Chapter Eight:
Shopping with Grandma:
At the front of the class, the questions we were supposed to complete were written on the overhead. The teacher sat at his desk and pulled out a stack of papers, probably marking.
I rummaged through my bag for my textbook, finding it behind my math one. When I placed it on the desk I realized that there was now someone occupying Beth’s empty seat next to me. She was sick today.
“Look you’re watching the kids tonight,” Garrett said breezily.
“Yeah sure, whatever,” I muttered as I thumbed through my textbook. This was clearly School Garrett. He wouldn’t be the Brotherly Garrett with his friends sitting right there.
“Here,” Garrett whispered. Something fell into my lap and I looked down to see the socks Garrett had stolen the other night as well as my flash drive.
“You washed these right?” I asked as I deposited the socks and flash drive in my bag. I was just amazed that he was even giving them back at school.
“Yeah. And I copied over all the pictures last night,” he said.
“Wow that was fast,” I commented. “What made you do it so fast?”
“Well, pick up the kids after school,” Garrett said as he stood up and easily slipped back into School Garrett. He slapped the desk once before walking over to the corner where his friends were. I rolled my eyes at his back and went back to my science work.
“Sorry about earlier,” Garrett apologized as we were a couple minutes from school. I looked around. I had no idea how he caught up with me. He hadn’t been behind me a block ago. And now here he was right next to me.
“Where did you come from?” I asked him.
“You’re short,” he said pointedly looking down my body.
“And you’re insanely tall,” I shot back at him.
“Anyways, sorry about earlier…in science.” Garrett always apologized for being his alter ego. “But they were right there and I wanted to make sure it was okay for you to watch the kids.”
“Of course it’s fine,” I told him bumping my shoulder against his. “You should know that by now. And you could have just texted me you know.”
Garrett smiled sheepishly. “I forgot about that. And besides, I needed to give you back your stuff.”
I shrugged. “So why do I need to watch the kids tonight anyways? What about your grandmother?”
Garrett groaned and rolled his eyes. “We’re going shopping,” he said in disgust.
I squealed in delight. “Oh that’s just cute! You’re going shopping with your grandmother!”
“Oh shut up!” Garrett said smacking the back of my head lightly. I just stuck my tongue out at him and he scowled back at me.
“So why do you have to go shopping?” I asked him.
Garrett shifted slightly. “Grandma wants to buy me clothes so ‘I look acceptable for the pretty young ladies’,” he muttered.
I laughed. “Just tell her that you already have Quinn drooling over you, you don’t need anything new.”
“I am not telling her about Quinn! She would be forcing me to ask her out and she wouldn’t rest until I actually did!”
“That’s not so bad…”
“She wouldn’t leave until I asked her out!”
“Oh. Okay, that might be a little bad,” I sympathized.
“Yeah, it will be. So, no offence to you, but there are reasons I haven’t told my grandma about your crazy friend.”
I held up my hands. “That’s understandable.”
“I think things through…sometimes.”
“Hey, you never told me who the unlucky girl was,” I reminded him.
Garrett gave me a confused look. “The girl you like? You never told me who it is.”
“What makes you think I will?” Garrett teased.
I thought for a moment. “Because you don’t want to deprive me of the knowledge?” I tried.
“Nope, that’s not the reason.” We rounded the corner onto our street now.
“I could get your mom to find out who she is,” I said.
Garrett’s face scrunched up in disgust. “That is just awkward. And why do you think if I won't tell you, that I would tell my mom?”
I shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
I followed Garrett up the stairs to his house and waited as he unlocked the door.
“Hello?” he called out when the door was open. He stepped in and then held the door open for me, shutting it afterwards.
“Hey kids,” Ashley said coming down the stairs at the end of the hall.
“Hi Ashley,” I greeted at the same time Garrett said, “Hey mom.”
“So, can you watch the kids for a little bit?” Ashley asked me. Garrett disappeared up the stairs behind her.
I nodded. “Of course, it’s no problem,” I told her. Kyle was eleven so all he did was watch TV or bug the girls; and all the girls did was play with their Barbies.
“Thanks honey,” Ashley said as she kissed my cheek on her way to the living room, where Kyle was sitting on the couch playing on their Xbox.
“Kyle, you’re going with Bridget now,” his mother told him. Kyle glanced over at me and grunted. I knew he thought he was too old for babysitting.
“Now please,” Ashley said. He groaned, but slowly started to save and exit his game.
“I’m going to grab the girls from upstairs,” I told Ashley.
“No need,” she said. “I’ve already asked them to clean up and come downstairs.” Oh. I thought for a moment but came up with nothing more for me to do. Unlike Garrett at my house, I wasn’t entirely comfortable at his without something to do.
“There are some fresh cookies in the kitchen if you want some,” Ashley said with a polite smile.
She was sitting on the couch looking through her purse now.
I thanked her and made my way to the kitchen. Garrett’s grandmother was sitting at the table eating a cookie and reading a magazine.
“Hello,” I said kindly as I put two cookies from the cooling rack on one of the plates Ashley had left out on the counter for us.
“Hello. You are that girl from yesterday?” she asked. I didn’t meet her Monday because she was sleeping, and I didn’t meet her Tuesday because I just hadn’t ran into her.
“Yes I am.” I sat down at the table, leaving a chair between us.
“And you’re here again,” she stated.
“Yeah. I’m taking all the kids over to my house while you, Ashley and Garrett go shopping,” I told her.
“That’s nice of you,” she commented.
“I don’t mind,” I said with a shrug. “It’s fun.”
“Mmm,” she said.
Garrett walked into the room and stole the second cookie from my plate just as I was reaching for it.
“Gare, give it back,” I commanded. Garrett was now leaning up against the counter behind me so I had to twist in my seat to look at him.
“Mmm, let me think about that,” he said looking between my now empty plate and the cookie in his hand.
I pouted at him. “Please Gare,” I begged.
“Nope.” Then he popped the cookie into his mouth and made a show of chewing it slowly.
“You’re mean,” I said sticking my tongue out at him. He just shrugged and handed me another cookie off the rack next to him.
“Thank you,” I said flashing him a smile before taking a bite from my new cookie. I turned back around in my chair to put the rest of the cookie on the plate before I made a mess, when I noticed Garrett’s grandmother watching me.
I blushed sheepishly under her intense gaze.
“Garrett, how was school?” his grandmother asked, her gaze finally sliding off of me.
“Fine,” he said simply. He pulled out the chair on my other side and sat down. He didn’t sit between his grandmother and me because I doubt he would want to sit next to her when there were other seats.
“Do you have a girlfriend yet?” his grandmother demanded.
“No I don’t grandma. I can't just get one,” Garrett said with a sigh. It was clear that this was a conversation he had been having lots.
“Sure you can!” His grandmother exclaimed. “Just walk up to a pretty young lady and ask her!”
“I can't just do that,” Garrett said. I stood up from the table and walked around the island to place my plate in the sink.
“Well how else do you think it works? You’re never going to get a girlfriend that way,” she scolded.
“I’m doing my best,” Garrett promised her.
“No you’re not!” his grandmother exclaimed. I held back a laugh as I watched them from behind the island. Garrett may think his grandmother was crazy, I thought she was funny. “See there?” she asked pointing to me. “There is a pretty young lady who obviously doesn’t hate you, why don’t you make her your girlfriend?”
I burst out laughing and clamped a hand over my mouth in attempts to stifle my giggles. Garrett on the other hand turned bright red.
“Bridgey!” Alice and Maddy called out as they came sliding into the kitchen. They lunged towards me and wrapped themselves around my waist.
“Hey girls,” I greeted them. I patted the back of Alice’s head and then fixed the purple clip she was wearing out of habit.
“Maddy’s coming over today!” Alice told me.
“Yup, and Kyle too.”
“Is Gare-Gare coming?” Maddy asked me.
“No, he’s going shopping.”
“Okay!” his sister said happily.
“Hey! Do I not get a hug?” Garrett asked, standing up from the table. His face was quickly fading from the bright red it had been moments before.
The girls squealed and attacked him with a hug as well.
“Much better,” Garrett said.
“Garrett, Mom, are you ready to go?” Ashley asked coming into the kitchen with her purse slung over her shoulder.
“Yes,” Garrett’s grandmother said.
“Meh,” Garrett pouted.
“I’ll take the kids now,” I told Ashley. “Anything you want them to do?”
She nodded. “I’m sending Kyle over with his homework. If it isn’t too much trouble could you help him with it? It’s just some math.” I nodded. “And don’t worry about feeding them at all. They’ve already had plenty of food and I am to be home for dinner, seven at the latest.”
I glanced at the clock. It was just four now. “That’s fine, just call when you’re on your way home,” I told her.
She nodded.
I led Alice and Maddy into the entranceway and had them put on their shoes. Then I dragged Kyle from the couch and had him put on his as well. When the four of us were ready, Ashley thanked me again and we all said goodbye.
Once we were all at my house, the girls immediately rushed upstairs to Alice’s room to continue playing with their Barbies, and Kyle plopped himself down on the couch.
“You might as well do your homework now,” I told Kyle. “I’m doing mine.”
He just crossed his arms and stared at the blank TV screen.
I don’t think he liked coming over here because we didn’t have any game consoles. Well, we had a Wii, but all we had were the little kids’ games that Alice and Maddy played. Kyle could bring his own games, but then he would lose all the progress he had made.
After about fifteen minutes, Kyle got bored of doing nothing and decided to do his homework.
He reluctantly asked me for help a couple of times and I gladly gave it to him.
I finished my homework before Kyle. When I glanced over at him, I had the instant urge to take a picture. I took my camera from where it was on the coffee table and snapped a photo of Kyle. He was sitting on the ground with his books spread out on the coffee table and his head was slightly bent over his work. The light was falling in through the window and it illuminated half his body and work.
I thought it looked cool.
Once Kyle was done his homework as well, he picked up the remote and flipped throw the channels on the TV. He didn’t find anything that interested him so he went upstairs to bug our sisters.
Only a half hour later, I heard a shriek and then the sound of stomping feet coming down the stairs.
“Bridgey!” Alice and Maddy screeched. They came running into the room with Kyle right behind them, smiling wickedly.
“What happened?” I asked them. I knew it was nothing life threatening because Kyle was smiling.
“Kyle ruined out game!” Maddy exclaimed.
“How?”
“He made Ken and Barbie break up and then he ran them over in a car!” Maddy said in outrage.
I turned to Kyle. “Is this true?”
He snickered. “Yeah,” he said breezily. “I also made their uh…Ken doll date this other chick and the one they call…what’s Maddy’s favourite?”
“Sam? Alex?” I offered.
Kyle snapped his fingers. “That’s it! Alex. I put him in the remote control mustang I found under Alice’s bed and they wouldn’t move their dolls, so they got run over.”
“Kyle, that’s not very nice. You shouldn’t do that,” I scolded him.
He just shrugged.
“But it wasn’t all bad,” Alice said, speaking up finally. Since Ken and Barbie broke up, Sam and Barbie are friends again.”
I smiled at her. She would see the good in it. “Well that’s good.” I glanced at the clock. “Maddy and Kyle will have to leave soon, so why don’t you go back up stairs and continue playing. If Kyle starts being mean again, send him back down.”
Maddy and Alice nodded and they went skipping back towards the stairs. Kyle looked over at me.
“Are you going to get mad at me?”
I shook my head. “Nah, you’re a guy. You do those types of things.”
“So if I were to pop of Barbies head, you wouldn’t get mad at me because I’m a guy?”
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Do not pop of any of the Barbies heads. What I meant earlier was, you’re a guy, you’re expected to do those types of things with Barbies, not play with them.”
Kyle nodded. “Do you have anything else I can do instead?” Kyle begged.
I nodded towards my laptop. “I’m done with that now, you can use it. I’m going to start dinner.”
Kyle thanked me and headed over to my laptop. I went into the kitchen and turned on the oven. Then I looked through the freezer for something to make.
“Bridget?” Kyle asked walking into the kitchen with my laptop balanced on one of his hands. “Why do you have so many pictures of Garrett?”
I shrugged. “Just do.”
“Does someone have a crush?” Kyle teased.
I laughed. “No I don’t. He’s just around often, so he’s always available for photos. Why?”
“I knew you had some of him. I didn’t realize how many though.”
“If you back out of that folder you can see the ones of you. There aren’t many though. And if there are any you want, bug your brother. I gave them all to him the other night.”
“Huh,” Kyle said as he tapped on the keypad. He sat down on one of the kitchen stools and I could tell he was already looking at his photos.
I guess both the Connors boys have a liking for my photos. It’s a small fan club, but I’ll take what I can get.
“It’s alright!” Garrett called from the hallway. “I’m here now.”
I rolled my eyes and shut the freezer after pulling out a box of chicken from the bottom. My fingers were numb now so I turned on the tap to run them under hot water so I could actually cook the chicken.
“Yeah, you make everything better, Gare,” I said sarcastically.
“Oh, I know I do,” he said not at all modestly as he came up behind me.
“Whatcha making?” he asked.
“Dinner. For me. You don’t get any,” I said. I knew exactly where his thoughts were headed.
“No need to be mean Pigtails.”
“Where’s your mom?” I asked.
“At home. She sent me over like usual.” He turned and finally spotted his brother. “Hey bro! Ready to go?”
“About time,” Kyle muttered.
“Good. So go get Maddy and we’ll leave,” Garrett commanded.
“You just wanna keep flirting,” Kyle said quietly.
“What was that?” Garrett asked him.
“Oh nothing,” Kyle sang as he exited the room. He left my laptop on the counter.
“How was shopping?” I teased Garrett.
“Not fun,” he groaned.
“It’s good to spend some time with your grandma before she leaves,” I told him. Garrett just rolled his eyes.
“Exactly. Some time, not a tonne of time,” Garrett corrected.
“Look on the bright side,” I said cheerily. “Doesn’t she leave Sunday? It’s already Thursday, only a couple of days left.”
Suddenly Garrett’s hand came down on my mouth. “Shh. Just, shh. You’re too perky,” he scolded. “It’s annoying sometimes. This is one of those times,” he informed me.
I bit his hand and he pulled it away from my mouth, scowling at me. “Please, you knew that would happen,” I said.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think you would actually do it.”
I just shook my head at him. A moment later, all three kids came stomping into the room.
“Gare-Gare!” Maddy said.
“Hi!” Alice chirped.
“Hey,” Garrett said to them both. Then to his siblings he said, “You guys ready to go?”
“Yes!” Kyle said immediately.
“Wow, love you too,” I said sarcastically.
“Fine,” Maddy said, her shoulders slumping as she cast a sideways look at Alice. Alice had an equally sad look on her face.
“Let’s go!” Garrett said. He pushed his siblings towards the door and they put on their shoes and coats.
“See ya Pigtails! Bye Alice!” Garrett called as him and his siblings left.
I couldn’t help but watch as Garrett crossed the street with his siblings. He had Maddy cradled under his arm and one hand on Kyle’s shoulder. Even though Kyle didn’t need the protection in an empty street, Garrett still felt obliged to give it to him. He really was just the cutest big brother.
Once their own door had closed behind them, I turned to Alice.
“Have fun today, Cutie?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Maddy can come over every day next week,” she informed me.
“I know,” I said. “Only a couple more days until things are back to normal.”
Alice gave a little cheer. This week of Maddy not coming over every day was the highest level of cruelty in Alice’s world. If only all lives were as simple as six year olds’.
***
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