When Trouble Meets Trouble

[ C h a p t e r - F o u r t e e n ]

“What about Mere?” I asked.

He pursed his lips. “Not exactly.”  

I beckoned him towards the kitchen. We entered to see the two of them eating cookies and drinking milk. 

“Jer, Mere,” I smiled when I realized that their names rhymed.

“Jonah, Vanna,” Jeremiah smirked and I glared at him, telepathically sending my brother the message not to say anything. My brother just laughed before hopping down from the counter.

Mere was staring dreamily at him and I held back from vomiting everywhere. “Mere?”

“Oh, yeah, hey Jonah,” she snapped back to reality. She was busy watching Jeremiah bend over to refill his milk. I wanted to puke. “Vanna? Can I talk to you for a minute out there?”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea, Mere,” I warned her, discreetly glancing from Jer to Jonah.

“Too bad, Vanna," she yanked me out of the kitchen and I turned to face her once we were in the clear. “I want to kiss him.”

“Who?” I asked her.

“Your brother!” she snapped as if it was obvious.

I shrugged. “Then do it.”

“I don’t know if he likes me!” she complained and I sighed, taking out my phone. “What are you doing?”

“Asking him if he likes you, duh,” I replied as I brought up Jeremiah’s contact.

She smacked my phone out of my hand, causing it to drop to the floor. I stared at it. “If it’s broken, you’re paying for the damages.”

“That’s not a big deal right now, Vanna! Can you find out if he likes me without being obvious? Please?” she asked and I sighed before nodding.

“This isn’t a one man job,” I told her and she shrugged.

“Just get it done.”

~~~

After filling Jonah in on the plan, we split up and I went to the backyard. Jonah is supposed to tell Jeremiah that my mother needs him in the yard and Jeremiah will casually walk into the backyard where I’ll corner him and ask if he likes Mere. It’s not obvious, right?

After waiting a moment, I heard footsteps coming towards the balcony. Jeremiah was whistling as he closed the door. He looked around and saw me, furrowing his eyebrows. “Can I talk to you?” I inquired.

“About?” Jeremiah raised his eyebrow. “If it’s about how you’re pregnant, I noticed. Your stomach got a little bigger; I was just waiting for you to tell me; I didn’t want to press-,” I cut off my brother.

“No, you dimwit; I’m not pregnant! I wanted to talk to you about Mere,” I told him.

I noticed he started looking away. “What about her?”

“Well, do you like her?” I asked him and he shrugged.

“She’s okay," his response was dull.

I leaned in slightly. “Okay? What does okay mean?”

“It means, she’s okay,” he told me.

I frowned. “Just okay? Not fantastic? Extraordinary?”

He looked at me for a moment before sighing. “She’s cool.”

He changed the adjective and I narrowed my eyes. “What’s wrong, baby brother?”