Chapter Three
I woke up to the smell of bacon traveling through the house. I smiled as I sat up from my bed and made my way to the kitchen. Mitch was standing over a skillet, Cody was mixing what seemed to be pancake mix, Claire was rummaging through the fridge, and Harry was sitting at the table playing on his phone. I leaned against the door frame and smiled. Cody was the first to notice me.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he beamed.
“Good morning,” I smiled back.
As the words left my lips, all heads turned in my way. Claire and Mitch followed Cody, greeting me with a “good morning” and a smile, while Harry looked at me and looked back at his phone.
“It smells great in here! What are we making?” I asked deterring my attention from Harry.
“Well, I’m a lousy cook, so I’m going to go get some orange juice while Cody makes pancakes and Mitch makes bacon and sausage.” Claire answers.
She was such a sweet girl, I’d love to be her friend, but I don’t think I had it in me. I smiled at her and looked back to the boys in front of the multiple ingredients on the kitchen island.
“Want to come with?” I was surprised by her offer. Harry must have been, too, because he nearly choked on the breathe he had sucked in. I looked at Claire, then to Harry, then Claire again.
“Oh, I don’t know . . .”
“Oh, c’mon, please? It’ll be fun! I don’t want to go alone! And I want to get to know you! You already know Harry and Mitch, Cody got you all day yesterday, it’s my turn. Please?” Claire’s smile was so sincere, I couldn’t say no.
“Sure,” I smile and she claps her hands. Again, Harry’s mouth drops at my answer and when my eyes meet his, he rolls them and looks back at my phone. “Cody, do you want to come?” I couldn’t say no to Claire, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be alone with her.
“I’m cooking,” he said with a laugh.
“Yeah, you should come, too! It’d be fun!” Claire added.
Cody looks at Mitch, who has yet to say anything and has a smug look on his face. Cody sighs, wiping his hands on the washcloth on the kitchen island, before nodding.
“Great! I’m just gonna go change.”
I walked into my bedroom and decided there was no reason to dress up to go to the grocery store. I decided on some light wash jeans with a few holes in them and one of the numerous t-shirts I had collected throughout high school. I pulled my hair into a pony tail and slipped on my raggedy vans. I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen. Harry was now standing with his fists on the island, Mitch was still cooking, Cody was leaning against the wall, and Claire was standing next to Harry, not in a romantic way, almost as if she was angry with him. Claire looked at me, and, just as I had suspected, there was anger in her eyes.
“I’m ready,” I spoke, hardly loud enough for them to hear.
“I’ll meet you in the car,” she said, throwing me her keys.
I nodded and made my way to the front of the house. I was half-tempted to stay and listen to what they were so upset about, but I decided against it. There were only two cars in the driveway. One I recognized as Mitch’s, the other was a baby blue slug-bug convertible. Of course she would have a slug-bug. I sighed and walked to the car, unlocking it, and climbing into the passenger seat. I almost sat in the back, Cody and Claire could sit together in the front, but I decided against it. I did’t want to seem rude on day 2.
