Love Within

Chapter 6 - Jade

"Is there an instruction manual somewhere?" I asked, digging through the laptop case. Connor leaned over and snatched the case out of my fingers, laughing. I tried to wrestle it back from him, but he was a lot stronger than me. I rocked back on my heels and scowled at him.

"For a girl with an average of almost 100, you can be hopeless sometimes," he chuckled. He tossed the empty laptop case aside, turning back to the open laptop in front of him. "We don't need an instruction manual. We can do this ourselves, right?"

I folded my arms across my chest, unamused. Connor wasn't taking this seriously enough, in my opinion. My first opinion of him, which was seeing him as some kind of a god, fell away. Even he had his flaws. "Considering how expensive Stella's gifts are, I don't want to risk breaking it." Connor rocked back on his tailbone and sighed, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"Okay, okay...Can you look?" I dug through the laptop case, only to come up empty-handed. I swore and picked up the phone. Stella had already put her number on both our cell phones, and Tori had added herself as well. Of course, it was a given that Connor and I would add each other. "Call Stella." I nodded. 

Interestingly enough, Stella didn't pick up. Instead I got her voicemail, which was a special message, directed at me. "Hey, it's me, Stella. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message after the tone and I'll get back to you. Unless you're Jade, because if you're calling me for help, it should be pretty self-explanatory, so if you can read, you will be able to do this. Bye now!" Beep.

Unless you're Jade? Wow, that's nice. She wasn't even willing to help me. I mumbled a curse under my breath out of frustration and sighed, carefully placing the phone on the couch with a lot of self-restraint.

"I'd ask Tori, but she's...out...with her boyfriend," Connor said apologetically. We both thought about it, and Connor's tone made it clear what Tori was up to. We both shuddered at the thought. We really didn't need that visual to stay with us forever. Or at least I didn't. I couldn't say the same about Connor, but if he really thought about her as his older sister, then he probably felt the same way I did.

"How about your friends?" I blurted out. Connor blinked at me, and then his face lit up.

"Oh yeah...!" I stifled a sigh and gestured for him to go on with it. "Wait...They're probably gaming and won't come out of their houses. I don't have their phone numbers."

I closed the laptop and stood up with it in my arms. Placing it back in its case, I shoved my feet in my sneakers and headed to the front door, opening it a crack and standing before it. "You don't have a car for decoration. Let's go."

Connor grinned and stood behind me. I reflexively shuffled forwards, away from him. Even if I liked him more than other people, that was still too close for my liking. He didn't seem to notice though.

"You know what? I take back what I said before. You're a really smart girl. I like your ideas."

"Thanks," I said, walking out the door. The cold instantly bit at my cheeks and nose. I shivered and hurried to the car, where Connor turned up the heat until there was a constant roar filling my ears. I let the warmth seep into my skin, soaking into my bones and the core of my being. Holding my hands above the heaters, I rubbed them together to warm them. It had been cold enough outside for my fingers to instantly become stiff.

"Oh man," Connor groaned, sticking his hands under his armpits and curling his shoulders forward. "This. Sucks. So. F--Much." I smiled. He even tried not to curse in front of me. 

"Winter generally sucks," I agreed. I just hoped there wouldn't be a blizzard anytime soon. It was kind of a stupid thing to hope for, considering that snowstorms were inevitable.