Inferno Part 3

~136~ I Have A Favor To Ask

Ellie's POV

"I don't know."

The room is silent in a heavy way for a long breath.

"Ellie, sit on a couch after all," Jake says darkly.

"Nope"

I'm not an idiot. He wants me out of the way, so he doesn't accidentally hurt me in case he lunges at Justin—I'm planning on being a buffer. Maybe a bruised buffer, but one nonetheless.

Justin finally clears his throat. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Spit it out," Jake snaps.

"Let him talk, Jake," I say softly, touching his leg gently.

Justin looks at the carpet, and then back at us.

"For part of my 'trying not to suck' commitment, my therapist recommended I volunteer as a Big Brother."

"What?" I ask.

He gives me a look, and I zip my lips. I tell Jake not to talk, and then I start asking questions within the first few words. Whoops!

"It's an organization called Big Brothers Big Sisters. I signed up, and they got their paperwork mixed up. I ended up getting matched with a girl...Since I wasn't comfortable leaving the building with her alone, we've hung out at the center every time."

"Long story short, she's freaking amazing...Seriously cool. She's one of the ones in the program that's in foster care. There's something about this girl, man. Jake, will you meet her?"

"Why do I need to meet her?"

"Well, don't you and Sarah still have your foster license?"

"Yeah...."

"Jake, please think about adopting her. Please? I've already talk to some people. They already checked you out and looked at all of your info. They would be willing to let you take her back to Colorado, and go through the adoption process there. The family that she's with now have no plan on adopting her."

I turn around at Jake, and his face is complete horror.

"Her situation is honestly like Nolan's. Deadbeat dad and a mom who's in and out of rehab a lot. The mom lost custody, so she was staying with an aunt. The aunt fell on hard times and couldn't afford her, so she gave her up."

"How old is she?" I ask. Jake is in fight or flight mode right now, and not processing.

"How old is Evan?"

"Ethan?" I ask.

"Yeah"

"14"

"Ok, so is she."

I nod, and look at Jake. "This could be really hard on Zoe, Jake. Having another girl in the house who is just a year older....This could be really hard on her."

"Ellie, come on. Zoe would adjust. This is someone's life we're talking about," Justin snaps.

That makes me mad. "You don't get to sit here and shove this down his throat. This is HIS life and HIS family's well-being. You don't get to make him feel like shit if he doesn't want to do this. Hear me? We cannot help everybody. It sucks, but it's true. What we can do is protect the ones we CAN help. If Jake and Sarah want to talk about it, they will. Otherwise we are DONE with this topic for now. Got me? You asked, let him process."

"I haven't even started telling you about her—She's obsessed with sports. She is literally everything Jake would want in a daughter," Justin goes on.