Insufficient

Chapter 32 - Mortality

(4 hour prior) 

Juliana's POV

I'm sitting by our pool, kicking my feet in the water aimlessly while I wait for stupid Jameson to get back with my new computer.

The asshole threw it in this very pool that I'm dipping my toes in.

Alright, maybe 'threw' is a bit of a strong adjective to use, but it still ended up in the water nonetheless.

Thinking back, things are so different than they used to be. I mean, for starters, three years ago I would have never been sitting so casually by a pool. Nor would I have almost bitten off Jameson's head for knocking my computer in the pool.

But in my defence, he caught me in the middle of doing Trig homework. Everyone knows that's the worst type of maths.

Wait... So then should I have really thanked him instead?

Either way, it's stupid that I still even have homework. I'm a senior, for fucks sake, I'm graduating this year.

There is no good reason they should still be giving upperclassmen homework on the first day of school. Or the first month, for that matter.

"Juliana!" My head just about comes off of my neck as I have point two seconds to prepare before Jeramiah is crashing straight into my back.

I grunt with the force of it, almost doubling over, choosing to instead roll to the side as I tried to dislodge the nine year old without drowning him in the pool.

Though, I should let him fall in there. The little shit almost took both of us down.

"Get off, J." I complain, still rolling around as I find myself precariously close to taking a dive into the deep end of the pool.

Jeremy, the lovely little shithead he is, simply giggles, latching his tiny arms tighter around my neck. Which feels amazing, let me tell you. The boy may be small, and weigh a total of 50 pounds, but he can fucking choke the shit out of you when he wants to.

I grab his arm, squeezing it and yanking as I detach his body from mine. Practically throwing him onto the ground in front of me, I glare at him from my stomach, though he's unfazed. He just smiles innocently at me, still giggling.

"Juliana, stay with me please."

Eventually I do break, like he knew I would. Nobody in this house can resist his puppy dog eyes, and the fucker knows it.

"What are you doing?" I whisper, narrowing my gaze on him, still smiling.

"I dunno. Wanted to see you." He whispers back in that hilariously cute 'whisper' that all kids have. The one that really isn't a whisper, and in reality everyone in the room can hear what they're saying.

I roll my eyes, flopping onto my back and picking myself up from the ground. I hold out my hand and Jeremy takes it, practically skipping as he drags me back to the house.

He's rambling some nonsense that I've stopped paying attention to at this point.

"Open your eyes, it's not too much longer now."

"Gross!" I hear the scream from the little boy next to me, and snap my head up to see through the glass door that Jameson and his fiancé Genevive are sucking each other's faces off in the middle of the kitchen.