When The Bad Boy Says: I Love You | editing

Moms, Dads and Malls

Chapter Three:

Moms, Dads and Malls

"When you meet the one who changes the way your heart beats, dance with them to that rhythm for as long as the song lasts.

-Kirk Diedrich"

Maya Granger

You know that feeling you get when you wake up in the morning, and you just know that the day ahead of you won't be good?

Yeah, well, that's how I felt that morning.

I did my daily morning routine, got out of bed, crawled — literally — into the bathroom, showered, brushed my teeth — sue me for doing so before breakfast, but I can't start my day without knowing that I had fresh breath — went back into my room to change, then made my way downstairs for breakfast — finally, all the while that bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, grew. And I found why when I entered the dining room.

Ryder, effing, O'Connel, sat at the dining table, effing chatting to my mom like they were effing long, lost friends, while dad glared.

Nick was not present since he was already at school, and for that, I was grateful, because if Ryder does not start explaining what he was doing in my house at nine effing in the morning, then things will get bloody.

What?

I never said I couldn't get violent. The punch I gave Ryder should've been proof enough.

Mom finally spotted me, since dad was too busy glaring Ryder to ashes — now you know where I got my glaring habit — his arms crossed over his chest, and mom beamed. "Morning, honey! You have a guest!"

No crap, mom.

Ryder turned in my direction with a cheeky grin. "Good morning, Maya. Slept well?" There was a hidden meaning in his words, but I ignored them.

Instead, I smiled tightly at him, making sure that my eyes flashed bloody murder. "Good morning to you too, Ryder. Having fun?"

"Immensely," he replied, his smirk still intact.

"Honey, you never told me you had a second, very handsome friend," mom accused as I took a seat across Ryder.

"You and me both," I muttered under my breath to myself.

"What was that, hon?" Mom asked.

I shook my head, and replied, "Nothin'," before reaching for the box of Frosted Flakes mom had set out on the table, along with four other boxes I could care less for, and milk. My allergies to milk weren't that bad, so I can have some from time-to-time, and not much. As I prepared my breakfast, mom and Ryder started talking again about some book they've both read. I really didn't listen much, because I was busy "telepathically" talking to dad, who was now glaring in my direction.

"Your boyfriend?" His eyes asked.

I shook my head a little. "Heck no."

"Then who the hell is he?"

I flinched at the curse word his eyes showed. "Just a classmate from school. A friend of Ashton."

"Then what is Ashton's friend doing here?"

"He probably thinks we're friends because of Ashton," I shrugged, before taking a crunchy bite of my cereal. "And, he's a new kid in school...sort of, so I guess he's lonely." I lied, and I was thankful when he didn't detect my lie, and visibly relaxed.