Ms.Ryan

Chapter 24

Serenas POV

"Happy Thanksgiving sis," Jax said while kissing my forehead. It was around 8am and I was currently sitting on the kitchen counter in an oversized sweatshirt with a cup of coffee in my hand. Jax was wearing grey sweatpants with no shirt and his hair was messy but he somehow pulled it off.

We did this every year, we would wake up really early, sit in our pajamas and watch old cartoons until it was time to get ready and head to the garage. 

He fumbled through the kitchen cabinet and grabbed a box of cereal pouring a bowl and heading to the couch. I joined him as he turned the TV off flipping through channels until he landed on Spongebob, his favorite. 

As much as I was trying to be in the moment my mind was a bit preoccupied. Thoughts of last night with Sophia ran through my head and I smiled to myself. 

Then I thought of the question she asked me just before I basically sprinted out of her house. It had caught me off guard that's for sure. 

No one ever really asked me about my parents, either because they already knew or simply didn't care. It was fine by me, I hated talking about them and there were only a handful of people who knew the whole story. 

My nerves were getting the best of me and I decided to grab a cigarette and head to our back deck. The early morning air was cool but refreshing, it felt clean and being out here at this time brought me a sense of calmness. 

I exhaled the smoke as I closed my eyes and let the sun hit my face. My thoughts were pulled back to Sophia when I remembered Jax had invited her to come today. In the moment I was happy about it but now I was starting to rethink that. 

It's not like I was mad at her or anything I just hated conflict, especially when it came to talking about my family. I knew Sophia wasn't just going to drop it which meant I'd be forced to have a conversation I would rather not and today didn't seem like the day for that. 

Jax walked out leaning his arms against the railing next to me and raking a hand through his hair. He brought a cigarette to his lips and I lit it for him as he slowly inhaled and let it out. 

"You okay? your mind seems like it's somewhere else," he said while glancing over at me.

I admired how Jax always knew what was going on with me without having to ask. 

"Yeah, I just-" I trailed off thinking of how I wanted to word this,

"Sophia asked me if my parents would be coming today and I kinda just froze and then left" 

He chuckled while looking straight ahead, "Sounds like you handled it well" 

I shoved him lightly and rolled my eyes "Jerk"

"Look, I think you really like this chick, and I know that's not easy for you. Hell, you're probably still trying to convince yourself you don't but maybe you should just be honest with her. You don't have to tell her your life story if you're not comfortable but just tell her you have a past and you're not ready to share it yet... If she really cares about you she'll understand."

I just looked at him and smiled realizing he was completely right. 

"I love you bro" he pulled me into his side.

"love you too Serena"

Sophias POV

I was turning down the street of my childhood home when I saw my parent's house come into view. It was an hour drive from mine but I had gotten here right around the start of dinner. My family always liked to eat early which I wasn't complaining about because it would leave me time to see Serena later. 

I parked then made my way to the front and waited to be greeted. My sister came into view as she opened the door with a smile on her face. 

"Soph! you look amazing!" she said with excitement which caused me to laugh. 

"Hey Riley, you look nice too" 

We made our way inside and I could see an assortment of family members scattered throughout the house all preoccupied in their own conversations. 

When my mom saw me she immediately came running over embracing me in a warm hug.

"Sophia, I'm so glad you made it" I smiled against her shoulder.

"I wouldn't miss it mom" she pulled back and I began greeting everyone else before we all made our way to the dining room. 

There were about 15 of us and even though I wouldn't consider myself close to most of my family, it was still nice having everyone here. 

My dad came over kissing the top of my head before handing me a glass of wine, "How's my girl" he said while grinning.

"Good as always dad" I smiled back at him and watched as he took his place at the head of the table. 

We all bowed our heads to say grace before loading our plates with food. 

About 30 minutes in everyone was pretty much done and were now talking amongst one another. The room was filled with laughter and cheer but all I was thinking about was Serena. 

"Hey there stranger" I heard from behind me as I turned coming face to face with my little brother. Carson was 17 and we had a decent relationship considering I never really saw him. 

My parents had shipped him off to boarding school when he was 15 which thinking of my current circumstances may have worked out in my favor. He would be in the same grade as Serena and even though they wouldn't be at the same school there would be a much higher chance of them running into each other. 

"Hey Cars, how are you," I said while messing with his hair. 

"Pretty good, listen I gotta ask you a question and it might seem a little weird" I chuckled.

"Um okay shoot" there was a grin on my face already finding this conversation quite amusing. 

"So there's this girl that goes to your school, she's a total babe and a bunch of kids dared me to ask her to prom" 

I was laughing now, typical Carson move. 

"So who's the girl?"

"You probably know her, Serena Maldonado? she's kinda hard to miss" 

My mouth dropped and my eyes went wide. The smile on my face was replaced with an uneasy look.

"Um, y-yeah I know her," I said while gulping. 

"Great so you can hook me up?" my mind went blank. What was I supposed to say? I hated the thought of pimping out Serena but I couldn't really tell my brother why that wasn't a good idea. 

"I make no promises... but I'll try"

"Yes!" he wrapped me in a tight hug spinning me around, "You're the best Soph"

I gave him a nervous chuckle before excusing myself. I needed to get out of here.