third time's a charm

"that must be my parents"

chapter six: that must be my parents

this chapter is seriously so long PLS hang in there folks !!!! <3

Saturday, December 9. 8:47 pm.

"And she's finally in bed," I smiled at Jamie as he walked back into the living room after putting Graysie to bed and he landed on the couch beside of me with a loud 'thud'; he was clearly worn out. "I love that kid, but she drives me up the wall sometimes."

"I can't imagine having a younger sibling," I said, shaking my head.

"Well, you'd be amazing to them if you did. Graysie loves you." I was glad to hear his words, but was skeptical that she had expressed that herself. "Don't be surprised if I ever call you telling you that Graysie misses you."

"I'll be over within the second if she does," I declared, causing Jamie to laugh. "I wish my sibling liked you as much as yours likes me."

"That'll never happen," Jamie said, sighing quietly.

"I'm sorry I sort of have to hide you," I told him, frowning as I realized it was a sucky deal.

"I would much rather you try to hide me than not even give me a chance," Jamie promised and I was pleased with his words. "So... what should we do?"

"Oh, uh..." I straightened up in my spot on the couch and turned my body more toward Jamie. "I don't know... we could get to know each other a little better?"

"Yeah, okay," Jamie said, nodding his head as he also angled himself toward me.

"So far all I know about you is that you play basketball for the wrong team, you didn't listen in astronomy... you draw, and you're a coaster enthusiast." Jamie laughed quietly as I recounted the facts that I knew about him. "Oh, and you're super cool because you can do awesome beer bottle flips."

"I mean... you basically summed me up," Jamie joked and my eyes playfully rolled. "What do you want to know, Eloise from South?"

"Well... let's see. How about you tell me... what the last book you read was? And yes, I am testing to see if you've even read a book recently," I said, crossing my arms as I asked my question. Jamie smirked, and I didn't know what that entailed, so I waited for him to answer.

"Well, I just recently finished reading Slaughterhouse-Five... and I just started reading The Awakening by Chopin the other night." My heart pounded at his words and I smiled widely before responding.

"I fucking love The Awakening!" I exclaimed, too eagerly as I clasped my hands together in excitement. "And Vonnegut is a genius." Jamie chuckled quietly at my reaction and my cheeks began to burn from embarrassment. "I was expecting you to tell me that the last thing you read was the first chapter of a book you were assigned in your freshman English class, or something."

"Well, you have the wrong impression of me, then," Jamie assured me. "I'm not one to pay attention in astronomy, but I do love English."

"I didn't mean that in a mean way; I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were dumb—" I started to become worried that I had made Jamie think I thought lowly of him, but he stopped me from talking as he started to quietly laugh.

"I didn't take offense, I promise. When it comes to math and science, I'm a total idiot, so you're not completely wrong in thinking I'm dumb."

"I don't think—"

"Ellie, I'm kidding," I smiled as Jamie revealed he was only giving me a hard time, and he smiled as well. "I have a feeling you're really fucking smart, so... what's the last book you read? I'm feeling something classical."