County Falls

Chapter 2: Diners,Dates and Dudes

"Crap!" I cursed to myself as I looked at my alarm that failed to wake me up. I rushed out of my room, changed in record time, and headed downstairs to grab a quick breakfast. Thanks to Jason's wake up call this morning, I was running late to pick up Lauren.

“Slow down hun! You're going to choke!"

"Can't mom.” I said through a mouth full of whatever it was a shoved in my face. “Some jerk woke me up at 3am."

"Please tell Jase that he needs to let you get some sleep. A growing girl like you needs her rest."

“You try telling him that. You know he never listens to me. I’m sorry mom, but I gotta’ run. Love you!" I kissed her cheek and ran out of the house.

My mom works as a nurse at a hospital a town away. She works a ton, most of which are night shifts, just to keep the house afloat, and because of that, I'm alone a lot. When I was ten, my sperm donor ran off with some woman while on a military tour in Korea. I haven't seen or heard from him since. I cried for days when my mom broke the news that my dad wasn't coming home but the two of us got through it and we haven't looked back. She never showed it, but sometimes I wondered if she was lonely. 

Mom, for some unknown reason, absolutely adores Jason. The first time he followed me home from school like a stray cat, he charmed the pants off of her. One afternoon I came downstairs to find those two speaking quietly in the kitchen.

"What were you two whispering about?" I eyed them suspiciously.

"Oh nothing your pretty little head needs to worry about. Let's go before we miss the movie. Bye Ms. Evans!" Jase pulled me out if the house before I could ask any more questions.

"Seriously Jase what were you two talking about, and don't lie to me." I asked when we were finally alone in his truck. 

“It wasn't anything really. She was just telling me to watch out for you and that she trusts me.” he paused. A sly grin started to stretch across his face. 

“Oh and to use the front door instead of sneaking through the window." Of course he didn’t listen and most mothers would be mortified to have a teenage boy sneak in to their daughters room, but thats how I knew my mom not only trusted Jase, but me as well. She was the best mom a girl could ask for.

I pulled up to Lauren's house to see her scowling as she sat on her door step.

“Late again Kai.” It wasn't a question.

“Sorry, I overslept.”

“Someone needs to tell Jase that women need their beauty sleep.”

“Well Jase wants to keep me as ugly as possible, so his plan is working.” 

Lauren sighed like she was disappointed in me. “Sometimes you're so naive. Everyone thinks you're hot. There are so many girls at school who either hate you or want to be you and the whole football team wants to bang you.”

“Now I know you're full of it. Not one football player has expressed their desire to bang me.”

“Thats because Jase wont let them. He's way too over protective of you and keeps those dogs on a tight leash.”

Now I was more confused than ever. Ok, so I wasn't ugly, but I definitely wasn't supermodel material either. I was a little taller than average and my hair, which I always thought was my best asset, is long and dark brown, with natural highlights. My eyes, which I think are too big for my face, change color depending on the light. Some days they’re a light green and other times they're brown and are surrounded by long black eyelashes. Ive luckily never had to wear braces thanks to my mothers genes and I have modest sized chest and a little more than modest sized ass which I can also attribute to my mothers genetics. Being curvy was both a blessing and a curse. Did all this actually make me that desirable?