𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐱. carl grimes

NINE: a crush? no way

The car ride home was very awkward for everyone, not just me and Carl. No one said a word the whole time.

After a grueling 30 minutes of extreme awkwardness we finally arrived home. I jumped out of the car right as we pulled up to the prison and helped carry the bags of supplies into the cell blocks.

Once I got inside I saw that Claire was waiting for me at our normal meal table. She was sitting down with Judith and just bouncing her but when she saw me she got so excited and almost dropped the baby.

"Woah, be careful there!" I exclaimed as Claire secured the baby.

"I normally am it's just..." she cut off.

I sat down next to my sister and put my arm around her, pulling her into a hug. "I know" I told her.

I understood what my sister was trying to say without her even having to finish. My sister got worried a lot and would take things way  out of proportion. Trying to distract my sister from the horrible thoughts her mind creates I start to talk to her about Judith. This immediately distracts and sends her into a very long and detailed description about Judith's daily life.

I zone out until I hear, "Do you want to hold her?".

Now like I've said, I'm not very good with babies. They always fuss when I hold them and that gets very annoying. I didn't even hold my own sister!

"No thank you" I plead.

She starts to make her puppy dog eyes, "Oh come on! You'll love her!"

After a while of back and forth arguing, I give in.

"Yes!" Claire exclaimes and hands me the baby

I cradle the baby in my hands, supporting her head with one hand. Judith looks up at me and notices it's no longer Claire holding her so she starts to cry. She just bawls as loud as she could causing everyone to look my way.

"Oh Claire please take her back" I say, "She doesn't like me"

Claire quickly sweeps the baby from my arms and she immediately stops crying. "It's not that she doesn't like you, It's that she isn't used to you." she  reassures me.

I decide not to think about it any longer so I excuse myself from Claire and walk into my cell. There I see Jenna sitting on my bunk, waiting for me.

She immediately pops up once she notices me walk into the room. "Finn! I've been waiting for you for a while!" she exclaims as she gives me a quick hug.

Confused I stammer, "What are you doing here?". I haven't talked to Jenna in what seems like forever and not to mention, we weren't even that close before.

She sat back down on my bunk and patted the area next to her. "I just haven't talked to you in a while!" she said as I sat down next to her.

I looked around the cell to see if there was any one else here and this was some type of practical joke or something but there seemed to be no sign of the other boys.

"Where have you been?" she asked, trying to fill the silence.

I slowly answered her question, "Oh I just went on a run with a group."