Little Green Stars

Chapter 22-The Talk

Mr. Dahl gave me lunch detention for sleeping during class, but the joke's on him because I was ecstatic to have an excuse to avoid Jaxson. Honestly, I planned to avoid him indefinitely, and it would have worked if it wasn't for Maeve and her mandatory family dinners. So here I sit, Jaxson stink-eyeing me and Maeve demanding to know every detail about my upcoming assignments. But, none of it seems to bother me. The fact that I still don't know what the hell is wrong with me isn't even bothering me. It all seems meaningless as I anxiously wait for Jin's DM. I know it's only because I can't wait to tell him what I found in Maeve's office today.

"So, any cars picked out for tomorrow afternoon?" Maeve says, bouncing a fussy Silas on her knee.

"There's a Malibu and a Lancer I like down at the Chaz Limited lot," Jaxson says.

"No Lancer, maybe on the Malibu," Maeve answers, getting irritated as Silas's cries continue.

"Here, I'll take him," I say, taking Silas from her arms to dance him around the kitchen. Anything to get away from Jaxson's stink eyes and this conversation.

"And you?" Maeve calls back to me while wiping smashed peas off her shirt.

"I'm pretty busy, can you just pick one for me?" I say as migraine kicks in. Great.

"What do you have planned?" Maeve calls back suspiciously.

Oh, I dunno, maybe just trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me. "Just stuff."

"She's always got stuff going on nowadays," Jaxson's sour voice adds.

I roll my eyes as my phone buzzes again.

"I don't feel good," I say honestly, before slumping Silas back into Maeve's arms and then running up to my room.

Hey, I'm here.

HEY! Where u been?

Legit sleeping. Slept from 3:30-6, then ate dinner.

Don't ur parents notice u gone so early?

No way, they've been too busy getting things ready for the big remodel tomorrow

Oh...

Ya...well I'm here

Kk

I throw my phone aside to fling the rope out the window. Jin and I go through the same old sneak in the window routine from last night. Once inside, Jin sets down his stuff and slumps into my bean bag.

"You okay?" Jin asks. "You look flushed."

"Yeah, must be allergies. I've been itching and just have a headache."

"Weird, hey, did you find anything in Maeve's things?"

"Actually I—"

A firm knock on the door echoes into my room. That's Maeve's knock.

"It's Maeve," I whisper to Jin, who rushes to my closet, shutting himself inside.

As I open the door, I try to stop my adrenaline rushed arms from shaking.

"Yeah?" I ask as Maeve presses her way into my room, Silas in her arms.

"We need to talk," she says, sitting down at my desk, looking unnerved.

"About?" I mask my anxiety with some sass.

"Sit," she says, setting Silas down to crawl around.

I sit down and extend my arms for Silas as he crawls into my lap, grabbing at my curls.

"So, Mr. Hunderk called me today..." Maeve opens.