The Permutation

Results (Part 7) Jordan

"I don't need your help. I'm just fine on my own." she said.

Resisting the urge to bite her lip, Jordan turned her back on Derek and strode towards the parking lot. The look on his face had been akin to the look on a child's face when he is told there is no Santa Claus. As if on cue, her mother's powder blue Ford Focus appeared in the distance. Jordan felt her pace increasing at the sound of Derek following her.

"I'm coming with you! I'll prove you wrong!" he shouted behind her.

Jordan forced back a smile. "That's crazy! What would your parents think?"

"Trust me, they won't even know I'm gone!" he said bounding past Jordan towards her mother's waiting car.

"Don't repeat anything we talked about! Especially to adults!" she called after him.

Without introduction, he opened the passenger side door of Delilah's car and hopped inside. Shaking her head, Jordan slid into the backseat trying to gauge her mother's reaction to the day's events. She didn't know what she had expected but it wasn't this. The woman seated in the driver's seat was not the person that had dropped Jordan off at school today. Regardless of situation, the corners of her mouth would be tilted a fraction of a degree upward. Instead of her tired smile, she just looked tired. The bright orbs of her eyes, known for their constant ability to pick up even the most minute detail, now dull marbles sunk into her face. It looks like she hasn't slept for days.

A flicker of irritation crossed her face, before she eased the vehicle into motion. Jordan drummed her fingers against the worn out knees of her jeans waiting for her rebuke she was sure to receive. The silence spanned with Jordan's anxiety increasing by the second.

"Holy smokes! What happened to this door?" Derek shouted.

Without acknowledging the boy's exclamation, her mom glanced at her through the rear-view mirror. "Jordan, who's your friend?"

"My name's Derek Spencer. It's super cool to meet you!" he said extending his hand, "Oops, sorry you're driving!"

She managed a weak smile, "Well, it's nice to meet you Derek. My daughter didn't tell me she had any friends."

"It's because we aren't friends. We are just working on a project for school," Jordan chimed in.

"We're going to be friends though!" he added.

"Regardless, I'm glad she is getting out of her shell. That girl spends too much time with her nose in those books and not enough time being a kid," Delilah said before letting out a massive yawn, "I don't know what's come over me. I'm so tired."

"My mom says that when it starts to get cold, everyone gets a little sick," Derek replied.

As the conversation had wound on, the haggard mask of exhaustion lost ground to the force of Derek's unbridled optimism. At his last words, Delilah emitted a wheezing sound out of her throat that Jordan realized must be a laugh, "You know, that must be it."

Derek's animated chattering juxtaposed with her mother's tired but amused interest was peaceful background noise as Jordan watched the houses pass by. She'd seen these houses numerous times, but she hadn't ever truly looked at them for what they were. Before, they'd been dreary, muted structures that couldn't hold a candle to the frenetic energy of the city, but now, she noticed the beauty of them. These weren't houses that people lived in, because they were conveniently close to their jobs, these were homes. Inflatable pools, plastic flamingos nesting in yards, and countless other little things that revealed the character of those within. Maybe Idaho isn't so bad. She may have melted a door, gotten kicked out of class, and defaced school property, but she couldn't help but smile. For better or worse, Jordan had made two friends, even if one of them was under false pretenses. She had hope, it wasn't a lot, but it was something.