Chloe’s Point of View
After we clean up all the dishes we head back to the living room where we slept last night. We fold the blankets and tidy everything up. I lie on the couch with Sam a bit beside me but mostly on top of me because there’s not lot of space. We talk for a while about sports, my volleyball and his tennis, until Mr. Pecanhogen comes in. I quickly sit up forcing Sam to fall off me. “Chloe, can I talk to you?” I nod. “Excuse us Sam.” Sam looks at me and I give him a look as if to say, ‘I’m fine’. He nods slightly. I get up and walk out the door with John. We stop at the greenhouse and he invites me inside. We sit down on a chair-swing surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants. “I would like to start off by saying that Nancy and I consider you to be a part of the family. You are very nice, and extremely polite and you always have a smile on your face. To my wife and I, you are like the granddaughter we never had. Would it be alright if we called you our granddaughter?” I nod very quickly as I say yes. “If it’s alright with you, you can call us Grandma and Grandpa.”
“Grandpa and Grandma it is then,” I say smiling. He wraps his big arms around me and doesn’t let go for about thirty seconds. “Sam told me about you and your family. I am very sorry about your dad. He also told me that you aren’t having the greatest time at home, so I was wondering if you wanted to stay with us for a while. I already talked to your mom and she is letting you stay with us for as long as you like.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Peca-I mean…Grandpa. But will you tell me if I am ever intruding because I’d hate to overstay my welcome.”
“We all want you to stay. You could stay with us until next year even. You can obviously go out and see your friends and your family, just know that you are always welcome here.”
“Thank you so much. You and your family have been very accepting and kind to me.”
“You are a part of our family now.” There is a small silence before Grandpa says, “What are your feelings towards Sam? Do you like him as a brother? A friend? A bit more then a friend?”
“A bit more than a friend.”
“How much more?”
“I… I think I love him.”
“I see.” He nods as if he’s thinking about something then he smiles. We then get up and I walk back to Sam.
Sam’s Point of View
What’s taking so long? I hope she’s okay. I hear footsteps and look to the door to find Chlo alone. She’s smiling so I know that whatever happened went well. “How did it go?” I ask.
“Great.”
“What did you guys talk about?”
“He said that he thinks of me as his granddaughter and that I can stay here for as long as I want.”
“That’s great,” I say excitedly.
“What did you tell him about my family?” She looks a bit upset.
“I only said that your dad is always really mean and really angry and that he gave you a hard time,” I admit.
“So nothing specific, like how he…”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Okay, good. What did you say about my mom?”
“I just said that you don’t feel like she accepts you.” She nods and lies on top of me on the couch. “Are you okay?” She asks.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m kinda crushing you.”
“You’re not as heavy as you may think.” We both smile.
“Thanks for putting up with me.”
“Putting up with you? I would never need to put up with you,” I say giving her hand a slight squeeze. She rolls over and kisses me lightly on the cheek. I smile and look into her eyes. “I am very confused.”
“About what?” She asks.
“What colour are your eyes?”
“You tell me. I can’t see them,” she says with a giggle. “They’re so cool! Around the pupil there’s a band of yellow, then there’s a ring of green and a thin line of blue around the outside.”
“I wish I could see.”
“It’s funny because you’re looking through it.”
“No, not exactly. You don’t look through the iris, only the pupil so if I saw anything from my eye, it would be black,” she explains.
“You always have a scientific answer for everything, don’t you?” I laugh.
“What can I say? I’m a jock and a nerd.”
“I would say you’re a bit of everything.”
“And that’s what makes me confusing and annoying.”
“Confusing…maybe. Annoying…not possible.”
“Tell that to my sister.”
“I can have my own opinions about you, can’t I?” She smiles. I kiss her as my Grandma walks in. We both separate quickly and look down at the ground embarrassed. “I…I’m sorry Ms. Pecanhogen,” Chlo says as her cheeks get really red. “There’s no need to be sorry and for God’s sake, child! Call me Grandma!” I thought she would get mad at us, but she seems fine. “Anyways, I was just coming to ask you if you were hungry.” Chlo and I look at each other. “Yes,” I say as Chloe nods. “What would you like?” Grandma asks us. “It’s up to you Sam,” Chlo says. “Hmm…Maybe-no. Uh…grilled cheese!”
“Ooo yes! I love grilled cheese! I can’t even remember the last time I had one,” Chlo says sounding excited.
“Good choice Sam,” Grandma says. “And by the way, I know you have feelings for her so Gramps and I are fine with…well, you know…what you were doing before I came in.” We both blush as she turns around and leaves. “That was…interesting,” is all I can say. “Yeah,” Chlo responds. She smiles and looks like she’s thinking about something. “Penny for your thoughts,” I say. “Did you tell your Grandma that you…have feelings for me?”
“Yeah,” I say, as my cheeks get red. She laughs. “Why are you laughing?”
“I told your Grandpa the same thing.” I grab her around the shoulders, pull her in close to me, and give her a slight squeeze. “You don’t know how happy that makes me,” I say.
“I think I might.” She smiles.
