Status: Complete!!
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
CHapter 12
My weekend went by slowly; I had nothing to do, and Alanna went to her grandparents house, so I was by myself. Had Jared’s family not been down I probably would have seen if he wanted to hang out, but I was too afraid to even go past his house. When my dad ordered pizza I went the long way around to pick it up, so nobody could see me drive by and think I was being a crazy stalker or something. I was starting to like him; the way one corner of his mouth lifts up further than the other when he smiles, his loud laugh, his bright personality, and even his bright red hair was starting to get to me. Alanna had said something about it and I had corrected her that it was ‘red’ and not ‘ginger’, and she’d stared at me like I’d grown another limb.
“What’s up with you sweetheart?” Dad asked, walking into the living room. I shrugged, putting down my novel and curling my feet underneath me on the couch.
“It’s nothing Dad, I’m fine,” I told him. He shook his head, and I sighed, knowing that I wasn’t off the hook that easily.
“Come on, I might not have maternal instincts or whatever but I’m not stupid,’ he insisted, and sat down so we could talk.
“It’s just this guy… I think I kind of like him, but we’re friends and I don’t think he likes me, and he’ll be moving away fairly soon anyways so it shouldn’t even matter…” I explained, and he nodded. Dad had always been incredible at handling these kind of situations, for a dad and all.
“Well sweetheart, you should just talk to him about it. And if he’s an ass about it I will kick his ass, simple as that,” he decided, making me laugh.
“Dad it’s not that simple,”
“Yes it is. So this is why you’ve moped around all weekend? Can’t you just go and ‘hang out’ or whatever kids do these days?” he asked me. I laughed again, before shrugging.
“I don’t know. I have no way to contact him and his family is all up for the weekend,” I said, and dad’s eyebrow raised.
“He’s a hockey player?” I nodded hesitantly, and saw the concern on my dad’s face.
“Kass, I don’t want to sound like a stereotype, but—”
“Dad, he’s not like that; don’t worry. If he was I wouldn’t even be friends with him,” I assured him, and dad nodded, accepting my answer. He knew that I wasn’t exactly a fan of the Wolves – I mean, we watched NHL games all the time and I liked hockey, but the OHL had never really caught my interest – so there wasn’t any other reason for me to like Jared other than for him.
“Okay, you know I just want to make sure you’re all right,” I nodded, glad my dad was so understanding.
“I know. And if he pulls a 180 and starts acting like that you’ll know,” I sighed, and he nodded, pulling me into a hug.
“You really should call him though sweetheart; you two could hang out this afternoon,”
“Dad, I don’t want to intrude on his family stuff,” I sighed, and dad shrugged.
“I’m sure you could go over there for an hour or two and it wouldn’t be too bad,” he pushed, and I shrugged.
“I don’t know his number anyways Dad; I’ll just see him on Monday,” I said, and he let it drop finally. We sat watching Sportscentre , and just before the Top 10 the phone rang.
“Kass, it’s for you,” dad called from the kitchen after picking up the phone. I got up, confused as to who would be calling, and saw the huge grin on his face.
“Hello?”
“H-hey, Kass, it’s uh, it’s me; Jared. Um, so I was just wondering if… if you wanted to like, hang out or something?” he stumbled awkwardly over the words, and I felt my cheeks heat up immediately.
“Yeah, uh, that’d be cool,” I agreed, and felt him let out a long breath.
“That’s awesome. I hope you don’t think it’s weird that I’m phoning or anything,” he said, and I could picture him running a hand through his red hair.
“No, it’s okay. But how did you get my phone number?” I asked, and he let out an embarrassed laugh.
“It was kind of a process, Tanya insisted on going through the phone book… did you know how many Falls are in Sudbury?” he asked, and I laughed. He’d went through all of the Falls phoning to get a hold of me; it was kind of adorable.
“How many?”
“Twenty three,” he answered, and I giggled again.
“Wow, that’s a lot,”
“Yeah, and a couple times there was no answer so I was worried that – knowing my luck – your number would be one of the ones where nobody was home,” he continued, and we talked for a few minutes, a ridiculous grin on my face the entire time. Tanya had texted Marcus from Jared’s phone to see if anybody knew my number, and while that had been a no one of the guys Marcus hung out with was Alanna’s cousin. So she’d texted Alanna from Jared’s phone and got my number, and then marched into the living room with it and told him to call me. He’d been worried that I would find it creepy for him to randomly know my number, so he hadn’t wanted to call. That was until Tanya dialed the number and let it ring once before handing it over to him so he had no choice.
“Wow, so your brother’s girlfriend was the one who actually wanted me to come over?” I asked, and immediately he was stammering trying to backtrack.
“No! I mean, I wanted to hang out but I didn’t want to creep on you, and uh, Tanya’s a little pushy sometimes when it comes to that kind of stuff. I did want to hang out,” he insisted, and we fell into a slightly awkward silence.
“So, um, do you want me to come get you? We could go to the park or come back here or whatever you want,” he asked.
“Sure, sounds good,” I agreed, glad he was willing to make the decision. Then I looked down and saw I was wearing a baggy t-shirt and a pair of sweats.
“So… how do I get to your house?” he asked, and I laughed, having forgotten about that part.
“It’s 608 Jupiter Court,” I answered, and heard him write it down.
“Okay, so uh, is it all right if I, um, come pick you up then?”
“Um… do you want to wait like ten minutes? I need to get dressed,” I asked, and heard him laugh.
“Yeah, I can do that,” he allowed, and we both laughed.
“Okay, see you soon then,”
“See you soon then,” I repeated, and then we hung up. As I put the phone down on the table I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face, and I’m sure dad could tell when I walked back to the living room.
“What’s up with you sweetheart?” Dad asked, walking into the living room. I shrugged, putting down my novel and curling my feet underneath me on the couch.
“It’s nothing Dad, I’m fine,” I told him. He shook his head, and I sighed, knowing that I wasn’t off the hook that easily.
“Come on, I might not have maternal instincts or whatever but I’m not stupid,’ he insisted, and sat down so we could talk.
“It’s just this guy… I think I kind of like him, but we’re friends and I don’t think he likes me, and he’ll be moving away fairly soon anyways so it shouldn’t even matter…” I explained, and he nodded. Dad had always been incredible at handling these kind of situations, for a dad and all.
“Well sweetheart, you should just talk to him about it. And if he’s an ass about it I will kick his ass, simple as that,” he decided, making me laugh.
“Dad it’s not that simple,”
“Yes it is. So this is why you’ve moped around all weekend? Can’t you just go and ‘hang out’ or whatever kids do these days?” he asked me. I laughed again, before shrugging.
“I don’t know. I have no way to contact him and his family is all up for the weekend,” I said, and dad’s eyebrow raised.
“He’s a hockey player?” I nodded hesitantly, and saw the concern on my dad’s face.
“Kass, I don’t want to sound like a stereotype, but—”
“Dad, he’s not like that; don’t worry. If he was I wouldn’t even be friends with him,” I assured him, and dad nodded, accepting my answer. He knew that I wasn’t exactly a fan of the Wolves – I mean, we watched NHL games all the time and I liked hockey, but the OHL had never really caught my interest – so there wasn’t any other reason for me to like Jared other than for him.
“Okay, you know I just want to make sure you’re all right,” I nodded, glad my dad was so understanding.
“I know. And if he pulls a 180 and starts acting like that you’ll know,” I sighed, and he nodded, pulling me into a hug.
“You really should call him though sweetheart; you two could hang out this afternoon,”
“Dad, I don’t want to intrude on his family stuff,” I sighed, and dad shrugged.
“I’m sure you could go over there for an hour or two and it wouldn’t be too bad,” he pushed, and I shrugged.
“I don’t know his number anyways Dad; I’ll just see him on Monday,” I said, and he let it drop finally. We sat watching Sportscentre , and just before the Top 10 the phone rang.
“Kass, it’s for you,” dad called from the kitchen after picking up the phone. I got up, confused as to who would be calling, and saw the huge grin on his face.
“Hello?”
“H-hey, Kass, it’s uh, it’s me; Jared. Um, so I was just wondering if… if you wanted to like, hang out or something?” he stumbled awkwardly over the words, and I felt my cheeks heat up immediately.
“Yeah, uh, that’d be cool,” I agreed, and felt him let out a long breath.
“That’s awesome. I hope you don’t think it’s weird that I’m phoning or anything,” he said, and I could picture him running a hand through his red hair.
“No, it’s okay. But how did you get my phone number?” I asked, and he let out an embarrassed laugh.
“It was kind of a process, Tanya insisted on going through the phone book… did you know how many Falls are in Sudbury?” he asked, and I laughed. He’d went through all of the Falls phoning to get a hold of me; it was kind of adorable.
“How many?”
“Twenty three,” he answered, and I giggled again.
“Wow, that’s a lot,”
“Yeah, and a couple times there was no answer so I was worried that – knowing my luck – your number would be one of the ones where nobody was home,” he continued, and we talked for a few minutes, a ridiculous grin on my face the entire time. Tanya had texted Marcus from Jared’s phone to see if anybody knew my number, and while that had been a no one of the guys Marcus hung out with was Alanna’s cousin. So she’d texted Alanna from Jared’s phone and got my number, and then marched into the living room with it and told him to call me. He’d been worried that I would find it creepy for him to randomly know my number, so he hadn’t wanted to call. That was until Tanya dialed the number and let it ring once before handing it over to him so he had no choice.
“Wow, so your brother’s girlfriend was the one who actually wanted me to come over?” I asked, and immediately he was stammering trying to backtrack.
“No! I mean, I wanted to hang out but I didn’t want to creep on you, and uh, Tanya’s a little pushy sometimes when it comes to that kind of stuff. I did want to hang out,” he insisted, and we fell into a slightly awkward silence.
“So, um, do you want me to come get you? We could go to the park or come back here or whatever you want,” he asked.
“Sure, sounds good,” I agreed, glad he was willing to make the decision. Then I looked down and saw I was wearing a baggy t-shirt and a pair of sweats.
“So… how do I get to your house?” he asked, and I laughed, having forgotten about that part.
“It’s 608 Jupiter Court,” I answered, and heard him write it down.
“Okay, so uh, is it all right if I, um, come pick you up then?”
“Um… do you want to wait like ten minutes? I need to get dressed,” I asked, and heard him laugh.
“Yeah, I can do that,” he allowed, and we both laughed.
“Okay, see you soon then,”
“See you soon then,” I repeated, and then we hung up. As I put the phone down on the table I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face, and I’m sure dad could tell when I walked back to the living room.