A Little Hope

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"You do know this is going to look horrible, right?"

"You're my girlfriend and your father said I have to take good care of you. That means I am not going to let you stay at home alone while your aunt and her fiancé are away on a business trip."

I arched one eyebrow at his words and sighed in defeat.

"Your parents already hate me, Gav. How are you going to convince them to have me over for the weekend without them locking me up outside the house?"

I shoved my spare books into my backpack and slung it onto my shoulder.

"That is easy, actually. I live in the backyard so if they lock you out, which means, you get to share the cottage with me." I could practically hear the smirk in his voice at the mere mention of the idea.

"Why am I not surprised?" I grumbled.

Balancing the phone against my ear; I picked up the stack of books from the library desk.

"Just one more question though..."

I smiled at the librarian and placed the books in front of her.

"How are we planning to tell Max about this?"

Silence greeted my question.

"I'm taking these." I mouthed to the woman and took out my library card. "Gavin?"

"Oh, yeah... sorry, I was thinking." Gavin mumbled from the other line.

"Well think a little less and talk a little more. Staying silent is basically the same as wasting airtime."

I watched as the librarian smiled and shook her head at me.

"You sound like my mother."

I flinched at his remark, pulling away the phone from my ear to glare at it.

"I am going to pretend I did not hear that." I growled at the phone before pressing it to my ear again. "Now back to the topic at hand: Max?" I asked lightly.

"I was thinking about just coming out and telling her when we're done with practice. She likes you so I don't really see what you're worried about."

"I'm worried because Max kept talking about how she hated the fact that Denise won't stop flirting with you. She said it is completely uncomfortable to have friends hitting on her big brother."

The librarian handed me back my card and shoved the books across the desk.

"Is that all?" I managed to mouth to the woman.

She smiled and nodded her head.

Sending her a thankful smile, I stuffed the library books in my backpack and headed out the door. The chilly air made a violent shiver rip through me before I straightened and walked towards the school building again. Doing everything with only one arm is starting to get difficult.

"Jewel, I think the only way we can approach this to just say it. You know, rip off the band aid and see what the result will be." Gavin opted.

Sighing heavily, I walked up to the front lawn just as Max and Denise exited the school building.

"Let's discuss this a little later. Your sister and Bubblegum Babe are their way over. I have to go." I said speedily before disconnecting the phone call, not even waiting for a reply.

Not even seconds later my phone buzzed with a message from Gavin.

'That was rude, Baby Girl.'