The Heart of Nine

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

As soon as I get home I flop down on my bed face first. I lay there for a few minutes while Alex makes his way up to my room.

“Did you die?” he asks me, a smile in his voice.

“Yes.”

“Do you wanna be cremated or buried?” he teases.

“It doesn’t matter, whichever is cheaper.”

He laughs and sits on my bed next to me. After the initial shock of him being paired with his crush, he became so excited it looked like he wanted to explode. When she came to him after class to set up a day for them to meet he nearly did explode. But when she gave him her number to call so they can finalize plans, as soon as she walked away, he exploded.

He’s been in a good mood ever since.

I, on the other hand, went to go talk to Tristan after we got our assignment. Our novel is Macbeth, so it should be pretty easy. I sat down next to him waiting for him to acknowledge my existence. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest and my palms got sweaty like the way they do when I’m nervous. What the hell is wrong with me, I thought.

When he finally did look up at me, with those amazing green eyes my heart went into overdrive. I tried to calm it down so I could at least have a decent conversation with him without making a fool of myself.

“Hey” I said, glad that my voice came out steady.

“Here’s my number, call me when you want to work on this thing” and with that he got up and walked away just as the bell rang.

Now I’m home and all I can think about was how completely uninterested he seemed. I mean usually that doesn’t bother me but for some reason, with him, it does. Now I’m mad at myself for even caring what a stupid boy thinks. I have a family I have to take care of.

Family? Shit!

I grab my keys and my wallet and run back to my car. Alex trailing behind me trying to figure out what’s going on.

I was supposed to pick everyone up today, Ben and Jason have tryouts!

Leaving Alex at my house, since he basically lives there anyway, I make it back to school to get Kim and Seth, then make my way over to the middle school to get Liam and the twins.

Kim glares at me the whole way.

What the hell is her problem? So I’m a little late, it’s not the end of the world, and it’s not like I don’t feel bad about it.

I sigh quietly to myself. Kim and I don’t get along all that well, and when I make a mistake no matter how small or big it is, she always blows it way out of proportion.

When everyone is in the car I apologize to them and get a few ‘It’s Ok’ in response. We get home and go to our separate rooms. I lay back down on my bed and stare at my phone wondering if I should call Tristan. Alex comes and lies beside me, both of us staring at the ceiling in silence lost in our own thoughts. I decide against calling Tristan. I mean what am I going to say to him? Hey we have three weeks to work on this project but I’m calling because I just really wanted to hear your sexy voice?

I don’t think so.

I get up and go over to Zach’s room to see what I should tell Rosa to cook for dinner. Rosa has been a life savior. I can’t cook much unless I wanted to live off of mac & cheese and frozen pizza. She does everything for us. When dad cut down on the money he gave us, as soon as he found out that Zach got a job, we really couldn’t afford to keep her anymore. Zach didn’t make enough and dad, now, only sent us enough to pay the bills. But, she agreed to stay if we gave her a place to live. With the gazillion rooms in this house we immediately agreed.