The Other Half

Chapter 12

"So how was English? You said you were going to talk to Jordan."

"Jordan was fine."

"So are you guys all good now?"

"Yeah we're still friends."

"That's good."

"Well of course we'd still be friends. Why wouldn't we?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"But he told me this quote." I said hesitantly.

"Let's hear it."

"Basically it said you can choose to see the hurt or the healing."

"I like that."

"Yeah I do too. It means something."

"Tessa!" Jordan called out.

"Hey." I greeted him as he sat down next to me. He leaned in towards me as if he was going to kiss me but pulled away as soon as he realized what he was doing. "Um, do you want to come over today to work on the project?" He asked instead.

"Sure. We really need to get to work."

"That's what I thought. I also had some ideas on how we could present it."

"So I heard about what happened and I'm sorry. That must be really tough." Cody interrupted. I shot him a glare and mentally scolded him. Why would he bring this up now?

"Yeah it's tough but we're getting through it." Jordan answered swiftly.

"Slowly but surely." I agreed.

"We're still friends. Nothing will change that." He finished. Cody nodded and we spent the rest of lunch in silence.

**

"I can't believe I've never met your parents."

"Yeah about that." He trailed off in thought.

"What about it?"

"I don't actually live with my parents."

"Oh."

"I live with my aunt and uncle."

"Oh." I repeated.

"Yeah. They're pretty much my parents though, I've lived with them my whole life. Anyways this is my house." We stopped in front of a typical, traditional home. "Come on." He opened the gate for me and I followed him up the path. He unlocked the front door and I stepped inside hesitantly.

"Jordan!" A shrill voice called out.

"Hi!" He hollered back.

"Hello!" A friendly looking lady beamed at him, her smile broadening even more when she saw me. She wore a frilly apron and had a dirty spoon in her hand. "Who's this?" She asked, waving the spoon around.

"This is Tessa."

"Hi." I said shyly.

"Is this the girl you've been taking out?"

"Li-"

"Is he good to you honey?" She interrupted.

"Lila we broke up." Jordan told her.

"Now why would you do that?"

"We weren't matched." He answered quietly. The silence fell like a bomb, killing every sound in the room. "But we're still good friends." He added after a moment. "Tess you want to come up to my room? We should get to work on that project." I nodded and followed him up the stairs, eager to get away from the awkwardness down below. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." I shrugged and sat down on his bed cross legged next to him. His room was painted a neutral grey and he had a dark navy patterned comforter. Overall, the room was spotless, so unlike Cody's and mine.

"Why are you always so shy around new people? You're fine with Cody and me but with anyone else you just close up." He asked.

"It's a long story. We should get to the project before I have to go."

"You can stay for dinner." He offered.

"Thanks. I'd like that."

"My parents left me." He said after a moment. "They're matched and everything but they never wanted a kid. Then I came along and they didn't want me. Luckily my aunt and uncle took me in, they can't have kids themselves, so it worked out for all of us."

"I'm sorry."

"I always knew they weren't my real parents but I was too young to care why. Then a couple years ago I found out they didn't want me and I didn't take it very well to say the least."

"I'm sorry Jordan."

"It's okay. It doesn't bother me that much anymore. But when I found out, I changed. I became hot-headed, the littlest things made me snap but most of the time it was just to hide the pain." He said. "I think that's what you're doing isn't it? You're shy and stay away from people so they don't see your pain. You don't want to bother them with your problems but people will care. I care, Cody cares, your parents care and Penny cares."

"But what about the others?" I choked out. "The ones who laugh."

"Why do they do that in the first place? What happened?" He asked softly.

"It's a long story."

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I just want to start by saying thank you for almost 300 reads! It doesn't seem like much and to be fair it isn't but still! That's 300 reads! I can't wait to see where this book goes in the future!

I'll probably do a Q&A thing later on where you guys can ask me anything you want and then I'll have some questions for you to answer in return. Maybe after the next chapter... We'll see. For now just comment and vote! It really makes my day a billion times better :)

Questions of the Chapter

1. What do you think of Jordan's aunt?

2. What do you think Tessa's back story is? Speculate in the comments! A special reward to whoever gets it right :)

Hugs

Erika