Playing The player

Chapter 19

"You have got to be kidding me." I stared at him, and if the disbelief wasn't evident in my tone, it definitely shone in my face.

  "Nope." Blake propped himself on his elbows as he laid down on the floor of his room, holding his head in his two hands as he looked up at me.

  I glared at him, arranging myself so I was sitting Indian-style, cross legged, with my arms folded. "We are not having a deep and meaningful conversation."

  Seriously, Blake could not have surprised me any more than he was doing so right at this moment.  When he had said we were going to hang out, my mind had automatically thought about doing bad things, like toilet papering the school bathroom or something? It was cute that he wanted to talk, but what happened to the bad boy image? The image where  the boy liked to bash up people for fun? The image where he would sleep with girls and then leave them the next morning?

  Well, thinking about it, he probably did do that.

  "This is my house," Blake growled, "So whatever I say, goes. And I'm telling you to tell me what happened in your past."

  It was my turn to glare at him. "How about no?"

  "How about yes?"

  "How about no?

  "How about yes?"

  "How about no?" I had already lost once to Principal Drinkwater, but I was not going to let Blake beat me either. I was going to keep my dignity this time…

  … If only his face wasn't so distractingly good looking.

  "How about yes?"

  "How about - "

  "Blake! I'm home!" A motherly voice broke through my sentence, causing Blake to look at me smugly. That wasn't fair! I hadn't lost; I had just been interrupted. No, it was definitely unfair. I knew I could've won, if only I hadn't been cut off.

  "It's not my fault I was interrupted!" I called after Blake, who had already begun to walk down the stairs, "I didn't lose!"

  When I got downstairs, because no, I wasn't able to jump down them three steps at a time like some freakishly tall guy, I was greeted with the sight of a middle aged woman unpacking groceries. A little girl, probably only seven or eight, was singing some kind of nursery rhyme. I immediately grinned at the sight.

  " - didn't skip class did you?" The woman was saying, pinching Blake on the cheeks. His face sported some kind of lovingly annoyed expression, and I laughed.

  She instantly turned to me, a warm beam spreading across her face as she saw me. "Why! Blake, you have a lovely girl over! You call me Eva, I'm Blake's mother." She held out her hand, and I stepped forward and shook it, happy that she seemed to approve of me.

  "I'm Hayleigh." I smiled at her, letting go of her hand as she continued to beam between me and Blake, who was now crouching down to the little girl, murmuring something to her. The sight was almost too cute to bear; how often did you get to see an extremely cute teenage guy talking to a little girl dressed up as a princess?!

  "Hayleigh," Eva repeated, before grinning again. "I had no idea Blake had a girlfriend! Blake, why didn't you tell me?"

  Blake and I spoke at the same time.

  "Oh, we're - we're not - not dating - " I spluttered out, shocked she would even say a thing.

  "We're not going out," Blake said casually, one hand resting against the kitchen counter as he straightened up, carrying the little girl.

  Awww. He was carrying the little girl. Let me rephrase that, Blake was carrying the little girl. Awww.

  "Oh." Eva sounded disappointed.  Her face brightened up almost immediately. "Well, he has a girl over. That's a start."

  Before I could say anything, the little girl spoke up.

  "I'm Kate. I'm Blake's sister," She said in a girlish tone. She was too cute.

  "Hayleigh," I smiled at her, shaking her little hand.

  This scene was too weird. Blake, the bad boy of the school, had a perfectly normal family. His house was normal, with a shopping list on the fridge and toys over the floor. There was a recipe book on in the cabinet and a bowl of fruit on the kitchen island. His mother was lovely and his sister was so cute, and even if I had no idea where his father was, they were a typical billboard family. And then there was me; the one with the screwed up life.

  "Hails and I are going out," Blake announced, setting Kate down as he grabbed onto my hand, starting to pull me out of the kitchen.

  "We are?"

  "Yes we are. See you later," Blake called out as he managed to pull me out of the room.

  "It was great meeting you Eva! And Kate!" I called out as we left the house. "Where are we going?"

  "The skate park," Blake shrugged, looking at me. "Are you cold?"

  I glanced down at myself; I was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a thin pullover. "Not really."

  The walk to the skate park only took a few minutes; it was close. We sat on top of one of the bends, dangling our feet over. It was probably around five, and there weren't that many people around, only a few.

  "So I'm the first girl you've had over, huh?" I asked teasingly. "Should I feel honoured?"

  Blake rolled his eyes. "Go right ahead."

  "What about the girls you - uh - " I hesitated, not really knowing how to ask. "Have fun with?"

  He shrugged, "Not at my house." He sounded so casual. How could he act so casual? Was it normal to act that casual?

  "So you've never been properly friends with a girl enough to invite her over?" I asked. I wasn't even sure why I was so curious about it, but it was interesting.

  Blake smirked at me. "Boys can't be friends with girls."

  "We're friends, aren't we?" I asked uncertainly. Of course we were! He had been asking to be friends, what did he mean boys and girls couldn't be friends?

  Blake thought about it for a while. "Let me say that again, boys and girls can't be friends for a long period of time… I mean, we're not going to be friends for much longer."

  "Why not?" I demanded. Sure, he had been annoying at first, but now I was used to him; in fact, I even liked him now. As a friend, I meant.

  He looked at me through his lashes. "You can't feel it?"

  I was confused. "Feel what?" I didn't wait for a reply. "What do you mean, boys can't be friends with girls?"

  Blake shrugged. "Something always gets in the way. Usually it's sexual tension," He added on the end, smirking when he saw my face turn red.

  "You know what?" I asked him forcefully, "I am going to prove you wrong. We are going to stay friends. In fact, I will be your new best friend. Nothing will get in the way of our amazing best friend ship." I paused for a second, wondering if 'best friend ship' was even a phrase, before discarding the thought. "The point is, we can stay friends. You're going to treat me just the way you treat Liam and Colt." I finished my speech and looked at Blake proudly.

  He was looking at me, wicked amusement in his eyes. "You really want to play this game?"

  "Bring it on."