To Deal With It

chapter twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-One

Declan pov:

“Watch it, MJ!” snapped Toni teasingly before turning back to his wife and kids, and MJ shrugged it off, gliding her skateboard to my direction. The whole pack, and friends of the pack, was hanging out at the skateboard park near town center, and we had it all to ourselves until sundown.

Basically, we were celebrating our freedom and appreciating what we had. It was actually nicer than hanging around the bar all night. It’s been four years since our first celebration night, since Jay accepted to go to Harvard, and now we’re celebrating the soon-to-be finished Jay Pack Cars, which is Ethan’s new business. The whole warehouse had been transformed and was nearly ready for business. And everyone was excited about it. And everyone was graduating, either from high school or from college. Those are our reasons for celebration.

I between Cal and Ethan while Toni sat with this family not five feet away. Ethan notes, glancing around, “You know what this would make everything better?”

“Jay,” I answered for everyone, who all nodded in agreement. I sighed as I thought about how I missed her graduation because I had broken my leg. I cursed myself for days until Jay scolded me into believing it was okay that I missed it. Of course, I admitted to her, but it was a lie. It was terrible that I missed her graduation. Then she turned the agreement again by saying she missed my graduation a couples days before. Clever, clever Jay. I missed her…

“I’m surprised guys. No drinking or hooking up to party this time?” a very familiar female voice teased us from behind us. We whirl around to see that playful redhead beauty in an ivy t-shirt that revealed her belly button, light ripped jeans, and light brown moccasins. Cal immediately got to embrace her. “So good to see your flight went well.”

“What could’ve gone wrong?” Jay laughed as she hugged Ethan, who answered her question, “Pilot could’ve had a heart attack, engine could’ve died out, plane could’ve ran out of fuel…”

She smacked Ethan after hugging Toni. “You’re still as goofy as ever. Good to know.”

“You shouldn’t make fun of a man who may soon be the richest of us all,” Toni mused while Jay hugged Suzy and her kids. Jay raised an eyebrow at Ethan. “You? The richest of us all? Ha! I think that shall be, the too good lawyer.”

“Well, let’s be rich and have dinner parties together,” Ethan amused in an arrogant sounded voice, and Jay nodded her head as she linked her in his. “Yes, let’s my fellow rich man.”

Jay and Ethan hugged again while laughing, and after she pulled from him, her intelligent clover eyes spotted me at last. I grinned when she threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly, and I whispered in her ear, “I missed you, a lot.”

“Declan,” she sighs while smiling brightly. “You saw me every Thanksgiving break, Winter Break, Spring Break, and summer. How could you miss me so much?”

“Because I’ve loved you officially for four years,” I replied, kissing her nose, and she giggled. “And I you.”

I twirled some of her hair around my finger and noted, “You cut your hair.” Jay nodded a little. “Uh, yeah… Do you not like it? ‘Cause I knew…” I cut her off with a peck on the lips. “I think you even more beautiful than you did before, if that’s even possible.”

And it was true. The short edgy but maturity of her hair suited her well; it seemed natural. Suddenly, Jag, Darrel, MJ, and a bunch of others came up to greet Jay. MJ cheered, “Jay!”

“Hey MJ!” Jay shouted excitedly, embracing her little cousin, and then a dog barks and Jay gasped, “Oh my God, Pooch! I missed you!”

She scratched her loyal dog affectingly while Jag pretended to look hurt. “And you didn’t miss us? Ugh…”