Unpredictable

Chapter 10: To Be, Or Not To Be

"So, Jane's here," I drew out the sentence slowly. Dylan had decided to vent his rage by going grocery shopping with Aurora and, to my surprise, myself. I know, I know. Frightening. It was occasionally slightly terrifying when he hurled things into the cart and got a little too close to Aurora for my liking, which was why I was now carrying the baby rather than allowing her to ride in the cart.

This was the first time Jane had been brought up, but even Aurora had been silenced by her father's anger, and I thought the subject needed to be talked about. And hey, who better than to talk about it with than me, a girl who would be leaving in a few months for who knows where?

Dylan paused in the midst of hurling a box of spaghetti into the cart, noticed my wary expression, and sighed. "Yeah. I didn't lie to you, you know. She's never come before. I didn't think she wanted anything to do with Aurora. My damn parents..."

"Language," I scolded sternly. "And I believe you. What are you going to do about her?"

"Do? Do? I'm going to tell her to go straight back to - to heck, where she came from, because the only thing she wants from me is a one-night stand, I'm sure of it, and that's not happening, not anymore!" Dylan's voice was rising, and I quickly placed an arm on his shoulder.

"As much as I love discussing your one-night stands in the middle of the pasta aisle in the grocery store..." my gaze flickered to an elderly woman who was currently giving us a judgmental look, "...maybe save it for home? And maybe she's being sincere," I offered, as much as the words pained me to say. "Maybe she really does want a chance with Aurora."

Dylan eyed me. "You're only saying that because you're you," he finally said.

I glared at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that even though the world's fucked you over a million times, you only ever want to see the good in people," Dylan sighed, glancing over at me as my mouth formed an O.

"Language," I said quietly, a bright red blush spilling across my cheeks at the compliment.

"Sorry," apologized Dylan.

"How about this," I proposed after a long moment of silence. "You tell her she can stay for a week. You watch her closely, I'm right next door if you need me, and if being with Aurora really is her only motive for showing up, maybe you can let her stay a little longer."

Dylan frowned. "And what if I'm right, and she's just a bitch?"

"Language," I hissed, and Dylan apologized once more. I silently thought that Aurora would have a mouth like a sailor when she grew up. 

"Then you get bragging rights," I informed him, and his mouth spread into a wide grin. "And," I sighed heavily, "I'll do whatever you want me to do for one day." I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth.

"You're on, Sophie Smith," grinned Dylan, and honestly, it would be worth it to lose, just to see that smile on his face.

*******

I had not been over to Dylan's house in three days, but so far he didn't have anything to report. He looked very grumpy at school, which I took to mean that Jane hadn't done anything that wasn't too bad. And then, on the fourth day, Evie showed up at my bedroom.

She'd been spending a lot of time in my bedroom ever since the party, since apparently Tanya deciding to stay at the party, and what I had said about Ty warning Tanya away from Evie, was the last straw. Their friendship had been broken, and honestly, I think all Evie wanted was an apology. But instead, Tanya had joined up with the head cheerleader, Renee, and were now bullying both Evie and myself, which had, of course, made Evie very upset.