Too Young (The Jewel Project #1)

Chapter 5.1 - Study Camp

Chapter five

Study Camp

"Why? Why? Why would you do something like that?" Kyle asked, pacing in front of Sam.

Sam sagged even lower in his father's armchair. Now that he was home, he had to admit that hinting to Christine that he had a crush on someone else had been the stupidest thing to come out of his mouth in a long time. Not that it mattered much.

"I might never see her again," he mumbled.

Kyle stopped pacing and his arms fell limp alongside his body. He looked as if divine revelation had come to him. "Stay home."

Sam straightened in the armchair and glanced sideways at him. "What?"

"I mean it. Tomorrow." Kyle's voice was strangely blank. "Stay home. You don't have to go anywhere. Just talk to her, tell her the truth. Be happy."

"No. This is something I've always wanted to do." Sam shifted in his seat. "I can talk to her when I get back. Not that it'll make a difference." His shoulders slouched. "She's in love with some other guy." The mere memory of her words hurt. He hoped time would numb his feelings and he wouldn't lose his head the next time he saw her.

Kyle wiped his face with one hand. "We just don't get a break, do we? I hoped it would be different for you. I hoped you would be happy." He sank into the couch on the side of the armchair.

Sam leaned forward. "You wished you could have stayed behind too, don't you?" His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but he wasn't sure if he wanted Kyle to hear him. He seemed not to, so Sam leaned back against the rest and stared at the ceiling. "I could have at least kissed her." Add missing that to the ever-growing list of stupid things he'd done lately.

"Trust me, it would have made things even worse," Kyle said.

The slam of the kitchen door made Sam swallow his reply. Jerry came into the living room, seeming surprised to see the two of them there.

"Did you two finish packing?"

"Yeah. I only have the research files to add," Sam answered.

Kyle's answer came more like a grunt. Jerry threw him a glance as if he were an inferior life form, then turned to Sam.

"You should take care of that, then."

Sam took a deep breath. Snapping at Jerry wouldn't help. "No. I still want to read some things."

"You should take care of that, then." Jerry dropped in an armchair opposite Sam's. "And that's Dad's chair. We're not allowed to sit in it, remember?"

"Well, Dad's not here, is he?" Sam said, pushing himself out of the chair. He hurried to his room, grabbed the folder then returned, afraid he'd find Jerry and Kyle halfway through strangling each other.

The two of them were almost as he'd left them. Kyle had lain back on the couch, his hands folded behind his head, while Jerry had picked up a huge book in French and was reading.

Sam sank back in his father's armchair, and took some pages out of the folder. He spent the following half an hour reading, making mental calculations regarding distances, supplies and rain chances. The more he read on and saw the big picture, the more uncomfortable he felt. There were various opportunities to screw up, not to mention causes of death galore. This suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea anymore, and Kyle's suggestion that he stayed home got more appealing by the minute. No. This was his chance to do what he'd always dreamed. Though, he should stop reading if he didn't want to lose his nerve.