Instead of talking, Jarrod and I veg out, eat snacks and watch t.v. Just as I'm dozing out there's a knock at the door. I startle and almost fall off the bed. I rub my eyes and stand in front of the door without opening it. I'm not that stupid. A few minutes go by and I'm about to go lay back down when there's another knock, this time accompanied by a voice.
"It's Liz, can I come in?" I look through the peephole, wonder why I hadn't done it in the first place, and then open the door. I walk back to the bed and sit on the edge near Jarrod's feet. He'd been almost asleep as well when Liz knocked. "I'm sorry, I guess I woke you up. But I brought food." My stomach rumbles at the site of the Burger King take-out bag. "I had a feeling Jarrod would be here, so I bought extra."
For about ten minutes no one says anything as we all enjoy our food. I look at the alarm clock on the desk and am surprised to see it's almost 7 PM. Liz catches me looking.
"I know, I'm a tad late. Things went way over the time everyone thought it would."
"What was the meeting for anyway?" I gab a few french fries and stuff them in my mouth. Jarrod rolls his eyes at me.
"Well, I'm not allowed to tell you specific details. But it was basically about you and where you'll fit into the program."
"I thought she was already part of it?" Jarrod beats me to my question. Liz nods, looking thoughtful.
"She is, in a way. We usually need parental consent, since most of the kids are underage when they join up. But because of recent events, that's pretty much moot. Even if you weren't turning 18 in two weeks, after this I don't think your parents would let you go anymore." I shake my head. "Anyway, so we basically just worked out the legal side of everything." I nod.
"So what does this mean for me then?" Liz shrugs.
"We're not legally able to keep you from your parents. So if the police find you, then we can't stop them from taking you. But if they don't find you, well then that's not our fault." I snicker.
"I doubt they'll find me easily if I hang out here all day." Jarrod rolls his eyes. I give him a look. "What? I can hang out here for two weeks, easy."
"Yeah, right. You've been going stir crazy at home and you got to escape to school everyday. I bet you won't last through the first week."
"Is that a challenge?"
"You bet it is." We shake on it and then resume eating our french fries. Liz watches our exchange with mild amusement.
"What do you get if you win?"
"Hmm.. I'll have to think about that. What do you want Jarrod?" He looks at me oddly with a look I wasn't expecting. It makes my stomach flip. Before I can figure out the look, he smiles his Jarrod-smile and shrugs.
"I'll let you know when I win." Liz laughs. I glance over at Jarrod, wishing I could get into his head, but I don't know what he's thinking. And right now I doubt he'd volunteer to let me in. He looks over at me and smiles.
"Well, sorry guys, but I've got to get going. I have a couple things to do before I turn in for the night. Don't stay up too late."
"We won't. See you tomorrow Liz." She packs up the garbage and throws it out before leaving the hotel room. Jarrod and I are quiet for the first few minutes. I try getting in his head but no luck.
"So, uhm, what was that about?" He stretches and lays back on the bed.
"What was what?" I raise my eyebrows at him.
"That weird look you gave me."
"I never gave you a weird look." I roll my eyes and stand up, stretching.
"Yeah you did and you know it. Why won't you tell me?" I think Cause I don't want to and I'm in.
"Because it's not important right now." I shrug and walk carefully to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I still haven't quite mastered the ability to walking and talking in my body while in someone's head. Usually I'm sitting and not talking outwardly to the person.
I sit awkwardly on the floor and lean against the wall while listening in on Jarrod's thoughts. What I'm seeing pretty much knocks me for a loop. I try very carefully not to think while I'm in his head so I don't get him mad at me.
A couple years ago I listened in without him knowing and then accidentally answered him in his mind. Let's just say he was not happy with me and didn't talk to me for a while. I've learned since then to either not listen in at all, or do it very carefully.
I exit his mind and return to my own. Without thinking too much about what I'm going to do, I open the door and look at Jarrod sitting on the bed. He glances over at me as I open the door, but then his attention goes back to the t.v. I cross the room and sit on the bed beside him.
"What's up? You look weird." I look over at Jarrod and smile a little. He sits up. "You okay?" I nod. How had I not seen it? Am I blind or what? I grab the remote and turn the t.v off. "Hey, I was watching that you know." I roll my eyes.
"You don't even like football." He shrugs.
"Even if I don't, you can't just go around turning the t.v off when people are watching. Were you raised in a cave?" He grabs the remote from me. "You must be if you'd just go and do-"
"Oh, shut up. Don't you see I'm trying to do something here?" He looks at me oddly with one eyebrow raised.
"Do what?" I take a deep breath. Why am I so nervous? It's just Jarrod. I scoot closer to him, kneeling beside his right leg. I lean in closer to him, and he finally gets the hint, which I'm relieved about. I didn't want to have to spell it out for him. He leans closer as well, placing his hand against my jaw line. It seems to take forever, but our lips finally meet.
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