Cluttered {Watty Awards 2016}

Four

Jake is waiting at the park by the time Rory, Emily, and I show up. I can see his right eyebrow raising. I hadn't mentioned that I would be bringing my siblings along. Oops. I'm used to bringing them to the park after school so they can do their homework in a cleaner environment. I used to take them to the library, but after I'd once brought them here, they'd started pleading for this to be our regular studying spot instead. They like doing their homework here and being able to go play after it's finished.

Franklin Park isn't much, but we think it's nice. It's not very large, but has a decent sized playground, complete with swings, monkey bars, a slide, and various tubes and tunnels to play in. There's also several picnic tables, some grills, and a small but clean-looking pond. There's also a sandbox and plenty of leafy, shady trees for hot days. If it wasn't against the law and I had a weapon, I would consider just living at the park.

"Hi. Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm on babysitting duty," I say to Jake as we approach him. He's seated at the picnic table that gets the most shade. "This is Rory and Emily."

Jake looks at them with interest. "Hey. I'm Jake. Maybe one day I'll bring my little sisters."

"How old are they?" Emily asks.

"Eight and ten."

Emily smiles. "I'm seven," she announces.

Jake just smiles and looks at Rory.

"He's ten," Emily explains, even though Rory scowls.

I laugh, shaking my head. "Okay. Now that we've got that out of the way, how about we do some homework?"

Rory sighs but takes a seat at the end of the table. He gets out his books. "I have math, English, and science," he glumly says.

Emily sits across from Jake, rewarding him with another smile. "I have math, too. And reading."

"Baby stuff," Rory says.

"Hey, you once had the same stuff. I'd kill to have your homework sometimes, too," I say.

Rory frowns at me, but quickly opens his math book and gets started, tapping his fingers against the table's wooden surface. 'Sorry' I mouth to Jake, but he just shrugs. 'It's okay,' he mouths back. I smile and sit beside him, swinging my backpack from my shoulders.

Jake and I have already gotten a basic plot and characters by the time Emily finishes her homework. I decide to check it later and allow her to go swing. I do the same when Rory finishes his work. I glance up at them from time to time.

"You're a great sister," Jake suddenly says.

I turn to him, my face feeling warm. "T-thanks." Swallowing, I look down at the notebook in between us. Both of our handwriting fills the lines. "Mom's sick a lot. And she has to work, too." This is a lie that I am familiar with, even though I suspect that my friends don't fully believe it anymore.

"Oh, that sucks. It's good she has you."

I smile. "Yeah. I guess so."

An hour later, Jake looks at his phone. "I've got to be going. I have to start work soon."

"Where do you work?" I ask as I start cleaning up.

"I deliver pizza."

"Cool."

He makes a face. "Sometimes. People can be pretty rude, though."

I shrug, shoving the notebook into my bag. "People are rude, yeah." I turn toward the swings, where Emily and Rory are. "Emily! Rory! Time to go!" I turn away from their pouting faces and to Jake as he slings his bag over his shoulder.

"You want to keep meeting here? Your brother and sister seem to like it."

What have I done to deserve this? I smile. "Yeah. That sounds great. I'm glad you ended up being my partner."

He smiles back, brushing a stray strand of hair from his forehead. "Yeah, me too. See you tomorrow."

"See you. Have fun being a pizza boy," I tease.

He mockingly glares at me before smiling and waving. As he makes his way home, Rory and Emily trudge to the table to collect their backpacks.

"He's nice. Will he be coming with us again?" Emily asks.

March 29, Thurs. 7:00 p.m. 626 Days.

Nothing too eventful today except Mrs. Bradey assigned us our drama partners and I got Jake Ockler. We started our project at the park and he didn't mind that I brought Rory and Emily along. Emily seems to especially like him. Maybe I'll end up with another friend.