The Boy in the Woods (2014 Wattys Winner, Wattpad Version)

Chapter 30 - Here Comes Summer

By the way he refused to look at her while he listened to his father, she began to wonder if he felt embarrassed that he still cared about his dad after what had been said the night before.  Or maybe he thought she disapproved of him, but that wasn’t the truth.  She didn’t want him to be estranged from his dad.  For all his faults, it was clear Uncle Jonathon loved his son, and Doug should be able to love him back, but still choose a different path. 

As soon as Doug had shoveled in the last bit of fried egg, he wiped his mouth and stood.

“Come on, Jess,” he mumbled without looking at her.  “We don’t want to be late.”

“Okay,” she replied, setting her fork down and suppressing a sigh.

Once the two of them were alone in the car, Doug still seemed uncomfortable.  Pulling out of the garage to follow James in the black car, he drove with his eyes straight ahead on the winding drive.  When they reached the locked gate and James got out of the car, Jess couldn’t stand the silence another moment.

“Your dad seemed like he missed you a lot,” she said, hoping that would get him talking.  He made a noncommittal noise in his throat, and she waited, but it was clear he wasn’t intending to say more.

“Doug, I think it’s okay for you to care about your dad even if you don’t agree with everything he does,” she said.

“You do?” he said, looking over at her with obvious surprise.

“Yeah!  I know he loves you, just like my dad loved me.  I don’t want you to lose that.”  He opened his mouth, and then closed it as his shoulders drooped his blue eyes suddenly became sad. 

“You know, Jess?  You’re a swell girl,” he said quietly. 

“Oh.  Well, thanks, Doug,” Jess replied, smiling at the compliment. 

By then, James had opened the gate and Doug pulled through.  He was silent while they drove to school, but Jess didn’t mind.  She felt better now that the awkwardness was gone.  She knew he had a lot of thinking to do about his dad, and she let him be alone with his thoughts. 

When they reached school and Jess got out of the car, Louise waved from the sidewalk and walked over to her with a big smile, her red curls gleaming in the morning sun as they bounced.

“Only two weeks of school left!” she said in a sing song voice.  “And boy, am I ready for summer!” she added threading her arm through Jess’s so they could walk together.  “No more homework!  No more boring classes!  No more tests!  Sleeping in every day!  Or at least until Jack wakes me.  He’s still an early riser.” 

“The way you talk about him, he sounds like fun,” Jess said with a grin, imagining what it would be like to have a wild little brother running around the big house. 

“Fun, huh?” Louise scoffed.   “You should feel lucky you’re not woken up every day by a five year old jumping on your bed.”  Jess couldn’t help laughing as she pictured it. 

Even though Louise often complained about her siblings, Jess knew she cared a lot about them and enjoyed being a big sister.  Their house sounded like a lively one, and Jess envied her for having a big family.  She was certain Louise never felt lonely, like she often did. 

Once they were seated in Homeroom, Jess kept her attention on the door.  Marty was going to come in at any moment, and she hoped to catch his eye when he did.  She wished she could tell him the news right away, but that wasn’t an option.  The best she could do was to give him a look and a smile to try to let him know everything was okay.