Truce

Seventeen // Pull The Lever, Kronk

A/N: Okay this is another long one, go me! This is the last one I wrote in Japan and I am really happy with it. For all of my fellow writers, Japan is an awesome place for inspiration! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. Let me know what your thoughts are.

***

Seventeen // Pull The Lever, Kronk

Kaia

"How was school?" It was Atlas, not Parker, sitting at the kitchen bench. I wasn't expecting him home; I thought he would be at work.

"Pretty shocking," I admitted before giving him a hug. I hadn't seen him in a few days.

"Parker told me you went late," he said with the look of concern he seemed to always wear around me and Parker. He was always worried. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head.

"What about school?"

I shrugged. "Marcus was being a dickhead," I said so I wouldn't worry him more than necessary. "Now his whole face is messed up."

"WHAT? You hit him??" He exclaimed, and although he seemed kind of mad I could see a tiny ounce of pride on his face. He taught me to fight a couple of years ago so I could have beaten him up pretty well, if I'd managed to get one of my arms back.

"No!" I said, shaking my head profusely. Then I got a grin across my face as I said; "Jacob did."

"As in the Jacob you're pretending to date?"

I nodded.

"I'm going to have to re-meet him, I think. He sounds like a good guy."

"A good guy who got suspended," I frowned.

"He got suspended?"

"You should have seen Marcus," was all I said, and then chuckled at the thought. I was being rather cavalier about this but it was my only way of coping. Mr. Lawson assured me I wouldn't have to worry about seeing him around school again which was a weight off my shoulders.

"So you're saying Jacob beat up Marcus because he was being a 'dickhead'," he quoted me. "And got suspended for something he did for you?"

Slowly, I nodded, understanding what he was getting at. Jacob got suspended for me. I don't even think I thanked him for what he did. Now I felt bad. "At least I talked the principal out of giving him a four day suspension. He's only got one."

Atlas had the same weird look on his face Parker had this morning so I groaned. "Not you too."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you talked to Parker recently?"

He just smiled, looking innocent as anything.

"Ugh," I groaned again. "There is nothing going on!"

"I never said a word."

I rolled my eyes and was about to leave, but he got my attention.

"I had lunch with Nanna today."

I sat back down.

"That's what I thought," he gloated, but then sobered up and got straight to the point. "She's coming over for dinner next Saturday night and she is going to meet Jacob."

All of a sudden another weight was on my shoulders. In a week and two days, I had to make it convincing to my grandmother that Jacob and I were together and I was happy and so on so forth. Neither of those were particularly true, although I was smiling a lot more recently. I wondered why.