Again (PUBLISHED!)

Chapter 17.1.

The following day, when I went to my neighbors' to read with Jackson, the most bizarre thing happened. Like I literally had to pinch myself to believe that it was reality.

When I came across Devon, he gave me a royal ignore and walked past me.

I was stunned. This had never happened before.

"What's wrong with you?" I blurted out, unable to digest that he didn't utter a word yet to irritate the shit out of me.

Devon faced me with a scowl. "Everything is wrong with me. Because for you nobody is the world can be as right as Josh, right?"

"What?!" I was completely bewildered. Now where did that come from?

Devon didn't respond but turned his back to me again and continued to walk away.

"Wait wait wait!" I jogged ahead of him and blocked his path. "So you're gonna walk away? Just like that?" I still couldn't digest that Devon wasn't being his cocky self.

"I don't think you should waste time chatting with me because, sadly, I don't look like Josh. Go home," he said grumpily and moved past me.

I frowned. "For your kind information, I did not come here to chit chat with you but to read with Jackson," I called out to him from behind.

"Good. Revise the alphabets also with him. A is for Apple, B is for Ball and J is for Josh," said Devon with a deep grudge and disappeared out of sight.

Wait, what?

Devon was behaving like a bawling kid. He didn't even turn up when Jackson and I settled to begin reading a new Roald Dahl book. And this somehow didn't go down well with me. I didn't know I had become so used to Devon being around while reading that now it felt so annoying when he wasn't there. Time and again I gazed at the door expecting him to come but he never came. And because I was so distracted, I made a lot of mistakes while reading out to the tiny tot.

"Are you ok, Eleanor?" asked Jackson, looking at me with confused baby eyes when I made another error.

"Yes, I am, honey," I smiled at him. "Can you finish reading this paragraph while I'm gone for a little while?"

"Okay," he said, smiling adorably.

I rose to my feet and strode out of the room to go in search for Devon in the house. It wasn't long before I found him seated at the kitchen counter biting into an apple. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and looked away when he saw me. I raised my brow at that.

"We've finished Chapter 1 of 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'. You can still join us incase you want to," I said quietly.

"No, thanks. I'm good here. Because I'm not as fantastic as Josh. Why don't you ask him to come over?" Devon said, sulking all over.

"God! Can you frickkin' just stop it?" I narrowed my eyes onto him.

"I remember an English proverb 'An apple a day keeps a doctor away," he began snidely. "I wish an apple a day also kept people who support Josh away."

Now I was annoyed. "You know what, fine! If you have problems with me then I might as well go away."

"Good bye."

I walked a couple of steps but then stopped. I knew very well he wasn't going to stop me or anything. I rolled my eyes and walked back to him.

"I hope you know you're behaving like a fussy five year old kid," I taunted.

"Get your mouth checked. You speak nonsense. I'm seventeen, not five," Devon snapped.

"Yeah, right. Whatever you say Mr. I-am-seventeen," I drawled.