Looking After You

(34) Ages: 18 & 15

Ages: 18 & 15

As James walked the short distance next door, he found his mind wandering to the moment he wished he could just forget. Telling Jenny had crossed his mind hundreds of times and telling Alison was something he had seriously considered for days but the possible repercussions of telling the truth left him in a cone of silence. The entire family would be broken and running always seemed to be the first option for the Loran family. His heart sunk at the thought of Jenny leaving and he hated that that was his first concern. He hated himself for thinking so selfishly. James stepped through the door as if it was his own and trudged the set of stairs up to Jenny’s bedroom. Tutoring Jenny had become a weekly appointment for the past few months, but James had a feeling Geometry wasn’t going to be the biggest hurdle this time.

“The circumference of a circle is pi x r squared,” Jenny said once she heard James enter the room, her back turned to him as a pile of homework papers covered the floor in front of her.

“2 x pi x r.” James corrected as he sat down on the floor in front of her, keeping his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. “The area of a circle is pi x r squared.”

“Dang it.” She swore with a shake of her head while she looked intensely at the paper in her hand. “Remembering these formulas is an unnecessary pain.” Finally, she looked up at James with an annoyed twitch in her eye. “When in our life are we going to need to pull the circumference of a circle out of our ass and recite the formula?”

“When a crazy scientist takes over the world, injecting people with a terrible serum that turns them into flesh-eating zombies and the only cure is a pie with a circumference of exactly 10.5 inches. That, Jenny Loran, is when you will be glad you know how to find the circumference of a circle.”

They both started laughing and Jenny shook her head in disbelief. “Where do you come up with these things?”

He shrugged. “My mind if full of life altering information.” Sneaking the paper from Jenny’s hand, he began scanning it with a pleased expression. “Jenny, you got a B, this is really good.”

Sighing deeply, Jenny pulled the paper back from his grasp. “Yeah, but that was just the practice test. Tomorrow we don’t get to use notes and the only reason I passed this one is because I spent an extra hour looking up everything in my notes.”

James stared back at her with a captivated smile. He could see how determined she was and he felt excited for her. To see her reaching for a goal and pushing herself to achieve what she wanted was to see Jenny at her happiest. No matter what happened in the future, James was lucky enough to help her get to that small goal and he wouldn’t let her down. “Alright,” he announced before sliding the book that was lying in front of her over so he could see. They spent hours reciting formulas and making flash cards for Jenny to study, although neither of them really felt like they were doing much but laughing and tossing M&M’s at each other. Jenny was highlighting a few points in her Geometry book when James asked the question, “is your dad home?”

Jenny glanced up from her book for half a second before shaking her head. “No. He’s been away on a business trip for a few days. I guess some hospital in Virginia needed his expertise.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, James stared down at the pen in his hand as he restlessly clicked it every other second. “Jenny,” he leaned forward as his chest constricted painfully at the thought of what he was about to say. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Yeah?” She responded faintly while continuing to run the highlighter across page 82.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, instead a deep voice broke his silence and stole Jenny’s attention. “Studying again?” Jenny’s face lit up with a brilliant smile and she jumped from her bedroom floor, rushing into her father’s arms. “I missed you too,” he responded to the silent greeting and James slowly rose from the floor. “How are you doing, James?” Keith questioned the boy once his daughter released his neck and stepped into line beside him.

Nodding once, James responded shortly with his voice rigid and his eyes narrowed. “Fine. How was your trip? Were you able to straighten out all of your affairs?” A gust of tension swept from James’ lips to Keith’s ears, causing him to eye the boy suspiciously.

“Yes, I suppose so.” He answered slowly while keeping his eyes locked on James as a sinking feeling gnawed at his chest. “I thought we could go out for ice cream,” he suggested to his daughter after finally breaking his focus from James’ strange behavior.

“That sounds great!” Jenny exclaimed in obvious excitement before turning back to James. “Did you want to go, Jameson?”

“I’m sure James has plans for tonight with friends his own age, sweetheart. Don’t you, James?” The starring contest returned as Keith waits anxiously for his response.

It was too hard being in the same room as the unfaithful sleaze. Just the sight of his condescending sneer made James want to ring his neck. “Yeah, I do.”

“Oh,” Jenny responded in disappointment.

Pulling his keys from his pocket, Keith handed them to Jenny with a smile. “Why don’t you go start the car and I’ll be down there in a minute?”

Jenny turned to do as she’s told but stopped at the doorframe and turned back to smile at James. “Thank you for the help today, Jameson. I know I can always count on you to have my back.” Those words threw an invisible dagger straight through his heart and it was obvious to see on his face after she exited the room, leaving Keith and James alone inside.

Keith began taking single steps forward while James continued glaring aggressively. “I just wanted to say thank you for helping Jenny with her studies lately, I know we have you to thank for her recent grades so I want you to know how grateful I am.” His expression was soft and full of corruption.

“I’m doing it for Jenny.”

“I know and I also know that she has told you about me and Alison arguing lately. It’s something we are trying to work through as a family and I just think it would be best if we had time to work this out together, without outside interruptions.” If beating around the bush was an Olympic sport, Keith would have the gold medal. “I know you care about Jenny but she’s fifteen-“

“I’m well aware of how old she is.” James growled through gritted teeth.

“So, you understand how important it is that she be around her family right now.”

James took a few rigid steps towards Keith, his head turned slightly in annoyance. “Sure, but where were you when she needed help with Geometry? Don’t worry, Keith, I understand a lot more than you realize.” His devious grin closed the conversation right then. Keith stared back at him in shock and watched as he exited the room. The fall leaves crunched beneath his feet as he walked back to his house. Everything that had just happened left James with no doubts of what he had to do. No matter what he said or didn’t say, there was one thing that had to be done. He stepped through his front door and found his mother on the couch, flipping aimlessly through television stations.

“How did tutoring go?” Denise asked casually with a comforting smile.

“I heard about some apartments for rent on 5th.” He responded nonchalantly, ignoring her question. “I think I’m going to go look at them tomorrow.” He finally turned to look at his mother’s stunned expression before nodding once and heading up the stairs. Moving across town may not have been a solution to his problem but it wouldn’t do any harm. Seeing Jenny everyday was too hard and just the sight of Keith outside getting the mail made him want to vomit. Keith was right about one thing though; this was the Loren’s business and he wasn’t going to put himself in the middle anymore. No matter how much he loved Jenny, he was going to pull himself from the situation and hope that her parents could work things out because that’s what Jenny deserved.