Tuesdays and Apples

Chapter One

"You expect me to take care of a fifteen year old boy? For six months?" I ask in disbelief. I should have known that it wasn't a good idea to let my neighbor in during the middle of the night, but what else was I supposed to do?

Mrs. Tenney gave me a weak smile. I huffed in annoyance, trying to think of some good excuse to drive her away from myself as an option to take care of a fifteen year old boy. I was only turning thirty-one this year!

"Mrs. Tenney, your trusting your fifteen year old son with your thirty year old neighbor who happens to have no experience with kids, nor a steady bank account. I don't even have insurance for crying out loud!" I reason. She scoffed, trying to play off her unease with dismissal. 

"You took care of Whitney's boys for a few months, did you not? They came back in one whole piece, just fine. Leo doesn't cause a lot of trouble, he's a reader in fact! I doubt you'll have to do much," She explains, smiling sweetly. My head falls back in annoyance, and I count to three before looking right back at my old neighbor. 

There's not a lot that could go wrong. Oh, except for the fact that I might forget to feed him, I might accidentally kill him, and he might run away cause I'm not really the best person to hang out with, or I'll end up forgetting to pick him up from school and he'll be stuck there forever! 

But that's not that bad.

"Sure, why not?" I say exasperated. The smile on this mother's face grows, and she pats me on the back before turning around and calling out for her son who's waiting in the car. 

Leo Tenney. He's tall, skinny, and overall a huge geek on the outside. The boy at least has some sense of style, dressed in normal jeans, and a plain sweatshirt that's a little too snug to be the right size for him. He looks a lot like his mother when they stand next to each other. Both of them have baby blue eyes the color of the sky, and golden blonde hair I envy greatly for it's shiny color. Leo and I have spoken twice. Once at a dinner party when I moved in, and another time when he almost got beat up by a bunch of idiotic jocks. We were decently acquainted to say the least. 

"Leo! Let's go- and bring your bags too, please!" Mrs. Tenney yelled in a motherly tone, her eyes glancing at the silver watch on her wrist. Mrs. Tenney was only leaving me with her son for one reason, and one reason only. She couldn't bring Leo to Peru. 

I found it quite unfair that both Leo and I got the short end of the deal here. Six months of my life were now going to be taking care of a growing teenager, who I barely know, and Leo wouldn't get to skip school and go to Peru! Okay, well I guess it's just a little unfair for me. 

Leo's lanky body was soon standing in my doorway, a bored expression on his face, and a pair of douche-bag sunglasses covering his eyes. I was already getting excited to smack the black shades off his face. 

Leo looked at his mom before looking back at me, his bored expression turning into one of hope and plead as he stared at his mom. She gave him a look, taking a hold of his thin shoulders to trap him in one of those warm, comforting hugs that only moms can seem to perfect. 

They let go of each other after a moment, and the woman turned back to me, smiling gratefully before giving me the exact same hug she gave to Leo. It felt nice. "Thank you Sara, I really needed this."

"No problem," I say, remembering the giant check she had already paid me to cover food and other necessities Leo and I might need. It was a sure fine check if I must say. Wow. I sound like a money-hound- Jesus, why do I keep talking to myself?! In my head too!

Soon, the goodbyes had come to an end, and I helped Leo into the green-themed bedroom, with it's queen size mattress, and tiny-ass closet that not even my family members used whenever they came around, which wasn't often. My family was not very open-minded to the diversity of California.