The Rose Boys

Chapter Ten

Well, an entire uneventful month went by. I didn't see Kevin, Darren or Nick anywhere in the halls and as the warm and breezy September gave us one final look over it's shoulder, October burst onto the scene with it's arms open wide. Because of my inability to say no to Jake, I had been having Lunch with him since that first day and he seemed pretty happy about it.

"I guess it's going to be your birthday soon, huh?" My dad asked over the top of his black and white newspaper. 

Ben reached over and messed up my hair. "How old is that going to make you this year you old geezer?" 

I swatted Ben's hand away and laughed. "17! You're older than me, old man!" 

His light blue eyes widened and he laughed, displaying a mouthful of his breakfast. Besides being a gross older brother, Ben was pretty popular with the girls his age. "I guess you got me there." 

My Mom sighed. "If Ben's old, what does that make your father and I?" 

I coughed nervously and stood from my position on the floor in front of the coffee table. "I should get going now." I said, grabbing my ivory blazer and heading for the door.

"What happened to your book bag?" My Mom called after me.

"I left it at school!" I lied.

Without The Rose Boys around, my life was surprisingly uneventful. I continued on going to school and nobody else threatened my Dad's job or insulted me or anything. Although, I kind of missed insulting Darren. It was kind of something I'd gotten used to already.

The morning went by easily enough, I stood when the bell for Lunch rang then Jake and I walked towards the outdoor courtyard where we'd been eating our Lunch together for the past month. The sun was quite bright and the sky was more blue than a Caribbean ocean.

"I'm so glad that I'm able to share all this food with you." Jake said as we neared one of the concrete benches, bowls of food steaming in the cool air.

"Well, you always have enough to feed an army when we get out here." I said with a weak smile.

We took a seat across from each other and Jake handed me a paper plate with food he'd already filled onto it. "I'm trying to make you get used to this." 

"Why?" 

Jake stared at me for a minute and smiled, his nearly lavender eyes on mine. "Because I really like you January. You aren't like the other girls I've met here." 

"Well, that's probably because I'm not. Everyone here is rich and I'm not."

Jake nodded his head seriously. "That's why."

I stabbed a sausage with my fork and took a bite out of it. "That doesn't make sense."

"Well, I like you January and the time that we've spent together has been great. You are already the best friend that I have here. I'm glad to have met you."

I felt bad for Jake. "Well, I'm glad to be your friend too, Jake." I said, reaching over to pat his hand reassuringly.

Jake gave me a smile that made me feel guilty. I didn't think that we would be anything more than friends, not while I was getting over Kevin. Though I didn't know him for very long, I had let myself get wrapped around an illusion. The idea of Kevin that I'd made in my head. Well, I would never do that again, I had learned from my mistakes.

"Hey there, Girly-girl." A familiar voice rang out. I turned almost eagerly to face Darren.

"Darren!" I nearly shouted as I stood from the bench. "Where have you been?"