My mom had gotten home before me surprisingly, I quickly hopped out of my vehicle and walked inside seeing that she had also picked Athena up from next door. She looked a little spooked. "Mom are you okay?" She jumped and looked my way "Oh Scarlett, of course, I'm okay you just scared me is all." I brushed it off chuckling "sorry." She smiled my way asking if I could help her prepare dinner. I nodded instantly helping her.
I wonder if Jake would be okay with us using his kitchen because I don't want my parents knowing I have to do a school project with him after I've avoided him for so long. I haven't been over there in a while I wonder if his parents would still be okay with me. I know Jake's mom adored me but I don't know about his dad.
My dad got home just in time for dinner and we all sat down to eat. My brother would be here if he hadn't just moved out right when we all started getting along again. My Nana moved into assisted living. She wouldn't go into an old folk's home but at least she went somewhere that she would always have help every day. I would go and visit her more often if it wasn't so far and it's already a decent drive to school since we live further in the forest. I honestly love this house and hope my parents are okay with me staying longer. I do want an apartment of my own but I'm a very paranoid person so I don't know how well that would go.
My dad snapped me out of my thoughts by calling my name, "Scarlett, your mother and I are going on a small trip for my work to Vegas so you'll have the house to yourself." I smiled and nodded until I frowned deeply hearing what he said next. "No house parties while we are gone you got that." I laughed "Ha the only real friends I have are Sam and Jamie and I know you guys are okay with them coming over." He chuckled knowing damn well I wouldn't have a party without asking them first. "When are you guys going?" My dad sighed, he wasn't fond of long trips; "We will be gone for 10 days and we leave early tomorrow morning." My eyes went wide "10 days!?" He nodded "I trust you to keep the house safe and you'll be safe as well." I nodded in shock as I got up to help my mom clean up after our dinner.
They are gonna be gone for 10 freaking days. I'm used to being home for a while but not that long. I'm a very paranoid person and especially now that I've realized who I truly am and I have no idea how to ask my parents why they haven't told me anything about it. I mean I guess it's kinda hard to come clean about your family's past when they don't realize that I know. For some odd reason, I can't bring myself to ask so I head upstairs after helping my mom clean up. After grabbing Athena from the bottom of the stairs I ran up and entered my quiet room.
I sat at my window seat just thinking while looking out into the forest behind my house. I kept fighting with myself on whether I should go over to Jake's house and start the project or to just open my laptop and start editing tomorrow's paper for work. I narrowed my eyes at the small sudden movement I saw and got up to go investigate.
I slowly walked to the entrance of the forest and got a closer look. I was about to step into it until I heard my dad call from behind me. "Scar what are you doing?" I jumped spinning around the feeling of something mysterious in the forest vanished from my thoughts. "Oh, nothing. Why what's up?" He gave me an apologetic smile "Could you help us pack? 10 days is a lot to try and pack for." I chuckled nodding and walked inside behind him. When I went to close the door I locked eyes with a distant figure in the forest and froze for a second. Those amber pools look so familiar. As soon as they appeared they disappeared leaving me a little disappointed and curious. I shrugged and went upstairs to help my parents pack for their big trip.
Shutting my laptop I quickly checked my phone getting a text from my boss approving of my work for the editing tomorrow and was told I was done for the day. I also had a text from Tonnie so out of curiosity I tapped on her name and read the ridiculous text she sent me.
'I'm at Jake's right now, you should come over. I promise none of those guys from school are here.'
I laughed coldly, yeah right like I would go over there. You need to work on your project. I growled at my thoughts reluctantly getting up and letting my mom, who was in the kitchen, know that I was going out for some fresh air and I would be back later. She waved me off and I walked to Jake's. I know I could've driven my truck but I wasn't in a hurry to get over there. I texted Tonnie back letting her know I was on my way after a little bit of contemplation.
I walked past Grandma Betty's house and knew I was only about 30 feet away so I slowed my pace, again not really wanting to be here but for some reason, I felt like I had to. I silently convinced myself it was for the school project. I walked up the driveway about halfway and was blocked by a gate that I could have sworn was always left open no matter what. I approached the small button next to the gate and it seemed to call someone. I knew who answered as soon as I heard the voice, "Hello, who's there, and what do you want?" I chuckled plainly "It's Scarlett, Tonnie asked me to come over and we have the assignment to do." I heard him curse lightly and then the gate opened. I started walking down the rest of the driveway until Jake came running out with one of his hoodies. Without a word, he wrapped it around me and put the hood up. "Please don't ask and keep your head down." I just nodded a little scared at why I had to do this and we approached an oversized shed-like building. A lot has changed since I've shut him out.
We got into the shed-like building and he allowed the hood to fall and walked away from me towards the living room area where I saw Tonnie. I put my arms through the sleeves since I was cold anyway and approached her. She smiled at me standing up and pulled me into a hug. Jake gave us a questioning glance commented on it. "You guys best friends now?" I gave him a cold look and sat down on the couch while Tonnie chuckled, "I mean she is my science partner and I needed another girl here to back me up." He sighed heavily and his phone rang. Jake cursed and answered it to someone yelling through the phone and I recognized the voice as his dad.
"Jake, who the hell was that at the gate? I told you I want to know who is here at all times!" He rubbed his head in frustration "It was just some kids messing around I took care of them." His dad growled loudly through the phone and Jake looked at me with a worried expression that he masked but I saw it in his eyes. His eyes. Grey. I shook my head looking down at my lap still listening to the conversation. "Then why did someone see you bring a person over to your shed?" Jake's dad hung up the phone all of a sudden and then he heard a rough knock at the door. Tonnie sprang up standing in front of me as the door was opened abruptly and Jake's glaring father looked towards my small figure attempting to hide behind Tonnie. He pointed an aggressive finger towards me and I got up and backed up. "Who are you?" Jake instantly stood in front of me nearly growling at his dad. "It's Scarlett, remember? I used to hang out with her when we were little." He put his arm down no longer aggressively pointing at me as he remembered but he still looked pissed. He gave Jake a hard look but he spoke up again "Look dad we have a project for school to do that's why she's here." He seemed to back off after that. "That better be all." he left without another word.
Okay so maybe he didn't want me here but what about his mom. Jake walked away aggressively pulling at his hair and then I spoke up in a joking tone, "Is your mom going to be that aggressive towards me." He tensed and didn't say anything. Tonnie put her hand on my shoulder "She is no longer with us." I froze nearly heartbroken from the newfound information. Collapsing onto the couch I put my head in my hands. I looked up towards Jake, guilt clearly swarming in my eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't know." He shook his head "It's fine Scar don't worry about it." I looked down again. I couldn't stop the question from slipping from my lips "How long?" He sighed heavily "A week after you stopped talking to me."
I couldn't control my legs as they brought me towards him and I hugged him tightly, he instantly wrapped his strong arms around me. He understood why I did this, I left him hanging so he felt like he had no one to go to. I whispered into the hug, "I'm so sorry." I let go clearing my throat and saw that there was a kitchen in this shed so I decided to change the subject. "So what do you want to cook?" Jake chuckled, "I think I'll leave that up to the natural-born chef." A light shade of pink dusted my cheeks and I looked away trying to cool them down and I noticed Tonnie on her way to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" She looked up and just winked at me then left. I huffed mumbling "traitor." Jake laughed taking out his laptop and started a google slides presentation. I bumped him out of the way taking over the typing and writing out the start of the presentation. In the corner of my eye, Jake shook his head "You know I can't have you doing all the work." I smiled not saying anything as I quickly typed up the start of our project. He stood silently observing my quick fingers over the keyboard and how often I would glance down at the keys. "You seem to know a keyboard quite well." I froze my typing looking up at him, "Well if you ever read the paper and saw who edits it you wouldn't be very surprised." His face twisted into confusion, "You edit the paper?" I just nodded quickly finishing up the introduction and stepped aside to let him read it.
Jake nodded in approval impressed with my work. "So what do you want to make for breakfast?" I shrugged and opened a tab on his laptop looking up popular breakfasts for Italian foods. We scrolled through a few recipes until we both agreed on a Simple, Savory Italian Breakfast Casserole. We looked at the ingredients and Jake wrote down a grocery list of things we would need to make it. I looked up at the time and gasped "Holy shit it's already 8:30? How did the time go by that fast?" Jake chuckled leaning a tad bit closer towards me "Guess times flies when you're having fun." My cheeks set on fire and I lightly pushed him playfully. I looked up at him again and his face was a little more serious but sad "I missed this."