A Little bit of Shade

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

Noodles: here

I sigh, dragging my suitcase along with me. When I get outside, Jack had the trunk open. He takes the suitcase from me and throws it in. I place my backpack -filled with toiletries, phone chargers, and other necessities- beside the suitcase and shut the trunk. "Lets go" Jack smiles.

I take money out of my wallet and hand it to him. "I went online and found out how much the ticket cost, you dink" I say. He doesn't take it, rather, he ignores my presence. "Take it" I place it on his lap. "Kylie I swear," he looks at me. "Keep the money or I'm going to just spend it all on you"

I groan and put the money back in my wallet. He says I'm stubborn? Hmph.

***

"Kylie" someone nudges me. "Kylie wake up, we're here" Jack says. I sit up and momentarily forget where I am. People were getting off the plane. "C'mon, get up"

"What time is it?" I ask, following him out the plane. "It's 1:40" he answers, looking at his phone. "The plane ride was only two hours?" I ask, rubbing my eyes. "No, Pennsylvania time is three hours ahead, the ride was five hours" he explains. We head to baggage claim.

"My mom is here to pick us up" Jack says, grabbing his bag. I grab mine once it reaches me and follow him. His mom and little sister, Isla, were holding a sign.

'Jack Avery and Kylie Matthews' I smile as I see Jack's face light up. "Jack!" Isla screams, dropping the sign and running towards us. She jumps into his arms. They hug for a quick moment and he puts her back down.

"Kylie?" She looks up at me. "Hi Isla" I smile. She hugs me, her head only reaching my belly button. "I've heard a lot about you" she smirks. "I've heard lots about you too" I smirk back.

"Okay let's get going, I'm hungry" Kristen laughs. Jack and Isla take off, talking and laughing. "It's great to see you again" I say. "You too" Kristen smiles.

"Jack talks about you a lot" she says. "He does? He talks about his family a lot too" I say. She looks to me. "When are you two going to date?" She asks. I choke. Has he not told her that we're just friends?

"We're not..." I trail off. "It's just, the way he talks about you I always thought-" She rambles. "Oh no, he's kinda with someone and we're just not like that" I explain. "Oh" she says, almost disappointed. "Are you with someone?" She asks. This was always something I hated talking to adults about.

"There's someone, but it's not going to work out" I answer. She nods.

We reach the car and Isla attempts to help us put the baggage in. "Do you want the front?" Jack asks. "No, it's okay. Talk to your mom" I climb in the back.

"Can I show you this game?" Isla asks while putting on her seat belt. "Of course" I say. She pulls out her phone and shows me 'robot unicorn adventure 2'

***

"Okay, here is the guest room you can stay in and Jack's room is right across the hall" Kristen opens the door. The room was simple, but a pretty big room.

"Thank you" I say, leaving my suitcase near the door. "I'll leave you to unpack and dinner is in 30 minutes" she says, leaving the room. I start putting some of my clothes into the empty dresser.

"Hey" Jack says, walking in and flopping onto the bed. "Hi" I mutter. "You're still mad?" He asks. "Yes, you punched Jonah! I don't care how much I've talked to you after, I'm still mad" I explain. "Okay, I know I shouldn't have done that and I've made it up to Jonah so... I'm sorry I punched him" he says. I sigh. "Fine"

"Okay, now down to the serious thing," he smirks. Oh god. "How'd your date go with Daniel?" He asks. "It was perfect.." I trail off. "You don't look happy about that" he says, his smirk disappearing.