Now You See Me [Jasper Hale story]

IX. Of Meddling, Speculating and Pleading

"If you want to be treated like a mother, act like one." ― Jeannette Walls

***

I woke up in my bed the next morning, dressed in my pyjamas. That alone was more than suspicious, since everything I remembered from last evening was my falling asleep on Seth Clearwater's shoulder. It was uncomfortable as hell, by the way, while it brought me a terrible pain in the neck, which I would never wish even for my worst enemy. However, Seth was a cutie, who wasn't hard to start to like. Yesterday, he spoke about his mother, sister, school and his friends from La Push. He clearly loved them more than anything in the world.

That was why I felt really bad, when I tried to get him to say something more about the crazy man - Sam. Seth told me, that he was considered to be a leader of their bunch (which they called The Pack). Sam had been dating Seth's sister (Leah) before we moved in, but left her because of Emily. What a huge family drama.

Getting out of the bed, Hayden's voice sounded from behind the door of my room. She asked me about how I was feeling, advising me not to go to school yet. I refused, naturally. Afterwards, she started talking about Seth - how nice and polite boy he was; that without him, I would have spent the night on the bench, because in was him who brought me to my room; and so on. That was the right time for me to open the door.

"You let him enter my room?" I blurted out through the toothbrush that was in my mouth. Hayden narrowed her eyes at me.

"There, good morning to you too, Sunshine. I'm glad you slept well," her words carried a slight hint of irony. "And yes, I let him carry you into your room, because I didn't want you to catch a cold from sleeping on a bench."

"Urgh, Hayden! You are the one who should denounce me for my frivolity, not the other way round. I barely know him, you don't know him at all!"

"Well, it's your point of view," my aunt tilted her head to the side. "Yesterday, the two of us had a little chat. Seth told me you agreed to tutore him Physics."

I stopped brushing my teeth immediately, as the memory hit me hard. Circa three seconds before I fell asleep, Seth asked me if I would be willing to tutor him Physics, for twenty bucks per hour. Of course I murmured a sleepy yes - who am I to reject money? 

"Yeah, that's the deal. But it doesn't mean-"

"And you two got rather... close yesterday, don't you think?" She interrupted me in the middle of a good argument.

"What the hell are you suggesting?"

"Watch your mouth, young lady," Hayden frowned at me, so there, I sighed. "Besides, I don't know why you are so upset. I told you I liked Seth - you two have my blessing. Isn't that what all girls of your age want?"

"Hayden!" I exclaimed indignantly. "I'm not planning to date him! He's younger than me!"

"One year. Who cares about one year?" My aunt shrugged her shoulders.

This was my turn to frown at her. "I care! Okay, look. I'm really... excited about how much you like Seth, but I'm not going to date him - that's it. And next time, I'd really appreciate if you wouldn't encroach on my relationships."