Page 5 of My Life with the Walter Boys
When Will introduced Parker, I realized that I wasn’t alone.Shestepped forward, and I understood why I hadn’t realized there was another girl before now. Parker was wearing an orange T-shirt and swim trunks, both heavy with water and clinging to her skin. Her hair was cut into a short bob—nearly as short as some of her brothers. I thought back to the list I made on the plane and remembered that Parker liked tackle football. Maybe that was why I’d assumed she was a boy.
“Hi, Parker,” I said excitedly and offered her a big grin. It was nice to know that there was another girl in the house.
“Hi,Jackie.” Parker said my name as if it was something funny and the smile slipped off my face. She leaned down and whispered something to the two boys I had yet to meet—the youngest set of twins. A wicked grin crept onto both of their faces.
“And finally we have—” But before Will could finish introducing me, the pair shot out from the line of Walters and bulldozed into me like I was football player. I thought I would be able to keep my balance, but my knees buckled and I fell back—straight into the pool. I paddled back up to the surface, sputtering and gasping for air. I could hear most of the guys laughing.
“Got ya!” cried one of the twins as he stood at the edge of the pool. He was a cute little kid who still hadn’t lost his baby fat. Freckles covered his face and his yellow hair curled all over. “I’m Zack and that’s my twin, Benny!” When he pointed next to me, I looked over to see an exact replica of the smiling kid break the surface of the water.
“Zack, Benny! What the hell is wrong with both of you?” Will demanded. “Someone get Jackie a towel!” He stuck out a hand to help me up, and soon I was dripping on the side of the pool. It was too early in spring to be swimming. How are they not freezing? Someone handed me a red Power Rangers towel, and I quickly wrapped it around myself to cover the now see-through white blouse I was wearing.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Will said, before shooting the youngest twins a glare.
“The only thing I’m sorry about is that he gave her a towel,” someone said. I whipped around to see which boy it was, but they were all standing together silently, trying to keep the grins off their faces. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to Will.
“It’s fi–fine,” I said, my teeth chattering, “but I’d like to change into something dry.”
“I can help with that,” another voice joked. This time the boys couldn’t contain their laughter.
“Isaac!” Will snapped. He glared over my shoulder at his cousin until the boys quieted down. Then he turned back to me. “Your bags are in the car?” he asked. Shivering from the cool spring air, I was only able to nod my head. “Okay, I’ll start unloading and someone can show you to your room.”
As Will retreated off the deck, I felt myself shrink. My only friend so far had just left me with the enemies. Taking a deep breath of air, I gulped and turned back around. The Walter boys looked at me, their faces vacant. Then, everyone started to grab their towels and clothes lying around on the deck before heading back into the house without another word to me.
Only Cole was left. An awkward thirty seconds passed before his mouth jerked up into a half grin. “Are you just going to stare at me, or do you want to go inside?” he asked. Cole was hot—his damp hair had dried in a dreamy, I-just-had-sex kind of style—but his overconfident attitude made me clam up.
“I want to go inside,” I mumbled quietly.
“After you.” He flourished his hands and bowed.
Taking a deep breath, I gazed up at my new house. With its yellow shutters and rude additions that must have been added onto the house with each new Walter child, it was nothing like the penthouse back in New York. Throwing one last glance at Cole, I sucked a mouthful of air into my lungs and stepped inside. This might be where I have to live and I’m going to try to make the best of it, I thought, but it will never be my home.
Chapter 2
“About earlier,” Cole said as he led me through the cluttered house. “This whole you-moving-in thing kinda came out of nowhere. Caught me off guard.”
“I get it,” I told him. It wasn’t exactly an apology for his unfriendly behavior, but hopefully it was the reason behind most of the boys’ unenthusiastic reactions toward me. “You don’t need to explain.”
“So my mom said you’re from New York.” He paused at the bottom of the staircase to look at me.
“Yeah,” I answered, and suddenly my stomach bottomed out. What else did he know about me? The accident…had he heard? If there was one good thing about moving to Colorado, it was that nobody knew who I was. I could go back to just Jackie, not the girl whose family died. I didn’t want the boys to know. What if they acted funny around me? “Did she tell you guys anything else?” I added, trying to sound nonchalant.
He paused then, and it was all the confirmation I needed. One small moment of hesitation, and I knew he knew about my family.
“Not much,” he recovered quickly, and a smile slipped onto his face with such ease that the upward curve of his lips almost looked genuine. “Just that the daughter of her friend was moving in. You’re pretty much a mystery girl.”
“I see.” The thought of all the Walter boys knowing about what happened made my mouth dry, but at least Cole was making the effort to act normal.
“Now that I think about it, I don’t even know how old you are.”
“Sixteen.”
“Are you always this shy?”
“Shy?” I echoed in confusion. What did he expect? It wasn’t like he had been the president of my welcoming committee. Besides, the fact that he practically had abs down to his toes didn’t help calm my nerves.
“Never mind,” he said, laughing, his eyes dancing in amusement as he shook his head at me. “Come on. I’ll show you upstairs.”
We started up the steps, which was more difficult than it sounded. Stacks of books and board games, dirty clothes, a deflated basketball, and a pile of movies made reaching the second floor without knocking anything over harder than completing an obstacle course. Next was the maze of hallways that I knew I would get lost in. They seemed to twist and turn in strange places as if there was no real floor plan. When we reached the farthest corner of the house, Cole finally stopped.
