I haven't seen any of the Hutcherson boys in about four days. The atmosphere has become calmer and definitely quieter. I took the time away from them as a vacation from my vacation. I occasionally hangout with Sam, but other than that, I've been relaxing. I try to let Josh cross my mind as little as possible. I figured if I wasn't worth his time, he shouldn't be for mine. I'm not angry or upset. I'm trying to forget him as a whole. I don't understand how things could go so downhill in a matter of days.
Foster has actually made attempts to get me to come over, but every time, I've refused. It's not that I don't want to spend time with him, I just can't be around anywhere Josh might be. And Foster should know that, but he continues and is constantly persistent. I like to think he feels bad about the whole situation and is making attempts to amend everything. His effort is great, but there's no way I plan on forgiving Josh anytime soon. But I appreciate his offer of being a friend to me. Today my vacation from the Hutchersons ends as I prepare to go to work. Foster and Connor are supposed to come in as well. It shouldn't be a big deal seeing them today, but everything feels different. So distant. It's only been four days and it's as if I haven't seen them in months. Guess things really dull when the Hutchersons aren't around.
"Jen, are you ready for work?" My mother snaps my trance. I look up from my phone and see she's ready to go, with her hair pulled back and her navy blue polo.
"Yeah, I'm ready." I stand from my desk chair. I grab my bag from the floor and pull it over my head on to my shoulder. I adjust my white shorts as I stand and walk towards my mother in the doorway.
"We don't have to stay open too long, maybe just until late afternoon." She says as we walk towards the stairs.
"Okay," I nod behind her.
"You can invite Sam to hangout with you guys, I don't think it'll be very busy today. I haven't gotten a chance to reach him."
"I'll text him." I sigh as we reach the bottom of the stairs. We walk to the garage and into the car. It's only a short drive until we reach the store. The sky is a deep blue without a cloud in it. The air is warm and it only makes me wish I was laying in my pool. As we come into town, I take out my phone to text Sam.
"My mom wants to know if you're coming in today."
"I can, if you want. What time should I be there?" He responds almost immediately.
"Like ten minutes? We're opening soon." Just as I hit send, we pull up in front of my mom's shoppe. I put my phone in my bag and step out of the car.
"If you could start reorganizing the shelves in the back, that'd be great." My mother says as we both step onto the sidewalk.
"Okay. Sam should be coming in today." I say as she unlocks the front doors.
"Great, the more the merrier." She smiles to me. I enter the cozy shoppe and baby blue and white walls welcome me. I open the blinds in the front windows, letting the natural light engulf the room. The store really does resemble the feeling of being on the coast.
I leave my bag behind the front counter and walk to the back of the store to unpack boxes. I look to the clock mounted on the far wall and it reads it 8:10. We open in twenty minutes and Foster and Connor aren't even here yet. I begin taking out different items and placing them on the shelf. Removing the excess cardboard boxes really cleaned out the isles. Minutes later, at 8:25, Foster and Connor come walking in the doors.
"You guys are late. We open in five minutes." I say walking towards the front counter.
"Foster couldn't find his car keys." Connor says removing his windbreaker.
"Let's not blame this all on me, Con. You would still be asleep right now if I hadn't woken you up." Foster walks past his brother and over towards me and the front desk. "How've you been?" He asks and kisses my head. He slides away and I watch him in amusement as he sits and kicks his feet up on the counter.
"What?" He asks. "I was just giving you a friendly greeting!" He gives me a cheeky smirk. "So how've you been?" He repeats and smiles again.
"I've been okay." I nod and put my hands in my pockets.
"Fosters been a little heartbroken without seeing you these past few days." Connor smiles. Foster reaches over the counter and punches his brother in the shoulder.
"Was not. If anything I missed Sam more than any- Sam!" Foster's grin widens. I turn away from him and look to the front door to see Sam walking in with two coffee cups.
"Um, good morning." He smiles to me. He walks over and hands me the coffee. Of course he didn't show up empty handed.
"Thanks." I accept the coffee.
"So Connor and I get scolded for being late but when Sam walks in later than us with coffee, it's totally fine?" Foster raises his eyebrows to me.
"I just asked him to come in. You were actually scheduled." I counter him.
"Alright. Con, next time we're bringing donuts. And I'm a little disappointed that coffee cup wasn't for me, but it's whatever," Foster pouts to Sam.
Connor rolls his eyes. "You'll get over it." He says as he walks to the back of the store.
"It's a joke, Con! Someone is just full of sass today, aren't they!" Foster storms after his brother.
"Good to see they haven't changed," Sam laughs as we watch them bicker back and forth.
"I know right. Did you enjoy your break from the Hutchersons?" I half joke.
"Actually I was just over at their house two nights ago." He shrugs. I don't know if I feel jealously or resentment.
"Why?" I question as I sit down in one of the chairs. I don't want to sound rude, but I'd think Sam out of all people would need a break from them all. And why wouldn't he tell me about going?
"Foster invited me. We just played video games with Josh and Dayne." He shrugs his shoulders and leans against the counter. Trying to wrap my brain around these words just makes my head throb harder. Josh and Dayne? Out of all people..
"Did you talk to Josh?" I ask curiously. I don't care if I sound annoying, I want to know.
"Sorta. We didn't really talk a whole lot, but he asked if I would say hi to you for him. So hi." He cocks his head to the side. That's more than I expected to come from Josh anyways. At least he's not ignoring what happened. I just wish Sam would've at least told me.
"Well did you have fun?" I fold my arms.
"Yeah it was cool." He says taking a sip from his coffee.
"Cool." I huff.
"Oh- Jen don't tell me you're jealous," Sam laughs.
"Wha- I'm not! If anything, I'm glad I spent time away from them." I shake my head, but he doesn't but it.
"Yeah, yeah. Drink your coffee," He teases.
I look to the clock and see it's finally 8:30. I hop out of my seat and over to the front door. I flip the sign on the door to 'open' and walk back to my seat behind the counter. Just as I sit, Foster appears from one of the isles.
"Are we open?" Foster runs his hands together.
"Just flipped the sign." Sam nods to the door.
"Where is everybody?" Foster furrows his eyebrow before hopping up on the counter.
"We opened like a minute ago. I don't think people are going to be swarming to get in," I laugh.
"Hmm," He shrugs the thought off. "I'm bored." He rests his chin in his hand.
"Work isn't exactly supposed to be fun," I tell him.
"I have a game we can play," Foster smiles again.
"Of course you do," Sam shakes his head.
"For every customer that comes into the store, you have to yell the color of their shirt." Foster beams.
"I don't get it." Sam says still confused.
"It's funny to see their reactions! Wouldn't you be startled if someone just yelled 'blue!' right in your face?" Foster's voice screams when he says the color. I'll admit, it did make Sam and I jump a little.
"It'll be funny. Look, here comes someone now," He nods to the front door. A couple hand in hand walks in just as Foster clears his throat.
I sit up and smile, "Welcome to-"
"PURPLE. BLUE." Foster interrupts me. The girl stumbles behind her boyfriend, obviously startled by Foster's abrupt scream.
"What the heck was that?" She says as her boyfriend laughs.
"Foster, I think it's best we let our customers keep their hearing," My mother says coming from one of the isles.
"Ha-ha.. Sorry," He says quite embarrassed as he hops behind the counter, sinking to the floor.
"Valiant effort," Sam nods to him.
"It was fun while it lasted," Foster laughs as he stands to his feet again.
-
We've been sitting around the shoppe for about four hours, taking shifts at the front counter. I regret ending Foster's game so quickly because things really do need to liven up around here. Foster has asked to turn up the radio louder, but once we finally said yes, he blasted it so loud, he busted the speakers. Now we're stuck with Connor's classical music station on Pandora playing from the computer in front. Sam and I sit in my mom's back office on our phones while Connor and Foster stay out in front.
"I'm hungry." Sam says throwing his head back and spinning in the desk chair.
"Lunch is is fifteen minutes, just wait." I groan, sinking in my chair.
"Are you sure your mom will be fine if we leave her here by herself while we all go on break?" Sam asks with the slight sound of concern in his voice.
"Of course. She used to run it by herself before, and it's not that busy today either." I give him reassurance. Just as I finish my sentence, Foster walks in. He presses his back up against the door and sinks to the floor.
"I want fooood." He groans and falls over. I let out a laugh as he cradles himself on the ground.
"Aren't you supposed to be out there helping manage the store?" Sam sits up in his chair.
"Yeah, but I can't stand anymore of Connor's music. It's putting me to sleep." Foster says, now lying completely on the floor. "When is our break?"
"Twelve minutes," I answer. "Foster, you should probably go finish your shift." He gives a loud groan before rolling onto his back and sitting up.
"The music isn't that bad," Sam speaks.
"It is when it's your brother's, and he starts humming along," Foster rolls his eyes and stands. "Whatever. Guess I'll just have to break dance to some Beethoven." He bobs his head before exiting the room.
"He's just.. something else, isn't he?" Sam squints to the door and shakes his head. I let out a laugh in agreement.
"He's just being funny," I shrug with a smile.
"Do you like Foster?" Sam asks me bluntly.
"No, why would you think that?" I ask him in confusion. I thought Sam and I had already established that Foster would not be a possibility in my romantic life.
"Because you basically laugh or giggle at whatever he says, and.. I don't know I just think you do," He shrugs, spinning in his chair again.
"I usually laugh because he's probably saying something stupid." I answer. "I don't think Foster and I would really work out anyway. I'll rarely see him after summer is over."
"Except for holidays, next summer, and possibly the years after that," Sam responds.
"I'm not going to date Foster," I sit up and laugh at his consistency.
"Why not?" Foster cracks open the door and sticks his head in. Sam starts to laugh and I can't help but join in. "I'm waiting for an answer," He stays standing with his head poking through.
"Go finish your shift," I laugh and throw a pen at the door.
"Yeah sure thing, Jen," He says sarcastically. He gives me a wink with a smile before leaving again.
-
We're finally let on break, and the mood in everybody adjusts. You can tell that everyone is eager to finally get some food. Sam, Connor, Foster, and I leave the shoppe and walk down the main boulevard to find something to eat. After fighting over what kind of food to eat, we settle on just getting sub sandwiches.
"That's quite a hardy sandwich you got there, Con," Foster points to Connor's meal. It's layered with at least three different meats and cheeses with all sorts of condiments. "You sure you'll be able to finish that?"
"I already know where this is going, no I will not give you a bite." Connor shakes his head and takes a giant bite from his sandwich.
"It was worth a shot," Foster shrugs. "So how's your lunch?" Foster asks this time to me.
"It's alright. Just an Italian sub," I shrug. I feel an emptiness in the pit of stomach. It's as if this whole week has been moving by so slow, and even sitting here with my friends makes me feel drained of fun.
"Can I have a bite?" Foster asks curiously again.
"This is why you shouldn't have downed your sandwich in three bites," Sam laughs at Foster then smiles to me. Sam seems a bit more lit up today than usual. He's smiling a lot more often and showing off his dimples. He's also been extra tentative lately. Maybe he still feels bad about the whole thing with Josh.
"So how are you, Jen?" Connor speaks after swallowing a bite. I'm a little confused by what he means, but I guess it's just a general question.
"I'm good, thanks for asking," I smile and bite into my sandwich.
"I meant how are you after dinner the other night?" I stop eating for a moment and Sam starts coughing as usual whenever an situation becomes uncomfortable. Haven't we all moved on from that? Here I am trying to get away from that night that started this mess, but this problem just won't go away.
"Con, maybe we shouldn't talk about that right now," Foster pats his brother on the shoulder.
"I just thought you and Josh would sort of be like together since then," Connor shrugs his shoulders. My chest sinks until I feel my heart heavy against it. There is no escaping Josh.
"Um, we haven't- we're not together." I stagger my wording and I can feel everyone's eyes on me, especially Sam's. I can tell he's just waiting for a sign from me and then he's pulling me out of here.
"Why not?" Connor asked in confusion. Did his brothers not tell him? How he could he be so oblivious to this? Foster mumbles a few words to his brother. I watch as Connor's brow furrows. Nerves run up and down my body just waiting for his reaction. He finally looks up with sympathetic eyes after the realization of what he's said. "Jen, I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"It's not your fault, it's fine." I shrug it off, but on the inside I'm screaming. Connor shakes his head, not acknowledging me acceptance.
"How come you didn't tell me? When did you guys even find out about Josh staying at Vanessa's." The words grind into me.
"Like the day after? I don't know why we didn't tell you. I guess it just wasn't that important." Foster argues.
"Not important?" Sam speaks up. "Foster, weren't you furious when you found out what Josh did?"
"You weren't exactly volunteering to share either," Foster shake scoffs.
"It's none of you places to tell anything." I interrupt their argument. "What happened between Josh, Vanessa, and I doesn't concern any of you. It doesn't involve any of you." I finish, wanting to drop this conversation completely. Everyone is quiet for a few moments, but Connor continues to shift in his seat.
"You could've told me Fost, so I at least didn't have to embarrass myself in front of everyone." Connor folds his arms. "I'm sick of being last one informed on everything. I'm not a kid, stop treating me like one." What does he mean? From the very beginning, Connor was the only one who caught on that I actually had potential feelings for Josh. He was the one who saw things before anyone else even knew what was happening.
"It's not a big deal, we're over it. Eat your sandwich." Foster points to Connor's food.
"We're the same age, Foster. Stop treating me like I'm twelve." Connor wraps his sandwich up and stands from the table.
"Where are you going?" Sam asks Connor as he picks up his windbreaker.
"Back to the shoppe where I'll be finishing my lunch." And with that, he's out the door before any of us can speak another word. I can't help but feel sympathetic towards Connor. I can see how his siblings treat him like he's still a kid. Which is ironic because if anyone's the kid here, it'd be his twin.
"He's just in a mood," Foster shrugs off his brother's behavior.
"I feel bad. He should've at least known about it. How could you not tell him? Or least let me tell him." I question Foster.
"I was pissed at Josh for the most part. I was ready to go off at him," he rolls his eyes as if remembering the scene.
"Um, you did go off at him." Sam reminds him.
"Hmm... Oh yeah, I did," Foster scrunches his nose with a small smile. "I told him he was an asshole," That's something I can definitely agree with. "I told him he can't just go around without thinking about other people, like you. And that he doesn't deserve- well you get the big idea."
That he doesn't deserve me? I don't even want to think about this anymore. I appreciate Foster sticking up for me, but I was hoping this would all have been dropped by now, and we could be moving on with our lives.
"We should go eat lunch with him," Sam offers.
"We should probably get back anyways. We only have five minutes until break it over." I remind them, polishing off my sandwich.
"That's probably why the little loser left early so he wouldn't be late. Typical." Foster rolls his eyes. I ignore him and wait for the two to be done so we can make our way back to my mom's shoppe.
-
"You guys were almost late," My moms says as we finally arrive.
"We were finishing our sandwiches. Mostly my fault." I lie to get the tension off of all of us.
"It's fine, but you're working to counter right now," She reminds me before disappearing into the back of the shoppe.
"Great. Anyone willing to keep me company?" I ask both Sam and Foster.
"Is there a place to nap in here?" Foster asks looking around the room, completely oblivious to my question.
"I'll chill with you," Sam gives me a closed mouth smile and makes his way to the counter.
"Foster, why don't you go organize the back room or something," I try to assign a job to him.
"Can't I just nap behind the counter?" He pouts.
"Nice try," I shake my head. He pinches one of my cheeks before walking to the back of the store. I take in a breath to relax myself and get ready to work.
"You sure you don't like Foster?" Sam questions again.
"Oh my gosh, no. Why do you care so much?" I laugh taking a seat next to him.
"I don't know," he shrugs. "I was just making sure," He nods.
"Making sure for what?" I ask again.
"Um, you know.. I'm your best friend so I sort of have a right to know," He says with a slight smile.
"Fair enough. Well since I'm your best friend, it's time for you to fess up," I poke fun at him.
"Jen, I already told you I don't really want to date anyone," He shakes his head.
"I'm not talking about you dating anyone, I'm talking about you liking someone. So who is it?" I tease him.
"You know what, that's a really good question," he nods with a smile as he looks to the door, "and I'll answer that as soon as you're done with this customer." He smirks before jumping from his seat and running to the back room. Slick.
I face back forward and wait to greet the customer, but see he's already found interest in something on the wall. His hair a highlighted blonde by the sun, and his skin toned and tan.
"Can I help you with anything?" I ask, but no direct response.
"Just looking to get a gift," he shrugs. He turns around and for a moment, I swear I remember his face. His jaw is tight and curved, and his hands look stronger than any I've seen. How could I forget them. His hair isn't draped over his eyes and his forehead isn't glossed in sweat like the last time I saw him. I definitely know him. How could I forget that traumatizing moment in the hall at Sam's party.
"Hey I know you," He squints and points to me. "You're that girl I met at that party down by the beach." He advances and I can't breathe. For the first time in my life since that moment in the hall, I feel absolutely frightened.
"Please, don't- I think I'm going to have to ask you to leave," I pant at a sudden loss of breath.
"You're gonna kick me out just because you're afraid of having a little fun?" He advances closer to the counter. He's a disgusting pig. "I may have had a lot to drink that night, but I definitely remember my intentions," he smirks and I think I might cry.
"Sam! Foster!" I call and wait for them to come to my rescue. Foster is the first one that appears and I immediately walk over to him. I take a hold of his hand as a sense of security, not knowing what else to do.
"He's- he's the one in the hall. He's the guy you punched at Sam's party," I try to rekindle the fire that Foster felt when he first felt that adrenalin of seeing me with whoever this is. He let's go of my hand and walks up to the stranger.
"What do you want from her?" Foster gets in his face, but that's the exact opposite of what I wanted him to do.
"It's none of your- oh, I remember you now," the guy grabs onto Foster's shirt.
"Don't touch me," Foster grips his hand before pushing it back to him.
"What's going on?" Sam finally shows up. Soon, Foster and the guy begin pushing each other back and forth, but out of no where, Connor comes in between the two before things can get really bad.
"If you have any common sense still left in your small brain, you'd be wise to turn around and leave before I call the police," Connor glowers at the guy.
"Who the hell are-"
"It doesn't matter who I am or who any of these people are- leave before I call the cops." He says again simply, with a slight bob of his head. The stranger straightens his shirt before looking to me again. I turn into Sam and wait to hear the door open and close. Sam radiates comfort as I hear the guy leave. I let out a breath that almost turns into a complete sob.
"Who was that?" Sam asks still confused.
"Some guy who hurt Jen," I see Foster shake his head with his jaw tightening. "I'd walk out there and punch him again just for looking at her." He says in disgust.
I look to Connor who's already made his way to the back room. I let go of Sam and try to catch Connor.
"Hey Connor," I capture his attention as I continue to walk towards him.
"Yeah?" As soon as he turns around, we collide in a hug. At first he doesn't return the gesture, but eventually I feel his hands on my back.
"Thank you. For stopping all of that." I let out a sigh.
"Um, no problem," he mumbles into my shoulder. The hug isn't meant to be intimate, but more of a friendly gesture. I think Connor and I are definitely on the same page there.
His actions show that he's not the little kid in the Hutcherson family. If anything, he's probably the most mature and composed. And it's good to know I have him as a friend.
I pull away and give him one more smile. "Thank you. Again. Please don't tell my mom what happened," I frown with a slight nervous laugh.
"I won't," He agrees with a smile. "I'm just glad I was there to stop it. Foster would've beaten that guy to a pulp," He laughs.
"Really? I don't know.. Foster might've put up a fight, but I'm not so sure he would've won," I shrug. And I'm happy the situation didn't escalate to that point.
"Nah, he definitely would have. If it meant protecting you from that creep, he would've done whatever it took." Connor finishes.
-
-Hope you guys like this chapter. I'm still planning on what to write for the next, so leave suggestions in the comments or inbox/message me what you would like to see happen next.
Thank you for reading! this story has almost to 100k reads! I really do appreciate you all as individuals and I hope you know how much I appreciate you putting up with these long overdue updates :)