School was boring, like normal, but it was good to be back with my friends again. My teachers gave me the class notes so I could catch up on what I missed when I was sick, and I laughed and joked with everyone. I saw Blondie aka Melissa over the far side of the cafeteria, but she stayed out of my way, and nobody mentioned her, so I put her out of my mind.
It was so good having friends. At my previous schools I'd had friends, but I'd never been able to get close to them because I missed so much school. But when I walked back into school on Friday morning, Kate, Lily, Petra, Frankie and I fell into step just like we always did, and it was like I hadn't even been away. I was back with my gang.
During lunch time, we were all making plans for the weekend. Kate was going away with her family, Lily was grounded, Frankie had her cousins coming to stay, which left only Petra. She invited me for a sleepover. I texted Damon to see if I could, and his response was immediate: "Not tonight. Jack has plans for tomorrow."
"Damn!" I muttered. "I can't. Jack's got plans, apparently."
"Ooooh which one's Jack?" Kate asked.
"I thought you liked Nick and Rocco?" I asked her, confused. Surely she didn't have a crush on all of my brothers?
She blushed and fanned her face by flapping her hand in front of it. "I do. But which one is he? Is he as good looking as the others?"
This time it was my turn to blush. "They're my brothers!" I said, in mock outrage. "Ewwww!" But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't ewwww at all. Nick was super hot, and there was no denying that. I wasn't attracted to him or anything, that would just be weird, but there was no getting away from the fact that he was good looking.
To distract myself, I pulled out my phone and flicked through it, trying to find a photo of Jack. I had photos of all my brothers on there, silly selfies with them, mostly. Even Damon had posed with me for a couple, much to my surprise.
"Here," I said, pointing to a photo of Jack and I poking tongues at the camera. "He's the third oldest. He's 25."
"Oooh he's nice," Frankie said. "Is he single?"
"He's far too old for you!" Petra scolded.
"Yes he's single," I said. But as I said the words, I was overcome with irrational jealousy. What would I do if Jack got a girlfriend? It would feel like a betrayal of sorts, surely? Jacky was mine. My favorite brother. I didn't want to lose him, I didn't want him giving attention to anyone else. I didn't want him to ever get a girlfriend.
The bell rang, signaling the start of class, and Frankie and I walked off together, farewelling the others.
"Make sure you send pics of your weekend!" Kate yelled over her shoulder as she hurried off in the other direction.
The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, but all I could think of was Jack's plans for the weekend. What were we going to do? Was it just him and I? Were all my brothers coming?
In the car I asked Logan, but he didn't have a clue.
"Don't ask me." He shrugged. "I haven't been told anything."
**
"Ice skating!" Jack told me, when I asked him what his plans were for tomorrow. "Have you ever been ice skating?"
I shook my head, and jumped up and down with excitement. Ice skating! Jacky was taking me ice skating!!
He grinned at me, but then his face, and his voice, turned serious. "There's somebody I want you to meet, and I figure the easiest way to do that is to do something fun. What do you think?"
Immediately, my stomach sank. The words Jack had just used were the classic lines of 'I have a girlfriend and you are no longer the most important person in my life'.
"A girlfriend?" I asked, grimacing as though someone was twisting a knife through my heart.
"Yes," Jack said. "Anna. We've been together for nearly three years. I think you'll like her."
I looked at Jack, aghast. "Three years?!?" I yelled at him. "I've been here for how long now, and you're just telling me this now?" My voice rose an octave, and got louder with every word. I couldn't believe this. It felt like the ultimate betrayal. Maybe my gut was trying to tell me something today, when Frankie had asked if Jack was single.
Jack reached for me but I stepped back and shook my head. Jack dropped his hand. I was expecting him to tell me off for yelling, but he never did. Instead, he looked sad.
"I didn't want to say anything until you were settled in here with us," he began. "And then she went away. She's a model, so she travels a lot. She's just been working in Paris, and Milan."
Oh this was getting better. So Jack not only has a girlfriend that he's just deciding to spring on me now, but she's obviously gorgeous if she's an international model. How was I ever going to compete with that? I'm just his kid sister, a scrawny teenager who is far too small.
"I don't want to meet her."
"Why not?"
I shrugged. "You're not going to want me around anymore, if you've got her," I mumbled.
This time when Jack reached for me I didn't back away, and he grabbed hold of my shoulders and pulled me in close, dropping a tender kiss on my forehead.
"Oh sweetheart, that's not true at all," he said. "You'll always be my best girl," he reassured me gently. "You're my little sister. Nobody can ever take your place in my life."
"Are you sure?" I asked. "What if she doesn't like me?"
Jack smiled. "Why wouldn't she like you? She's going to love you!"
"What if I don't like her?"
Jack pushed me upright and held me still in front of him. He looked at me seriously.
"You're really worried about this, aren't you?"
I nodded.
"I'm certain you'll like her, if you give her a chance."
"But if I don't?" I couldn't help pushing. I needed to know that Jack was telling me the truth when he said I was his best girl and nobody could take my place.
"I know you will. But if I'm wrong, and you both give each other a fair chance and you really don't get along, I will break up with her. Because you come first, Carrie."
I grinned triumphantly.
"But," he hardened his voice. "If you just act like a brat and go out of your way to make her not like you, and you don't make any effort to get on with her just to make me break up with her, you'll be in trouble. Lots of trouble. I expect you to give her a fair chance Carrie, and I know you will, because you're a lovely, sweet girl and I'm your favorite brother."
Well damn. There goes that plan, I grumbled to myself.
"So tomorrow, we'll go ice skating and you can meet Anna. And afterwards we'll go for ice cream. Does that sound okay?"
No. It didn't sound okay at all. I wanted to keep Jacky all to myself. But instead I looked up at my favourite brother and saw the hope in his eyes, and I told myself I would try to like Anna for his sake.
"Are you sure she's nice?" I asked. "Are you sure she will like me?"
"Yes darling girl, she's going to love you. I'm sure of it."
Once I'd gotten changed out of my uniform and had something to eat and drink, I took my phone outside and sat on my trampoline, messaging my friends in the group chat. They all understood my worry about Jack's girlfriend, but they were all in agreement that I should give her a chance and not go out of my way to ruin things. Not unless she was a bitch. And if she was, they promised to help me come up with a plan to get rid of her.