It was 12:00 am on the dot and I wasn't asleep yet. The only thing on my mind was 'What is wrong with you, Lauretta?'

I kept replaying what happened yesterday in my mind.

"So what do you say?" He asked again since I didn't say anything the first time.

"Alright. As long as that's the last time I get to see your ugly face", I responded cooly, I think.

"Alright, pick you up at 4.", he replied amidst chuckles.

I didn't even know what to wear. I was absolutely tempted to just text him and say I was not going anymore. But a part of me was also excited because I'd hoped for this for so long.

There was also the fact that he had a girlfriend. I didn't think about that when agreeing. But I decided I'll go and let him know I wasn't interested in anything.

Yes, that's what I was going to do.

.

.

T: I'm outside

L: Alright, I'll be down soon

I put down my phone and put the finishing touches on my makeup. Despite the pep talk I gave myself, I still felt nervous like I was going on a first date with a guy.

Only that this guy has a girlfriend and I'm not even sure he likes me.

"Dad, I'm going out," I said to my dad as I made my way out.

"Alright, be safe," he responded from the living room where he was watching a football match.

I checked myself again through the glass mirror that stood adjacent to the kitchen. I looked good.

I was wearing jorts and a crop top. The crop top was backless save for the tiny straps that went crisscross across the back.

I intentionally dressed this way to give off the impression that it was all casual to me

Which it is. I reaffirmed in my thoughts.

.

"Hey." Tyler greeted me as I entered his car.

"Hey," I responded

"You look good." He commented.

"Thank you. You don't look bad yourself." I responded.

And he didn't. I meant it. He looked good. He was dressed in cargo pants and a tee. He had a jacket on his back seat.

Seeing what he wore made me grateful I didn't overdress.

I was tempted to bring up Linda in the car but when he connected his phone to his car stereo and started playing music. I decided to not say anything till we got there. Instead, I sang along with him to songs I knew and teased him about his bad music taste. I was lying, his music taste was great.

.

The drive from my house to the beach house is about 20 minutes. The house was beautiful.

"Wow this place is beautiful," I said out loud.

"Thank you. Yes, it is." He agreed as he brought out the keys to open the door.

"You can go in. Let me go get the marshmallows and other stuff I brought."

"Alright," I responded and walked into the house.

The interior was as beautiful as the exterior. It was a mixture of white and gray but it didn't look as depressing as it sounded. On the contrary, it looked very great.

Instead of chairs, there were comfortable bean bags in the living room, a TV on the wall and a round table in the living room.

Then there was a kind of passageway that led to other rooms in the house.

I plopped down on one of the bags and brought out my phone as I waited for Tyler to get back.

"The TV has Netflix if you want to watch something," Tyler says as he comes in with a grocery bag.

"Yeah. I'd like to watch something," I said then turned on the TV and began searching for a series to start.

"Family guy?", I called out to Tyler who was in what I believed was the kitchen.

"Isn't that off Netflix?" He responded.

"There are still a few seasons. "I called back.

"Alright, that's chill then."

I started the show and Tyler joined me. We laughed and ate the popcorn Tyler popped earlier.

We watched 3 episodes before I finally decided to bring up what I wanted to ask him.

"Why did you ask me on a date when you and Linda are still together?"

"Wait. You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"We're not together anymore. We've broken up for a while now."

"Why do you still sit at our table then? And why do you guys still act like a couple?"

"She said we could still be friends after the breakup. So she said it was fine if I still sat at her table. And she's been really mature about it so I have no problem with it. And no, we don't act like a couple, we're just friends."

Thinking back on it, it's been a while since I saw any PDA from them. I knew what Linda was doing though, she was trying to keep up the appearance that Tyler and her were still dating. She never for once mentioned they weren't together anymore. She told Tyler they were cool just so she could still pretend they were still dating behind his back.

"You're lying," I said, however. I couldn't believe him so easily.

"Why would you think I'm lying? Did Linda tell you we were still together?

"No, she didn't but she didn't tell anyone you weren't together anymore. She's been insinuating you're still together in fact."

"I knew something was fishy when she said it was all good and it was actually all good," Tyler said and laughed.

I couldn't help myself and laughed along with him.

There was silence for a long minute before Tyler spoke up again.

"I can't pretend what happened between us that day at my house didn't happen cos it did and I'm sorry. I overreacted. I just met you and I was still with Linda then so I didn't know how to react. It was all so weird for me so I did what I thought was reasonable at the moment. In hindsight, that wasn't my best moment."

"That's okay. I was a bit forward too. I get it."

And I really did get it. Looking back, I realised how weird the whole situation must have been for Tyler. We just met and he was being nice to me and I went ahead and kissed him. I would have reacted that way to me too.

"What about that day at the cheerleading tryouts?" I asked.

"No excuses. I'm just genuinely sorry. I hope you forgive me. I genuinely mean it." He said while looking me straight in the eyes as if he was trying to convey how sorry he truly felt.

I didn't say anything and looked back at the TV. I had forgiven him but wasn't going to say anything about that yet.

"It's already 6 pm. How about we get started on the marshmallows outside?"Tyler asked after we'd sat in silence for a while watching TV.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

Cover by: Ghost-In_aBlaNk3t (thank you so much❤️❤️)

Thank you all for reading again.

Tag for the chapter: Zionksus