Chapter Forty-Six

Molly continued to make herself scarce around her sister, until Jennifer had had enough and knocked on her bedroom door on Thursday evening. 

"How long are ye gonna ignore me for?" she asked, seeing her sister sat at her desk as she listened to music. 

"I didn't say ye could come in," Molly responded simply. 

"That's because you've not said anything to me for days," Jennifer countered. 

"Gee I wonder why," her sister responded sarcastically. She didn't want to be mean or live past each other in the same house, but seeing how unreasonable she was being about Jake, Molly had no choice but to be unreasonable back. It also meant she didn't have to tell any outright lies about what she was up to on a daily basis. On Tuesday she'd managed to avoid having dinner at home by claiming she'd been asked to stay late and then having dinner with Jake, Beth and Duncan. Wednesday had been a date in town and they'd gone to the cinema for the first time together. Today had been a normal lesson earlier in the afternoon. Tomorrow would be the bonfire night and she hadn't decided yet whether she was going to tell Jennifer that she would be staying at Hannah's, just in case. 

Jennifer sighed now. "What do you want me to say?" she asked, sounding like she was at the end of her tether. That meant that it wouldn't matter too much what Molly said, it would probably annoy her anyway. 

"How about ye'll give Jake a chance 'n get to know him?" 

"It's not that simple."

"Of course it is," Molly said now. She was still hoping that she and Jake could stop sneaking around, so that he would be happier about the whole situation. 

"I can't..." 

That made Molly look up from what she was doing. It had sounded like her sister had been close to tears, though she couldn't see any right now. It made her think that maybe, just maybe, she should cut her some slack for now. At least then they wouldn't constantly be sniping at each other. "Ye okay?" she asked, sounding more worried than she'd like to. 

"Yeah," was all Jennifer said. "Look, this is probably a stupid question right now, but would ye like to do something tomorrow night or Saturday?" she asked, eager to get back to normal. 

"Oh, well..." Molly started hesitantly. "Hannah's takin' me to a bonfire night tomorrow and if we decide to stay late, I might crash at hers," she explained. 

Her sister nodded slowly. "Yeah fair enough. Maybe Sunday then," Jennifer got up now. "I'll leave ye to it." She sounded lonely, which did make her sister feel a bit guilty. 

The two of them did have a bit of an awkward dinner together on Friday night, almost as if they had to learn how to talk to each other again. 

In an attempt not to make her suspicious that Jake might be at the bonfire as well, Molly resisted the urge to do much with her hair or her make up. She was bringing her make up bag with her so she could add some in the car on their way there, but it was important that she didn't look like she wanted to impress or seduce when she left the house. 

"So... what are the plans?" Jennifer asked after they finished eating and her sister was about to head into her room to get ready. 

"Hannah's pickin' me up at 08.30 and we'll head straight there. Like I said, dependin' on how late it gets, I might stay at hers," Molly answered now, focusing on her wardrobe choices to try to combat the blush that might otherwise appear on her cheeks. If she did stay over anywhere it would be at Jake's for the first time. 

"Fair enough," her sister nodded. She'd rather she had a plan in place so she couldn't get caught out or peer pressured into doing anything potentially stupid or dangerous. "So I'll see you sometime on Saturday?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "Unless we decide to go do somethin' else. Depends on how much either of us has to drink I suppose," Molly added, causing her sister some concern. 

"I'm sure I don't have to remind you that neither of you should technically be drinking and Hannah definitely shouldn't if she's driving," Jennifer decided to mention it, even if just to put her own mind at ease. She got an eye roll in response. 

"I know. If we do decide to drink, we can walk back to hers. Where we're goin' ain't far from there," she said, showing they'd already thought through different scenarios. 

Her sister nodded a little more reassured. "Okay, good. In that case, all I'll say is have fun and be careful," Jennifer took her leave and let her be to finish getting ready. 

Molly sighed in relief as she decided what to wear. It had to be simple and not over the top cute, in order to waylay her sister. But it had to be cute enough for Jake. 

Molly had just finished getting ready and was putting a bag with her sleeping stuff and clean clothes together when Hannah knocked on the front door. 

"Come on in, Hannah," Jennifer called, indicating that her sister wasn't entirely ready to go yet. 

"Howdy," Hannah said with a nod as she came in and waited near the front door. She didn't really trust herself to make innocent small talk in case she gave things away that she wasn't supposed to. 

"Hi ya. Looking forward to tonight?" the oldest Matthews girl decided to engage in small talk after all. 

"Uh huh," she said back simply. 

"You been to one of these before?" Jennifer asked to check. 

"Of course," Hannah nodded now. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. A couple of my other friends will be there too."

"Okay good," she nodded, a little more satisfied that the girls would be okay. "Molls, Hannah's waiting for you," she called out a little louder now. 

"Comin', sorry I didn't want to risk forgettin' anythin' in case I do have to stay over," Molly apologized, holding up her bag as evidence. And she wasn't lying; if she did end up staying at Jake's, she had to think of all contingencies and be prepared. 

"Have fun and be safe," Jennifer repeated her earlier message, properly sounding like a mother. 

"Thanks," her younger sister said, for the first time in days giving her a smile as she followed her friend out. 

"Y'all talkin' again?" Hannah asked once the front door had closed behind them and they headed down to her truck. 

"Yeah kind'a," Molly nodded, chucking her bag into the bed of the truck and got in the passenger's seat. "We're not ignorin' each other anymore and we might do summit together tomorrow or Sunday," she continued now as Hannah fired up the truck. 

"It's a start," her friend said with a chuckle. "Tonaght is gonna be really good. Proper country introduction," she told her, looking forward to it herself as well. Hannah hadn't been in a while as the last couple of times had been mostly attended by 17 and 18 year olds. Even though she herself was only 20 like Molly, those two years difference felt like a lot more when you were pretty much the only one that age. 

"Great," Molly smiled, hoping Jake would be of a similar mind. She wanted to just have fun with him and her other new friends. 

"Lover boy meetin' us there?" her friend asked now as they made their way across town. 

"Han!" she objected to that term, getting a simple shrug in response. "Yeah, he's meetin' us there," she answered. "How's your love life?" she asked after a few minutes, getting a wry chuckle. "What? I'm curious," Molly defended herself. So far that side of their friendship had been all about her and Jake. 

"Not much to tell to be honest," Hannah said now. "Not many guys who are any good left around, not my age anyway," she continued. "Well except for Jake," she added, giving her friend a meaningful nudge. "I'm only gonna meet someone if they move here or I move away," she sighed. 

Molly thought about that in silence for a few minutes. The looks she'd seen aimed at her and Jake at the barn dance now made much more sense if other girls shared her opinion that Jake was one of the few catches left. "We'll find ye someone," she said eventually, wanting to help her friend the way she was helping her. 

"Yeah, yeah," Hannah chuckled jovially. She was in no rush and she knew that, if she was going to end up with someone who already lived here, she would end up having to settle. It was just one of those things.