He's A Keeper

4

"What'd you wanna talk about?" I asked Piper as she came up to my room.

"James," She said and closed my bedroom door.

Oh boy.

"I did some searching, and he has had two girlfriends in the past four months! Brynn, you can't date this guy! He's trouble, and you don't need that." Piper says, looking straight at me.

"Oh please Piper, how do you even know that's true?" I asked, waiting for her answer.

To be honest, I hoped it wasn't true. Not like it mattered really, we weren't dating and everyone seemed to think we were.

"Because I spoke to one of the ex girlfriends." Piper says and nods at me.

My breathing hitched.

"Uh- what'd she say?" I asked cautiously.

"She said he was really spacious and didn't give her a lot of attention. He also tried kissing her on the first date." She says.

Okay, let's be real. All of those aren't bad things. I mean, he's had a rough life, I would be spacious too if I never really knew one of my parents.

"Okay.. and you're telling me this why?" I asked.

"Because I can't let you date him!" Piper said, throwing her hands in the air.

I stifled a laugh.

"Piper I think it'll be fine." I said, laughing a little.

"Okay, whatever you say." She says, shaking her head.

□■□■□■□■□■

On Sunday, Daniel had decided it would be a good idea for all of us to get out of the house and go hiking at a spot Daniel knew.

"It's only 7 miles." Daniel shrugs it off as Aunt Emma tied her shoes.

"7 miles?" Julia asked, looking disgusted.

"What's a mile?" Aiden asked, looking confused.

"Nothing you need to know." Aunt Emma said, picking him up.

"I'm bringing Aiden's stroller. He'll get tired after a few minutes." She said after putting a hat on his head.

We all had hats on. Even though it was only mid-March, it was pretty warm outside.

I had on a black sports bra, a loose tanktop, black nike shorts, and tennis shoes.

Daniel had always been the athletic one in the family. He was always going on runs and hikes.

We occasionally went with him, and today was one of those days.

"Everyone ready?" Daniel asked, looking around.

A chorus of yeah's went around and then we headed for the car.

Aunt Emma put Aiden's blue stroller in the back, and we all climbed in.

I got all the way back in the third row, which happened to be where Julia was sitting also.

"Oooh who are you texting? Your boyfriend!" Julia said in a weird tone and then she snatched my phone.

"Hey! Give it back!" I screeched, reaching over and smacking her hand, trying to reach my phone.

"Ha ha ha!" Julia laughed as she tossed my phone in her hands.

"Julia you're gonna drop it!" I exclaimed, getting frustrated.

"Julia, give Brynn her phone back." Aunt Emma says, turning around and looking at the situation.

Julia rolls her eyes and tosses my phone back to me.

I caught it and continued scrolling through my phone.

Julia was so annoying sometimes. Especially after our parents died.

I don't know what had gotten into her.

"We're here!" Daniel exclaimed after a little while.

We all unbuckled the seatbelts and climbed out of the car.

"It's hot." Julia groans.

"Get over it," I mumbled as I put my phone in Aunt Emma's bag.

"This way!" Daniel exclaims, pointing to a trail marked '7 miles'

This should be fun.

□■□■□■□■□■

I was wrong.

It wasn't fun. At all.

Julia was groaning about everything, Aiden was crying, and Daniel was walking so fast we had to run to keep up sometimes.

We had only gotten to 5 miles, when we realized we forgot our water bottles and Daniel said he was tired of walking.

So now we were on the way back home.

"When are you guys going to open the pool?" I asked.

"Probably not until the last week or two of May." Joey said.

"Okay," I said.

We had gotten a pool installed a few months ago, and everyone was excited for it to be opened.

It went all the way to six feet, so that was cool.

I was exhausted. I wanted to go home and eat, then sleep.

I also have a quiz tommorrow morning, so yay.