Chapter 4 An Idiot

Tyler's POV

Just as I was about to catch up with Tara, my mobile phone rang in my pocket.

"I told you I am coming home!" I said in a dry voice.

"You're just like your father, you don't care about me at all!" My mother's voice sounded broken.

"Come on, Mom, don't say that. I'll be right there."

I hung up and looked up at the road. Tara had disappeared.

With a sigh, I walked back to my motorbike. I then put on my helmet and drove off.

By the time I reached the villa, all the lights were on.

"Hey, Mom! I am home!" I shouted, putting the keys on the chest of drawers at the entrance.

I went around the villa in search of her. As I didn't find her, I went upstairs. The door of my room was ajar, so I walked in. She was lying in my bed, asleep. In her hands was the photo album of my birth.

"Mom, you could go do that in your room," I said angrily. I then pulled the blanket over her and turned off the lamp.

After that, I went back to the kitchen downstairs and grabbed a beer.

Like usual, she had drunk heavily. There were empty red wine bottles strewn here and there in the kitchen. I picked them up and put them in the bubble bin in the garage.

It was the same scenario every time she got drunk. She always ended up with the photo album of my birth in her hands, remembering the year my father took care of her. My father married my mother for the sole purpose of making a deal with an Italian gangster. He then lived with us for ten years before suddenly leaving to run the business in Miami. My mother never got over this separation. However, she didn't have the courage to join him because of me as I had no intention of leaving Los Angeles.

I sat on the living room couch and skipped the TV channels until my eyes fell on a girl who looked like Tara.

'What a stupid bitch!' I thought.

My thoughts instantly went back to that idiot who was walking in a park when she had a fever. Damn, she could have run into anyone!

I was fuming inside just thinking about it.

Dylan's POV

It was already five o'clock when we returned to the loft. I went straight to Tara's room to see how she was. I found her sitting on her bed reading a decorating book.

"Hey, you guys are back?" Tara greeted.

"Yes! Are you feeling any better?"

I put my hand on her forehead to check her temperature. The fever had subsided.

"The ice cream did me a lot of good," she said smiling.

My gaze fell on the bedside table and I saw a cup of pistachio ice cream on it.

"Wait a second, don't tell me you went out!" I shouted in shock.

Rolling her eyes, Tara put down her book and got up to put the ice cream cup in the trash.

"Not again!"

"What do you mean?" I asked her as she was heading for the bathroom.

"I have already been lectured about being out while I am sick."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Tyler, he..."

"Tyler!"

I jumped on my feet, furious and grabbed Tara by the arm before she could reach the bathroom. She looked at me, surprised.

"Did he do anything to you?"

Her blue eyes looked at me.

"Do you really think he would touch me? He barely talks to me at school," she replied.

Like every time I was upset, I ran my hand through my hair to calm myself down. She wasn't realizing what he was actually doing. After all, she had no idea of who he was.

"As for your question, the answer is no. He didn't do anything to me except lecture me like you just did."

I was relieved to hear that.

She cast her eyes down on my hand holding her arm and I let go.

"I'm going to brush my teeth, then I'll be going to sleep. So, I'll wish you a good night."

With that, she kissed me on the cheek and walked into the bathroom.

I stayed in the bedroom for a moment, wondering what Tyler was up to.

Tara's POV

That Monday, we had an outdoor class with the drawing teacher.

I frowned in shock when she suggested we go to MacArthur Park. I just wanted only one thing, to forget about the incident of this weekend, and I was far from that.

Fortunately, Tyler was not there.

Besides, I noticed that he was often absent on Monday mornings. His weekends were probably too busy with girls.

Shin Oh and I got on the bus together and we sat in front of Bethany and Jessica.

"Do you have an idea of what you are going to draw? As for me, I have no idea," Shin Oh declared.

"Well, I guess I'll just draw the lake like everyone else," I replied. My thoughts were on something else though. A peculiar smell just reached my nose.

I took a few deep breaths to find out what exactly was that scent. It was Joy by Dior.

"Did you wear Isabella's perfume?" I asked Shin Oh.

"Hell no! I don't have a death wish yet! Why are you asking that by the way?"

"Just forget it," I replied.

'Why am I thinking of this perfume?' I wondered.

I settled down and leaned against my seat, ready to put my earbuds in my ears. With the heavy traffic at that time of the day, we would definitely make at least half an hour before arriving at the park. It would actually have been faster to go there on foot.

"He left just like that!" That was Kelly crying. She was sitting two benches behind Shin Oh and me.

"The rumors were true, he's a real bastard!" she added.

Intrigued, I put my head closer to the aisle to listen to their conversation. Shin Oh had her earbuds in her ears and was leaning on the window.

"But he always gives me looks in class, I really thought he was interested in me," Bethany said, completely confused.

"You really believed that bastard? He sleeps with everything that has tits. Well, that's except Brenda and it is not because she doesn't want it." Kelly laughed.

I understood so far that a guy from the class had successfully slept with one of them during the weekend. That alone was enough to take away all interest I had in their conversation. I sat more comfortably and listened to music.

Once we arrived at MacArthur Park, the teacher gave us the instructions before we went different directions in the park.

Shin Oh decided to draw the alleys of the park and the people if there were any. She really loved to draw people. That was not my case as I was more interested in objects and nature. I just wasn't good with people. The last time I tried to draw a child, the teacher asked me why I was drawing Gollum from the Hobbits. That said a lot about my drawing skills when it came to people.

I decided to go to a quiet place under a tree on a hillock.

Once settled, I took out my drawing utensils and started drawing.

It had been an hour since we got there when suddenly we heard a thud coming closer. I took off my earbuds, leaving Eminem's music that I was listening to playing in emptiness. It was then that I heard the sound of a motorcycle perfectly.

My heart raced. I looked around anxiously, but the noise was gone. I listen for a while longer, but there was nothing more. I sighed in disappointment. I thought it was Tyler. I seriously needed to focus on my drawing to stop thinking about him.

I sharpened my pencil and put my earbuds back in my ears to start drawing again.