Worth Fighting For | Book #1

Chapter 52

This was a stupid idea. And I knew that already because I had been sat in the car, parked across the road from the familiar house for over an hour now, racing through my thoughts as if it would make me finally open the door and walk up the driveway.

There was an overwhelming sense of déjà vu as I finally unlocked the car, the first step to actually leaving it and walking to a place I could assume I'd be kicked back out of anyway.

However, when the courage finally arrived to walk up to the house and knock cowardly against the door, the person to open it was not who I wanted to. A small chill ran down my spine when I looked into the eyes of Josh's mother, subjecting me to a calculating glare. Maybe Beth really was the only person in this house that liked me now.

"I didn't get your name last time," she surprised me by actually speaking directly to me instead of about me or ignoring me completely, "you're?" Her voice was still strict and disingenuous, yet I could somewhat sense her resolve disappearing as I played with my hands in front of me.

"Savannah," she exuded complete confidence as she nodded her head for me to continue, "James."

Her hair was messily pulled into a bun, not seeming as if a date for her was on the cards like every other night I'd had the pleasure of meeting her. "And you're Josh's girlfriend?" She lifted her eyebrows, waiting for a reply yet also striking down my own confidence in the meantime. I was starting to understand why Josh didn't seem to get along with his mother, she scared me more than I thought someone could.

"No, I'm not actually. I just wanted to speak to him about something."

"He's not here," with that, she began closing the door again, only for the small shout of my guardian angel to appear from behind her.

"Is that Savannah? Can she come in to play?"

"Not today, Beth," she shouted back to the innocent girl, now appearing between the almost closed door, her eyes watering with the painful feeling of not getting to play with me. Josh's mother, whom I'd yet to learn the name of, stared pointedly between myself and Beth, battling internally with what to do.

"You can wait for Josh in here," her voice was slightly muffled with her opening and swiftly walking away from the door. I guessed I was now stuck to wait for him, whether I wanted to or not.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch your name?" I posed as a question with my newly found confidence, turning the tables slightly before stepping through the threshold of the house.

"Melissa," I couldn't tell if it was my eyes deceiving me or if she'd let her lips rise, forming what could be misconstrued as a smile, but it managed to quickly disappear as she did herself through to the kitchen, leaving Beth and I alone in the doorway.

"Come on!"

The shout from Beth's voice was enough to make me jump before a wide smile appeared onto my features again. She seemed to be the true light of this family, and I hated that her mother - Melissa - didn't seem bothered enough to care. Beth dragged me into her playroom as I felt myself already knowing where I was heading. I still felt somewhat rude for having been here a few times already yet only really introducing myself properly tonight to Melissa, but I guessed that she played the very important role in restricting that.

Beth had already laid out the role play, consisting of various children's medical equipment of a higher quality than I would have expected. She began the actions of treating teddies and dolls as if she were the doctor and I was the nurse with instructions being directed to help the patient in front of me.