The Senior Project

Chapter Fifteen | Mini-Golf Fails

CHAPTER FIFTEEN~
MINI-GOLF FAILS

It had been many days since James' huge reveal.

I was caught up by the sudden influx of work my mother tossed at me so I never had time to call him. She had me buried under piles of math questions and English books to read then, analyse.

I was in the midst of writing up another report when my phone rang.

With my focus broken, I cursed myself for forgetting to turn off my phone.

"Hello? James?" I asked tiredly when I picked up.

"Celia," his voice sounded resigned through the phone.

"How are you? Sorry I haven't been able to call, my mom decided it'd be a good time to swamp me in work. She's got the worst timing sometimes."

"You weren't avoiding me?" James asked, surprised.

"Of course not!" I exclaimed indignantly.

"Oh, I thought I scared you off or something."

"It takes more than a few adoption papers to scare me off," I replied, turning to my laptop screen to add a few more sentences to the paper.

"You sound tired Cee," James commented.

I sighed, turning away from the screen again. My mind was completely blank. "I'm exhausted."

"Well, in that case, wanna have some fun?" James asked hopefully.

Suddenly I'm transported back to the first day we hung out, where we ended up going to that village. I realized this situation is even more similar to the amusement park incidence, where I gave in to my impulsiveness. Actually, ever since that first night of freedom at the village, the feeling of rebellion has been blooming within me. It was horrible but I am a teenager, I'm entitled to a few rebellious moments.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm thinking mini-golf."

"Text me the place, I'll be there," I promised.

<<∞>>

I was surprised to see that we were okay after his huge reveal. Once we met up at the meeting spot, we reverted back to the joking pair of partners that we originally were. James didn't push me into telling my secrets, he just acted normally.

I couldn't say the same for myself. On the walk to the place, I decided that I would be careful not to mention anything that might remind James about his rough childhood. So, I double-checked every single sentence that came out of my mouth.

Unfortunately, I was not as discreet about it as I thought. I knew there was a reason why I'd never gotten an invitation to join a ninja academy. Try as I might, I just couldn't master the art of secrecy.

"Cee, stop being so delicate around me!" James groaned while we were walking to Gary's Outdoor Mini Golf.

"I-I'm not trying to, it just happens," I stammered, as a blush reddened my cheeks.

"Hey, Cee, relax, I won't randomly burst out crying or something if you say a word."

"Right. Sorry. I'll try harder. It's just, I always do for my mom so, it's a habit–" I trailed off, frozen.

Well shoot. That was a major slip of my tongue. To think I was trying to think before I spoke just moments earlier.

"What do you mean?" James asked curiously.