Best Friend's Brother: Chapter One

Big Wins

I walked into French class after my unexpected trip to the office and Katie waved at me. I sat next to her, and she skeptically looked at me.

"You've been crying," she stated in a hushed tone, "Who was it?"

"Harry," I whispered and let out an airy sigh, "He got adoption papers."

"There is no way you can afford to adopt someone! Is he insane?!" She half yelled in a whisper.

"They were for me-" Katie cut me off before I could finish.

"You can't afford to adopt anyone either!" 

"Let me finish, you doorknob," I joked, "They were papers for Ms. Penney to adopt me. As of last hour, I'm officially Jessica Penney."

Katie squealed and hugged me since we were right next to each other at the table. The teacher looked at her as a warning before returning to the lesson. Katie rolled her eyes once she looked away and I held in a laugh. I definitely couldn't ask for a better best friend.

///

I ran onto the field with my soccer uniform on to begin warmups before our game. Autumn and I were doing the warmups next to each other so we could talk about stuff to get them out of our heads so we could focus on the game. We promised each other that whatever we said on the field, stayed on the field.

"So, what do you have to get out of your head this time?" I asked as we began running our laps around the field.

"Well... I've been thinking about trashing Alexa and Summer..." she said sheepishly.

"Really?! That would be so good for you! You could hang out with me, Katie, and Hannah. We don't put up with Alexa and Summer's crap."

"Do you think Hannah and Katie would like me?"

"They would love you!" I said as we started our second lap, "I can't think of a single thing about you that they wouldn't like."

"That's reassuring... Thanks. So what about you? What do you need to get off your mind?" She asked.

"I got adopted today."

"I didn't know you were an orphan?" Autumn stated, but it came off more like a question.

"I never told you because I didn't think it was a big deal but yeah, as of second hour today, I am officially a Penney."

Autumn laughed as we finished our second lap and began our stretches, "I don't mean to laugh, but it just sounded funny. It made you sound like you were a copper coin."

After the rest of the team finished the stretches, we huddled together and did our cheer and began our drills.

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Autumn, Katie, and I were all sat inside our local Dairy Queen after the game. Autumn ended up making the winning shot, so I insisted that we go out for ice cream to celebrate her first goal of the season. Nathaniel made it to the second half of the game, so he came to get ice cream with us too. The girls and I decided to sit down while we waited for him to get his Blizzard.

Autumn and Katie both got the M&M Blizzard while I got the classic Oreo. Once Nathaniel finally got his ice cream and sat down with us, I saw that he got the new Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard. We stayed long after we all finished our ice cream and the sun had gone down. We talked about anything and everything until a worker came by and said they were closing soon.

Autumn exchanged numbers with us all as she walked to her car. Katie and I were walking to Nathaniel's car to drive me home before Katie's phone rang.

"It's Connor!" She squealed and flailed her arms around.

"Well, answer it you dingus!" I said and laughed.

Katie gave me a thumbs up before I got in the car and closed the door. Once Katie was done with her phone call with her one and only, Nathaniel started the car and began driving me home.

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Once we got to my house, I pulled my soccer gear out of the trunk and walked up to my door. I unlocked the door and was about to go inside before Nathaniel called out my name running up to my doorstep.

"I have a quick question," he said once he got close to me.

"I probably have a quick answer," I sassed.

Nathaniel laughed, "Do you maybe... Want to see a movie? With me?" He asked sheepishly.

"I would love to! When? This Friday?" I asked utterly oblivious to the fact that he was asking me out on a date.

"Yeah, I'll pick you up?" He said with this huge goofy grin on his face.

"Sure. Just text me when you want to see the movie. I'll see you later," I said and gave Nathaniel a quick hug before entering my empty house.

///

Instead of waking up to my alarm, I woke up to Kari shaking me vigorously.

"What Kari?!"

"Harry's gone," she said with panic in her voice.

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"He's not here, he didn't leave a note, didn't text either of us, and I don't think he came home last night," She stated, getting more worked up by the second.

"Kari, he did come home last night. You were already asleep. His phone probably died again so chill out, I'm sure he's fine," I said and rolled my eyes.

Kari nodded and started to calm down when there was a loud knock at the door. Kari gave me a confused look, and I waved her off as I put on a sweatshirt and went downstairs to see who was at the door considering that it was six in the morning.

A man in a black suit and black tie was at the door. He was about six foot six and had a full head of blonde hair that was nicely combed back. He had an earpiece in and had a surprisingly high pitched voice.

"Good morning ma'am, does Harry Tyler live here?" He asked, and I had to hold back a laugh from hearing his voice.

"Yes he does, but he just left for work. Why, if you don't mind me asking."

"Is your name Jessica Tyler and have a sister, Kari Tyler?" He said completely ignoring my question which caused me to become irritated. I was already cranky from Kari freaking out.

"Yes, to both questions. Now if you don't mind, I would like to know why you needed to know that information."

"Does Mr. Tyler take care of you two by himself?"

"Who needs the information and why do they need it? Don't ignore my question again or I will call the police!"

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down-"

"Why do you need this personal information?! It's a simple question so  just answer it for God's sake!" I yelled cutting him off.

"It's classified, Ms. Tyler."

"Don't come back here. We are very well taken care of," I slammed the door in the man's face and let out a frustrated sigh. Kari came downstairs and gave me a worried look.

"It's fine. Some jack came to the door asking about our care quality from Harry. We aren't getting taken away, not on my watch."