Because of You

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

BEEP.BEEP.BEEP

I groan and turn off the alarm which shows: 6:30 a.m. I get out off the bed and make my way to the bathroom. I need to cool off so I decide on taking a cold shower. I’m still very much annoyed at my dad for not telling me that the McAlister’s are going to be living in our guest house. Yes, we had a guest house right opposite to our house with a small garden in between. Perks of living in unpopulated areas, you get to live in huge houses. But I’d trade it for a small and cozy apartment in the city any day.

I don’t know what Uncle Dan was thinking, moving his family from the city to a town like Westfield. No doubt they’ll regret it. It sucks that they sold their old house before moving to the city. They are staying in a hotel for now, they’ll be moving to our guest house tomorrow.

Sources (my dad) told me that the dark haired boy is Dean’s cousin, Tyler. Uncle Dan and Amy have been taking care of him as their own son after his parents were killed in an incident. He was really quiet and kept to himself throughout the dinner, unlike his cousin. Dean kept chattering and cracking jokes; a few may or may not have made me crack a smile. A smile that turned into a scowl when he told everyone that we’d already met and that we’re going to have a ‘library date’, whatever that is. He received a wide range on responses, an approving nod from Uncle Dan and Amy, a mouth-wide-open-please-tell-me-you’re-joking look from my dad, a giggle from Rosy, an eye roll and grunt from Tyler and the best of all, an under-the-table kick from me. After which he said and I quote, “Babe, please not in front of our parents.” Which made everyone but me laugh; even the melancholic Tyler cracked a smile. That jerk, how am I supposed to live that?

You know you want to. 

No, I don’t.

Yeah, you do.

Nope.

Yep.

Oh, shut it me!

After my ten-minute shower I get dressed, I wear a pair of beige trousers and a long sleeved maroon colored top. I stopped wearing make-up to school a long time back, I braid my hair into a side plait. Lame, I know.

 After I finish I walk downstairs. “Good morning, Jenny,” my old man looks up from his newspaper and greets me the next morning, “You’re a little early today.” I ignore his comment and proceed to the kitchen. I grab a nutrition bar instead of my usual cereal and milk because today, I, Jennifer May Welch, am walking to school instead of riding with my dad. Walking to school is probably a small thing, if you don’t live in the middle of the outskirts and the town like me. Why am I doing this? I’m giving my dad the cold shoulder since dinner last night.

“Jenny,” he starts, “you’re not still angry are you?” Not still angry? Seriously dad? Ask me again tomorrow when the McAlister’s are sharing our estate. I know, I probably sound like a snob, but I have my reasons. 

“Of course not,” I say in a chirpy voice, “who am I to be mad at you?” I sling my bag against my shoulder and fill myself a glass of orange juice.

I hear my dad sigh, “Jenny, I was going to ask you. This will be good for all of us, I promise,” he says. “Besides, aren’t you the one who’s always complaining about not having anyone around since all your friends live far away?” he raises an eyebrow. “Well, now you have two friends.”

“By ‘all’ you mean two, and they visit all the time,” I roll my eyes. “Dad that’s not the point, you didn’t even ask me if I was okay with strangers moving into our guest house!”

“The McAlister’s are not strangers Jenny, you’ve know Daniel your whole life.” He argues.

“What about the other three people who, apparently, have already started calling us neighbors before even moving in?” I push, remembering Dean and Amy calling me their ‘neighbor’ throughout the dinner, last night. The only person I could tolerate was Tyler and that’s because he hardly made any eye contact with me let alone spoke.