Such A Silly Game We Play

A Never-Ending Silly Game

"Ready for gym, honey?" Mom asked me as I was getting down from the stairs. I dressed up myself with a pair of shorts and a yellow tank top, apparently this was what my mom bought for me when I asked her to buy me some gym clothes. Mom volunteered to drive me to the gym, so I wouldn't walk anymore. When she dropped me off, I saw John standing by the door.

"Hello there Aunt Catherine!" He greeted my mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which was always a little weird even though Thea's family and my family have already met and hung out a couple of times before.

"Well, hi there John! Look at you all growing up, strong and tall. Hey, take care of my daughter, okay?"

"Oh of course! We'll take her home."

I waved goodbye as mom's car drove out of the gym's drive way. "SO big bro, where's my bff?" I loved calling him my 'big bro' since I always wanted a big brother.

"Believe it or not, she's with Zander. She said she'll walk with him instead."

"Uh-oh. So now you're what? The.. protective brother?"

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll see." He said looking sarcastic but at the same time you can tell that it was half-meant. "Look, here they are already."

Thea ran straight towards me and jumped and hugged me. Good thing I didn't fall. "Hey there Leena! Looking a little hotter than usual today, I must say? Why is that?" She gave me her suspicious look. John and Zander looked at me too.

"This is mom's fault, okay?!"

"Yeah right. Okay." She didn't look impressed by my answer, i knew what they were thinking. Then suddenly, 2 other boys walked towards us. It was Aries and Jeff. "Hey, wait a minute, you didn't bring your car?" Thea said looking disappointed, probably thinking she wouldn't be able to make it to walk home after the gym.

I looked at Jeff, something was off with him today. He looked a little exhausted or something. "Yeah, well I found out that my dad sold his car, so he's back to using the SUV." 

That's why. From the minute he said that, my heart felt heavy. I knew what was going on and why Uncle Joe sold it.

"Dude, really? Why'd he sell it?" John looked surprised too. Jeff took a deep breath for a moment to compose himself, then he gave me a short glance.

"He just... needs money right now. For something." As usual, he tried to look like he wasn't affected by it, he tried to look cool. But I knew deep down that he felt the opposite. He didn't look at me anymore the whole time we were at the gym, which bugged me. I kept taking a look at him every now and then, it seems like he and John were talking about something. They kept whispering and nudging each other and laughing.

"Hey, why do you keep looking at them???", Thea asked me looking confused.

"What?"

"You're hiding something from me and I know it." Her eyes squinted for a second as she looked straight to my face.