Ones Ignored

Chapter 17 | "You never asked for it, flower"

Jameson ends the meeting by telling everyone that there will be be flyer going around tomorrow about the impromptu field trip we are going on this weekend. We are to go on Friday night and be back Sunday morning. I wait by the door for Jameson and as soon as he comes out, he spots me and says,"You're not going."

I frown instantly and he starts walking ahead of me. I fasten my pace and walk beside him now. "You can't keep wanting me to not do something", I tell him.

"Your friends were involved, Ivory. You aren't coming with us", he says and I narrow my eyes at him. He stops walking and stands in front of me. Meeting my eyes, he says,"It sounds harsh, but Ivory, you cannot join us."

"I'll be fine", I tell him and he shakes his head. I cross my hands across my chest and look at him incrediously. He was making me seem difficult today. "I'm stronger than you would think, sweetheart." He didn't know half of the things I've endured last year. He doesn't know that it keeps me up every night— the nightmares too raw for me to go through with again. He doesn't know how the voice echoes through my mind when I am trying to reach the sleeping stage every night.

I always make it out alive. In my nightmares? I make it out alive. In the anxiety and panic during the night? I make it out alive. I dealt with a lot but I always go to the other side.

Jameson opens his mouth to disagree and I say,"I am, Jamie. Did I let one tear out when we read over the new file?" Jameson continues to stare at me and I cock my head to the side. He lets out a breath and says,"No, you didn't, flower."

"That's what I'm saying", I stress the situation as we start to walk ahead again. We don't need to turn the corner because Maeve and Jacob are already walking by us now. I make a point of putting distance between the couple and Jameson and I to continue our conversation from before,"I am strong enough to go to the campsite."

"I don't think you should come", Jameson says and I take note of the way he emphasizes the "I". For some reason it makes me feel a little warm at the fact that he didn't want to put me into a position I may not be good in. Only, I wanted to be in it. I wanted to be the reason we found more clues in order to help one of my friends and then maybe me in the end.

"I really want to come, James", I say softly and he looks at me. He profiles me in his head for a few seconds before saying,"Fine, but you stay with me at all times."

"We will be attached at the hip", I say to him with a wide smile and he glances down at my hip before looking up. Oh. I didn't realize the two way meaning to this statement. Heat rising to my cheeks, I look ahead and keep my tongue on the roof of my mouth. I should follow Jameson's advice more often. When he said that he bites his tongue more often than not, I thought it was dumb. Only, I think there is a point to what he just said.

"How will you tell your dad?", Jameson asks as he opens the door up for me and we walk into the last bit of summer air. I thank him and look ahead to find my dad's car in the street, his eyes glued to his phone. Based on the smile on his phone, I'm thinking he is texting the woman he met at his job. They just got out of work but they were texting already? The thought makes me smile.

I hum and Jameson repeats his statement from earlier. I turn to him and say,"Well, I haven't gotten that far yet."

"Today is Tuesday, the trip is Friday", he says to me as if I had already forgotten in the last minute we came back from the meeting. I nod and chew on my bottom lip, looking at my dad who was now looking ahead at me. My dad's eyes flit from Jameson to me before he starts to smile. "Hi, Cooper", he yells out from his car and Jameson and I walk down the staircase.

Jameson walks over to my dad's car and says,"Good afternoon, Mr. Hart."

"You can call me Kyle, boy", my dad says to him and he looks at me. I shrug to Jameson and he turns back to  the side. "Maybe, sure", Jameson says and then leans down to talk to my dad better. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."