Page 65 of The Rebel
“So,whyhaven’t you seen them?” I asked.
Jade cleared his throat, like he was preparing to speak. And his words flowed, freeing himself from what I guessed had been troubling him for a long time. “Mom and my grandparents had a fight right before the funeral. I don’t know what it was about. She won’t tell me, she says it’s none of my business. But since then, we haven’t seen them, and when I bring it up, she shuts down. I don’t know what to do. I wanna see them. I miss them.”
“Oh, that’s rough.” It wasn’t much of a response, and it definitely wasn’t helpful, but I was genuinely stunned. Dani Sinclair didn’t seem like the kind of person who would hold a grudge. “She doesn’t want you to see them at all?”
Jade shook his head, his conflict plain to see. He was torn between his loyalty to his mother and his love for his grandparents. It was not an enviable situation.
“But you wanna go?”
Jade nodded, and bringing the truck to a full stop at the next corner, he turned to me and said, “You’d do it, wouldn’t you?” At first I thought he was demeaning me, shaming me for my past indiscretions, but then he declared, “You stand up for yourself, you don’t let anyone push you around.”
Indeed, I was about to defend myself right now. “Well, yeah, I think...”
“That’s my problem,” he continued on, seemingly not hearing me, “I think too much, I overthink. I’m too worried about doing the wrong thing. You just do it.”
I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or he was disgusted with me and replied with a timid, “I do?”
“Yeah, you stood up for yourself with Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Hayman.”
“I got a detention for that.”
“And you stood up to Gabby.”
“Yeah, but that hasn’t ended so well for me,” I said sheepishly.
“But you’re not afraid.” Crazily, he sounded like he was in awe of me. “You took Ollie sledding when you knew you shouldn’t.”
“You know we just wanted to sled.”
“You defied me. Total disregard for Mom’s rules.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I said. “I mean, Ollie and I really just wanted to sled.”
“You’re brave. I like that.”
“Brave? You don’t mean stupid?”
“No. What’s the worst thing that can happen if I defy Mom and visit my grandparents?” I was about to respond, but Jade answered himself. “Mom will be upset, she’ll be mad at me, she might ground me, but it won’t be the end of the world, will it?”
“And you’ll get to see your grandparents, which will totally be worth it, right?” I sensed he needed some reassurance. After all, we were in his truck, headed toward the bridge—hewantedto go to Rosemont, he just needed someone to confirm it was the right decision.
Once we were on the freeway, there had been no turning back. Paris became the main topic of conversation, followed by the soccer game and his upcoming speech in tomorrow’s assembly. It had been heartening to hear he’d been collaborating with Hannah, the German exchange student, which is why I’d seen them together so much.
Only as we neared the outskirts of town did Jade become notably nervous, talking less, constantly clearing his throat and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
He slowed the truck considerably as he turned into a tree-lined street with houses that could only be described as mansions. His tongue peeped out of mouth, and he chewed on his lower lip. There was a marked increase in the rise and fall of his chest.
Jade grimaced as he idled the truck outside a large, modern house, all geometric shapes and floor-to-ceiling windows. I gaped in surprise. For some reason, I imagined Jade’s grandparents living in a small white cottage with rocking chairs on the front porch. Nothing could be further from reality.
“Hey, you’re gonna be okay,” I said, sensing a hesitancy. I gently reached across to squeeze his upper arm, but was met with a rock hard muscle, which kind of sent me into a dizzying spin. Yeah, I’d seen Jade’s upper body in all its splendid glory, but now I was holding his bicep and not really wanting to let go.
“Will you come in with me?” he asked, seemingly oblivious to me clinging to him like a barnacle.
“Do you want me to?” I whispered, resisting the urge to rest my head against his shoulder. Right now I was wrapped in hisscent, in the bubble of his warmth and there was no place I’d rather be.
“Yep.” Jade nodded, only now noticing me clutching his arm.
I released my hold hastily and sat tall in my own seat. “Sure.”
