The Blake Girl

Jameson Hawthorne

"Becca!" I exclaimed; my eyes immediately drawn to her vibrant red hair. She turned around, and a warm smile crossed her face.

"Julia! Nice to see you."

"Would you like to spend some time together today?" I inquired, a hopeful tone in my voice. She glanced away for a moment. "I can't. I have to stay with Em; the Hawthorne brothers are coming over, and I'm supposed to keep an eye on her."

"Then I'll come to you. You deserve to have some fun every now and then," I suggested with a supportive smile.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "That sounds amazing!"

After school, I joined Rebecca on her drive home to her house. Her mom walked out as soon as we arrived. "Rebecca, you're late; they're already here." She looked at me. "Who is this?"

"Julia Blake, ma'am," I said, smiling. She nodded and left.

"Follow me; they're probably in the back." I nodded and followed her through the house. When we stepped outside, I saw Rebecca's sister Emily sitting on a lawn chair. Two boys sat next to each other; one had bright blonde hair and blue eyes, while the other had brown messy hair and bright green eyes.

"Bex! I'm so glad your back, I wish I could go to school but the doctors say I still have to wait a couple weeks." Before Rebecca could get a word out, she turned to me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Julia, a friend of Rebecca's."

She nodded, "This is Grayson and Jameson Hawthorne, we've been close for a long time." Jameson smiled at me. She then turned to Grayson, "Hey Gray could you go get me a sweater it's getting a bit chilly." He nodded quickly before heading inside, she then turned to Jameson and started talking to him. 

Rebecca and I walk a little away from them to have our own conversation. "Emily has them wrapped around her finger."

"I can tell, she seems to love the spotlight."

"She's my sister and I guess she's been through a lot and deserves it." Rebecca had told me before that she had a congenital heart condition, she had also just gotten a heart transplant. Rebecca and I spent the time sitting on the grass on the other side of the yard until Mrs. Laughlin came out and talked to Emily for a minute before turning to Rebecca, "Emily's tired." Rebecca nodded, I sensed that I should leave.

"I should get home I have some homework to do before school." 

Rebecca nodded, "You didn't drive here, how are you going to get home?"

"I can call someone." I said shrugging, my dad most likely would not pick me up so I would have to find a bus or something. But I guess I should be used to it, I really needed to learn to drive.

"I hear someone is in need of my driving expertise" I turned around to see Jameson Hawthorne standing there, I didn't know him that well. Scratch that I didn't know him at all. But I knew Rebecca's grandparents worked for them at their mansion. 

"I can figure it out on my own but thanks." I also knew my grandfather hated Hawthornes, which meant my dad also hated them. If my dad saw me driving with one I would be dead.

"Julia, please let him drive you." Rebecca said, she knew I didn't have another ride.

I narrowed my eyes. "Fine," I said goodbye to Rebecca before following Jameson towards his sleek, black car.

"Here." He said opening the door for me.

"I can open my own door." I said before realizing he was being nice, and I was being mean. "Thank you." He nodded closing the door, his car was small but nice.

"So where do you live?" He said gesturing to the GPS system on his car. Simple question, but I had no idea how to answer it. I couldn't let my dad see him, but I couldn't just give out a random address. I put in my address and sat back in my seat.

"So, you go to Country Day." He didn't phrase it as a question.

"Yep."

"How come I've never seen you there before?" That was a question.

"I've never seen you there before either, so I guess I can ask you the same question."

"Touche"

We drove in silence for a while, the hum of the engine filling the awkward space between us. 

"So, how long have you known the Laughlin's" I finally ventured, breaking the silence.

He glanced at me briefly before returning his gaze to the road. "Long story short, we were summer friends then they moved here, and we became all the time friends." There was almost a hint of frustration under his words.

"Complicated, huh?"

"You have no idea," he chuckled, a hint of something unreadable in his eyes. "What about you? What's your story?"

I hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. "Just a regular girl trying to navigate high school,"

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "Regular girls usually don't have a problem saying where they live."

I sighed, "You're observant, huh?"

"I've been trained to notice stuff."

I nodded. "Good to know."

He pulled up to the curb near my house, and I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt.

"Thanks for the ride," I said, genuinely appreciative despite my initial resistance.

"No problem. See you around, Julia." With a nod, he drove off, leaving me standing on the sidewalk, watching his sleek car disappear around the corner.