Page 11 of Valentine Dare

Mom said, “Look, don’t worry. This is too important to dismiss. We need to sort you out.”

Mom moved away from me, toward Jenny, and I knew this was my cue to leave. She looked so vulnerable as she quickly shifted her eyes from the floor to me.

“Bye Jenny. I’ll see you at home.”

She didn’t respond.

“Mom, laters.”

I kissed her on the cheek, grabbed my bag and headed out the door. My mind was focused on what all this meant for Jenny. Sure, we’d offered her a night or two to stay with us, but I would be off to college next year as well as my brothers. What would the future mean for her then? She had no money, now some clothing. I stopped at my car, thinking about why I was so worried about this stranger.

Shit!

I’d been so blind. She said we were neighbors and used to play as kids. This was why she was looking at me that way. She was the girl that I’d had my first kiss with and promised to spend the rest of my life with when we played our first wedding out in the sand with all our imaginary guests.

I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten all about her, till now.

What an ass!

I remembered the way I felt about her back then and wondered if subconsciously this was the reason I felt the need to take care of her like I did back then. Protect her and make sure no harm ever came to her. I’d been in love with her back then, but I was just a kid, one who made promises to everyone who paid me some kind of attention.

Fuck, I’m getting too sentimental about what went down today. I need to organize myself before school tomorrow; that should be the only thing on my mind.

---