Don't Tell Him He's In Love With A Genius

:Genius: Chapter Twenty

“Jane!” I froze, turning around on my heels. Harred, Asha and Jean stopped with me. Surprisingly, it was Lucy who was behind me, smiling brightly.

“Lucy, what's up?” I asked, glancing at my friends. They shrugged slightly, making me turn back to look at my adoptive mother.

“We're going shopping today!” She announced, pulling my arm over to the car park. I laughed.

“Lucy, it's Wednesday. I've got school.” She rolled her eyes, hitting my shoulder like I had just told a joke.

“Today is a training day for the teachers. No class. We're going into town and finding a nice shop to buy stupid amounts of clothing in.”

“We are?” She rolled her eyes again.

“Oh course, silly. You can bring your friends too, Jean and … Asha, Harred, right?” Harred and Asha glanced at each other.

“Actually, Mrs Dawson, we've got plans today.” Harred said sheepish, sending her a smile. Lucy shook her head.

“It's fine, you two kids have fun doing whatever you do now a days.” She winked at them, causing a red blush to spread over Asha's cheeks. Jean and I shared a look.

“I- We- We're not-”

“Don't try to hide it, Snugglemonkey. It's a natural thing.”

“Snugglemonkey?” Lucy asked slyly. Asha went red.

“He doesn't call me that.”

“Don't deny me, Snoochypop!” Harred exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

“Harred!” Asha hissed.

“What happened to Harryboo?”

“Harryboo?” Jean giggled, making Asha's face become even more red.

“We- I don't even say that.” Asha mumbled running off. Harred winked at us.

“Don't be too you, huh?” I laughed, making him smirk.

“I can't help but tease her.” His smirk dropped to a smile for a few seconds, before he ran after her. He snuck up behind her and grabbed her in his arms, carrying her bridle style. We could hear her screech from where we were standing.

“I would love to come, Luce. Just let me call Charles. Lately he has been wanting to know where I am every minute of the day.” She rolled her eyes, and gained a sympathetic glance off of Lucy.

“I was so proud of him when he got up the courage to ask you out!” Lucy squealed in the same way a mother would when finding out their child is dating. Lucy listened avidly to their conversation, looking like she wanted to jump up and down. They started chatting, occasionally trying to bring me into the conversation but I always found a way out. Lucy worked as an archaeologist consult for documentaries and movies. Apparently Jean wanted to be an archaeologist so they spend a lot of time together.

Lucy used the same car to drive us to Eureka as the first time she had brought me to Grace Valley. The car ride was long, but we filled it with meaningless chatter. By the time we got to the town, each of us had smiles on our faces. Lucy was telling me stories about Jean.

“Honestly Jane, Jean looked so guilty, you'll never see her like that again, I bet you!” I laughed at the look Jean was giving Lucy, the one that told her with her eyes to shut up. Lucy didn't pay attention. “I had to cover for her, and she felt even more guilty after that, so she-”

“Oh, that's my favourite shop!” Jean exclaimed cutting her off.

“Shall we shop then, ladies?” Lucy said, winking at me. Jean rushed in, her face flushed from embarrassment.