His Little Brother

Chapter Four

"Dad! I can't believe you never connected the dots that Clutch's son went to my school?" Jazz stared in disbelief at her father later that night, who was surrounded by a pile of essays.

"I play tennis with a lot of parents from your school. Why is Clutch's son so important?"

"Darren", her mom interjected, "Our daughter is riled up because she's had a crush on Clutch's son for years now. Don't you recall her mentioning this Cunningham boy?"

Mr. Smith finally looked up from the paper he was grading. "Really?" he asked, sounding surprised. "I'm sorry, Jay-Bird. I didn't realize."

Exhaling, Jazz assured him, "Dad, it's not a big deal. It's not like he's interested in me anyway. It just would have been nice to know all this time."

Her dad seemed to contemplate what she said and gave her a small smile. "I actually met Clutch's, well, Drew's son a few times and he's a really exceptional young man."

Jazz couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. "See, mom, I told you."

"I didn't doubt you for a moment honey," her mom assured her, turning her attention back to the cookie batter she was mixing.

"When did you meet him dad? Tell me everything." Jazz pushed aside the essays and sat next to him at the kitchen island.

Her dad chuckled. "Well, he introduced himself to me on campus. I think his dad told him that I was a Literature professor at the university. When he came along with Drew to one of our tennis matches, I met him. He can't play a lick of tennis," her dad told her laughing, "but he's a good kid. He's been to a lot of my lectures on campus since then. He's even a speaker for a lecture series that we're having on campus. The one I told you about."

Jazz looked at her dad in disbelief. "I didn't know that David was interested in medieval literature, or taking college classes?"

Her dad looked up again in surprise and shook his head. "David? Don't you mean Dylan Cunningham? He's a brilliant kid."

Jazz almost fell off the stool.

"Dylan?"

"Yes, isn't that who you're talking about?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "Of course not. Dylan doesn't even go to our school," she responded, a bit too quickly. "I meant David Cunningham. His older brother. Didn't you meet him too?"

"Oh, the older boy. Yeah, I did meet him once. He seems nice." Her dad shrugged, back to grading his papers.

"Is that all you thought of him? Did you know David is an honors student and he's the captain of the football team? That's impressive."

"I don't doubt that Jay-Bird, but I don't know him," her dad reminded her. "I've only met him one time."

"Well, I've only met Dylan one time and that didn't leave a good impression. He made it his business to tell me and his entire family every single detail that you shared with him! Why did you tell him about my nicknames anyway Dad?" Jazz whined, knowing she sounded like a spoiled child.

"It just sort of came up, honey. Besides, he means well. Do you know he graduated highschool at like twelve years old? He's only sixteen and he already has a college degree. He enrolled again to try out something new. It just happened to be Literature. That, my beautiful girl, is impressive," her dad told her, kissing her cheek before walking to the fridge. "It's a shame he isn't taking any of my classes this semester." 

So that explains it. Jazz thought to herself. Just because he was somewhat of a genius, he believes he has a right to provide feedback where it wasn't solicited.

"Wait, so you honestly thought that I had a crush on a sixteen year old?" Jazz asked her dad in disbelief.

"Jay-Bird, I do recall that you just turned eighteen only a few weeks ago. You're not that much older than he is."

"That's not the point, dad," she pressed.

"Okay, enough you two," Jazz's mom interrupted. "Darren," she said, motioning to her husband, "Jazz clearly likes David. I think it would be good for you to find out some more things about him. You already seem well acquainted with his father and brother. That's a start."

Her dad took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, like he always did. "Fine. I might be inclined to give this David boy a chance."

"It's not like he's even interested in me, mom," Jazz reminded her. "I just want dad to know that David has a lot to offer."

"You never know what can happen, honey," her mom said.

"Even though I don't know him, he'd be a fool to turn down my Jay-Bird," her dad added.

"Thanks guys, but you're my parents. You have to think that I'm great."

"Well, that's true. But it's easier when you actually are great. Whoever you end up with will think you're amazing too," her mom assured her.

Jazz smiled at their optimism. "I love you two."

"And we love you, Jay-Bird," her dad assured her.