Girl in a Hoodie: Where the Future Lies

Chapter 22

James's POV:

Sat on the bench seat of the patio under the table umbrella, the laptop was in front of me as I was on a Skype call with Lewis and Toby who were at school but I was working from home today. They were both in the counselling room, playing with cars and Lego bricks, another teacher supervising them but I just had to tap in to observe.

Lyra was over again today and she and Rose were playing in the addling pool in their swimsuits whilst Piper's friend, Amy, was also over and they were sat on their stomachs on a blanket over the grass, talking with Riley. I'm not too sure why Mum was so keen on everyone inviting their friends over today considering Jasper had also invited his friend Cody over and they were having a water pistol fight, taking advantage of the very unusual hot weather in the middle of February. Dad was busy cooking a barbeque and Mum was eating a corn on the cob sat with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Arthur on some of the outdoor chairs, chatting with Laci as well. It was quite loud with everyone around, but then again their voices were quite distant simultaneously since we've got a relatively large back garden. Kathy and Arthur actually have a baby of their own, Harlow, he's six months old and is really small to be fair.

"James?" Toby says, not looking at me but playing with the cars in the air, knocking them into each other.

"Yes, Toby?" I chuckle.

"Why aren't you in school today?"

"Well, sometimes I have to stay home because I work on the weekends just like how you don't go to school on Saturday and Sunday but go to school every other day," I explain, keeping my words concise for him to understand. He huffs, placing his hands on the ground and then finally bringing his eyes to mine.

"I like it when you're in school though," he says.

"Me too," Lewis adds. 

"Is that so?" I laugh as they nod and the teacher, Elsie, smiles, getting Toby to sit on her lap as he continues to play with some of the toys.

I look up in front of me to see Ri walking over, holding two cups of lemonade in her hands. She smiles at me before sliding into the wooden booth beside me and making herself seen in the screen, clearly not realizing.

"Ri, I'm in a call now," I chuckle. She raises an eyebrow, tilting her head from looking at me to in front of her and then biting her lip, lifting both of her brows as she sees her small reflection in the corner of the screen and the two boys on the larger part.

"Hi boys, how are you?" she asks, acting casual and smiling. Lewis looks at her oddly and Elsie laughs a little.

"Toby, Lewis, this is Riley, I'm going to be marrying her soon," I say, introducing them to her the easiest way possible.

"So you're a prince?" Lewis questions. Riley looks at me oddly as he says that and I laugh. "Only princes get married and they marry princesses."

"No, Toby, I'm not a prince and Riley isn't a princess, we're just getting married. Your parents are married, aren't they?" I say lightly. Lewis nods but Toby doesn't react, banging the Legos against each other.

"I want to be a prince," he says suddenly.

"Really? Why's that?" Riley questions softly. It's nice to see her getting involved too and I soon find myself smiling even more, wrapping my arm around the back of her body and pulling her closer to m before she shuffles up.

"Because if I'm a prince it means I get to use a sword and kill people!" he says, his voice going up an interval and becoming more high-pitched, sending me an idea that he was getting excited. Usually that would be a good, nice thing but it's not in this case because he tends to get so excited that he'll start thrashing about. "I could ride a horse and fight everyone!" he adds.