You don't even want me

35.

[Camille]

I grabbed my jacket from the hanger in a rush, putting it on and shouting for my sister that I was leaving and that she was going to have to do the groceries alone.

I quickly grabbed my beanie and gloves from the little table against the wall and put them on, going outside to the garage to grab my bike. I quickly left my driveway and biked to James's house as I was going to attend another one of his soccer games.

I was afraid I was late and was biking as fast as I could, my curls, which were being pressed against the back of my neck because of my beanie, tickled my skin.

He'd told me I wouldn't have to come along with him this time because it was a bit earlier than the last game, and he'd told me that if I was sleeping, I could just stay in bed. But I was awake anyway and I wouldn't want to miss his soccer game, so I decided to come.

I arrived at his house barely 2 minutes later and parked my bike on the driveway, rushing to the front door and ringing his bell.

To my surprise, a middle-aged woman with light brown hair opened up and looked at me with sparkles in her brown eyes and a big smile on her face.

I stared at her a little surprised, but then decided to speak. "Goodmorning, Miss...." I stopped when I realised I didn't know her name.

"Oh, I'm Claire, James's mum. Nice to meet you" she introduced herself with a friendly smile, sticking out her hand for me to shake. "I'm Millie, James's..." I began, but stopped when I realised I didn't know how to finish. To my surprise, the woman filled in the blank pretty quickly, like she would've interrupted me anyway. "Girlfriend, yeah, I know. James told me all about you" she rattled, an excited look in her eyes as I stared at her a little surprised, but not being able to hold back smile.

I never thought I'd be even close to James's girlfriend, but yet, there I was, apparently.

Suddenly, James's head appeared behind his mother in the doorway and smiled at me. "Hey Millie, how did you sleep?" he asked me, a concerned look in his eyes as he spoke.

I smiled, thinking it was really sweet of him to ask me about it, and nodded. "I slept well, thank you" I answered, and his mother looked from James to me with a happy smile. He sent her a deadly glance and she stopped, staring at the ground, making me hold back a chuckle.

James walked past her and I noticed he was already ready to leave. "Alright, let's go" he mumbled with a cheeky smirk, making me smile.

Suddenly, Claire looked up a bit surprised and confused. "Oh, you're not going to bike that far on a cold morning like this, are you?" she asked with a frown, making me look at James, who was standing next to me, with parted lips as I didn't know what she was talking about; it was only 5 minutes away.

James noticed my confusion and an 'Oh' escaped his lips as his eyes pierced into mine. "The game is somewhere else today" he explained, allowing everything to make sense to me now.

"Come on, I'll drive you" his Mum suggested and grabbed her light brown coat from the hanger next to the door, walking out of the front door, making James sigh and me chuckle.

She locked the door, making it clear her mind was set on driving us and no one could change it anymore.

She got the key out of the lock and put it under the little garden carpet in front of the door, and it reminded me of something. "We always put it under the flowerpot on the windowsill next to the back door" I shared, surprising myself in saying that. But it wasn't like James or his mother would be interested in breaking into my house anyway.

"Good to know" James joked with a grin and after we all laughed, he then put his hand on my lower back as we followed his mother to her car.

We all stepped into it, James sitting next to me in the backseat. "Seatbelts on" his mother stated, and after we'd put them on, Claire drove off the driveway.