Who would have thought? : A James Neal fanfic

Chapter Five

       If I do say so, the backyard looks great. The patio is decked out with a bunch of food trays filled with fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses and mozzarella sticks and the BBQ set up. The cooler is also filled with beers and waters. There are chairs and a comfy lounge section laid out. The swimming pool and hot tub are ready to go and the lights surrounding the whole perimeter of the place adds the finishing touch. Now all that's need are the people to fill it. It's now just hitting the 7oclock mark and they should be here any minute. Startling me from my train of thought is James who stumbles through the screen door and finds a seat right next to mine. 

"Looks great. Thanks for helping me with this."

"It was nothing, actually kinda fun." I replied as I nodded my appreciation. 

"How was the school thing today?" he asked. He remembered.

"Pretty good. I met with some of the coaching staff so I'm all set to sta....." I say, trying to answer his question but I was interrupted by two people approaching in through the side gate. 

James got up on his feet to approach them and I did the same, slightly using him as a shield from these strangers I would eventually have to meet.

"G! What's up? Hi Denise."  

A very tall man wearing jeans and a flannel was standing beside a beautiful girl who looked to be around my age, wore a dress, hers being a beautiful black floor length maxi. 

"Is this the girl you talk about Lazy?" eying me playfully as he said it. 

I could feel my checks turn red. 

James didnt look even a little uncomfortable but his voice told me other wise. "Uh yeah, this is Christina. Christina this is Geno and his girlfriend Denise." Geno stuck out his large palm to shake my hand firmly. I smiled at Denise who returned a pleasant, genuine one back. 

They made there way onto the deck as more people started to pour in. Next was a man and I assumed his wife and 4 children. I later learned his name was Pascal and that he's french Canadian. I took French all through elementary school so I could understand and mutter a few words. We spoke in French for a little while when he said  "James can pick them! I like her and she can speak French!". I was alittle confused by that. James picked me for what? And then what Geno said- he was talking about me alot. I'm confused.

The last person to arrive was a tall man with jet black hair and a scruffy beard. He came by himself dressed in a Tshirt and blue jeans. The boys referred to him as Niski, I think. He looked over at me when he scanned the area, acknowledging the guys. He was quite handsome. After about a half an hour of making small talk with some friendly people I decided to make my way inside. Two little kids, a boy and a girl who were sitting on the couch, managed to turn on the tv and change it to a childrens channel. I was just about to walk over to them, when I felt something hit my shins. I glanced down and was surprised to find a little girl who looked to be no more than one years old, giggling while clutching my legs.  Her smile was infectious and found my self wearing one too. 

"Hi" I bent down and said to the little girl. She managed to now grab on to my thumb, when a man appeared from outside calling for Estelle. 

He smiled very big and then swooped down to pick up the girl who continued to giggle. "She always wonders away  and worries me. Hi, I'm Marc-Andre, but the boys call me Flower." 

"I'm Christina. Nice to meet you to." I replied as my phone in my hand started to vibrate telling me I had a call to answer. I looked up at Marc-Andre and his daughter but they disappeared back outside, with the little girl leading the way. I tired to answer the call quickly but I was too slow and it went to voicemail. 

I waited a little before clicking on the voice mail, hearing the generatic female voice come on. "To play your inbox messages press 1. You have one new message and no old messages." The one voice message was from Mikayla, and I decided I'd listen to it later. 

Knowing that I can't  stay inside and hide the whole time, I made my way outside when I saw a familiar face make it's way to mine. "Do you want to go for a walk?" James asked. 

"Wont it be rude if the host of the party leaves his guests unattended?" I teased playfully.  "I dont think the boys would mind. They actually encouraged me." he reassured me. I went up to my room to grab something warm to put on and found a sweatshirt to throw over my dress and some vans for my feet. When I came back down James was waiting patiently for me on the coach. The kids would previously sat there had found themselves bored of the tv and relocated to another spot. 

As we started walking down the driveway and onto the sidewalk I started the conversation back up.

"So what was so important we had to take a walk to talk about?" I asked.

"You just looked like you needed a breather." he answered.

"They are great guys but I'm awkward at meeting new people."   It was the truth. I was having a great time but I was exhausting from waking up early to run errands all day. 

Changing the subject I asked the first thing that came to mind "Why did the boys encourage you to go talk to me? You don't think they are planning to get you away to wreck the house partying too hard?" He smiled subtlety. It took him a little longer than usual to come up with an answer but when he finally did I was quite surprised to hear them. "I've been talking about you a lot with the boys." 

"Oh" was all I could respond with.

 He kept going. "I know we hardly know each other but I really like you." 

Fuck. My first reaction is excitement, and relief because I've been denying it but I think I return those feelings for him. But I'm scared. I can't date again, not anytime soon. Especially because of what happened.

Perfect timing. My phone vibrates in my sweatshirt pocket, letting me know that is calling again. I look up at him apologetically at James and he slightly nods giving me permission to talk to my best friend. 

"Hey" I answer.

Through the phone I could hear her violent sobs and I could tell this isnt good. She hardly ever cries and when she does, she does every thing she can to hide it. Calling me is or anyone for that matter is the last thing she would do if this were a normal situation

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked as my eyebrows wrinkled forming a  nervous expression on my forehead. 

She takes a while to respond. 

"Troy overdosed."  

"What?!" the though of him in the hospital makes me nauseous as I can feel my heart sink to my stomach.