You Again

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After Gym, I changed back into my regular clothes and headed out without even looking at Kane.  I could still feel his eyes on me, though, just like I had all throughout Gym.  After I said bye to Caroline and Emma, I got into my Range Rover and headed for Jake’s preschool so I could pick him up. 

“Hey, Hannah,” I said when I walked through the door of the preschool. 

“Hi, Reece, are you here to pick up Jake?” she asked, smiling. 

“Yep, Mom’s got to stay late today at school so here I am,” I said, nodding. 

“Let me go get him then.  They’ve been outside for the last fifteen minutes on the playground,” she said, getting up from her chair at her desk.

A minute or two later, she came back, holding Jake’s hand.  He was smiling until he saw me and then it turned into a frown.

“Hey, bud, ready to go?” I asked, holding out my hand to him.

“Miss Hannah, I don’t wanna go with her!” he said, looking up at her.  “She’s mean.”

Hannah laughed as I knelt down in front of him.  “Oh, come on, Jake.  I’m not mean,” I said, smiling. 

Jake narrowed his eyes at me.  “Yes, you are,” he said.  “You didn’t say bye to me this morning so…”  He stuck his tongue out at me like the five year old he was. 

I stood up and sighed dramatically.  “Well, then, I guess I’ll have to go get ice cream all by myself,” I said.

I heard him gasp and then his arms were around my waist.  “I’m sorry, Reecey.  I didn’t mean it!” he said, holding on to me. 

I laughed and ran my fingers through his dark, messy hair.  “Sure, bud, I was just kidding,” I said.  “Now go get your backpack and we’ll get going.”

“To get ice cream?” he asked, jumping up and down while still holding onto my waist.

“Oh, alright,” I said.  “Hurry up and we’ll go.”

He ran back into his classroom, got his backpack, and ran back to grab my hand.  “Come on, Reecey!” he said dragging me to the door.  “Bye, Miss Hannah!”

“Bye, Jake,” she said, laughing.  “Bye, Reece.”

When we got to my Range Rover, I helped Jake get into his seat that I had to get out of Mom’s before I left school.  He was rambling about all the things he did in school while I buckled him up. 

He continued talking all the way to the little ice cream shop that was just a little ways away from our house.  Jake had already unbuckled when I opened the back door to let him out.  He jumped down, landing beside me, and took my hand. 

“Now, you can’t tell Mommy or Daddy you had ice cream before dinner, okay?” I said, looking down at him as we walked toward the door. 

“It’ll be our secret,” he said, smiling. 

I laughed.  “Good,” I said. 

I was surprised Jake didn’t go into a sugar coma with everything that he wanted on top of his chocolate ice cream.  He practically got every sugary thing that he could.  When we sat down at a table, he dug in.  The ice cream made its way down his chin and dripped onto the table before his second bite.  At least he didn’t get all over his clothes. 

“So are Kole and Mia comin’ for dinner?” he asked, getting another spoonful of ice cream. 

“They always come Monday night for dinner, don’t they?” I said.