“What have you been doing this past week?” Jake asks, sitting on his bed next to me.
“I told you. I’ve been busy.” I remind him, trying to finish reading my novel for Mrs. Zuckert’s class.
“Busy with what?” he asks.
“Stuff.” I answer, not wanting to tell him the real truth.
“Like?” he asks. I look at him and give him a black stare, “Are you hiding something from me?” he asks.
Yes, I thought. “No.” I lie, looking back at the book.
He knows me too well and he could see right through me if I looked him dead in the eye.
“You’re lying to me.” he says and I try to ignore him. “I thought secrets wouldn’t come between us?” he reminds me.
“Jake, you’re thinking too much.” I say, trying not to look or sound upset.
“Then why can’t you tell me the reason why you’ve been busy?” he asks.
“Because it’s nothing! It wouldn’t matter to you.” I tell him, looking at him with a frustrated expression.
“Paige, you matter to me. I care about everything you do. I’m pretty sure it would matter to me.” he says and I shake my head in disbelief.
I look back at the book, “I was studying and I was spending time with Mike talking about my parents, sharing memories of them.” I explain, feeling guilty of lying.
“See? Was it that hard to tell me?” he asks.
“I just didn’t want to talk about it.” I say, not looking at him.
“I know you get uncomfortable about talking about your parents but I feel like I’m not fully connected with you. I’m just curious.” he says.
I put the book down and I turn to face him, “What would you like to know about them?” I ask.
“What did they did for a living, their characteristics…” he says, “stuff like that.” he shrugs.
“Well, my dad was a martial arts teacher and my mom was a hair stylist. Both were kind people with good hearts and they were tough.” I explain, “My mom use to sing while she washed the dishes and cooked.” I smile and he chuckles. “She was horrible.” I say and we both laugh. “But I didn’t mind. I rather hear her voice than not hearing it at all.” I say and our smiles fade.
"I'm sorry." he reaches for my hand and holds it to comfort me.
“My dad would play with knives and do tricks with them. My mom use to get so mad at him.” I laugh, “He would juggle them and one time, he actually dropped a knife and it landed on his big toe.” I say.
“Ouch!” Jake says, making a disgusted expression. I chuckle and sighed.
“Those were good times.” I say, smiling.
“I bet they were good parents.” he says and I nod.
“They were.” I look away.
“Hey, we’ll be back,” Mrs. Conner walks in with Mr. Conner by her side, “We got this weird letter.” she says, holding a paper in her hand.
“From who?” Jake asks, eyeing the picture.
“The bank.” Mr. Conner answers.
“What does it say?” Jake asks.
“That someone has been taking our money for the past few days but I’m sure it’s some mistake.” he answers.
“That’s weird.” I say.
YOU ARE READING
The Mission of Paige Kennedy
أدب المراهقينPaige is college student who lives with her parents good friend named Mike. Her parents were spies and they were murdered by these jealous people who worked with them. She was young when they were killed and Mike took her to another state to keep he...
