The knock sounds at nine sharp, insistent and determined. I pad over to the door and open it to reveal a happy-looking Jed.
"Is Makena with you?" I ask, sticking my head out.
"Nope." He says, popping the p. "It's just you and me."
"Oh joy." I say ironically. It's starting off as a wonderful day. Just Jed and me. For twelve hours.
For the first time in my life, I need a drink.
I narrow my eyes as a thought occurs to me. Jed's suspiciously tall today. I mean, he looks like a troll amongst hobbits on regular basis and towers over me like Goliath over David, but today I have to lift my chin even higher to look him in the eye. I drop my gaze to his feet and discover the source of all those extra inches.
"Rollerblading?" My gaze flies up all the way back to his face. "That's it? You're going to take me rollerblading?"
"Yup." He plants his hands on his hips, looking very pleased with himself. I think the only time when I saw him this proud was when I agreed to the deal that led me to this moment.
"But wh- why rollerblading?" I still can't understand. "Out of all the things you could come up with?"
"Well." He tries to shift his weight onto one leg but the wheels roll and he almost trips. "You said you liked it."
I try not to laugh at his attempt to regain his balance. "And you remembered?"
"Of course." He scoffs. "Who do you think I am? Okay. It was a rhetorical question. I probably don't want to hear your answer."
"You probably don't." I agree.
Jed nods, then takes a look at his phone. "Okay, we're done talking. It's already five minutes after nine. Go put on your rollerblades and let's go!"
I nod, then shut the door in his face. I don't want him wandering around the house while I'm lacing up my rollerblades. Using the inner door, I make my way out to the garage where I keep them. It's dark inside, and the light switch is hidden behind a tower of carton boxes, so I can't turn it on. Usually, we just open the gate and let the sunshine come in. Beware of looking for anything in here at night. Of course, Dad promised to clean it before the winter, but we have yet to see if he does.
Cursing myself for not taking a flashlight with me, I search around for them. Last time, they were in the far corner. But it's been a few weeks since I've last gone rollerblading, and it's like dog years when it comes to our garage's equipment. I honestly don't know where they get all the stuff, but I swear that every time I come here, the things seem to multiply.
My eyes adjust to the darkness and it gets easier to search. I can go grab the damn flashlight but I bet I'll sooner find the rollerblades in the utter darkness than I will something as small as a flashlight. Things tend to disappear miraculously in this house, and the smallest ones don't stand a chance.
I place my hands on my hips and pout. I bet Jed's getting impatient. Hell, he's probably counting the minutes so that he can take every single one and count it as his bonus time for making him wait. Growing desperate, I attack the cartons and start searching through them almost frantically, nearly throwing things out of them. When I don't find them anywhere, I get up and start searching the metal shelves Dad brought from some garage one day to keep his 'man stuff' on. I can't reach the top ones and even though I doubt my rollerblades are going to be there, I still give it a try. I have an older brother who derives pleasure from irritating me. Life is an endless scavenger hunt with him.
Once I found a gummy frog in my underwear drawer. I still have no idea what he was searching for in there.
When I can't reach the top shelves while standing on my tip-toes, I jump. My hand knocks over something, throwing it from the shelf. The sound of metal hitting the floor sounds in the space as what I suppose is a can rolls on the concrete. I ignore it and jump again, waving my hand above my head.
On the third jump, my hand meets something hard. I hiss in pain and snatch it back. Unfortunately, whatever it was that I just hit, tumbles down, supposedly knocked over by my hand. I barely have the time to cover my head before the heavy box of... screws? hits me. I turn, stumbling into the shelf. The construction of questionable quality gives when the weight of my body hits it, and the whole crapload of metal comes falling down on me. I screech when something that feels like Thor's hammer hits my head, tumbling me over. I fall on my butt onto the concrete floor, bruising it mercilessly. I'm just glad none of the screws got stuck in it. It would suck to have them removed later.
When Jed and Everett rush in, they find me sitting in the middle of the sea of metal, with metal shelves and other elements of construction scattered all around me. The light coming in through the gate one of them must have pushed open, leaving me exposed to their searching eyes. They both pause at the entrance, taking in the crime scene. I hold my breath, wishing to die. Bracing myself, I wait for the burst of laughter that is sure to come.
Utter mortification comes in
three
two
on-
"What in the hell happened here?" Jed explodes, making his way over to my side. He looks ridiculous when he tries to maneuver over the metal crap spilled all over the floor, then attempts to kneel down. Finally, he mutters something under his breath and just falls onto his butt, right next to me. I flinch when his hand goes to my hair, brushing over the spot where the Mjolnir hit me. He notices and worry creeps into his eyes, softening them. That's when I realize he's not wearing his glasses today, something I no longer pay so much attention to. At some point, I stopped caring if he has them on or not. Somehow, they have become a part of him so natural I no longer pay attention. It's like noticing he has eyes every single time I see him. Quite absurd, if you ask me.
Wait. Where did my thoughts go?
The Mjolnir must have hit my head harder than I supposed.
"Are you okay?" Jed asks quietly. I didn't break our eye contact for the whole time, so I'm pretty sure I must look like a lunatic. "Does your head hurt?"
I shake my head. It does but what's the point of telling him now? Besides, I forget all about it, too focused on not catching on fire. Can a simple look set someone on fire? Because I feel like I'm about to burst into flames any second.
But maybe it's because nothing about the look he's giving me is simple.
"I hate to kill the mood." My brother's amused voice comes from the gate. "But I really need to know if I should call the ambulance."
I close my eyes and sigh. Ladies and gentlemen, my dear brother.
"Why don't you call Ms. Brownstone and tell her I just got crushed by a metal shelf? I bet she'll be thrilled to hear about a fact of my life she doesn't know yet." I murmur.
I bite my tongue when the words leave my mouth. I just mentioned Ms. Brownstone in front of Jed. I glance at him from the corner of my eye to see if he has questions but he seems not to notice. I let out a little relieved sigh. I don't want him to know about my therapist. Admitting to someone that I need therapy is not something I'm ashamed to admit on regular basis. Sure, I don't go around yelling I'm what some could consider a psycho, but everyone who sees me can figure out that I'm pretty much depressed.
It's just... For some reason, I don't want Jed to know that.
"Don't you have a notebook to keep?" Everett arches a brow. "Nice things to say?"
I cover my sudden urge to kill him with a sweet smile and cock my head to the side. "Your hair looks really nice today." I say.
I relish in the scenical way he rolls his eyes.
"Whatever." He shakes his head. "I'm leaving. Please try not to kill yourself or anyone while I'm gone."
I stick my tongue out at him. He returns the gesture and my lips twitch. I know his finger is itching to flip me the bird but he's just too older-brotherly to do it.
Everett's eyes move to Jed, dismissing me. "I'll give you a ride when you're back." He says and Jed nods. My brother thrusts his fingers through his hair ostentatiously before leaving. I wait until I hear the sound of his vintage car door closing and the rumble of the engine before turning to face Jed.
"He'll give you a ride?" I ask.
Jed grins. "Isn't your mind just dirty." He muses.
I roll my eyes. "That's not what I meant."
"Sure it's not." He's still grinning like a loon.
"It's not!" I exclaim, louder. When I notice he's close to laughing, I frown, sliding across the floor to get some distance between us. "Jeez, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing's wrong with me. I'm a guy."
"You're not a guy. You're gay. You're having impure thoughts about my brother."
Jed throws his head back and laughs. The wheels of his rollerblades scroll across the floor when he shifts his legs, rattling the screws scattered all around him. "Trust me, Fiona. Your brother is not the one Dearg I have impure thoughts about."
I don't say anything to that, because what's there to respond?
"And I'm most certainly not gay." He goes on.
"Uh-uh." I scramble away even further, wishing this discussion over.
"Really." Jed slides his butt across the floor, following me. "I can prove it to you if you want."
"No thank you." I don't need him proving me anything, and this conversation is not one I want to have.
"Oh, but I insist." He's closer now, dangerously close to invading my personal space. "I can't have you thinking I'm gay for the whole day we're going to spend together."
"I'm tolerant." I assure him, angling my body away from his as well as I can.
"So am I." He says. "But this doesn't make me gay, does it?"
"No, it doesn't." I agree. "Giving my brother a ride does."
He falls silent for so long I have to glance at him to check if he's there. When I turn my head, I find him staring at me with that strange look of his. "You amaze me, Fiona." He says, a corner of his lips tipping up slightly. I scoff and shake my head. Planting my hands on the floor on both sides of my hips, I stand up, careful about my bruised butt.
"Come on." I tell him, crossing the garage. I still have my rollerblades to find. "Let's get going."
I kneel down next to another accumulation of boxes ad start searching through them. It seems so much easier now that I have light. I put them aside one by one until I found my rollerblades sitting just behind a box marked: teacups. I take them out triumphantly, happy to see them again.
I kind of missed rollerblading.
When I turn, I stumble into something again. This time, it's Jed, who has somehow managed to get up on his own and ride over to me without gaining my attention. Now he's standing right in front of me, having to bow his head really low to look at me because of the height difference. I tip my own head back and gulp, clenching my rollerblades in my hands tighter.
"I'm not gay." he says, looking serious.
My lips twitch. "Okay."
He stares down at me for a moment longer, clearly not convinced that I'm convinced. He let's it go, though, turning around with a nod. The next thing I know, I have to catch him because he misjudges his skills and nearly falls during his maneuver. When I shoot him an amused glance, he just narrows his eyes and pretends it didn't happen.
I, however, am going to have a hard time forgetting.
Seems like I've finally found something Jed Hall is not excellent in.
***
L/N: Again, sorry for the late update, guys. The school's killin' me :/ But there's just tomorrow and then four free days! Yaay!