The Badboy and the Baby

Chapter 3 - Bonding Excercises

Chapter 3 - Bonding Excercises

The cracks in my curtains leak sunlight and I stir, remembering about my meeting today with Alex. Ugh. The schools biggest badboy, a womanizer, and a troublemaker and the schoolcaptain, the perfect, pure prude. This was not gonna end well. I tried to fall down the stairs to kill myself but self preservation got in the way. I check the clock. 9 am. Ok so I only have an hour.

I kill time by making breakfast, feeding my mum, feeding Margaret, cleaning up the mess she makes after feeding her fails, showering, dressing in something that will make the nuns try to recruit me and explaining to mum where I'm going.

"But are you sure he's not dangerous? He sounds to me like a creeper." She says as she cradles Marge. "Mu-um it's ok we will be out in public so he can't try anything indecent. Plus I have wicked ass kicking skills." She frowned at that last comment so I thought it best to wait outside.

At 5 past 10 a sleek black car pulls up in front of the house. I stand to awkwardly greet Alex whose wearing jeans, a black shirt and a black leather jacket. To top it off an expensive pair of black raybans sits atop his hair. It always spikes up at the top. Must be magic. Black magic. "Uhm hi!" I say weakly, not sure what to expect with him. "C'mon captain I haven't got allday. Get in." He says, starting the engine.

I roll my eyes and sit in the passenger seat. Expensive leather covers the seats. "Nice ride." I say, trying to make conversation. He grunts in reply and turns the music up loud. Geez. This boy is impossible. It will be a miracle if I get him to tell me his middle name. We pull up at the nearby park and he jumps out. I follow him with my notepad, ready to ask questions. He stands by a tree and takes in the seaview.

"So I uh thought we could start with 20 questions." I say, waving the notpad. "We'll alternate questions. You can start." He looks at me, grinning slightly. I can't help but think he's mocking me. He walks over to me and closes the distance easily. He's a little taller and I take a step back, startled by him. He grabs the notepad forcefully, walks to a bin and drops it in. I gape at him. He shrugs casually. "It wasn't necesccary." I feel my face getting hot, infuriated at his arrogance.

"That was rude Alex. I sure wouldn't want to have a baby with you." I say, jabbing my finger in his chest. It's like poking a brick wall. He smirks and grabs my hand bringing it to my side. His hand is surprisingly soft and warm and I can't help but like the way it feels over mine. But I yank it away and cross my arms. "Ok so you said it's my question first," He begins. "Well I want to know... Are you single?" He cocks his head a little to the side. I try not to let this phase me as it's a perfectly reasonable question.

"No. I have a boyfriend who I'm perfectly happy with." He grins cheekily. "Are you sure about that? What if there was someone else you could be happy with?" He asks flirtily. "I'm sure. My turn. Tell me about your family." He hesitated before leaning back on the tree. "Not much to tell. Dad drank himself dead. Mum lives hours away with her rich boyfriend." I'm taken aback by this sudden revelation.

"I'm sorry abouy your dad." I manage to stammer out. Looking at his face. It's hard to read when he replies. "Don't be. He was a deadbeat anyway. I'm glad mum found someone half decent. Anways, my turn. Tell me about your family." I look at him not sure if he's serious. He waits expectantly for my answer.

"Well I have a little sister Margaret and I just live with my mum. She has a bone disease and she's pretty weak. My dad walked out on us." I'm surprised by how much I was willing to spill to this guy. I mean we've know eachother for a day. Yet I feel strongly compelled to open up to him. I don't usually tell people about my dad. He's one of the few.

"That's rough." He replies and his face seems to soften. We begin to walk down the beach, asking random questions. Favourite food, singer, colour, movie. We both love mexican and The Incredibles. He obviously states that blacks his favourite colour while we disagree over favourite singers. "Beyonce is the best there is no doubt about it." He says, somewhat passionate about the topic. "Aw but c'mom! Don't tell me she even compares to Bruno Mars." I retort. I'm surprised by how easy it is to talk to Alex. He's fun and good to get along with. But I can't let my guard down yet. He's still the boy with a reputation.

As the day gets darker he flings more dangerous topics at me. "How far have you been with a guy?" He asks, showing a bit too much interest. "And why would you care!" I say, blushing furiously. He smirks. "Well captain, beautiful girls interest me. I'm just wondering whether this beauty is a bit." He pauses for a moment and holds my chin. "Wild." I yank my chin away and glare at him.

"That's not your buisness. All you should know is I'm a virgin thankyou very much." He grins arrogantly. "Fun."

"Ok then, my turn. Are you a virgin?!" He grabs my collar between his two fingers, stroking it. "Well sugar, that's for me to know and for you to wonder. But if your interested I can change your virginity status." I pull away from him and stalk off. The sun is almost setting. "You're disgusting." I mutter. He shouts out at me. "Wait Tina! I wasn't finished!" I just ignore him.

      *                      *                    *

Sunday night I change for my shift. Before tending to Marge and pecking mum on the cheek, I catch a bus to the restaurant. My boss rushes me in. I walk out to the table and begin asking for orders. As the evening goes on the customers die down and soon I have less spring rolls and wonton soup to serve. I sit in the kitchen and read when chef nudges me.

There must be a new customer. When I come the restaurant is empty. A young man with a red and white baseball cap sits in the far corner. I walk over to him. "Hello welcome to the dynasty gardens would you like to ord- You!" Alex tilts his head up and grins at me charmingly. I can't help but notice the. adorable dimples indented in his cheek.

"What are you doing here?!" I hiss at him. He seems only slightly amused by this rudeness. "Well I was going to have dinner. Would you care to join?" He asks, gesturing to a seat. I scowl but theres something commanding about his voice so I sit down. "Miss Tina, I wanted to talk about our newfound marriage. You see, I don't think your taking too well to me and I know that will definitely weigh heavily on our baby." I snort, irriated by his politness.

"Yeah, so?" I ask aggresively. He removes his cap and ruffles his dark hair. "We can make this work. All I need is your co-operation and I'll be the best husband-slash-father ever." He says, smiling at me with his dimples. This nearly melts away my resolve but I stay firm. "And how am I supposed to co-operate with the likes of you? People like us aren't meant to be friends." He holds a hand to his heart mockingly and pouts. "Tina I'm offended. I thought you found me delightful."

I can help but laugh at this. He leans towards me. "Look, in all seriousness I like you enough that I won't deliberately fail you. But if you want a happy marriage you need to push away any animosity you have towards me." Ok then. If thats what you want. "Fine. But only if you promise to be always appropriate. No funny buisness. I've heard many stories of your hijinks." I say staring him in the eye. He puts his hands up in surrender before offering one out to me. We shake hands firmly, an unusual friendship forming. I was becoming friends with the badboy.