You're Mine (Tyler White)

Chapter 12

I wake up to an empty bedside and breakfast fumes filling the air. I trudge up the stairs, knowing it is way to late for Maria to just now cook breakfast. I see Tyler standing at the counter attempting every possible way to make pancakes with bacon. I stand and watch him helplessly measure out all the wrong ingredients and mix them together, adding milk to even out the flour over taking the bowl. I couldn't help but giggle at his attempt. He jumps a bit, unknowing that I was standing there. Tyler reaches his arms toward me, covered in flour, and pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around his torso, my face pressing into his shirt that's covered in the miscellaneous ingredients. The sweet smell of vanilla consumes him, finding the source of the smell I look at the bottle of Marie's vanilla bean extract sitting on the counter. Puddles of it crowd the counter along with spots of flour, cinnamon and sugar. I release my grip and look up at Tyler and laugh at his attempt at making us a nice breakfast. The doorbell rings, making it my turn to jump in surprise. Tyler walks over to the door, saying over his shoulder, "I hope you don't mind I invited an old friend" as the door opens I look around Tyler and see none other than Tyler sister. She was just a baby when I moved, but I remember Tyler always saying wen we were younger how he didn't understand why the baby didn't like the mud pies we made her.

Truth be told I was a huge Tom Boy when I was younger. I never played on the girls teams, I always played baseball with the boys. Every morning I would meet Tyler at the creek that separated our houses and we would find big rocks, sticks or trees that would be fun to climb. My dad found a big tree by the lake the creek flows into and made us a huge tree house that we would play in all day long. Manning the pirate ship, fighting off the aliens, or hiding out in the jungle from the lions, our imagination always drove us to places far beyond reality. After moving farther north I lost my connection with how much I loved being outdoors and using my imagination to inspire my day. I would sit inside, playing with toys and dolls, resolving only to myself. I became much more independent after the move until I started school. From what Marie told me, Tyler quit going to the creek to play and left all of our wondrous playgrounds abandoned.

Tyler closed the door behind his sister, LaciAnn, and I engulfed her in a warm hug. Just making small talk with her, Tyler took it as his opportunity to go finish the pancakes. He scooped some batter into the pan, only to have them burn immediately. I jumped when I smelled the pancakes burning and scrapped off the batter and put the pan in the sink. I read off the recipe he was cooking:

"Easy Waffle Mix."

I look up at Tyler, "you do realize there is a different between pancake and waffle mix right?"

"Well I do now" Tyler said with a smile. Seeing the innocent look on his face made me forget about the whole thing.

"Alright who wants Cracker Barrel then" Tyler claps his hands together, causing the leftover flour to cloud the air.

Me and LaciAnn both say "meeee" in a baby voice and laugh. LaciAnn stands up and I show her to the living room and give her the remote as Tyler and I make our way to get ready. We both trot down the stairs to get changed, him going to the bathroom and me staying in my room. I grab a big teeshirt from Joe's Crab Shack and some Nike running shorts. I slide on some vans and rebraid my hair. Tyler walks out of the bathroom just when I finish tying the hair band. All he did was change into a TCA baseball shirt and some shorts. May I say a blue and red shirt, with orange shorts, and brown shoes. The King of matching was standing in my presence. I just laugh at his coordinating skills and fix the seem of his sleeve that was popped up. He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.

"I've got a surprise for us later" he says and he lets go and gives me another kiss on my head.

"What is is?" I say grabbing his hands. He just look at me and shakes his head no with a smile on his face. I scrunch my face up and stick my tongue out at him laughing midway.

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We finish our breakfast with LaciAnn and drop her off at her cheer practice before Tyler begins the drive to our surprise location.

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Aha y'all thought you was gonna get to read the surprise in this chapter. Haha cliffhangers are so fun. But I'll try to update soon, I have finals the next three days them school is out!!!