Living With The Bad Boy

▲ Prologue ▲

▲ Prologue ▲

"Honey..." My mom begins, her voice rising in anticipation. She and dad stand before me with giant grins stretching across their faces. I watch skeptically as she pauses, before announcing "We're going to Africa!" She throws her hands into the air to express her excitement, before considering her statement. "Well, technically not to Africa... More so around it, but who the heck cares!"

"Africa?" I echo back like a parrot, my lips parting and my eyes widening at the news.

My parents and I rarely ever get the opportunity to go on vacation - only the occasional road trip if we're lucky. So you can imagine my excitement and surprise upon hearing that we'll be travelling around Africa. 

I can't help but squeal in excitement, "Oh guys, that's awesome!" I leap forward and hug them. "I've been in need of a holiday for quite some time now. School has been killing me. Where in Africa will we be going? When will we be leaving?" I wonder. As I pull away, I watch their faces drop simultaneously before they share a knowing glance. My grin fades as realisation seeps in. "I'm not coming, am I?"

Mom is the first to speak. "Sweetie, I'm sorry. I should have worded it better," she sighs, "We're-" she points to dad and then back to her, "-going to Africa."

My heart sinks and I force a large smile despite my utmost disappointment, "Oh... Okay... Well.. That's great for you guys." They've been fairly busy lately and I know that a vacation would do them well, so I'm happy for them. Maybe a little too jealous than I should be, but happy nonetheless.

My dad gives my shoulders a comforting squeeze, "We're sorry, but if it makes you feel any better, it's not going to be fun and games. It's a business venture for our company. We're going to be travelling around places like Kenya, Morocco and Cape Town Central to sell big businesses a new remedy our company has developed. Exciting, huh?"

"Totally," as in, 'totally would be if I knew what he was talking about'. Truth be told, I don't know much about my parent's company. They could own a strip club for all I know. My smile shrinks at the possibility and I furrow my eyebrows, "You guys don't own a strip club, do you?"

Mom tilts her head back in laughter at my question and I join in on her laughter until she winks at me.

I frown skeptically, "Wait-"

"Thank you for understanding and not being difficult, Bronte," my dad cuts in before I can think too far into it, "We'll bring you back something to make up for it."

"Don't worry about it. You guys just have fun, okay?" I reply with a reassuring smile. Call me sappy, but I like making my parents happy. They've done a lot for me over the years and I owe it to them to be the trouble-free and obedient daughter that I attempt to be. "When are you leaving?"

"Want us gone so soon?" Dad jokes.

"Yeah, I'm going to throw a gigantic party." I roll my eyes. I shield my mouth with my hand and lean forward, "Don't tell my parents," I add. My mom and dad know that I'm not by any means rebellious. Heck, I don't even like skipping school when I'm sick.

I know, it's sad. Leave me alone.

"We'll be leaving next week," Mom perks up, "And we'll be gone for 5 weeks. Oh it's going to be amazing!" she gushes.

My eyebrows shoot skywards. 5 weeks was a very long time to be home alone. "5 weeks? Wow. I could throw lots of parties," I mutter to myself. When I catch the look on my parents' faces, I smile, "Figuratively-speaking."

"It better be. But even if you wanted to, you couldn't," dad responds, "Because you'll be staying at Marisa and Jay's home."

Marisa and Jay are close friends of my parents. I have only met them a few times in my life, though they seem like very decent people. Marisa works for my parents' business, while Jay is an energy engineer. They are the closest thing my parents have to friends since neither of them have time for socialising. Marisa and Jay have a son my age, too - Blake Parker. He doesn't seem like the nicest person in the world, yet, then again, I've never encountered him despite attending the same high school as him. He tends to keep to himself and his best friends most of the time, since he isn't very fond of humans in general. I'd compare him to a ghost; everybody talks to him, yet rarely anyone has encountered him.

"You don't need to pack too heavily. You can always just come back here to pick up more stuff."

"We would've let you stay home," Dad fills in, "But since we're gone for so long, we'd rather you stay with someone we both know and are comfortable for you to be with."

"Okay, that's fine. Just don't have too much fun without me."

Mom beams in excitement and embraces me in a strong hug that squeezes the air out of me and makes breathing a strenuous task. "Thank you so much Bront," she mumbles into my shoulder. "I hope you're not too upset about staying with Blake Parker, I know you two are very different people, but I think this might even be a nice experience for the both of you... You can learn from each other."

I raise an eyebrow, "Is this another one of your 'set-Bronte-up-with-a-random-boy-so-that-you-can-have-stupid-grandkids' thing?"

Mom gasps in offence,  "Britney and Timothy are not stupid!"

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