On Monday, I'm woken up by my alarm, which happened to be my least favorite sound.

Groaning, I turning onto my stomach before stretching my arm out to turn off my alarm.

When I was lying on my back again, my eyes slowly fluttered open, trying to adjust to the brightness escaping from behind my curtains.

"Amanda, are you up?" Dad shouted from downstairs, and I mumbled a yes.

That, of course, wasn't enough for him. Seconds later, loud footsteps rumbled the walls before my bedroom door was thrown open.

"I'm up dad, I'm up," I yawned just before looking at him, noticing he had a large glass of water in his hold.

My brows furrowed at his frozen posture before my eyes began to widen. "Were you gonna spill water on me?"

Dad chuckled nervously. "I'll see you downstairs," he said before turning around and leaving my bedroom with the door wide open.

Grumbling a string of curse words, I stood up grudgingly from my bed and closed my bedroom door before getting ready.

In fifteen minutes, my teeth were brushed, hair was in a high ponytail, and I was dressed in salt and pepper sweatpants and a long sleeve white shirt.

Once I've grabbed my phone from on top of my comforter, I left my bedroom just before walking down the stairs slowly.

Just before my feet landed on the first floor, I noticed my dad rummaging through piles of sheets while swearing under his breath.

What the hell is going on with him?

I began to slow my steps as I was nearing behind him.

All I was able to read from the papers was a last name. Beckett.

Why does that last name sound so familiar?

Just before I could look for any more clues, dad turned around with his eyes wide open.

"Hey hon," he said quickly just before shoving all of his papers into a large file folder.

After mumbling a hello, I went to the stove and saw two sunny side up eggs on a white plate, ready to be eaten.

"It's for you," dad explained, and I thanked him before sitting on the bar stool, trying to casually look over my shoulder from time to time to see what he was doing.

Instead of going through his papers, he decided to sit in front of it.

Twenty or so minutes had passed until my phone rang with a notification. Briefly looking to my phone, I noticed it was from Erin, who said she was parked out front of my house.

"Erin's here. I'll see you after school dad," I said, and he looked up from his folder to send me a smile.

Once he's said goodbye, I grabbed my school bag before slipping into my running shoes.

I stepped foot out of my house just as I saw Erin's car parked in my driveway.

A smile took place on my lips as I jogged down the stairs in front of me before standing in front of the passenger door.

"Hey," I greeted, stepping inside her car.

"Sup," Erin replied, waiting for me to buckle my seat belt before reversing out of the driveway.

"Not much, you?" I asked before a small yawn left me.

Erin noticed my state of mind before looking back to the road ahead of her. "Shitty sleep?"

Another yawn left me before I replied. "I spent all of last night catching up to a show I just started," I explained, and Erin's brows furrowed.

"What show?"

"Marvel's Daredevil. I really like it," I explained, and Erin's lower lip pouted slightly before nodding her head.

"Maybe I'll try watching it."

For the last few minutes, we were in the car in peace. That was until we left her parked car outside of the school.

As we were walking towards the school, my eyes roamed around the school's parking lot and suddenly found a head of shoulder length, dirty blond hair.

Focusing more closely, I noticed it was Dean, who was talking to his group of friends.

Suddenly, his baby blue eyes met mine, and his smirk was slowly transformed to a smug smile.

Dean nodded his head discreetly in greeting, and my lip tipped up slightly before awkwardly waving.

Behind me, Erin slapped my shoulder and I looked behind me to see her eyes slightly widened.

"What?" I asked, turning my body to face her.

Erin tilted her head to the side, and moved her eyes in the direction behind me.

I began to look over my shoulder, only to see Tyler glaring at Dean, who was still looking at me with a smirk.

"Who's that guy?" Erin asked, and I turned back around to look at her.

"Remember how I went to that dinner Saturday?" I asked, which Erin nodded to. "She's the woman's son."

She licked her lower lip before eyeing him over my shoulder. "He's pretty hot. He in our grade?"

Once I've nodded, I looked over my shoulder to look at him again. "His name's Dean," I said before looking back to Erin.

"Well, it looks like my brother doesn't really like him," she laughed, and I glanced at Tyler once again, however, instead of looking at Dean, his eyes met mine.

Taking that as an invite to join Erin and I, Tyler began walking to us, with Travis falling closely behind.

"Who's the guy?" Tyler asked once we met him in the middle of the schools parking lot.

I sighed, already getting annoyed that I have to continue to repeat myself. "That dinner I went to on Saturday? He was there."

Tyler crossed his arms over his chest, showing off his broad arms. A hard glare was formed on his face, and I got worried that he was mad at me.

However, instead of showing how I felt, I replicated his exact actions.

"What?" I asked with a hard voice, and his eyebrows raised.

"Who's he to you?" He asked, which I had no idea how to answer.

My mouth opened, but no words came out.

Thankfully, the warning bell rang, and my shoulders sagged before my arms dropped down.

"Can we just talk about this later?" I grumbled, and he sighed.

"We'll talk at lunch, then."

➸

My first two classes went by roughly.

Considering how my thoughts were either swamped with Tyler or my dad, it was hard to focus.

Especially with my chemistry teacher talking about our test next Monday.

By the time it was lunch, Erin and I walked next to each other as we headed to the cafeteria.

I chose not to buy anything this time, knowing I had a granola bar in one of the pockets in my bag.

Once we've chosen a seat by the end of the cafeteria, I stared at Erin's meal while thinking of what my father could be freaking out about.

Is his case going to shit?

"Hey," someone greeted, and I looked up to see Tyler looking at me weirdly.

"Hi," I smiled, moving my chair to the left so Tyler could comfortably sit next to me.

Lifting my eyes slightly to look at Erin, I noticed her hiding her smirk just before stuffing her mouth with more pasta.

Tyler took his spot next to me just as Travis grudgingly sat next to Erin, who laughed at his facial expression.

"Do you not know how to shave? You look like you're one step closer to looking homeless," Erin laughed, and a snort left me as I watched Travis' expression harden.

Travis retorted seconds later, and I dropped my gaze lower to the table just as their bickering began.

After a few minutes passed, I was onto my third idea to what my father might be freaking out about when Tyler moved his chair closer to me.

"What's going on with you?" Tyler whispered next to me, and I looked up to see his brows furrowed with worry.

A sigh left me. "My dad. He's been acting weird ever since we got back home."

Tyler slowly nodded. "Have any clue why?"

I shook my head before shifting my gaze outside the windows. "No idea. I'm thinking it's because of the case he's working on."

He stayed silent for a short while, which made me look back to him. "How about I'll help you figure out what's going on," Tyler said with a mischievous smirk.

My lips couldn't help but form a smile. "Sure."

His brows suddenly furrowed before looking off to the distance. "How about we call it... mission eggplant?"

"Why eggplant?" I laughed, and he shrugged but still didn't lose his smirk.

Before he was able to reply, someone came up to our table, capturing all of our attentions.

Dean, who was dressed in a white long sleeve shirt and dark jeans, stood by the front of the table, locking his attention on me.

"Hey darling," he greeted, causing Erin and Travis to stop their bickering before placing their attention on my conversation with Dean.

"Hi," I smiled tightly.

Dean moved his gaze around everyone sitting around me — however, his eyes lingered for a few seconds on Tyler before looking back to me with a smirk. "We're still on for Friday, right?"

Inside, my blood was boiling, already knowing that everyone's eyes were on me. I wanted to punch something.

But instead, I faked a smile. "Yup."

His smirk lifted before eyeing Tyler once again. "I'll pick you up at six, darling."

"See you then," I said, hoping he's getting the message to leave.

Thankfully, he left shortly after, and Tyler's jaw clenched as I turned to face him.

"You're going out on a date with him?" He asked, and a sigh left me.

"Yes, but he said if I don't like what we're going to do, I could leave," I chirped, but Tyler didn't lose his glare.

I sighed, and looked inside my bag to distract myself.

My granola bar came into view, and I smiled just before pulling it out of my bag.

"So you like him?" Tyler asked once I've ripped open the wrapping.

"No," I scoffed loudly, causing some outsiders to look back and furrow their brows.

Tyler slowly nodded in understanding, loosening his jaw slightly, but his posture was still stiff as a rock.

Taking a bite from my granola bar, I sighed, hoping that his reaction will blow over.

➸

Lunch passed by painfully slow, which it consisted of Tyler staying silent while Erin desperately tried to make conversation.

After school, my studies in film class ended smoothly, and I quickly dashed out of the classroom to meet up with Erin by her locker.

As we were about to head out of the school, someone locked their arms with my own just before tugging it towards another direction.

My eyes widened, looking over my shoulder to see Erin gaping at my predicament.

Turning to my side, I noticed it was Tyler locking his arm with me.

I couldn't hold back my chuckle as I watched him zig-zag between the people standing lazily in the parking lot.

Once we were standing in front of his car, we slowed our steps so we were next to the passenger door.

Within seconds, Tyler opened the door for me and closing it shut once I was seated safely inside.

"What was that about?" I asked with a laugh once Tyler opened the driver's door.

"We're going to hang out," he shrugged, and my eyes rolled as he closed his door.

"Your house or mine?" Tyler asked as he drove out of the parking lot.

I shrugged, looking outside to see all of the people walking on the sidewalk. "My house is good."

For the next few minutes, we drove to my house in silence.

Once we were parked outside my house, we left the car simultaneously before heading to my front porch.

When I unlocked my front door, I walked inside with Tyler following behind me.

My eyes roamed around the kitchen table that was once filled with stacks of papers, and I was currently wishing that I had the courage to rummage though my dad's things.

"Movie?" Tyler asked, plopping himself down on the couch in front of the television.

Tossing my bag on the kitchen table, I threw in a nod in agreement before grabbing us water.

After ten minutes from scrolling through Netflix, Tyler and I both agreed on watching John Wick, however, for the first twenty or so minutes, my mind was drifted off somewhere else.

"What's going on, baby?" Tyler asked me later on, pausing the movie before turning his body to face me.

I didn't respond, but I chose to break through my exterior and let him really look at me to see what was swarming through my mind.

"Dad?" He asked slowly, moving closer slightly.

I nodded, looking around my house to see if something remotely seemed off.

When my eyes met Tyler's, his lip tipped up into a soft smile. "Wanna start mission eggplant now?"

A laugh left me, and his smile broadened. "Okay," I smiled, moving slightly closer to him.

Tyler's smile slowly began to fade as his gaze shifted down from my eyes to my lips, and I couldn't help but lick my lower lip. Tyler followed the movement, and my eyes moved around his facial expression before resting on his lips.

What's going on between the both of us?

My mind was swarmed with hundreds of different thoughts, but for this moment, it wasn't filled with my dad.

It was filled with Tyler.

He began to inch closer, and my lips automatically parted.

However, just before our lips were finally able to meet, the front door to my house was thrown open, and Tyler and I quickly moved apart, sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

"Hi dad," I said breathlessly, watching him come inside with a briefcase in his hold.

He eyed Tyler and I once before focusing on me. "Hi hon."

"Why are you home early?" I asked, noticing on the clock on the wall that it's only four.

"I asked if I could work on my case from home," he explained slowly, and I nodded, eyeing Tyler quickly before looking back to my dad.

"Well, we were just watching a movie!" I shouted excitedly, trying to act as though nothing had happened moments before.

However, by the look Tyler was giving me, I knew I couldn't hide the fact my heart was racing in my chest.

➸