My Life with the Walter Boys [Wattpad Version Sample]

Chapter 5: Nightmare

I turned off the hot water and stepped out of the shower. Dinner had been a disaster and it was entirely my fault. After Mr. and Mrs. Walter had calmed down the mayhem, everyone was given a job to clean up the mess. That was everyone except for me. Katherine had apologized profusely for her son's behavior and sent me off to take a shower even though I had pleaded to help. Most of the boys threw me dirty looks as I left the kitchen.

"Oh!" I squeaked when I walked out of the bathroom to find Cole sitting on my bed. He was still covered in tomato sauce, but was eating out of a take-out Chinese carton. A smile spread across his face when he looked me up and down.

"Nice towel, Jackie," he laughed.

I blushed, wrapping it tighter around my figure. What the heck was he doing in my room? What if I had walked out naked? Mortified, I turned away from his prying eyes and went to get my clothes from the dresser.

"Want some?" he asked while holding up the carton of food.

"Yeah, hold on," I replied as I hurried back into the bathroom to change.

When I came back out, he was still sitting on my bed. Cautiously, I sat down next to him and he handed me some chopsticks. For the next few minutes we sat in silence, eating sweet chicken. It felt surprisingly peaceful sitting with Cole. But of course he had to go and ruin one of the only relaxing moments I'd had since moving here.

"I enjoyed the dinner show tonight," he said.

I turned away from him and buried my face in a fluffy pillow.

Cole laughed. "Aw, come on, Jackie. It was just a joke. To be honest, that stuff happens all the time in this house."

I propped myself up on my elbows and raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I questioned. "'Cause that sounds like a load of bull."

"Well, it's not always that dramatic, but at least you did it with flair. You should've seen the look on your face when you pulled Izzy out." He let out a whole hearted laugh again.

"Izzy?" I asked in confusion.

Cole set the empty box of Chinese down on the bedside table and scooted closer. "He's Jordan's snake."

"Any other dangerous pets I should know about?" I grumbled.

"Nope," he said with a laugh. "Just Isaac."

My bedroom door swung open as Danny burst into the room. "Cole! Kelly's here looking for—" Danny stopped mid-sentence when he saw us. "Oh. Um, sorry for interrupting, but she's waiting in the living room."

"Okay," Cole replied calmly. He was still staring at me. Danny backed out of the room and shut the door. He looked at me for a moment longer before getting off the bed and grabbing the empty container to throw away.

"Don't worry, Jackie. Tomorrow will be better, I promise. Besides, you should be excited about tomorrow. It's your first day at ourschool."

"Oh, great," I moaned and flopped back onto my pillow. I was so caught up in the dinner disaster that I had almost forgotten that I would be going to a public school for the first time in my life tomorrow morning.

"'Night, Jackie," he said as he walked across the room.

"Goodnight, Cole," I responded. Suddenly, a thought ran through my head. "Wait," I called just as Cole was about to shut the door.  "Who's Kelly?

Cole paused before responding. "Oh, she's my girlfriend."

 ***

I was in the car with my family. My dad and mom were in the front seat and Lucy was sitting next to me in the back. We were sharing a set of headphones and jamming out to an upbeat song. When it came to an end, I smiled and looked out the window. It was one of those crisp, sunny spring days that let you know that winter was almost over. A small green haze that almost invisible surrounded the tree branches as new buds started to push forth.