A Good Girl’s Guide To Bad Boys

The cafe was something like Starbucks but quainter and not quite so busy. I took Seb’s advice and ordered the cappuccino before trailing behind him to a booth in the far corner.

‘Does he get along with anybody in your family?’ I joked, attempting to look like I wasn’t digging in his personal life.

‘His mum, that’s about it,’ Seb said, looking at me over the rim of his cup.

‘You don’t have the same mother?’ I asked and he chuckled.

‘We’re only a few months difference in age,’ he clarified and I nodded, blushing. ‘He doesn’t really help himself with the family side of things, though,’ he added.

‘How so?’ I pushed.

‘Let’s just say that he walked out on a lot of things, some more important than others,’ he replied in a hushed tone. He glanced around the cafe before leaning on the table with a small smile. ‘Anyway, enough about me. Have you got any siblings?’ he asked.

‘Nope, only child. You, apart from Hunter?’ I replied.

‘Nope,’ he answered, leaning back in his chair. ‘What do your parents do?’ he asked.

‘My dad works in a law firm and my mum designs clothes, yours?’

Seb smirked. ‘My mum is a nurse,’ he replied. I tried to ignore the fact that he didn’t mention his father, the challenging glint in his eye prevented me from pushing it.

We managed about an hour of small talk about families, hobbies and chocolate before Seb decided to drop me home. Just as I got to the lift, my phone started to blast out my mum’s personal ringtone.

‘Hey, Mum,’ I replied in a chirpy tone, grimacing as the lift doors clamped shut.

‘You haven’t called for a few days,’ were her first words. I rolled my eyes, looking at the tattered ceiling in exasperation.

‘I know, I’ve been busy studying, Mum,’ I breathed out. The doors opened and I strolled out towards the door to our apartment.

‘I hope you are, young lady.’ She continued to talk but I ignored her as soon as I smelt a smoky, earthy stench attack me. Frowning, I walked into the front room, only to find Hunter and another guy with what looked like a lump of drugs.

‘Is that pot!?’ I exclaimed far too loudly, snapping the attention of both boys into my direction.

‘Andrea Celeste Deeks, are you taking drugs?!’ my mother’s voice screeched through the end of the link and I stiffened. I was pretty sure that all the colour had drained from my face.

‘No, mum, pot as in cooking pot,’ I replied nervously, glaring in Hunter’s direction as he looked at me lazily. The guy beside him looked stoned out of his head so I breathed through my mouth, walking into the other room, trying to get away from the smell.