?” Tyler asked.
I looked at him and without saying a word, shut the bedroom door in his face.
“That means no?” he asked through the door.
“Really, Tyler, go hang out with Stacey,” I said as I headed to the shower. I needed to cool down.