Hopelessly Broken

10. The Knot

4.13.20

Jack's alarm went off since he still has school, and I couldn't suppress my groan. It's too early for this!

"Sorry," he whispered lowly from somewhere above me, "just go back to sleep; it's literally 5:30 am."

"How long does it take you to get ready?" I slurred sleepily. I am too tired to even realize that I just spoke for the first time in 2 days.

"An hour."

"Insane."

I rolled back over onto my side and pushed my face into the pillow while settling back into a restful sleep.

***

"Wake up sweetie, it's noon," Jamie whispered while gently shaking my shoulder.

"Five more minutes... Or hours," I mumbled. Footsteps left the room, and I figured out that I was being lulled into a false sense of security when heavier ones approached. Before I could realize what was happening, the ground disappeared from underneath me. I yelped loudly and tried to squirm out of Lincoln's grasp, and soon I was put down on the bed.

I looked up with an angry glower to see Linc's amused face. "Oh... My..." he laughed loudly. "You should've seen your face!"

I blushed from the embarrassment of the situation. I am by no means a morning person, and they're bullying me for it! "I don't like waking up!" I defended before realizing what just happened. I spoke! Lincoln's face was also in shock.

"Did you just–"

"I did," I squealed like a little child on Christmas. It hurt a tiny bit, but I chose to ignore the scratchiness in my throat because of the joy running through my blood. I will be able to talk to Eveline today like I am a normal person!

"Anyways, get dressed. Jamie made lunch."

"Do you think Jack would mind if I borrowed his clothes?"

"Don't think so."

Jack and I are about the same size, so it wasn't hard to find something in his dresser that fit. It may not have been my particular style, but I managed to find something that would look nice for my date. I went into the bathroom across the hall to see that there was an brand new toothbrush for my use on the marble sink top.

Once I finished brushing my teeth, I picked up the comb next to where the toothbrush was. This is going to go poorly...

I spent almost fifteen minutes trying to pull that stupid comb through my mess of hair. I haven't cut it in almost a year, and it had started to get a bit out of control. As of right now, I think I just have a huge knot on the top of my head, and my actions were not helping in the slightest.

"Jamie!" I shouted. Girls are supposed to be good at this, right?

"What is it, Dev?" she asked from downstairs.

"I need help with something!"

Jamie's footsteps came up the steps, and I met her in the hallway. "What is it?"

I lifted the mess of hair wordlessly, and I could tell that she knew what I meant. For the next hour, I sat on the floor in front of her while the brush moved painfully through my hair.

"Dev, this isn't working. I might have to take you to the hair stylist," Jamie murmured.

"There's a dedicated hair stylist?" I asked. I had only ever had it cut by a woman that came by the orphanage.

"Yes."

Soon we were sitting in her car driving somewhere to fix my hair. "How long has it been since you brushed that?" Jamie asked jokingly.

"A month," I admitted.

"Hair doesn't work like that. Especially when it's as long as yours."

"Hey, I didn't want it this long! I missed the last haircut day for an after school activity!"

"It's okay, Dev. Um... Lincoln and I were talking... We were gonna tell you over lunch, but we ended up being sidetracked."

"What is it?"

"We were thinking– with your permission of course– about officially adopting you into our family."

My eyes widened, and I froze. "I-I..." I stuttered out. I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon!

"It's okay if you don't want to yet, but we both think you're an amazing addition to our family. I mean, you somehow got Jack to talk to you about his real feelings! That's a miracle!"

"Are you sure I won't be a burden?" I asked.

"Of course, sweetie. Everyone needs someone close to them, even you."

"I think... I think I would like that," I finally answered with a small smile across my lips.

We pulled into the parking lot, and once we were both out of the car, Jamie wrapped her arms tightly around my back. I hugged her just as hard, and it felt good to be loved. It's a totally new feeling because even if Meg cared a lot for it, it's kind of her job to make sure that I'm happy and not alone all of the time.

"I'm so glad! We just have to put it through with the orphanage director and meet him so he knows that we aren't super sketchy now."

Long story short– literally– we just ended up cutting most of my hair off. It would now be pretty hard to tangle my hair because it was so short. Even the hair stylist couldn't fix the mop people call hair. Honestly, I like the way I look a lot better now, and I hope Eveline does too.

"Okay, it's 3:30. We have two hours to fix your clothes situation," Jamie declared.

"What? I thought my clothes were fine!" I defended.

"I thought you were trying to impress this girl," Jamie joked.

I gasped in feint offense. "Don't I look fabulous?" I retorted while striking a goofy pose.

"Oh come on, you!" Jamie pulled me into JCPenny– I thought this place was supposed to be for girls– and proceeded to drag me to the men's fancy section.

"I... Um... I don't know my measurements," I admitted. I've never bought any nice clothes. "Jamie, we're just going to Jerry's, I don't really need anything insane!"

"It's good for you to have something nice laying around, and we can get you measured no problem."

Once we had all of my measurements, we picked out some nice clothes, and Jamie even took me to the casual area to get more outfits. It was oddly fun to spend so much time with her, and I'm really looking forward to having her as my mother.

"I have one more thing to get, can you go take the bags to the car and I'll meet you there?" Jamie asked.

"Sure!" I chirped. I do wonder what she's getting, but maybe she's going to one of those gross girly stores. She handed me the keys to my car, and we both went about on our own ways.

I'm super excited to see Eveline tonight! She's so pretty and kind and I still can't figure out why she's spending time on me, but I'm not complaining!

Jamie got into the car 10 minutes after I did with a broad smile. "Alright, we have an hour to make you look awesome for your date! Also, I have a surprise for you when you get home."

I'm so fucking exhilarated in preparation for tonight!