Him and I

III

Wednesday afternoon

"Thanks for the ride." I said to Carter as I opened the door. "I had to be here anyway."

I looked at him. "Hailey?"

He nodded and we both got out of the car. "So, you and Isaac?"

I laughed. "We're friends."

"Good." He said as I unlocked the door. "What?"

"Nothing." He muttered, clearing his throat. We walked inside and my Mom was already waiting for me.

"I said no boys!"

"Calm down, he's here for Hailey." I said and she nodded. "Oh, right."

Carter frowned and shot me a concerned look which I answered with a shrug. "Skylar, Vernon wants you to help him with dinner."

"Could you call me Willow, please?"

She glared at me. "No."

"Why not?"

"Cause I don't associate with your crazy grandmother." She scoffed and walked back into her office. "Are you okay?" Carter whispered, softly touching my elbow.

I nodded and turned to look at him. "I think Hailey's upstairs." I said , trying to get past him to the kitchen. "Wait." He said, grabbing my wrist. "If you wanna talk, just call me."

I gave him a small smile and pulled him into a hug, which he gladly returned.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hailey's voice sounded at the top of the stairs. Carter quickly pulled away and looked at her. "No, I'm coming."

He shot me one last glance and then went upstairs. I walked to the kitchen at last and said hi to Vernon.

Vernon was pretty cool compared to his daughters, he was always kind to me. I liked him a lot, but he changed attitude whenever my Mom was around.

"Hey, Willow." He said.

That, too, my Mom won't call me by my second name like everyone does, but he always does.

"You wanted me to help you?" I asked and he nodded. "Can you cut the potatoes?"

I nodded and washed my hands before starting my task. "So, how was school?" He asked as he started cutting carrots.

"It was alright," I said. "Same old."

"I don't know if your Mother already asked to you about this." He said and I already knew what was coming. "But we were wondering if you wanted to come here more often."

Oh, so no skipping classes talk.

"Oh." I said, not looking up. "I don't know."

"I know you and your Mom don't always get along, but I'd really want you to be around more often." He said.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

My Mom walked into the kitchen, interrupting his answer. "Your brother called." She said to Vernon. "He wants to have a dinner with the girls."

"Oh, great." Vernon answered. "Not you, though." My Mom said to me. "Oh, don't worry, I didn't wanna go either way."

She gave me a glare and I smiled at her. "I'm done, so I'm gonna go and do my homework."

"Yeah, thanks for your help, Willow." Vernon said, shooting me a small smile. "No problem."

As soon as I left I heard my Mom scold him for calling me Willow.