The Player Broke My Leg

Chapter 28

The sound of forks scraping against ceramic plates woke me from my sound sleep. I bury my face deeper into my pillow and let out a groan. Even though I had just woken up, I was already tired. With a sigh, I raise my head and look up at the small clock on the nightstand. It was a little after eight.

After my little talk with Jasper last night on the porch, I started to feel a little bit better. Of course my situation was still a little messed up, but as time went on I was able to come to terms with my new life here. The only thing I had to do now was tell my grandparents that I plan on staying for a little while longer. 

I push back my covers on the bed and swung my legs over carefully. Bumping my leg against something hard wasn't how I wanted to start this day. With a groan, I lazily rubbed my face with my hands as I tried to get rid of my sleepiness, but all that accomplished was nothing. Nothing was going to change the fact that I got little to no sleep last night. After I chatted with Jasper last night on the porch, I stayed awake most of the night thinking.

I pulled myself onto my feet. The moment my bare foot hit the cold wooden floor, shivers went up my spine. I shook that feeling away as I wedged my crutches under my arms and walked out of the room.

The smell of pancakes and eggs wafted down the hallway and I could feel my mouth practically watering. The thought of having a home cooked meal was so appetizing that my stomached growled loudly. For the past week, I had been living off of canned soup. While I have no problem eating that, chicken noodle gets old real fast.

When I entered the kitchen, I saw my grandparents as well as Jasper and Evan surrounding the table. Both my grandparents were wide awake as they ate and chatted to one another. On the other hand, the boys looked extremely tired. Evan had his elbow propped up on the table with his head in his hand. His eyes were closed and he looked as if he were sleeping with then and there. Jasper, however, was staring at the pancakes on his plate and his eyes were half opened. His hand was clenched tightly to a mug of steaming hot coffee. When I entered the room, both my grandparents were the only one who noticed. They looked up at me and smiled.

"How'd you sleep last night?" my grandmother asked as she motioned to the seat besides her. Both Jasper and Evan suddenly perked up and they watched me intently as I got into my seat. My grandfather reached out and slid a short stack of pancakes onto the plate in front of my as well as the rest of the scrambled eggs that were on the platter.

"Alright, but I'm still a bit tired though," I say as I reached out and grabbed the bottle of syrup on the table and began to pour it on top of my pancakes.

"Seems like you're not the only one," grandpa says sarcastically as he motions over to the boys. "We had a hard time getting them up to eat." 

I look up at the boys and I couldn't help but feel their pain. The sun was barely up and here they were, being fed when all they wanted was to be asleep. However, I didn't notice last night that the boys were wearing pajamas that were no doubt my grandfathers. Grandpa was a bit of a bigger man, so the clothes looked large and ridiculous on them. Evan was wearing a dark green flannel set that was way to hot to be wearing while Jasper wore the exact same one but in red.

"So, what's the plan for you three today?" grandma asked as she started to cut her pancakes into small pieces. Both Evan and Jasper looked up at me as if they were suddenly not tired anymore. I let out a sigh as I set the bottle down. Putting off the truth was no longer an option. I had to come clean with everything. Well, mostly everything.

"Actually," I started to nervously as I looked at both my grandparents. "I was actually wondering if I could stay here for awhile."

"Of course you can," my grandmother said with a smile on her face, but I knew she didn't fully understand what I meant. "How long are you planning to stay here?"