An Angel Rises

Chapter 26- They Deserve to Believe in You

I was back in the kitchen preparing lunch for the kids, Jack was still entertaining them.
I still had that feeling that I just felt, anytime I would hear Jack's muffled voice from the other room my heart would beat faster, I've felt this way before with him but I never let the feeling grow this much.

Should I tell him how I feel? I don't know when the right time will be, but at the same time, I feel like the longer I wait the more my feelings for him grow.
He probably only sees me as a friend, and that's fine too, I guess. I just want to be honest with him.

"Hey, Princess! How's cooking?" Jack entered the kitchen with a smile on his face. "Quite well" I smiled back. "How about your bond with the kids, I bet they would love you, plus I don't want you to think you have to do all the hard work all day." Jack insisted. "But Jack I'm almost done with cooking, I just have to-"
"Blah Blah Blah, I got this!" He closed the door, leaving me to bond with the kids, that won't be too hard...hopefully.

I sat next to a group of kids who were all playing with toys. "What are you guys doing?" I asked them.
"We are playing family with dolls!" One of them contested. I noticed that Jason was playing alone in the corner of the room, having his head down.
"Ohh...very nice, um- is Jason doing ok? Why isn't he playing?"
"We don't like him." They answered confidently. "Oh," I said in a slightly shocked tone. "And...how come?"
"He's weird and he believes in weird things, like, guardian angels."
I immediately took offense, like, come on. "Well we all believe In weird stuff, and we should judge people based on that, now should we?" I grinned.
"I guess..." The kid said. "Hey, Jason?"
Jason looked at the kid. "Wanna play family? You can be a dog!"
Jason nodded and sat with them and played. I smiled knowing that Jason would have to play alone, one mission complete, now we just have to wait after lunch to tell storytime.

Jacks P.O.V

I finished making lunches and sighed, I'm happy Avery doesn't have to be too stressed about making lunch on top of everything. I'd say I'm a pretty good cook, I made...PB & J sandwiches
Baby Carrots and...Grapes! Gordon Ramsey could never.

I washed my hands before leaving the kitchen, to see Jason playing with the other kids. I chuckled, happy that he is bonding with the other kids. I looked around, not seeing Avery anywhere. I walked down the hallway and called her name, "Avery?" "Avery!" I shouted.
"Jack?" She turned the corner. "There you are, you hiding from me or something?" I joked. "Um,"
I glanced at her hand and noticed she was putting a piece of paper into her pocket. "Not at all!" She smiled, I could tell it was forced.
"...Everything ok?" I gave a curious look, she grew paranoid. "Of course, I'm just...overwhelmed with...joy! Joy because Jason is bonding with the other kids!" She said. "Okay..." I nodded.

The sudden silence grew awkward. "So..." I looked away. "Do you have the book?" That's a dumb question, of course, she does-
"Yeah," She pulled it from the backpack, handing it to me. I took it and flipped through the pages.
I then realized that she wasn't in the book. She quickly noticed and spoke up. "Yeah, it's tough I'm not in there" She chuckled.
"Well...It's not funny, ya know" I looked up at her. "Yeah it isn't, but there isn't anything I can do about it." She took the book and closed it.
"B-but how will the kids...believe in you?" I slightly covered my mouth, I didn't mean to say that-
Avery looked away for a moment, thinking. "I guess they just won't believe in me then."

I furrowed my brows as I placed both of my hands on her shoulder, her cheeks went pink as she stared at me with a slightly shocked expression.

"I'll make sure they believe in you, no matter what."

"Jack-" She tried speaking up.
"No, Avery."

"They deserve to believe in you."