My Cousin's Girlfriend

chapter 1

Jesus fuck. The sickening sound of my alarm clock sounded faintly like a part of my dream. I rolled over to check the time, knowing I had already hit snooze one too many times. And of course, it was 8:34 am, halfway through first period. Great.

I had missed math, again. Mr. Johnson who already was out to get me because of my overload of absences was no doubt going to save me a well-deserved seat in detention because of this. 

However, I happened to be sailing through calc so, in all honesty, I didn't care as much as I should have.

I eventually got ready for school and got to class, not before passing my cousin Ryan and his WAY too good for him girlfriend Alyssa.

Let me provide some background. I attend Crest Hill Academy, a boarding school a few hours away from my home, and much of what was originally much to my excitement, so does my cousin Ryan. 

Ryan has been a built-in best friend to me since birth. We've grown up n up side by side our entire childhood. With our mothers being twins, he was more like my little brother than my cousin.

He was a really great guy but he somehow managed to get Alyssa Brenden (the girl I had been crushing on for years to date him). I tried to be happy for him but I really couldn't help but feel jealous every time I saw them together. 

But God damn. That girl was fucking perfect. Every single detail about her, and she had somehow, out of all the people in the world, ended up with Ryan.

As I walked by them, hand in hand, he stopped me. "Carter, you can still drive us home tomorrow right?" I had completely forgotten.

"Right" I replied flatly. Spending two hours in a car with them was not exactly my idea of an enjoyable weekend but I knew my aunt would kill me if I backed out. "Be ready at 10, meet me in the parking lot," I said.

He nodded and we both went our separate ways.

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As promised, he was leaning on my Mercedes-Benz and 10 am sharp in the parking lot the next morning.  But what was not expected, was Alyssa with him.

"You're coming?" I questioned. She blushed slightly and nodded yes. Ryan decided that I had been speaking to him as well and answered. "Yeah!" he said enthusiastically, "It's about time Alyssa met the fam."

I gave him a look. I wordlessly got into the driver's seat while they got in the back. "If either of you wanna aux you can otherwise I will," I said before pulling out of the lot.

"No go ahead," Ryan said, "I actually don't mind your music."

I hit play on one of my go-to playlists and started the drive. Ryan and Alyssa were chatting in hushed whispers and I let myself focus on the road.

I had always loved driving. It was something that I could have total control over. Watching landscapes fade and new ones emerge had always felt calming to me.

Ryan had fallen asleep after a while, and Alyssa was focused on everything outside the window. I snuck a glance at her in my mirror and she looked so perfect it was crazy. Her hair fell down her back slight natural waves, and her big brown eyes seemed like they were searching for something.

"Groceries" by Mallrat started playing . This was one of the only songs I would never hit skip on. 

I noticed Alyssa singing softly to herself. This was another reason I was so amazed by her. Her voice was another reason I was into her. It was different. Lower and softer than you would expect yet perfect all the same. It rivaled how beautiful she was.

"You know this song"? I questioned. She looked slightly confused and looked at me blankly. "Oh"! she said. "I hadn't even realized I was singing."

"You have a good voice," I said. "Thanks," she said while looking down.

The red light on my dashboard indicated that I needed to get gas or we would be pushing the car the rest of the way. I had no idea where the closest gas station was so I tried to plug in into my phone. And because I have good luck, it died the minute I opened Maps.

I didn't really have another choice so I said, "Can I borrow your phone? Mine died and I need to find a gas station or else we're gonna have an issue." "Of course," she said and handed me her phone.

We eventually found the gas station and Alyssa told me she wanted to run and grab some a bottle of water. To my surprise, she climbed into the passenger's seat instead of her seat next to Ryan from before.

She must of seen the confused look on my face . "What? " she asked. There's more room up here plus Ryan isn't that much fun to talk to when he's sleeping." She smiled at me and my heart fluttered. 

Stop it. I told myself. She likes Ryan not you. I had to remind myself this over and over. 

"Yeah well, he's not much fun to talk to when he's awake either," I finally replied jokingly. She laughed. 

Making her laugh made me blush. I struggled to push those thoughts away.

We kept driving in silence for a while until Alyssa broke the silence. "So," she asked, "What's your family like?"

 I smirked, "You're in for a good time." I joked.

"For real though, Ryan's mom is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. His dad is also really cool. Ry and I are neighbors but my Dad's in Hong Kong on business and my mom's away right now too. I think she's in LA but I'm not sure.  I think Uncle Todd will be there, and never ask him about his job. You will have a three-hour conversation about the anatomy of dogs."

She looked at me like I was making a joke about Uncle Todd. I smiled. "Oh and both of our siblings can be cool. I'm guessing you know my brother Everett and I think he's coming home this weekend as well."

She nodded. "Yeah, he's my TA for French." 

"Sounds like an interesting class from what Everett's told me," I said. She chuckled. "It's so crazy. The teacher's insane, and nobody in my class understands anything she's saying." 

And just like that, Alyssa Brendan and I were having a regular conversation. It was slightly flirtatious but essentially harmless. It made me happy talking to her.

 We spent the rest of the ride to Ryan's chatting and I thought maybe, for a second, that I could do this. That Alyssa and I could be friends, and Ry and Alyssa could be happy together. 

Damn. I couldn't have been more wrong.