The Humdrum Life of a Hero

Chapter 28

"Oh shit!" escapes Jay's lips the moment we lay eyes on three grown-men standing in his foyer and brushing snow off their coats. Two of them are considerably younger than the third who dons a balding head and gray hair.

It's then do I realize that I've seen that balding head before.

"It's my dad," Jay hisses. His hand tenses in mine, and I watch as he clenches his jaw. His breathing becomes labored; his chest rising and falling in slow succession.

When his dad spots us standing out in the open, he grows a frown and scrunches his brows together. Clearly, he's not very happy to find his eighteen year-old son and his girlfriend alone together in his house. And after Jay sneaking home to see me, I can understand why he would be pissed. "Jay Kennedy Keely, what is going on?"

I never knew his middle name was Kennedy. I would bet money on the fact he's named after the famous Kennedy family, because his family clearly enjoys the whole naming your kid after famous people since his first name is derived from that of Jay Leno.

"Um..uh..." Jay tries to speak, but he can't seem to form a coherent thought to save his life. And maybe it's because I love him, okay, it's totally because I love him, do I decide to help him out with the whole forming words thing.

"Senator Keely," I begin. "I...I was helping Jay pick out some clothes for the dance on Saturday."

He peers at me through squinted eyes, attempting to figure out who I am and why I'm in his house. "And who, exactly, are you?"

"I'm...I'm Sarah, Jay's girlfriend."

Senator Keely crosses his arms over his chest and does something that frightens me more than eases my worries; he grins. "God, I wish your mother was here to see this."

Jay and I glance confusedly at each other. "Why?" Jay timidly asks.

"To see that you are capable of sticking to one girl," Senator Keely sneers. "She always said she didn't think you had monogamy in your blood."

When I glimpse at Jay, he doesn't meet my eyes. His neck turns red, starting to spread to his cheeks, and his palm in mine becomes awfully clammy. The verbal beratement he's receiving from his father is having quite the effect on him.

On a roll, Senator Keely continues, "What I wouldn't pay to spring her from rehab and watch her face right now. Oh my, I'm being so rude; Sarah, dear, tell me about yourself. Most girls Jay brings home never introduce themselves. They just do their walk of shame and leave."

Grinding my teeth together, I bite down on my tongue, hard, because I know if I say what I'm thinking, those bodyguards of his will tackle me down these stairs and charge me with threatening him with his life. Would it be worth it to do that? Hell yes.

I look to Jay, but he's about as helpful as a infant with all of his hand-clutching and silence. Fed up with his frozenness, I drop his hand and address Senator Keely myself. "Sarah O'Henry, sir, and it's a pleasure to meet you," I play his game with an amused smirk on my face. "I'm a junior in high school, seventeen. I'm not sure if you remember Tony O'Henry, the football team's quarterback, but he's my brother, sir."