Inferni

Chapter 13

I sat in the car on the way back to Jill's house, fiddling with my new phone with furrowed brows and biting the inside of my lip while I did so.

It was a cheap smartphone, but it was something that I knew that I would be able to handle and use, even though I had never had a phone before this.

"So, how are you liking your new phone, Blaire?" Jill asked and raised an eyebrow in question while she stared at me from the corner of her eyes before she turned her attention back to the road.

I shrugged and grimaced while I continued to play with it. "Good, I think," I said and pressed a button on it to pull up the weather.

'To continue, turn on device's location,' it read, which was something that I didn't want to do, even though I knew that other people would be able to see where my phone was without the location thing on.

I bit back a small sigh and got out of the app before I looked at Jill with a small frown on my face. "Are you sure that this wasn't a big deal?" I asked and held up my new phone before I set it down on my lap with it turned "off." "I mean, you had even gotten me a case and a screen protector to go with it. I-I don't know how I can pay you back."

Jill laughed and shook her head, biting back a small smile. "I do not need any form of money from you, Dear," she said with a small chuckle in her voice while she shook her head again. "Your presence is payment enough." She flashed me a small smile and a wink before she turned her attention back to the road.

My cheeks instantly turned red when she said that, and I looked away from her. I didn't say a word while I looked out the window, watching as the trees flew by while we made our way home.

Home...

It was a new concept for me to be able to call a place my home when I had never remembered a place like that, especially at the house I had lived in for most of my life where I was not respected or treated like I was a part of a family.

Hell, I couldn't even remember a time where I hadn't been at the orphanage and with a family of my own before then.

Jill cleared her throat and placed her hand on my leg, and I couldn't help but grow tense and shift away from her. She instantly removed her hand from my leg, and I couldn't help but clear my throat and shift in my seat.

"Ummm... sorry, sorry," I said before I cleared my throat again and shifted in my seat some more. My cheeks turned redder, and I couldn't help but lick my lips and bite the inside of my lip. "I did not mean to flinch away from your hand like that, Jill."

Jill bit back a small smile and shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Dear," she said softly. "I understand, and I am sorry that I placed my hand on your leg. I didn't know that you would jump like that." She shrugged and grimaced. "Or become so tense."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and folded my arms across my chest. "I didn't know that I would be doing that either," I said and chewed on the inside of my lip. I looked at my new phone that was in my lap before I looked out the window again. "Am I going to school tomorrow?" I asked and turned to look at Jill with my lips pressed into a thin line.

"Yes," Jill said and nodded in confirmation. "You will be in the same grade as Declan and Patrick," she added. "You will also be in the same grade as the mayor's son, Scott." She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, growing serious.

I slowly nodded and pressed my lips into a thinner line. I didn't say a word and looked out the window again.

Something large and brown caught my eye when we passed the welcome sign of the community before it "disappeared" into some of the thicket and brush.