Once the whole ordeal of the bonfire was over, Jake came over to Jared and I. As soon as he saw me, he asked if I was okay while looking for bodily harm.
I know my brothers are worried about my safety, but I also think that the fear of being reprimanded by our parents spur them on to be overprotective.
"I'll drive us home. I already mind linked the pack to go home as soon as possible," Jake stated.
"Ok. Let's get Cress home before our parents have a fit," Jared said as he started to walk to the car.
Once in the car, I fell asleep from the soft lull of the car ride and took a 10-minute nap. For some reason, I get tired easily whenever I am in a car.
As Jake pulled us into the car garage he said, "Cress make sure you don't tell mom and dad about the fire accident, okay? Mom won't let it go."
"Don't worry, I'll keep my lips closed," I mimicked zipping my lips together.
I hurriedly got out of the car grabbing my phone in the process and walked in the house with my brothers behind me. I was quickly greeted by my parents. They must have heard the garage door opening and decided to check up on us.
My mother quickly gave me a hug and happily asked if I had fun. Not wanting to tell mom about the fire disaster I answered vaguely.
"It was good! Nothing bad happened whatsoever."
At that moment, my brothers looked at me alarmed saying with their face, 'Why did you say that? Do you want to get us in trouble.' I tried giving them a look stating that I didn't mean to trying to reassure them.
Oops, I did it again. Whenever I try to lie to my parents, I always somehow mess up and say the wrong things.
My mother looked at me quizzically for a second before a big smile lit up her features. "Great honey! Did your brothers stay by your side?" My mother not so subtly looked in their direction.
"Yeah, they stayed by me the whole time. Anyone would have thought that they were my bodyguards," I softly laughed at the thought.
Well, they didn't stay by my side the whole night, but they weren't too far away. I don't want my brothers to get in trouble because my mother can be a little strict on the 'Stay close to Cress agenda.'
My mother clasped her hands together exclaiming, "Good!"
"Oh, give the kids a break love, I'm sure they had fun," my father softly chided his wife as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Not wanting to be up any longer and seeing my parents PDA or accidentally saying something wrong I hastily announced, "'I'm going to bed see you all in the morning!"
I went up the stairs and quietly shut my door not wanting to wake my parents up. Walking over to my closet, I decided to grab my pj's and take a shower before bed. I love the smell of campfires, but I don't like to smell like one.
After taking the refreshing shower, I walked back in and started to hop in bed. Just as I was setting my alarm to wake me up at 10:00 tomorrow morning, a soft bang resounded from my window.
Wondering what the noise was I did some ninja moves to get to the side of the door before anything saw me. Or should I say, I just crawled around on the ground to get to my window.
Taking a couple of reassuring breaths and after stalling for time, I popped my head up and took a glance out of the window. Seeing a dark figure below, I ducked my head down and let out a startled cry.
Just then the figure said, "Cress it's me, Garrett. I know your inside so don't you dare pretend you're not there."
My heart started to beat faster and not just from the jump scare that I just experienced. Slowly rising up, I sheepishly pushed up the window so I could talk to Garrett.
Not wanting my parents to hear us, I whispered shouted, "What do you think you're doing, Garrett. You nearly gave me a heart attack. Everyone knows that I get scared easily at night."
Hearing a soft chuckle from Garrett, I got angrier but before I could stay mad at him my silly brain focused only on how genuine and deep his laugh sounded. Ugh, why does he have such a nice laugh, when I somehow sound like a dying hyena.
"Cress, are you gonna keep me waiting or will you invite me in?" Garrett said sounding slightly impatient.
"Oh yeah just a second."
Undoing the window screen, I pushed it out and brought it into my room before setting it on my desk. As I did this, I heard a slight creaking noise of the house before hearing a soft thud on the floor behind me.
Turning around, Garrett stood right in front of my window in my room.
Surprised at how easy he got in I asked, "How did you get in? The tree is a good distance from my window. Did you climb the house?"
"I scaled the house. It was too easy. Maybe I should bring this up at the next Safety Board Meeting," Garrett said as he stuck his head out the window examining the wood siding.
Slightly amused at his thought process I went over to my favorite cheddar chest and sat on it. My great-great-grandfather made it for me out of Black Walnut when I was born. He died shortly after that.
He made it sturdy so it would hold my blankets and belongings. I was told that he made the top to be sturdy enough for me to sit on it. He liked to build practical things, so I guess this was one of them and I am grateful to have something from him and his craftsmanship.
I love it and wouldn't trade this handmade gift for anything. He also carved my name into the side of it. He really went all out for his only great great-granddaughter.
Apparently, he only had sons and they only had sons. Thats probably why everyone was happy especially my dad when I was born.
Not wanting Garrett to stay standing while I sit so, I gestured over to my desk chair saying, "You can sit down on my chair if you'd like." I have to show some hospitality, right?
Garrett then went over and picked up the chair before bringing it over to sit a couple feet away from me. Facing me, he settled down into it he then looked around my room.
"Sorry, my room isn't the cleanest at the moment."
Turning his attention to me he said, "No it's okay. Thanks for letting me in. I just wanted to talk to you about the games before I leave tomorrow morning."
"What your leaving? For how long?" I asked surprised. Garrett never leaves the pack. Did he find his mate? Wait, I shouldn't jump to any conclusions and slow down.
"I'll be gone until next Friday. It's for pack business but if you have any questions, you can call me." Garrett said trying to reassure me.
He probably thinks that I'm worried about him not being able to give me pointers. Well, I am but I also worry about him doing pack business in another pack's territory. However, if it is about finding his mate it isn't my business.
Now that he has a higher position in the pack he will be traveling with the Beta and Alpha whenever there are disputes or meetings. Although I didn't hear anything about meetings from my parents.
"Okay. I will text you if I have any questions. Then you can just answer them on your own time," I slowly said trying not to show the many questions that I am burning to say.
"I'll answer them whenever I'm available. I promise," Garrett said seriously.
I just smiled in response. Lately I have felt a little awkward around Garrett, but I try to ignore it. I don't know if it's just because I've started to develop these new feelings for him which should be forbidden because we grew up together.
There's also the problem of our age gap being 3 years but as friends it's okay. He has always been nice to me, and I think it's because he sees me as a little sister but it's better than nothing.
However, I won't ever show or tell him that I kind of like him because I am still figuring out my feelings. And it's not like we will ever be something because he has a mate out there.
"Well, wish me luck!" I laughed at how ridiculous I sounded asking for luck.
"Cress, I wish you luck on the games! I know that you'll do fine. It's okay if you don't get into the top anyways since it technically doesn't matter in terms of academic standing," Garrett said trying to comfort me.
I smiled and said, "Thanks. I'll need it! I hope that whatever you're doing for the pack goes well. The next time I see you everything will be over. It will be a worry-free time."