Little Girlfriend?

"You seemed to be more comfortable with Sir Jake," Mr. Robert asked, breaking the quiet atmosphere as we drove down the empty road. It was already past four, and I sat scrolling through my phone, bored with nothing to do.

I shifted my gaze to stare at the man who had asked the question. I could feel his eyes fixed on me through the rearview mirror. I cleared my thoughts, sitting upright and placing my phone on my lap. "He's alright," I responded. "Even though he's still a jerk," I joked, and I could see a small smile forming on the face of the man who sat in front of me, but it quickly disappeared back to his neutral expression.

"Jake is not as bad as you might think," he stated, turning the steering wheel as we took a left turn. "He's just terrible at expressing himself. He's a good kid."

My eyebrow furrowed as I stared at him, stopping myself from bursting out into laughter, especially remembering the bedroom encounter. He had a way with his words and spoke confidently, like he had nothing to hide or be worried about. He was very direct, with no hesitation. I was sure this man knew nothing about Jake or definitely knew nothing about the Jake I knew.

"Sure," was the only statement that left my mouth. There would be nothing to gain by arguing and proving him wrong. My thoughts shifted to the young girl I had seen earlier, leading me to say, "His sister does look like him." I tried to bring his sister into the conversation without being direct, hoping to get more info. As I stared at him, I noticed his eyes widen and how he avoided looking at the mirror in front.

"Do they?" he said, redirecting the question back to me. I didn't want that; he was playing smart.

"Yeah, they have the same brown hair and eyes, also have similar jawlines, except she's younger and has fuller cheeks," I said, carefully examining his reaction. "You should know that; aren't you like their personal driver? You must have seen them together." I noticed his grip tightening around the steering wheel, and he took another sharp turn, fast enough to make me jolt backwards

"I never paid much attention," he sighed. It was obvious they were hiding something, but why would they do that? Was she adopted? She wouldn't be; I could clearly see the similar features she shared with Jake.

"Is she mute?" I asked, and this must have been the last straw, as he abruptly pressed the brakes, causing the vehicle to come to a forceful stop.

"We are here," he announced, stepping out of his vehicle and making his way to my side to unlock my door, gesturing me out.

I hadn't realized we would arrive this fast, and my attention was fully focused on him to have paid attention to the turns.

"Oh, thank you, sir," I responded, stepping out of his vehicle with my school bag by my side.

"Only doing my job," he gave a quick bow and made his way into the vehicle.

I stood and watched him as he drove off, without a glance back.

My shoulders dropped in frustration. I hadn't gotten the answer I was looking for. I held my bag tightly and dragged it to the front door. As my hand twisted the doorknob, a frown settled on my face as I was met with another episode of my parents' constant yelling.

"I am back," I greeted, making my way through the living room, but as expected, I was ignored. Their voices were loud, but Mom's stood out as the loudest. She had an apron tied around her waist, probably making dinner.

Dad, on the other hand, sat on the couch with his legs crossed, gently placed on the table. He seemed unaffected, and Mom's words lashed through the air, but that didn't stop him from responding. His responses were low yet audible, enough to irritate Mom further.

Their argument continued, punctuated by snippets of heated dialogue that grew louder as the tension escalated. The strain in their voices was palpable as they each tried to make their point heard over the other.

I didn't know why all of this was starting now; they were never like this. Even when they argued in the past, it never lasted this long. I couldn't be of any help, as they always shut me out from their conversations and only spoke indirectly when they noticed my presence.

At this point, I had given up on trying to talk some sense into them. My only concern was my brother, who had to experience all of this, as he was most times stuck with them.

Speaking of my brother, where was he? I glanced through the living room; he was nowhere to be seen. Hurriedly, I threw my bag on the couch and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

There he was, playing with some Legos, wearing headphones. "Gavin," I called, but there was no response. He was fully focused.

I moved over to him and tapped gently on his shoulder. This grabbed his attention, causing him to jolt back. A smile curved up on his lips as he took off the headphones, high music blasting from them.

"Are you okay?" I asked with a worried look on my face.

"Yes, why?" he shifted his face back to his pile of Legos as he continued to build them up, putting one on top of the other.

"Who gave you those?" My question was directed towards the headphones which were now lying by his side.

"Mom." He gave a quick reply without looking up.

I had thought as much, I knew my parents were having issues, but at least she was making an effort. That alone made me grateful; I just hoped it would end soon, and we would return back to our peaceful happy home.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked, and he shook his head in response.

Thinking for a moment while biting my bottom lip, I suggested, "How about we go out for ice cream?"

Hearing the word ice cream, his head swiftly turned, and his eyes met mine. "Yes please." There was a mix of excitement in his voice as he rushed to stand on his feet.

I couldn't help but smile at this gesture. I knew ice cream was something he couldn't resist, even on a full stomach. He always had a special place for it. Plus, it's been a while since we went out for a treat, adding more reasons to his immediate response.

"Let's go then." I stretched my hand forward to grab his.

"Aren't you going to get changed first?" he asked. His lips pressed in a thin line as he examined my clothing.

I paused, finding words before saying, "That's fine, it's only for ice cream. We will be back in no time." I reassured him. Although it was true, the ice shop was only a few blocks away, I was only using this treat as an excuse to get him out of the house, at least until the atmosphere was less tense.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go." His two hands held onto my left outstretched hand, securing it in a grip.

"Wait," I said, momentarily causing him to halt in his tracks. He looked up at me to hear what I had to say. "Here, wear this." I picked up the headphones lying on the ground and moved towards him to place them on him. He scrunched his brow, looking at me with a mix of confusion and worry, and then complained.

"But I can't hear anything, the music is too loud and it hurts my ear." He pouted his lips, his doe eyes staring back at me.

A smile played on my lips as I bent down to his level. My hands gently brushed his dense shoulder, and I assured him by saying, "It's just until we get outside. Let's look at it as a game. When we go down the stairs, you run past the living room to the front door. When you get outside, then you can take it off."

"And what do I get in return?"

"Uhm... how about two ice creams?"

"And a doughnut, I love doughnuts."

I chuckled lightly at his innocent response, nodding as I said, "And doughnuts."

"Yay." He squealed in excitement.

Putting on his headphones, I opened the door to his bedroom and bolted the door. Well, not literally; he sped out of his room while I followed him from behind down the staircase.

I made my way through the living room, with Gavin still ahead of me, and I yelled, "Taking Gavin out for ice cream!" I knew they heard me, and that was enough. I'm sure Mom would be grateful, even though she was part of the problem.

At the door, Gavin couldn't stop panting heavily, like he had run a marathon. I turned my head behind me, calculating the distance we took, which led me to only become further confused. Or was he just being dramatic?

Shrugging it off, I helped Gavin take off his headphones before grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

"I would like a... uhm, mint chocolate and strawberry, please," Gavin said to the young lady who stood behind the counter with a warm, welcoming smile. The ice cream shop was still open, with only a few customers.

A young couple occupied a corner booth, their fingers intertwined as they shared a single sundae, their gazes locked. My mind quickly wandered to Jake once again, imagining it was us seated here. I quickly shook my head, wiping the thought as quickly as it had come. Why was I even thinking about that of all things?

The voice of the young lady from earlier drew me out of my crazy thoughts. "And what would you like?" she asked, her voice gentle and sweet.

"I will just have the strawberry. Thank you." She nodded at my request. A few minutes later, she came back holding three cones of ice cream.

She handed Gavin his two ordered cones and gave me mine. "My doughnuts," Gavin reminded me as I made to pay. I smacked my forehead in sudden realization before saying to the lady who had a pink apron tied to her waist, her

hair tied in a bun while wearing a hairnet. She opened one of the glass cases and offered Gavin a doughnut. With no hands to spare, Gavin had to use his mouth, holding onto the doughnut with the clutches of his teeth.

"That would be $10.99," she said.

I pulled out the bill from my small black purse, which I had carried with me, placing it on the counter. I heard a polite "Thank you, come again" as we made our way towards the exit. I stopped momentarily, turning my gaze to the couple. It wasn't the friendly one as it had a hint of glare to it. With a quiet scoff, I rolled my eyes and motioned to the exit, Gavin tagging along.

We sat side by side on the swing. On our way home, we passed through the playground, and Gavin just couldn't resist the urge to play on the swings. Unfortunately, he was good at persuading me to do things he wanted, so here we were, sitting alone under the setting sun, licking ice cream.

Gavin had strangely found a way to finish his doughnut without using his hands and was now settling on his strawberry ice cream.

"How was the doughnut?" I asked as I watched his ice cream, melting and dripping down his hands.

"It was good; I wish I got two instead," he started.

"Really?" I arched a brow, a small smile present on my face, and he nodded quickly in response.

"I really miss you," he started out of the blue, which caused me to stare at him in confusion.

"Why do you say that? I am still here," I asked worriedly, scared that it might have something to do with our parents fighting.

"You never spend time with me, always in your room and talking on your phone," he sighed sadly, dropping his shoulders to the side. I guess he was right; I had been too preoccupied with my own life and worries, I forgot I had a younger brother to look out for.

"I didn't realize," I responded genuinely. "Tell you what, why don't we start with school? How is school? Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Well, there is this one thing," he dropped his shoulder to the side, and I could see a tense look on his face. "There's this kid at school... She's been following me around. Every recess. Every lunch break. She even waits for me by my locker and leaves notes inside."

Alarm bells rang instantly, especially seeing the worried look on his face. I was now in protective older sister mode, springing into action. "Gavin, is she threatening you? Taking your things? Pushing you around?" My gaze grew intense. "Tell me everything. What's her name? I'll talk to the teachers."

Gavin took in a deep breath, taking another lick from his ice cream, which only made my worry grow. My eyes widened, waiting for a response. "Her name is Lilly."

Lily? That name sounded familiar, and I immediately recognized it. "Lily? Dark hair, always in pigtails with those butterfly clips?" I asked, just to be sure.

He nodded slowly, a mischievous sparkle in his eye, which caused me to draw back and take a moment to recollect and create a mental image of what she looked like. Lily, smaller in size compared to Gavin. She was bossy, sure, most girls that age were, but bullying? Definitely not. "Yeah. But those notes? They're all about how much she likes..." he confessed.

I didn't even know how to react. I blinked, my initial fear changing smoothly into embarrassment. "So, she wasn't bullying you; she was just... trying to get to me through you because she has a crush on you?" I asked.

"Well, I won't say crush." He cleared the air before adding, "She's my girlfriend."

My eyes widened, and I immediately started coughing, choking on nothing but air. "What did you say?" I asked once again, my hand gently tapping my chest trying to stop my choking self, which now slowly turned to laughter.

"She confessed to me, and I told her I liked her back, so we are dating," he spoke confidently like it was nothing.

My gaze was fixed on the young man speaking in front of me, just to make sure he was my brother, who was almost a decade younger than I was. Shaking my head, I couldn't help but let out a gasp as sudden realization hit me. He was in a relationship before I even got my first kiss.