"Tamsin?"

It was foggy, but I heard someone calling my name. Yet I didn't want to open my eyes. Exhaustion and sleep. I still wanted to sleep. I made a quiet sound of protest and tucked myself further into my comforter.

"Tamsin, honey?" I heard again.

My eyes shot open, and I shot up in bed. I looked toward the door and noticed it was still closed.

Mom!

It was my mom!

My mom called me from the other side. She knocked on the door. I breathed a sigh of relief, but that was short-lived. I remembered Kai sleeping next to me. My head whipped toward the left side of my bed and I saw him sleeping still.

"Tamsin? It is 6:13 already. You have to get up for school." My mom wasn't supposed to be home. They worked early and are usually gone by five.

"Uh, yeah. I'm up," I called quickly while shoving my fingers through my tangled hair.

"Open the door, Tamsin."

My heart dropped when I heard my mom's voice rose. She was getting agitated and if I don't respond soon, she'll be coming in.

"Yeah, one sec!"

I turned to Kai and began shaking him frantically. When he didn't respond, I shove him hard and almost off the bed. He groaned in protest and I had to jump on him to cover his mouth with my hand. His eyes flew open as soon as he felt my body on top of his. I put a finger to my lips to shush him before pointing to the door.

"Open it, Tamsin." My mom said impatiently.

Kai got up. I watched him hurry to the closet.

"No!" I whisper shouted. He turned back to me. My closet wouldn't fit him. I fast walked and grabbed his wrist before dragging him back to the bed. I pointed for him to get under. He shook his head and pointed to the closet. I pointed under the bed.

"I'm not going to hide under your bed."

"Hurry!"

"Tamsin."

"Hold on, mom. I'm not decent right now. Give me a minute."

I grabbed Kai's shoulder and shoved him down. He clenched his teeth and I could see he was annoyed with me.

"Just this once. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I pleaded.

"You owe me."

I nodded quickly before urging him to go back under the bed. I watched him get on his stomach and slid under. When he disappeared, I ran to the door and opened it. My mom was dressed in her nurse scrub did a quick look me over. She then peaked inside my room. She wasn't suspicious, because I have never disobeyed their house rules before.

"Are you alright?" she asked. I recalled my period cramps. It wasn't hurting as much right now. I shook my head.

"I'm fine now."

"Well, I made you breakfast. Hurry and get ready for school. I'll talk to you later tonight." She leaned forward to kiss my forehead. Then she disappeared down the hallway. I didn't move from my position until I heard the front door close and my mom's car roaring out of the driveway.

I sighed in relief before hurrying over to Kai. I knelt on my knees and lifted the comforter.

"You can come out now."

Kai slid back out and fell onto his butt with his back against my bed. He brought his knees up and propped his arms on top of them. He lifted his head and looked me over.

I realized I must look like a mess with just getting up from bed. I started smoothing out my hair as best as I could. Compared to me, Kai looked like he was born to look good without trying. His eyes roamed me up and down.

I stood up.

"I should get ready."

Kai got up, and I turned around quickly to tell him.

"I'll meet you downstairs. My mom made breakfast. You could have anything you want. I'll be down soon."

He nodded and walked out of my room. Before getting ready, I exhaled heavily. I picked an oversized black t-shirt and black sweatpants. I didn't want another incident like yesterday to happen again.

I cleaned up as much as I could in ten minutes before rushing downstairs. When I got to the kitchen, he was sitting at the table and eating scrambled eggs and pancakes. It was a weird feeling to see him in my house and eating, but he looked comfortable and like he has done this more than a million times.

I made myself a plate before sitting down across from him. He looked up from his plate to observe me.

"What?" I asked defensively.

He shrugged. "Is it just you and your parents?"

I nodded and ate some scrambled eggs.

"What do they do?"

"My mom is a nurse and my dad's a history professor. What about you?"

Kai shrugged. "My dad's a mechanic at Billy's Auto."

"So, is he part of the reason you ride a bike?"

"No, I ride because I like how it feels."

I nodded while taking another bite of the scrambled eggs. I stabbed at the breakfast sausage next and took a bite out of it.

"Is it just you and your dad?"

"Yes." He stood up from his seat and walked over to the sink. He washed his plate and dried it off with the dish towel nearby.

I shoveled my food into my mouth before hurrying over to him. I washed my plate quickly. When we finished, I glanced at my wristwatch and noticed that fifteen minutes till school starts. I usually head out about 30 minutes early to grab some coffee and walk, but now it seems I might be late either way.

There was only one other option.

I looked up to see that Kai was already walking to the front door.

"Wait!" I hurried to grab my backpack from the vinyl flooring of the kitchen and chased after him.

Kai walked out first. I locked the door from inside before closing it. Without another thought, I hurried off the porch and followed closely after Kai. He stopped when he noticed I was still following him. I stared at his tall, broad backside. When he turned around, he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Why are you following me?" he asked.

"I-I thought you could give me a ride to school."

"No." Kai turned away from me and walked to his bike.

"But we are heading in the same direction," I protested. My backpack strap was slipping off my shoulders and I pushed it back over my shoulders.

Kai stopped and turned back to me.

"What did I do to make you think we are friends?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"You didn't have to do anything. We just are."

That response seemed to further irritate him because his eyebrows furrowed deeper. Kai practically glared at me. It didn't bother me, though. I really needed a ride to school.

"You made me late."

"You made me sleep in your room all night."

"We only slept."

Kai rolled his eyes and turned around again. In a desperate act, I grabbed onto his left arm. He wasn't fazed, though. The boy continued to walk and half dragged me.

"I'm going to be late for school. I'm never late. If I'm late, my parents would know and then I'll have to sit through another lecture session with my parents," I said rapidly.

When we reached his bike, I changed from his arm to the back of his shirt. I tug on the cotton material to stop him. He huffed out loud before turning to look at me again.

"Please, I promise not to bother you. As soon as we get there, I'll jump off. No one would ever know that we came together."

"What would you give me if I gave you a ride?"

"What?" I responded, confused now.

Kai crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow.

"The ride ain't free, Dollface."

"What do you want?" I asked. A feeling of hesitation settled in the pit of my stomach.

"One day of you doing everything I ask of you."

I glanced at my watch and realized I had little a choice. Either I agree with Kai or I get several hours of my parents' lectures. I nodded my head in agreement. The second I agreed, I felt I had made a huge mistake. Kai's smile curved almost devilishly.

Did I just make a deal with the Devil?

Kai turned and walked to his bike. I got on right behind him. He handed me his helmet, and I put it on. Then I wrapped my arms around Kai's waist. A second later, he started the bike and revved off. It didn't take long till we arrived at school. He pulled into the parking lot and parked his bike.

As soon as he parked, I took off his helmet and handed it to him. I jumped off his bike and started for the school building at a run, but was stopped abruptly. Kai's hand is wrapped around my wrist. I turned to look at where our hands were connecting before looking at him. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair roughly as to smooth out the flying hair.

"We are going to be late, Kai."

"Don't worry, Dollface. You'll make it. I just wanted to remind you of our deal. You'll do everything I ask today."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"That's childish."

"Are you going to back out now?"

"Of course not. You took me to school. It'll be unethical of me to go back on our deal."

He nodded his head, happy with my response.

Thankfully, I made it to my first class just in time. A minute later and I'll be tardy. I was breathing and sweating. The sweatpants were a good choice, but it also made me sweat like crazy. I walked in and tied my hair up into a messy bun.

Avery sat at the desk next to mine. She leaned over to me.

"You're late."

I gave her a look. "I had a rough night and morning."

"Tell me about it after class."

I nodded, and Avery leaned back into her seat. Class started normally. After class finished, Avery walked over to my desk. Everyone was already getting up and leaving.

"So, what happened?"

I packed the rest of my stuff into my backpack before standing up and grabbing onto Avery's arm. I leaned closer to her and whispered about everything that had happened. Avery listened intently. At the end of it all, she broke out laughing.

"It's not funny!" I protested.

"I didn't realize you were that close to Kai. He seemed pretty hard to be friends with."

"We aren't friends." Total opposite of what I said earlier to Kai, but I didn't want to admit to Avery that I was close to Kai. For some reason, I wanted to deny it.

"Girl, the boy saw your red, bloody- "I slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Don't say it. I am still trying to move on from yesterday's trauma."

Avery laughed as soon as I removed my hand. We walked down the hallway and to our lockers. They were right next to each other. I spun my locker combination in before popping it open. I opened my backpack and began putting textbooks back and taking textbooks out.

"My parents are going to be gone this weekend. I was thinking about throwing a party at my house. Are you able to come?"

"Is there a reason?" I asked.

Avery shrugged. "Just for the heck of it. C'mon, just another couple more months and we are off to the university. I want to party."

"Your parents are going to kill you."

"They won't know if no one tells them."

"Your neighbors will tell him."

Avery smiled before shrugging. "He'll yell at me and then get over it."

I felt a sudden shadow loom over me and my back started tingling. Avery's eyes slid from me to whatever was behind me. When she looked at me again, she was giving me a sly grin.

"He's here, isn't he?"

I turned around to look and sighed.

"So soon?" I asked.

"I'll see you later." Avery tapped my shoulders, but before slipping away, she stopped to look at Kai, "I'm having a house party this weekend. Little Tamsin here will be there. I hope you are free to come."

"I didn't- "Before I could protest, Avery waved by and walked away.

I sighed again.

"Are you ready?" Kai asked.

Ready as I can be, I thought.