His Little Brother

Chapter Eight

Jazz woke up the next morning with final preparations for the Book Fair and the anticipated phone call from David in mind.

The fair was only two days away and she still had a lot to finish up. Since she woke up early, Jazz was grateful for the chance to spend an extra five minutes in the shower and got out feeling refreshed.

"Jay-Bird! Your mom and I are heading out. She left some pancakes for you in the microwave!" Jazz heard her dad call out from downstairs. Both of her parents had busy schedules, so she had grown accustomed to eating breakfast alone.

"Thanks dad. Love you guys!" she called down the stairs. She needed to leave too if she would have any time to work on the Book Fair preparations before class.

Jazz quickly ate her pancakes, washed them down with some almond milk and was out the door.

She wasn't surprised when she got to the library and it was empty. Mrs. Cooper opened the small room at 8:45 and it was still 7:30. Jazz was happy for the quiet and worked in silence as she documented the amount of book donations they received so far.

"Jazz? Are you here?" Jazz heard Hailey call out about twenty minutes later.

"I'm in the back Hailes!"

"I had a feeling you were in here," Hailey told her with a half eaten Twix Bar in her hands. Jazz laughed to herself. Hailey's mom hated when she ate chocolate bars for breakfast, but Hailey seemed incapable of breaking her habit. 

"Oh please, I told you I'd be in here."

Hailey laughed out loud. "Oh, right. How are things going? I wish you'd let me help you out a little."

"I told you I have it under control. This is my first year as club president and I want to show the team that I'm capable."

Hailey sighed. "Fine, if you say so. I have a box of books that my parents collected for you by the way. I meant to drop them off last night, but I forgot."

"It's okay, you can drop them by tomorrow," Jazz assured her.

"So, any updates on David?" Hailey asked, plopping down next to her on a chair.

Jazz smiled to herself.

"What's that smile?"

"I don't know, I mean he came in yesterday to drop off some books and it seemed like he wanted to know more about what I do here."

"Jazz! That's huge! What did he say?"

"That's the thing, he just smiled at me and he made it seem like he was actually interested in what I did here at the library." Jazz sighed. "I don't know...maybe I'm reading too deeply into this."

"Jazz, before these past few days, David has never spoken a word to you. Nada. None. Zilch. This, my friend, is progress!"

Jazz laughed. "That's what I thought too, but I don't know. I'll just see what happens."

"You're amazing. He'd be foolish not to see that."

"Thanks, Hailes. Now shoo so I can finish up here." Jazz laughed shoo-ing her with her hands.

"Okay, okay! But I'll see you at lunch."

____

Jazz hid her disappointment well when David didn't show up to English class.

She didn't realize that she had spent most of the time wondering what happened to him until Mrs. Spencer interrupted her thoughts.

"Okay, everyone, remember that you have about two more weeks to work on your projects. If you're having any issues, feel free to write them down and come see me," she reminded the class, before the bell rang.