♤Jeremy's P.O.V♤
After leaving Reegan's house from hanging with the guys, I walked the short walk to my house.
"I'm home!" I call.
"We're in here, honey," mom calls to me. I head towards the living room.
Our house is small. It's a three bedroom house with two on the top floor and one in the basement. I have the basement bedroom with a bathroom attached. There's another bathroom upstairs. Then, on the main floor, is the kitchen, living room and dining room.
"Hey," I say to my mom and dad, dropping to give my mom a kiss on the cheek.
Mom is 40 years old and dad is 41. They were friends in middle school and started dating in 9th grade. They stuck together through everything and they've stayed loyal to each other for, like, 30 years. They once broke up for a year and a half because my mom wasn't sure about their relationship. She went back to my dad, though. They're just meant for each other. They got married 6 years after they both graduated university. They had me when they were 22 and 23. I was born before they were married - they were just finishing university. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only reason they're together; until I see how they look at each other, that is.
"Hey, sweetie. We've invited some people over for dinner," mom informs me.
"Cool. Who is it?"
"Our neighbors. Andrew and Reegan Jacobs. Reegan is your age. I think you're in the same grade," dad tells me. Great. Reegan hates me by now, I'm sure.
"Yeah, she is. We have calculus together. I met her dad earlier. Aaron is her older brother and we were hanging there." Dad, who's watching soccer, nods. I know he's just pretending to listen, though. I get my love of soccer from him, but my manners from my mom.
"She seems like a nice girl. Are you friends with her, too?" Mom asks me.
"She is nice, but I'm working on being her friend. She's sort of isolated. Her only friend is a girl named Shaeleen." I tell them.
"Jeremy, would you get the door?" Dad says.
"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Be right back." I head to the door and open it.
"See, dad, no one's answering. We can just go. Let's go. Come on, dad," Reegan says to Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs looks at me sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. I clear my throat, alerting Reegan of my presence in the doorway. She freezes. "Heeeey, Jeremy," she says without turning around.
"Hi Reegan. Mr. Jacobs," I say, sending a nod in his direction.
"Jeremy! How are you? I know we just talked half an hour ago," Mr. Jacobs asks me.
"I'm great. And you, sir?"
"I'm fine, thank you. Please call me Andrew. I feel old when you call me sir," Mr. Jacobs chuckles.
"Okay. Umm, come on in." I open the door wider and let them into my house. They step out of their shoes and take off their jackets, which I grab and hang up. See, I can be a gentleman. "My parents are right in here," I tell them, leading them to the kitchen. I know my parents have migrated there because I can smell the food cooking.
"Andrew! Welcome to our home! Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes. Jeremy, why don't you and Reegan go hang out in your room or something?" The way mom says it tells me that there's no room for arguing.
I sigh. "Come on, Reegan," I grumble. Mr. Jacobs shoots Reegan a look telling her to be nice. She just rolls her eyes in response.
I lead her to my room and I sit on the bed. She stays standing and looks around. Her eyes land on my book collection.
"Hmm. Percy Jackson. Harry Potter. You have a nice collection, here," Reegan states, running her fingers over the spines of my books.
"Thanks. I love to read. It's a get away. I love the way authors bend the words to their will. They bring you to a whole other place, a place that you can be one with the characters. It's a breath of fresh air after the days I have at school." She looks at me with curiosity. No one apart from my family knows I like to read. No one else takes the time to listen. And then she laughs. That's why I don't tell anyone.
I turn away so she doesn't see the look of hurt in my eyes. "That's why no one knows."
"No! Jeremy, that's not it! I'm not making fun of you it's just funny seeing you like this. So passionate about something other than parties and stuff. You had this look in your eye and I could tell you were here along with all these other worlds you read about. Trust me, I know how you feel. After school all I want to do is read a book and disappear for a while," Reegan huffs.
"It's just-" I start, but my mom calls down and tells us dinner is ready.
"Be right up," I yell back, keeping my gaze on Reegan. I search her face for signs of the truth. There's nothing there that says she's lying. I want to believe her. I really do. So much.
"We should go up," Reegan whispers and turns her face away using her hair as a shield. I want to tell her not to hide from me, that I'm not who everyone says I am. That I honestly just want to be her friend. I could tell her all of that, but would she believe me is what I need to be sure of.
"Yeah, let's go," I say, completely keeping my thoughts from coming out. I wave my hand to the doorway and she starts walking towards the stairs. I follow in behind and rest my hand on the small of her back without hesitation. She tenses up a little bit and I think about pulling my hand back. You've made it this far, Jeremy. May as well keep going. After a few seconds she relaxes again.
"There you guys are. I thought I was going to have to drag you up here by your ears," mom says to us when she sees us coming up the stairs.
"Sorry. We were talking," Reegan covers quickly.
"I see. Well, come this way. Andrew and Chad are already sitting." We follow mom to the table and see Mr. Jacobs and dad seated already.
Dad is at the head of the table and Mr. Jacobs is beside him. Mom takes a seat on the other side of dad which leaves me beside mom and Reegan across from me, beside Mr. Jacobs.
"So, Reegan. What are your plans for after high school?" Dad asks.
"Umm, I'm not exactly sure yet. I think I want to go into architecture. I might go into something with a bit more math involved, though."
"That's a good career. Lots of money," mom tells her with a wink.
"So I'm told."
"What about you Jeremy?" Mr. Jacobs asks me.
"Oh, well I plan on getting a soccer scholarship and that will be my main priority for university. If I don't get it, I'll just go to university and major in biology. Even if I do get it I'm going to major in biology."
Mr. Jacobs nods and takes another bite of his chicken. "This is really good, Ann. We haven't had a home cooked meal in a while."
"Oh, thank you. It's my mom's recipe," mom gushes.
"Well it's delic-" Mr. Jacobs starts before we hear a loud bang. Everyone jumps and looks at Reegan. She jumps up.
"I'm so sorry! I just- I, uh. I'm sorry," she whispers.
