"Yes, who might you be?" Mike questioned, rising from his seat.
"This is Josh, the other person involved in the crash," I explained, pointing at him with my thumb.
"I wanted to introduce myself and apologise for my carelessness," he said, scratching his arm, nervously.
"Apology not accepted, goodbye," Mike waved him off.
"Calm down Mike, he's being polite," Jasmine whispered, sitting up. "What's done is done, I'm not mad," Jasmine added, directing her attention to Josh.
"I realised that, but I thought it would be the right thing to do to check in on how you're holding up," Josh declared, swinging his arms.
"I appreciate it, I don't know who hit who; I could've hit you and you could've hit me, but I apologise for any inconvenience I have caused to you and your family," Jasmine apologised.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Mike interrupted, tapping his foot.
"Shut up Mike," I snapped, earning a glare from him.
"Same here," Josh smiled.
"Glad we took care of that. How are you doing?" Jasmine asked.
"All stitched up," he motioned to arm. "The doctor just gave me the green light to go, but I just wanted to pop in before I go."
"That's great," Jasmine smiled.
"You know how long she's in the hospital for?" Mike asked, frustrated. "The remainder of the summer," he added, before Josh had the chance to say anything.
Enough of Mike's remarks, I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room.
"What is your problem," I barked, still having my hand gripped onto his arm.
"He waltz right in and expected everyone to be all jolly with his appearance. He's sickening," Mike answered, shaking his hand away from my grip.
"Your attitude is sickening. He's being polite and wanted To know how Jaz was doing, but your making it extremely uncomfortable for him. They both were involved in the crash, they both were guilty of what happened. I will bet that none of them walked out of their house that day and said 'I'm going to purposely hit someone today.' Knock it off, you're being extremely rude," I demanded and walked back into the room, leaving him in the hallway.
"I should go," Josh concluded, as I walked in.
"Already?" I asked.
"My family is waiting out in the car for me, they're probably growing anxious," he shrugged.
"Here's my number, call if you need anything," Jasmine quickly said, scribbling her number down on a napkin.
"Are you sure he'll be okay with this?" Josh joked, signalling to Mike who was pacing back and forth down the hallway.
"Who? Mike? He's a big boy, he'll be okay," Jasmine reassured, and Josh walked over to her taking the napkin.
"Thank for visiting," Jake smiled and offered a handshake.
"Of course," he nodded, shaking Jake's hand. "Wish you all the best, especially you," he added.
"See you soon," I waved.
"Thanks for the help," Josh thanked and walked down the hallway, avoiding Mike as best as he could.
"I need to get home and freshen up, I'll be back later," I said, gathering all my things together.
"Alright girly, see you later," Jaz smiled.
***
Walking into the house, the kitchen table was set and the smell of shrimp filled the room.
"Hello?" I called, music playing from the kitchen.
"I'm in here!" My mum called.
"Smells amazing," I gawked, setting my car keys in a little tray on the counter table and throwing my bag on the floor.
"That was my goal," she smiled. "How's Jaz doing?"
"Like she was before, but with a couple of broken ribs," I shrugged.
"That's fantastic! Well, not the broken ribs, but I'm glad she's doing well," she smiled and didn't a little jig to show her excitement.
"Never do that again," I laughed, shaking my head. "Anyway, why are you in such a good mood?"
"I'm just glad my daughter is home," she answered.
"Whatever you say," I sighed. "Where's Caden?" I asked, closing a cupboard door that my mum left open.
"He's about shopping for utensils," she responded, stirring something in a pan.
"Utensils? For what?"
"When Caden gets home, we'll eat," she stated, changing the subject.
"You're weird," I laughed, helping her season the shrimp.
***
"This is amazing," I mumbled, shoving three shrimps in my mouth. "So are you two going to explain why you are staring at me?" I added, swallowing.
"Well Caden has some exciting news," my mother nudged him.
"Please tell me you aren't becoming a dad," I begged.
"No, why is that the first thing that comes to your head?" He asked disgusted.
"Then what is it?" I wondered, ignoring his question.
"So you know how mum said I went shopping for random supplies?" He started.
"Yeah...so?"
"I was shopping for school supplies," he finished.
"School supplies? For what?" I laughed.
"College."
"You graduated two years ago, saying that you will never go to college, why the change of mind?" I asked, setting my fork down.
"In Florida, I looked up colleges in the area and found one near grandma's beach house. I sent an application that day and my acceptance letter came in today," he explained, flicking his eyes between me and the food, trying to avoid my burning eyes.
"Your joking, right?"
"That's not the response I was hoping for, but no, I'm not," he sighed.
"Let me get this straight. You sent in an application in June to a college in Florida and just yesterday you received feedback from the school?" I gawked.
"Correct."
"And you didn't tell me about this?" I asked.
"I wanted to make sure I got a place first," he shrugged.
"Did dad know?"
"Yes," he swung his head low.
"What's your game plan?" I angrily stood up.
"Calm down sweetie," my mother reassured.
"Grandma agreed to me staying with her for five years of college. I am taking a business course and hoping that after college I'll be able to afford my own place in a different city in Minnesota," Caden explained, calmly.
"Five years of college!" I yelled. "Your telling me all this now and expect me to be all holly-jolly about it?" I added, brushing my hand through my hair in frustration.
"I knew you'd be upset, but I was given a chance to attend a school that will help me in the future," he calmly stated.
"I am so happy that you got accepted, in fact, I am proud of you. But the fact that you're telling me this so close to the school year and that you'll disappear just like that when September rolls round, that upsets me. Might as well just call you Joe, you're growing up just like him, leaving!" I spat before I realized what I just said.
"Isabella!" My mother yelled, shooting up from her seat.
"Have fun in Florida. Send a postcard or something," I finalised, throwing my napkin on the table, grabbing my car keys and bag and bolted out the door.
I know I was harsh, but can you blame me? Caden, my brother who's always been there, is leaving for Florida that, let me remind you, is miles away from Minnesota.
He said that he will come back and live in Minnesota, but let's get real here, he'll
Most likely live in Arizona or possibly the Caribbeans.
Then he'll randomly show up when I'm a grown up adult with kids and apologize for missing all my accomplishments I've achieved while he was gone. Like father like son.