Achieving Unbroken
Chapter Nine

—

"She can take you one-on-one if she feels right,
You'll be begging her for mercy"
Particular Taste | Shawn Mendes

—

Jason
[Saturday, February 3rd, 2017]

"Joey! Do you know where my black jeans are?" I scream, jogging down the stairs of my dad's house and into the kitchen. When I walk through the doorway, I see my little brother—and his tutor, who has her attention on a book. Typical.

"Did you check the dryer? I think that Dad or Penny washed 'em. You know,
like you do with dirty clothes."

I roll my eyes, and turn to the fridge to get something to drink.

"Those can't go in the dryer, Dipshit. I knew I shouldn't have loaned them to you, I'm the only one who can wash my own effing clothes—" I grab a Cherry Coke and slam the refrigerator shut. "Hey, Lilla."  She drags her eyes away from the book to look at me, eyes tracing me up and down.

"Hi Jason," she says with a tight-lipped smile. Then she turns to my brother. "I didn't say to stop doing the problems. Keep going."  Her gaze returns to the book without a second glance at me.

Not like I want her attention or anything.

Taking a swig from the bottle, I smile at her snark.

"I'm sorry, did you need something?" I jump from my position leaning against the fridge, her voice startling me.

"Huh?"

"You've been standing there staring in our direction for longer than 10 seconds. You're staring at something. Do you need help with your math homework, too?"

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck, fuckity fuck fuck. Abort mission. Extract yourself from the situation ASAP, Dumbass.

"Uh— No. I'm good. Sorry." Turning on my heel, I start towards the exit. But, her voice stops me. And I hope it's not more sass in my direction.

"Hey! Um, I'm sorry. You can hang around if you want. Just try not to distract Joey." When I look at her, she looks a little flustered. Embarrassed. Not like Lilla.

Maybe I could hang around a little longer. I just can't make a fool of myself.

"Hunny, please. My brother may be a dickhead but he doesn't distract me. My ADHD is enough."

Lilla and I share an odd look.

"Did you just call me 'Hunny'?"

"Yeah. I like when you do it to me, so I thought I would return the favor."

She bursts out laughing. Like, red-in-the-face, falling-back-in-her-chair laughing. I can't help but internally acknowledge how cute her laugh is, the way her hair gets tucked behind her ears as she collects herself. I plop down in the chair next to her.

"So, no distracting my brother. But I can distract you?" 

As I ask the question, Joey hands his homework over to her, and as her eyes scan the paper she smiles. I can't tell if it's because he did it correctly or if she thought my inquiry was amusing.

"Mhmm. I should save my book for classes, anyway." She sets the paper down in front of her, puts her head in her hands, and smiles at me. Not tight-lipped. A soft, warming smile. I feel my face heat up. Our eyes lock, and all I can do is bring up the corners of my mouth to smile back.

"Good God!" Joey groans, and Lilla jumps back in her chair. "It's bad enough to watch Mama and Mom flirt senselessly in front of us, but now my tutor is gonna get pregnant from my brother just staring at her. Jesus."

I panic. Lilla does, too. And we both shift in our chairs and fix our hair and clear our throats. She straightens her back, and is back to her all-business self.

"I should probably go," I hesitate, slowly creeping out of my chair. Lilla's head snaps back to me, eyes wide open. The shock on her face halts my exit.

"Ok, yeah. Um... If you need homework help, let me know." I nod, slowly.

"'Kay."

On that note, I leave the kitchen, but still hear a few bits of their conversation after I leave.

"I like you better when you're a bitch," my brother says.

"You want me to be a bitch?" Lilla asks. "Cool. Do pages 532-539. Every problem. And have it done before I leave."

I lose what they're saying after that, and I think about how my brother and I have something in common.

We both like when Lilla is a bitch. I just love when she isn't a bitch to me even more.

—

"Jay? Joe? Y'all home?" I hear Penny open and slam the door, instantly followed by a series of rapid footsteps coming up the stairs. A smile grows on my face and I run to open my bedroom door.

"RAWRRR!" My voice booms, arms latching around Carl. He shrieks, laughing and attempting to use his little nine-year-old arms to get me to let go of him.

"Jay-son!" He whines. "Let me go!" My whole body shakes as I laugh.

"Fine, fine." I toss him onto my bed, his giggles bouncing off of the walls of my bedroom. "How was downtown, Kid?"

Carl's eyes roll back in his head, even more emphasized by the square frames that adorn his face. He scoffs.

"Busy. It was like all of Seattle decided to go shopping today." He shifts his position on my bed. "It was also chilly. But Mom got me a ton of hot cocoa!"

"I can tell, you're awfully hyper." I join him on the bed, jumping next to him and he bounces. "So, did ya get me anything?"

"No, silly! I just needed to get some clothes for spring."

"But, I do have a birthday coming up... You sure I didn't get anything?" Carl shakes his head adamantly and rolls off of the bed. He walks over to my backpack and starts sorting through my things, looking at my homework. His excuse is that he wants to know what to expect when he reaches high school himself, and prepare for it.

When he pulls out my math binder, he looks back up at me, like he's remembered something.

"Is the pretty tutor here?"

... I tell this kid way too much. He's also kind of obsessed with Lilla and I don't know if it's a crush or because I act a little infatuated with her, and he likes to follow my lead on things.

I don't even know if I have a crush on her or not.

"Yes, she is. She's with Joey." I look at the clock and see that it's almost 2:00 PM. "And she's probably leaving in a few."

This makes Carl bounce up off of the floor of my room, and race towards the door. He flings it open and darts out of my room, leaving me scrambling to catch up with him.

When I get downstairs, I catch him just in time to hear him scream "Lilla!" and throw his arms around her.

"Hey Cutie!" She squeals and squats down to meet his eyes. "I heard you went downtown today. Did you have fun!"

Carl's head moves rapidly up and down as he vigorously nods his head.

"Awesome," she grins. "Now, I've gotta run, but I'll see you next weekend, yeah?"

"I'll make sure of it."

Her smile widens at Carl's determination. She stands up, and walks closer to the door.

"You sure you can't hang around for dinner?" Penny asks, sounding hopeful. She really likes Lilla, and I think she seriously enjoys having another girl in the house.

"I'm sorry to say I can't, but it's my grandmother's birthday tonight and we are going out to celebrate."

"Well, could we get you to stick around next week?" I question, finishing the last few stairs and stepping onto the ground floor. "Penny makes a great chicken parm."

Lilla steps back, almost surprised, like she didn't even notice I was there.

"That's a very tempting offer. If it won't be a burden, I would love to stay for dinner next week."

"Oh, thank goodness. It won't be a burden at all. We'll see you then, Sweetheart." Penny turns towards the family room, where Joey is playing a video game, completely distracted. "Joey! Walk your tutor out!"

"Kinda busy!" He yells back. "Thanks Lilla!"

"Text me if you need anything!" She calls back. "Really, Mrs. Oakland, I don't need anyone to walk me out. My dad is in the car."

"Lilla, please, call me Penelope or Penny. Mrs. Oakland makes me feel like my mother-in-law. And I want someone to walk you out there. This is a respectful family." She glances up at me. "Jason! Tell me you aren't busy and can walk Lilla out."

"I'm not busy and can walk Lilla out." I'm looking at Penny, but out of the corner of my eye I see Lilla's mouth twitch up and her eyes roll a little.

"Perfect!" Penny exclaims. "Have a good rest of your day, Lilla. I expect to see you in my dining room next week," she jokes.

"You too, Penelope. I will be here."

With a final goodbye, I open the front door for Lilla and gesture for her to go first. She chuckles, accepts my offer, and I follow her out, shutting the door behind us.