Chapter 7 - Chapter Seven

Jet didn’t go to school, which again strangely disappointed Tia even though he had already told her that he wasn’t going to be there.

You’re going to have to prepare yourself for a lot of disappointment if you’re going to fall in love with Jet Renn, she scolded herself. The first one being him being three years older than her and could screw around with anybody he wanted because of his sexy good looks. And his looks weren’t the only thing that was sexy, either.

Oh God, did she just admit that she was in love with him?

She didn’t. She couldn’t possibly. They’ve only known each other for like a month or two.

She shook her head and tried to concentrate on her lesson. Ms. Cutler was blabbering on about something to do with Shakespeare and Tia just wasn’t interested.

The rest of the day passed impossibly slowly.

“I thought school would never end,” Tia said, sighing in relief when the final bell rang.

“That’s what I think every single day,” Gary muttered.

“Where’s Jet today?” Sarah asked.

Tia shrugged. “Skipping school again, I guess.”

“He doesn’t come to school often, does he?”

“I don’t know. I don’t exactly notice.”

“Yeah right,” Carrie scoffed. “You look sad and depressed every time Jet isn’t at school, and when he is you light up brighter than a light bulb.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Carrie.” Her sunglasses were sliding down. She adjusted her sunglasses so that Carrie wouldn’t be able to see her eyes.

“I’m never ridiculous.”

“That’s debatable,” Gary chimed in.

“Shut up, you.”

~

“You’re at school,” Tia said to Jet at recess when she saw him waiting for her under their tree.

“I haven’t been here much lately, have I?”

“Not really.”

Jet sighed. “I have to work extra shifts now.”

“Why? Has your rent gone up?”

“No, I just realised I’m going to need a lot of money for college.” Jet grimaced. “I don’t think I can afford to go to college, actually.”

“What if you didn’t need to pay your rent?” Tia asked him. “Would you have enough money to pay for college then?”

“Probably. But it’s not like my landlord would suddenly come up to me and say ‘hey, Jet, why don’t you live here for free? I don’t mind at all.’ My landlord’s a dog.”

“All landlords are doges. Besides, I know a place where you can live for free.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Where?”

“Well…this is going to sound weird, but…my house. We have a guestroom, and you know my mom—and my dad, and Bingo—loves you.”

“Tiana, I can’t—”

“Come on. Think about it.”

“I am, believe me, I am. I’m thinking how unbelievably wrong it would be.”

“Look. You need somewhere to stay. Besides, you stay in my room almost every night anyway.”

“It isn’t fair for me to just suddenly move in.”

“You can help out at the café in the evenings instead of paying rent. If it makes you feel better.”

“I don’t know…what do your parents make of this?”

“I have no idea. But I’m sure they’ll be thrilled. You’re like a son to them. I’ll go ask them tonight. I’ll say that your parents are going to be out of town for a while and you need a place to stay.”

“That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

“Oh, shut up. My mom’s gullible, and she’s even more gullible when it comes to you.”

“Tiana, I don’t know about this.”

“Well, I do. I’ll go ask my parents tonight.”

Jet’s hair fell into his eyes as he looked down at her. “Thank you,” he said finally.

“You should thank me,” she said before turning away and heading back towards the classroom.

~

“Hey, mom,” Tia said, walking into her mother’s bedroom. “I want to ask you something.”

“What is it, honey?”

“Um, you know how we have that guestroom that we never use?”

“Honey, I’m not going to turn it into a games room. Or a walk-in wardrobe. Or an en suite sauna. How many times have we gone over this?”

“I was wondering, how about we turn it into Jet’s bedroom instead?”

“No,” her mother replied automatically. Then she frowned when she realised what her daughter had said. “What?”

“Jet’s parents are going out of town for…quite a while and he needs a place to stay. He’s willing to help out at the café every few nights to pay us back.”

“Tia.”

“Please, mom. You like Jet, don’t you? He’s nice, and he’s kind, and he’s decent, as you’ve said about a million times.”

“But Tia, this is a bit…”

“A bit what?”

“How old is he?”

“Nineteen.”

“And you’re sixteen. Surely…”

“Surely what?” Tia was getting impatient.

“Well, if anything goes on, then…” her mother trailed off. “On the other hand, the walls here are so thin I’d be able to hear everything and come in to stop you just before it gets a bit—”

“Mom, that’s not going to be a problem,” Tia said flatly.

“Oh? And why is that?”

Tia considered saying that Jet was gay. “Um, he has a girlfriend.”

“Oh. Okay. That’s too bad, isn’t it? You’re very fond of Jet.”

So are you, Tia thought sarcastically. “So, can Jet stay here?”

“I suppose. And tell him that he doesn’t need to pay us back. We’d be happy to have him here.”

“I’ll go call Jet now,” she called, rushing out of her mother’s room.

She went into her room. “Jet, my mom said yes.”

He stood up from where he was sitting in the armchair. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Now climb out my bedroom table, go to your place, pack then come back.”

“Maybe I should do all this tomorrow. It’s a bit too…soon.”

“Don’t worry, just say that your parents changed their flight or something.”

“Not tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I’m here already, aren’t I? I’ll just spend the night in your room like I usually do.”

“No, you usually leave at one in the morning to go back to your place.”

“Well, this is going to be exactly the same, except for the fact that I’m not going to go back to my place. I really can’t be bothered to go all the way to my place.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

He nodded. “Tomorrow.”

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