The Dating Game

Chapter Nine

Justin

Juliet was already walking off home and the repentant sensation was building up, provoking my stomach to drop slightly.

I turned around, frowning in dismay as Jazmyn was marching up to me. She stared at me quizzically with her book, Lola and the Boy Next Door under her arm. She said last night she had nearly finished it so I'm astonished to see her still currently reading it. She normally flies through books quicker than you can say "Coke Girl".

"Did she say something to you? Juliet, I mean," she clarified, frowning at my own frown. "You look slightly... discomforted."

I shook my head. "No, she didn't. Anyway, aren't you going to work now? I can take your bag home. Mom's gone out because she's looking for jobs. What time will you be back?"

Jazmyn shrugged off her backpack and handed it to me. I held it at arm's length whilst she commenced fishing through it before retrieving her name bag, a small, coal black polo top and some black jeans. I zipped up her bag for her and put it over my one shoulder since mine was already on the other side, preparing for this moment.

Some guys were ambling past us and gawping at me with the two bags. I shook my head at them and turned back to Jazmyn who was sorting out some of her stuff. Then she handed me her book and I kept it in my hands, acknowledging the fact that she was entrusting me with a book. This was a big deal for her.

"Please don't wreck the book," she mumbled. "I'll be back at around seven, okay? I'll see you then, Justin."

"Have fun at work."

Jazmyn paced off in the opposite direction with her clothes in her hands as I followed in Juliet's direction. If I squinted my eyes, I could see her distant figure up what seemed like miles ahead of of her inequitable head start and the hasty pace she had. Maybe she was just in a rush to get home, I mused. Maybe her family is as dysfunctional as mine.

It wasn't a rarity that Jazmyn had to work straight after school so Mom always enabled it. It was the protocol in our house that Jazmyn could try to get as much work as possible so there was more of a stabilised income coming in for our household. An income that is actually Jaz's she can use for college after she graduates from high school instead of Mom stealing the money and using it when she should be doing that with her own money. It makes my blood boil with fury just speculating it.

I got home and placed Jazmyn's bag and book on her bed. Her bedroom was smaller than mine but only by a margin. Her room was like a box room, too. She had a bed that took up the entire one wall with a duvet covered in roses and lilies, two bookshelves on another wall and drawers on the third wall. She had a little desk and chair next to her bedroom door but due to all of this, she had minimal floor space so that's another factor to why she's always in my room with me. But her flamingo-coloured walls were distorted behind all of the book quotes plastered together in collages. She even had fairy lights suspended from the bars of her headboard which Mom went ballistic when she found out. It was Jazmyn's own money so she was entitled to buy them. Plus, they were cheap.

Trekking back into my room — which wasn't much of a trek at all since it was probably seven paces and if that, too — I collapsed down into my chair and pulled out any remaining homework I had yet to finish. The boring environment and serene atmosphere was perfect for finishing work. Evenings like this were desirous because sometimes Jaz could be a little distraction with her annoyance that was her book engrossment. Or maybe just a fetish.

Seven o'clock came and the door opened only a few minutes after. Jazmyn, with her navy bow in her hair, closed the front door and stepped inside to my room. She had her jacket on she wore for school as she sat down on my bed. Then I noticed the disproportionate sized cardboard box in her hands. The russet box caused my back to sag.