Bastard(7)

Just my luck as I walk down the drive, Carter and his mother come out of their front door. “Morning, Indiana,” she says to me. “This is my son, Carter. The one I was telling you about.”

“We met yesterday,” I reply, plastering a fake smile on my face.

“Oh, you didn’t tell me that,” she says turning her attention back to her son. I use that time to narrow my eyes at him. I have a good mind to tell his mother how rude her son is. Maybe he’s adopted. How else could someone so lovely have such a prick for a kid?

Now that he’s standing by his mother, I see they have the same eyes. That’s pretty much it though. He must get his looks from his father. I bet he’s good looking. His mother is extremely attractive, but her features are fairer than Carter’s.

“Slipped my mind, I guess,” he says, looking my way and winking. Ugh!

“Why don’t you give Indiana a lift to school, since you’re both heading the same way? It’ll give you a chance to get to know each other better.” What little I know about him is enough.

“No,” we both say in unison.

“Carter,” she scolds, causing him to frown at me. “It will do you good to have a friend on your first day.” I almost want to laugh at her comment. Friends is something I doubt we’ll ever be.

“Thanks anyway, Mrs. Shepard. I usually get the bus to school.”

“Don’t be silly. Carter will drive you. Won’t you?” she says nudging him.

“Fine,” he exhales while rolling his eyes in frustration. Even when he’s angry he still looks sexy. That just pisses me off even more. Getting in the car with him is the last thing I want to do. If giving me a lift is going to annoy him though, then I’m all in. I’ll take pleasure out of giving him a taste of his own medicine.

“Okay. That’ll be great,” I say smiling at his mother. When she turns to look at her son, I wink at him. I grin when his eyes narrow. Two can play at this game buddy.

“Have a nice day you two,” she says sweetly. How she could’ve produced such a monster is beyond me.

“Bye, Mum.” I’m surprised when he bends down and gently kisses her cheek. She smiles up at him. He’s so tall he towers over her petite frame.

“Nice car,” I say once I’m seated in the passenger seat. He grunts at my comment. I roll my eyes. I should’ve known better than to give him a compliment.

I have no idea what type of car it is. It’s an oldish type, I know that much. It looks like it’s in the process of being done up. A muscle car I think they’re called. Don’t quote me on that. My dad will know. He loves anything to do with cars.

It’s a ten-minute drive to school. I decide to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the journey. Well, that was my plan until he leans over when we’re stopped at a red light, and retrieves a packet of cigarettes from the glove compartment.

After he lights one up, he throws the packet in the centre console. “You shouldn’t smoke you know,” I say. “It’s not good for you. Don’t you read the warning labels on the packet?” I pick up his cigarette packet and point to the words ‘SMOKING KILLS’ that’s written in large bold font.

He blows a puff of smoke in my face before snatching the packet out of my hand. “Mind your own fucking business, kid. You really think I give a shit if I die?”

“Why would you say that?” I ask, horrified. Hearing him say that upsets me. I know firsthand how devastating cancer can be. “Carter?” I add when he doesn’t answer me.

“What?” he sighs, looking over at me.

“You want to die?” I see what looks like sadness briefly cross his features before he recovers. Returning back to that hard-arse look he always seems to wear.

“I didn’t say I want to die. I just said I don’t care if I do.”

“Well that’s just sad.”

“Listen, stop with all the damn questions. I’m only giving you a lift because my mum made me. We’re not friends. Got it.”

“Got it.” Loud and clear you stupid jerk. I turn my head to look out the window. “Word of advice. If you want to make any friends here, I suggest you lose the bad attitude. This is a small town. You don’t want to get a bad reputation on your first day.” He doesn’t bother replying to my comment.

We travel the rest of the way in silence. When we reach the street the school is situated on, he pulls over to the curb. “Get out,” he barks.

“What? The school is further down the road.”

“I know,” he says smirking. “If you’re so worried about my reputation, you’ll understand why I don’t want to be seen travelling to school with a kid in my car.”