Protector Series: Bonus Chapters and Content

ALTERNATE CHAPTER 8: Jerome Roy | Part I

I've been thinking of this mini alternate chapter series for a while now and it's time to write it woo! I hope you like it and sorry if I make you cry (watch as I make no one cry oof)

ALTERNATE CHAPTER 8: Jerome Roy | Part 1

~Jerome: age 17~

       Dad's cell phone started ringing yet again, so I grabbed it to check the caller ID since he was driving and wasn't able to do it himself. When I saw who it was, I ignored the call. I had been doing this for the past twenty four hours. 

       "It's her again, isn't it?" Dad asked.

       "Yep," I said. "Wouldn't it be better to just answer and tell her to stop calling?"

       "I'll answer once we get to the house," Dad said. "I'd rather not get into a huge argument with her while I'm driving and after everything she did, I know I'll definitely argue with her."

       I was silent for a bit before saying, "I'm sorry. For not telling you."

       "Jerome, don't you dare apologize for not telling me," Dad said. "I'm the one who should have realized something was wrong. I was the one who was completely oblivious to it so if anything, I should be the one apologizing it."

       "Well, she was good at hiding it," I muttered.

       "It doesn't matter if she was good at hiding it," Dad said. "I still should have at least noticed something was wrong. So please don't feel like all of this is your fault. You had no control over any of it."

       This time, it was my cell phone that started ringing but it wasn't who I thought it was. It was someone completely different.

       Either way, it was someone I didn't want to talk to.

       "Is she calling you now?" Dad asked.

       "No," I said, ignoring the call. "It's Mae."

       "Then... Why don't you answer it?" Dad asked.

       "Because I am avoiding her probably for the rest of my life," I said. "I... I tried telling her what was happening because I needed someone to talk to. But every single time, she said she was busy and she'll call me later. But she never did. And I don't get how she could be so busy that she can't even take five minutes to call me."

       "I'm not sure if you can avoid her for the rest of your life," Dad said. "Doesn't she and Chanel live here in Miami?"

       "Yes, but I highly doubt that means we're guaranteed to run into them," I said. "There are way less people living in Lachine yet I was seeing new people every single day."

       "Fair enough," Dad said.

       I just really hoped I truly wouldn't run into Mae now that Dad and I were going to be living in Miami. The time I really needed a best friend here for me, I had nobody. 

       I was better off on my own.

       We finally arrived at our new house with Dad pulling into the driveway. The move was so sudden so unfortunately, there wasn't going to be much furniture inside. Before we left, Dad did order some furniture online and they were due to arrive shortly after we showed up.

       Unfortunately, there wasn't a bed quite yet for me to lie down on. I was just going to have to nap on the floor.

      I looked over at the house beside ours, seeing that the family living there were outside in their front yard. From what I saw, the family had four teenagers -three boys and one girl- as well as a little girl. The parents were at the barbeque set up, cooking something that I could smell from here and it was only making me very hungry.