As August came to a close I realized I hadn't talked to Leo in ages. I decided to go out to the backyard so I would have some privacy. I called the group home's landline.
"Hello, Allison White's phone?" Allison answered.
"Hey Allison, it's me."
"Annalise! Sweetheart, how are you?"
"I'm great. I was wondering if I could talk to Leo?" She was silent for a minute.
"Yeah. Here, Jaz, talk with Annalise while I go find Leo." There was some rustling as she passed the phone to Jaz.
"Hey, Anna, what's happening? How's the adopted life treating you?"
"Pretty good. How's life treating you?"
"I've got prospective parents, A! They've been meeting with me for a month now and I have a really good feeling about these ones."
"That's great, Jaz! I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah. Oh, here comes Allison." Jaz handed the phone back.
"I'm sorry, Annalise, but Leo had long night last night and he's sleeping right now so I'd rather not wake him."
"Oh. Ok." I sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine." I ended the call and sat down in the grass. I sniffed and then laid back. Tears collected in my eyes. I blame that on my period. I sniffed again and wiped under my eyes.
"What are you doing, baby girl?" I heard Jack ask and then he was standing over me. Worry covered his face. "What's wrong?" I shrugged as best I could while lying on the ground. He laid down beside me.
"I don't know. I'm tired and I miss Leo." I mumbled.
"I'm sorry." We laid there in silence for few minutes before he spoke again, "Are up for going out later?"
"Yeah." He pushed himself to his feet and smiled down at me.
"Be ready at five." I nodded as well as I could and he walked into the house. I sat up and dug my earbuds from my pocket. I turned on Spotify  and started my playlist. I laid back down and watched the clouds float by while listening to blink-182 and Green Day. Gradually I started to feel better. When I checked the time it was going on four so I decided to go inside and start getting ready. Jack and Zack were standing in the kitchen talking when I walked back inside. I was still listening to my music so I didn't say anything, but I gave Jack a smile to let him know I was feeling better. He returned it and I walked down the hall. I changed into a clean t-shirt and put on my Eiffel Tower necklace, earrings and my mother's ring. I went to the bathroom to apply my makeup. I stick with my usual mascara, foundation and lipstick. I opt for blue. I'd only ever used it once for Halloween. Satisfied I grabbed my book from my room and headed back to the kitchen.
"-be worried about her, ya know?" Jack was saying as I walked down the hall.
"If she's anything like my sister was at that age she probably just needs some space." Zack replied. Jack sighed. That was when I made my appearance.
"Hey." Jack said when he saw me.
"Hi." I took a seat at the bar and opened my book.
"You all ready?"
"Uh-huh."
"Great." He turned to Zack, "What about you?"
"Yeah." And then he took a step toward the sink and stepped in a puddle of water. He groaned. "I need to go find a dry sock first, but then yes." And then he stripped off his wet sock and walked down the hall toward Jack's office aka his room while he was staying with us.
"Ready." He said when he came back.
"Excellent! To the Jackmobile!" And then he ran out the door. Zack and I shared a look.
"I can't believe he just said that." I said trying not to laugh.
"I can." Zack responded and followed him out the door. I giggled and went after them.
"Where are we going?" I asked once we were driving.
"First. Can anyone tell me what day it is?"
"Saturday?"
"No. Zack?"
"The eighteenth?"
"Getting closer, but no. Today makes three months since you," he poked my side, "became a Barakat."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh. So I had everything planned out and it was amazing, but shit happened so instead we're going to eat out . . . somewhere, then we'll pick up some candy of Anna's choice and go home to watch of movie I chose ten minutes ago."
"Ten min-during our conversation?" Zack asked. Jack chuckled.
"Sounds fun." I told Jack with a smile.
"Good." And it was. For dinner we went to a Chinese place which was amazing and then we went to Wal-mart and I picked out some candy for us. We ended up being there way longer than intended just walking around and making jokes at each other's expense.
  The movie Jack picked was called Split. It was good, but very intense. It was almost ten by the time the movie ended. Zack headed to his room and I went to mine. I sat and read until around midnight and then turned off my light and attempted to go to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw James Mclvoy. So I laid awake staring at the ceiling. I started to drift off and was almost asleep when Castle jumped up onto my bed and freaked me out. Being barely awake I panicked and screamed while trying extricate myself from my blankets. I ended up in a heap on the floor with my blankets twisted around my legs. Then my door was being opened and the light was turned on by Jack, who was shirtless and wielding his belt as a weapon, and Zack, who was wielding his sneaker, though he didn't really need it.
"Wha's wrong?" Jack asked while yawning and blinking repeatedly. The embarrassment of what had just happened and my hormones being out of whack because I was on my period caused me to burst into tears. Jack said something to Zack, who left, and then came and scooped me up off the floor. He walked out of my room and into his. He dropped me onto the bed and then climbed in beside me. He pulled me to his chest and started rubbing my back. Shortly after that I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. The last thing I remember was hearing Jack whisper,
"Love ya, baby girl." And I realized at that moment that I could say with absolute certainty and sincerity that I loved him too.