The Bad Boy Next Room (Charlie and Taylor)

At nine in the morning, Charlie was cooking eggs for breakfast. She froze when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Her heart raced, hoping, but at the same time, she was angry!

Taylor had not returned the previous night. Because of that, she had not gotten any sleep, and she had to study for an exam the next day. She was worried about Taylor and whether he had fought with his mother, but he had not even told her what was happening! No calls, no texts!

She marched to the door and braced herself. When she opened it, she saw Taylor leaning on the doorframe, saying, "Miss me?"

"Really, Taylor? Not even a text?" Charlie asked. "I called. I texted like a hundred times-"

"I'm sorry," Taylor said, interrupting her scolding. He walked in and was about to explain when he sniffed. "Are you... cooking?"

"Oh my God!" Charlie screamed, running to the kitchen.

Taylor chased after her. While Charlie had turned off the induction stove, Taylor searched for the frying pan lid and covered the burned eggs. Then, he carried the frying pan out to the balcony to let the smoke out.

When Taylor returned, he said, "Charlie, what will you do without me? I was only gone for twelve hours. Why don't you just marry me if you're going to be this careless without me?"

"Arrgh!" Charlie folded her arms across her chest. She muttered, "Marry you? I don't think your mom even likes me."

"Charlie, no. It's not that," Taylor said. He urged her to take a seat on the couch. "Come here, let me explain."

They both sat next to each other in silence for a few seconds. Finally, Taylor said, "Amber Collins. Amber was one of a kind... not in a good way."

"I'm listening," Charlie said.

"So, I met Amber in my third year of high school. She was a transferee. She was charming, simple, but

beautiful. She dressed like thoset

big-city girls- a bit fashionable but still a little conservative." Taylor sucked in a deep breath, looking unwilling to continue. He said, "But you, Charlie, are more beautiful and smart-"

"Stop," Charlie said. "I want to hear about Amber."

"Fine." Taylor sucked in a deep breath. He looked distantly before resuming, "So, being pretty and new, Amber easily became the most admired girl at Luxford Westvale Academy. It's a private school here in town for pre-college students."

"Her parents appeared to be well-off too and respectable. They had white-collar jobs. I never saw anything wrong with her, and to be fair, netther did my parents- a least, at first," Taylor shared.Ol wasn't initially attracted to her until our fourth year of high séhool, when a group of male students started bullying her."

"They were picking on her at the cafeteria, so I stepped in. That's basically how we became friends. We stayed friends for half a year until I pursued her as a girlfriend."

Charlie just nodded. Should she be jealous? But then again, she had dated Luke for two years! She tried not to look affected as she asked, "Go on."

"So, when she became my girlfriend, I invited her to our family properties, especially the manor. Grandpa lived there at the time. I was open about our relationship to our parents, and they were fine with it as long as I knew my boundaries," Taylor added. "Naturally, she got to witness some family drama. After all, Grandpa was very strict."

"Now and then, news about my grandpa would leak, like how he fired a gardener.

It was taken out of context and published on an untraceable website with a

headline saying 'Governor Turns His Back on Hardworking Gardener!""

"On another occasion, my Aunt's best friend visited. She was close to Grandpa. They hugged, and then, another headline came out: 'Governor Carrington Having an Affair with a Younger Woman.""

"When Grandpa was forcing my mother to run for mayor, another headline showed a photo of them arguing inside the house! I remember it went something like, 'Toxic Parenting? Governor Forces Child into Political Spotlight!""

Shaking his head, Taylor added, "There were articles suggesting that we, the Carringtons, often fought. We tried to take down the website, but another one would pop up whenever Grandpa's team succeeded, and it's constantly shared on social media."

"We understood it was a smear tactic in politics, but what bothered us was how they were able to get pictures and even hear about things that never left the walls of the Carrington estate."noveldrama