Chapter 7  NAKED TRUTHS AND LOUD MUSIC

TAYLOR

"Don't call me that," River glared at me as she walked up to her room.

"Oh come on, you look like a sweetheart," I say, smirking again. I don't know why, but she looked like those nerds we had while in high school who knew nothing more than to study and read.

"I. DO. NOT. LOOK. LIKE. A. SWEETHEART." She turned to me, picking every word with annoyance written over her face. "In case it is tough for you to understand, rule number one says you can't be shirtless in the house," she said, running her eyes over my chest slightly before throwing me a deadly look.

"Why do all the rules only apply to me?" I ask in a whiny voice, mainly to get on her nerves.

"Because you look like someone who wouldn't know the basic rules of life, and see how right I was," she adds sarcastically with a frown directed at me. "I know I wouldn't walk into this shared space shirtless."

"Hey! Who says you can't? I won't complain," I say with a shrug, a smile still plastered on my face. She does not seem too pleased with my response, so she rolls her eyes and pushes out a forced smile.

"Rules are important; they keep order, and you need to get your act together and keep the order so we can at least be able to live together."

"Awwn, so you want to lie with me?" I ask with a pout.

"What choice do I have?" she asks. She looks like she wants to be out of here. "I do hope, though, that you do not break any more rules," she adds and walks into her room, shutting the door in my face.

"Be careful; you'd have to pay if anything happened to the door," I yell back to her, and she does not respond. I sigh and walk to my room, picking up a shirt and putting it on.

It had been years since I encountered someone as closed off as her. I sit on my bed, and my phone begins to ring. I stare at the screen for a while before I pick it up and press it against my ear.

"Hello Julia, what do you want?"

"Hello, Julia? What do you want?" The woman on the other side of the line sputters in annoyance. "Julia? Taylor, you have some nerve calling me by my first name. I am going to be your mom in a few weeks."

"You can never be my mom. My mom is alive and well, thank you," I reply, and I can imagine how red in the face she would be right now.

"I am marrying your dad, and I'd be his wife; that equates to being your mother."

"Never!" I say in a silent scream. "If you want to be someone's mother so bad, then birth your own children... Oh wait, you can't," I say in a hurtful tone. I don't care for Julia's feelings, as what I want to do is make sure that I hurt her badly.

"Taylor, why would you say something that hurtful to me?" She sniffs as if she is ready to cry.

"Why did you call me? To rub it in my face that you are getting together with my dad? If he could cheat on my mom with you, what makes you think he would stay loyal to you?" The question pierces the air, and she chooses to ignore it.

"Your dad asked me to try and bond with you and invite you to the wedding."

"I should come to the wedding between you, a homewrecker, and my father, a cheat? And have good luck all year round? No, thank you," I spit out angrily. "If you have nothing else important to say, then I suggest that you get off now." I do not wait for her response before I cut off the call and throw my phone into the space beside me.

I had only gotten her call because I knew right away my father would call and make a big deal if I did not pick it up. "How dare she?" I murmur, throwing myself onto the bed and staring at the ceiling.

By the time I was conscious again, it was already the very next day. I look at the bedside digital clock to see that it is 6:40 am. I have an early class, and even though I try to put on the bad boy act, one thing I'd never do is miss class. I had studied theatre arts to piss off my father, but I had fallen in love with it and wished to see it to the end.

I put on my playlist as usual and allow the sound to blast through the air, and it is barely going when a loud knock is heard from the other side of the door.

"Shoot, her rules," I murmur to myself with a sigh. I know that is the reason she is knocking so early in the morning. I am already shirtless and have a towel tied around my waist, and I want to see her reaction to this. That was one of my many joys these days.

"Yes," I pull the door open, and she looks starstruck, standing in front of me. Like someone who had seen their favourite celebrity.

"Put on clothes," she said, her head turning backwards.

"Well, I'm not in any shared places," I say, trying to keep the conversation listenable over the sound of the loud rap music going off.

"But you knew I was the one at your door; you could have at least turned that down before you came to the door," she said, and I nodded with a smirk, followed by a head shake.

"Well, it's my room; I can be naked if I want to." I see her flush at the word naked, and my smirk deepens. "What do you want, though?" I act as if I did not know that my music was the problem.

"What do you mean, what do I want?" she asked, and I shrugged. She narrows her eyes at me and clenches her fists by her side. "TURN OFF THAT MUSIC NOW, OR I MIGHT HAVE TO REPORT YOU FOR INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR." Her voice was stern, and I knew she was not playing around. She was fierce when mad. I hated how that made me want to tease her more."

"Okay, geesh!" I say, throwing my hand in the air and walking to my phone. I turn off the music and then turn to her. "Better?"

"BETTER"