Chapter 39
June
“So dinner at your place tomorrow is confirmed?” I asked William as I made the bed.
I’d spent the afternoon cleaning my room too. Supereventful. I hope it served a purpose after the fight with my mom, but I wasn’t too sure about it.
“I’ll let you know later. Are you free tonight?”
“For what?” I asked with a smile creeping on my lips.
“To see you, even if it’s just for an hour. Yesterday we were around too many people.”
“Okay, let me know.”
I couldn’t stop smiling, thinking about the kiss we’d shared at Tropical.
“Mom?” I called, in search of the ferocious beast.
She immediately recognized my lost puppy voice. “Don’t even think about it. You’re not going out tonight.”
There she is, April the mind reader, unloading the dishwasher.
“All right.”
“Don’t think that just because you organized that war zone you call a room that you’re off the hook.” It’d just been a bit messy. Not as much as she would like to think.
“Okay,” I repeated, as she waved the dishes and cups around.
She stopped to look at me from head to toe.
“Okay what?” she asked, confused.
“Fine, I’ll help Jasper with his homework.”
My mom’s eyes went wide. I smirked at her with a satisfied look that seemed to say, You didn’t see that one coming, did you, amateur?
“And may I ask why you’re agreeing to do it, young lady?” she asked, swiftly grabbing her phone.
She was certainly already writing Mr. Curator about paintings and embarrassing dinners.
“If I accept your tutoring deal, I could go out, right?”
She looked at me suspiciously and didn’t soften up.
“So? Mom?”
“Yes. But I decide when and with whom. Go get dressed.”
“Why?”
“At Jordan’s at five.”
I grumbled.
Since we’d moved to California, I was starting to develop an instinct for trouble, and I was sure this was going to be a one-way street.
>> <<
“Hi, Jordan.”
The man greeted me at the door with a wet tank top that displayed two strong, muscular arms.
“Sorry, June, I was working out,” he said, wiping his face.
“Oh, no need to apologize.”
I bit my tongue as soon as I realized I’d said too much. But he didn’t notice and turned to his son.
“Jasper, June’s here!”
I put one foot in the door, all my mental alarms going off in my head.
Jasper looked at me furtively from the kitchen table. His tiny figure was wrapped in an oversized light-blue hoodie.
“Well, where do you wanna start?” Radio silence. We were off to a good start. We had two hours of torture ahead of us.
“Where’d you end up with your work?”
I tried to be accommodating, but patience wasn’t my forte. He did nothing but stare at me.
“Is there a subject that you’re not doing as well in?”
I ended up looking around. The kitchen was bigger than our entire house, but it had no warmth to it. It felt sterile and hostile.
“Shall we start with the text analysis?”
Jasper lifted his hood and threw the book onto the table.
“That’s not a nice way to tell me to be quiet, is it?”
He giggled, hiding behind a hand, and at that point I sensed that we could manage somehow.
I talked for a full hour straight, and when I saw him yawn, I suggested we take a break. His eyes were quickly glued to his phone, so I used that time to call William, whom I hadn’t heard from.
Maybe I should’ve followed Amelia’s advice and let him come to me, but I wanted to know what we were going to do. Was I really going to meet his parents? That wasn’t a trivial matter; I just wanted to know what time to be there.
After countless attempts, William finally answered.
“Hey, Will, everything okay? I’m at Jasper’s. What time should I come over tonight?”
“June, do you mind if I call you back? I can’t talk now.”
A strange uneasiness gripped the pit of my stomach. “All right.”
We said goodbye after a few sterile sentences, and only then did I realize Jasper was watching me attentively.
“What’s so interesting?”
Holding the pencil between his fingers, he drew a heart with my name and Will’s on top.
“Should I laugh? It looks like a peach! You’re a terrible drawer! Come on, let’s start math.”
I pretended to be mad to make him laugh, but he didn’t take the joke like I’d hoped he would.
Maybe he didn’t understand sarcasm. He almost threw the notebook at my head.
He stiffened his arm and looked like he was about to throw it, frightening me.
But then he didn’t. Even though his face didn’t show anything, it was the first time I saw him express something even remotely close to an emotion.
Should I have apologized? Maybe I should’ve been more tactful. Or maybe Jordan should’ve prepared me for a situation that I was unfamiliar with.
“Hey, you want me to help you with your math homework, don’t you?” He nodded. He was starting to communicate more, that was something.
Jordan came into the kitchen leaving a trail of cologne behind him. His undershirt was wet, and his blond hair stuck to his forehead.
“How’s it going, June? Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
I looked at Jasper, who didn’t seem remotely disturbed by the fact that he’d just flown into a rage a few seconds ago.
“How’s Jasper?”
“Jasper’s very—”
Quiet . . . but don’t say that.
“Perceptive,” I concluded looking at Jordan.
“Good. I was sure you’d work well together,” he commented, leaning down to his son.
He seemed to want to kiss him on the forehead, but ended up pulling back and limiting himself to a firm pat on the shoulder.
“I’m gonna take a shower. June, the fridge is full if you want a snack. Make yourself at home.”
“Thank you so much.”
Jordan left the kitchen, and I turned to Jasper.
“Um, yeah, of course. I’ll make myself at home.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s all fine and good until Mr. Nice Guy comes back to mark his territory like a self-respecting caveman. I’m already imagining it. ‘Woman, leave. This house is mine.’”
I smiled at the rough voice I used to imitate James. Jasper stretched his lips into a straight line.
“Speaking of which, where’s that thug of a brother of yours?”
He shrugged and I thought about Jordan’s pat again.
“Your dad loves you, but you don’t have many pictures in the house, do you?”
Jasper bit his lip.
He got up and went into the living room with his back straight.
I followed him. He stretched an arm, pointing at the old piece of furniture that towered over the living room.
It was made of glass window displays and compartments full of crystal glasses.
He pointed up. There was a hidden photo behind the decorative objects.
“Can I see it?”
When he nodded, I reached up and grabbed the frame.
It was a family photo taken at a different time but in the same place.
Right in this living room. It seemed like a memento of a summer together judging by the clothes and their tanned faces.
I recognized Jordan, a little scrawnier compared to now, standing next to a very young and undeniably beautiful woman.
She had long red hair and a tiny nose sprinkled with freckles.
She held a newborn in her arms. There was another couple beside them and a little boy and a little girl with dark hair and striking eyes.
The kids both sat cross-legged on the floor, and even though the picture was a little faded, they looked familiar. Very familiar.
“Weird. I think I know them,” I whispered. “They look like . . .” Amelia and Brian.
I was shocked. Jasper didn’t answer, but the more I looked at them, the more I was convinced of it. Was it them?
Jasper put his finger on a specific place in the photo, redirecting my attention. In the corner, there was another little boy with a bandana tied around his head, holding a sword with a funny, angry expression.
I couldn’t hold back my amusement.
“Did Rambo know it was a family photo or was he dressed up to go trick-or-treating?”
Jasper hinted at what had to be a snicker as I kept laughing until we heard footsteps approaching.
Jasper’s expression didn’t change. He just tensed his shoulders.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
I hid the picture behind my back and looked James right in the eye. His jaw was clenched. I tried to return his glare with an equally cutting one.
“I’m tutoring Jasper. Your dad asked me to,” I replied. My breath got lodged in my throat when James made a move. At that point, I gave him a once-over: messy hair, dark tracksuit pants, and a sports T-shirt.
“Forget it, White.”
“Look, I’m doing it for my mom, okay? I don’t even want to be here.” But the way I said it was unfortunate. Jasper bowed his head.
I didn’t mean to upset him, so I parted my lips to backtrack, but James attacked me before I could talk.
“What the hell is so funny?”
I showed him the photo. “You were so cute.”
“Shut up,” he snapped, ripping it out of my hands.
Jasper and I gave each other a conspiratorial look.
Jordan came down the stairs, interrupting the scene. He’d changed into a nice suit, and he looked like he was about to leave.
“Why don’t you two go back to studying?” suggested James.
He jerked his head toward the kitchen, so I followed Jasper without talking. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to sense the tension that had just risen between James and his dad.
I helped Jasper with his math homework. He didn’t open his mouth, but he always got the right answer.
Our silence was interrupted by James and Jordan, who’d started fighting furiously.
I didn’t know what to do. I looked at Jasper, who was looking at the door, so I ran over to close it.
He put his hands over his ears, and I felt a stabbing pain in my chest when I realized he was shutting his eyes as hard as he could.
I didn’t like to see him tense with his hands balled into fists and his shoulders close together. He was suffering.
I went to the kitchen counter to pour him a glass of water.
“Here, drink this.”
He stayed in his little world for a few moments until he decided to open his eyes again and take a sip.
“Better?”
“Yeah.”