Yeah, I Hate You Too, Sweetheart.

Chapter 3 - Laila

Laila

      The second Justin Richards rounded the corner into the foyer, I could feel the heat rush to my face. As much as I wanted to prove my mom totally wrong, it was impossible. There was no other word for it, I decided, as I examined Justin with wide eyes.

 Justin Richards was…well, hot.

 The most alarming thing about him was his height, which was completely obvious. The guy had to at least be 6'4'', maybe even pushing 6'5''. He towered over Kim, was a head taller than Laurence, and I was pretty sure the top of my head would barely reach his chin. He had slightly long black hair that fell in waves across his forehead, a lanky, muscled figure, and a splattering of light freckles across his nose. 

  The most surprising thing about Justin, though, was his eyes. They were bright, emerald green, the piercing kind that made you feel like you were being x-rayed. I remember his eyes being green, but they hadn’t looked like that before.

  Even though my legs felt like jelly mush and I was more than red in the face, I hated him. I hated Justin Richards. The first words out of his mouth in a husky deep voice were, "How could I ever forget Laila?"

  Sure, nothing was wrong with what he said, but it was how he had said it. Justin had spouted off that sentence like the last thing he wanted to do was be here, kind of like he was bored and this was so stupid. 

  I ground my teeth together and despised him even more, and the fact that I blushed brighter. And then Justin had the nerve to go and burst out laughing.

  I swear, if I had anything else thrown at me unexpectedly, I really was going to explode. His laughter was even deeper and rich than his voice.

 So not only was this guy extremely good looking, but he was downright filthy rich, too? If their complete mansion of a house was anything to go on, it was plainly obvious that the Richards were definitely rolling in the big ones.

  "See you haven't changed much," I finally managed to say, thankful my voice didn't quaver much.  

 "Wish I could say the same thing," Justin replied, eyeing me up and down.

  "Care for some dinner?" Kim abruptly asked, changing the subject.

As much as I wanted to say no, thanks, my stomach let out an embarrassingly loud gurgle. The only thing I’d had to eat today was a mushy peanut butter sandwich and a couple of crackers. My mother wasn’t really one for fast food, much to my annoyance. A good burger from Burger King was always nice every once in a while.

 "I'll take that as a yes." Laurence laughed.

 

Kim walked off arm in arm with my mom, the two of them giggling like a pair of school girls, exchanging knowing looks with each other.

  "I hope you like spaghetti," Laurence told me, leading the way towards what I assumed was the dining room.