Daliela

Chapter 3: Sweater Weather

Finally, it was the weekend. That's what I wish was true. It was Friday, the day I had been dreading. It's not like I didn't want to sleepover at Matt's, I just wasn't mentally prepared yet. Keep in mind, I had never had a friend before. I didn't know what to do.

It was after school. As I was walking to meet up with Matt, Jack found me.

"Hey, Peachy, whatcha doing?" he smiled. Peachy?

"Going to meet up with Matt, why?"

He looked angry for a second, but then he smiled.

"What's your mother's name?" he asked. The question caught me off guard, but I answered nevertheless.

"Paige Dadama. Why do you need to know?"

"Follow me if you are curious," he turned around and started to walk away.

Oh great. As followed Jack, I texted Matt on my flip phone that I'd be late. I felt bad, but a little relieved at the same time. I caught up to Jack and walked next to him. I had barely talked to him since the tour, so it felt a slight bit awkward.

We walked into the woods for a long time. Soon, surprisingly, we found an opening full of cottages. Some were small, others were bigger. They were all painted white with red roofs. The paint was cracking, and the windows were stained with dirt. They all looked incredibly old, and would break with a single poke. There was about 20 cottages in total.

We walked to one of the smaller cottages. Jack took out a key and opened the door.

"You live here?" I asked.

"No," he smiled, and we walked in.

It was only one room, with a bathroom and a bedroom on the right side. The blue wallpaper was peeling, and the wooden floor creaked with every step. It was completely empty, besides a table with a sweater on it. I looked similar to mine, but it was stained red. I gasped and ran to the sweater.

"My mom said that her sweater was the only one in the world...she had made it herself. So why?" I questioned the sweater. Did my mom lie and buy the sweater?

"She made another one. Very interesting," Jack said, and I looked at him.

"How do you know?!" I yelled at him. I had never worn Mom's sweater outside my home, and Jack had never been to my house.

"Easy there, Peachy. My dad was the taxi driver, so I know as much as you, and a bit more," Jack looked at me with a smile.

"What else do you know?"

"That you shouldn't be hanging out with Matt."

"What?" I asked. Matt wasn't related to the case at all.

"Follow me," Jack said and headed out the house and towards another cottage.

"No. I promised Matt I'd a sleepover. I'm not bailing on him," I stay strong.

"Sleepover?!" Jack exclaimed. Before he could say anything else, I ran from him.

It was a long run, but I got to the apartments just in time for dinner. I cried the whole way there. Mom lied to me when she said the sweater was special. And Jack was trying to keep me away from Matt. I didn't want to talk about my Mom anymore. Right now, I just wanted to eat pizza and sleep forever.

I was so done with life, I didn't even realize Dede was gone.

"Rai! Are you ok? Where were you?" Matt asked me as I rang the doorbell.

"It's not important. I just need to stuff my face with pizza," I said lazily, and Matt smiled.

"My boss gave me a raise Wednesday, and gave me extra for being the best worker today! So, I bought two pizza's and dessert: Two fudge sundaes!"

"Woah, that's a lot of pizza for just us," I said, shocked.

"Pizza for breakfast, too!"

I walked in and slumped towards the black couch. 

"Sorry, I haven't been able to buy a table and chairs yet. I've been eating all my meals on the couch," Matt sighed.

"It's fine! I usually eat my meals on the couch, too," I awkwardly laughed, and Matt smiled again.

Suddenly, we heard a knock at the door. Matt grabbed a pen and ran to the door. After some quick talking, Matt shut the door and carried the food to the black wood coffee table.

Not wanting Matt to do all the work, and grabbed some plates and napkins.

"Oh, thanks!" Matt came over and took the plates and napkins from my hands, and brought them to the small table as well.

I opened the pizza boxes. One pizza was pepperoni, and the other was pineapple and ham. I looked at Matt.

"I didn't know if you liked pineapple and ham pizza like I do, so I bought pepperoni," Matt came over to the pizza boxes.

"Matt," I looked at him dead in the face. "I love pineapple and ham pizza!"

************

We ended up eating the whole box of pineapple and ham pizza. We didn't touch the other one. We decided we would eat that one for breakfast. I could barely eat my sundae I was so full. 

"I haven't eaten like this since Super Bowl Night with my parents!" Matt laughed.

"Hey, Matt," I looked over at Matt. "Where did you live before here?" 

Matt thought for a minute. "I lived in Rhode Island. But, in Cranston."

"Oh," I didn't know any other area besides North Kingstown and South Kingstown. I was homeschooled until high school; my mom didn't really teach me the other areas.

Matt yawned and went to his room. I looked at the clock and gasped. It was already 8:00? I quickly followed Matt to his room.

We pulled out the mattress, and I realized something. I never told Matt about my mom. Maybe today wasn't the right day...

Matt handed me one of his shirts to wear as pajamas. It was really big, even for him. I went to the bathroom and changed into the giant black shirt. As I came out, Matt had already finished my bed and was laying in his. I took a deep breath and got in my bed.

Suddenly, before I could even think, I instantly fell asleep.