What project? This is the first I’m hearing about a project with Miller.
Clara: Jonah partnered us up for the UIL film submission. We have less than 4 months to finish.
I text Jonah.
Me: You partnered Clara up with Miller Adams on the film project?
Jonah: Yes. Is that an issue?
Me: I’m assuming in more ways than one, considering he introduced her to drugs. And Chris already told her to stay away from him.
Jonah: Miller isn’t as bad as you seem to think he is. Chris didn’t even know the kid, so his opinion doesn’t count.
Me: I’ve formed my own opinion of the kid. He talked Clara into leaving her father’s funeral. He got her high. And according to a voice mail I received from the school, they both had detention last week due to PDA. She never did any of this before he was in the picture. And even if he’s not the cause of her actions, I’d still rather her be with someone who would talk her OUT of doing those things, rather than be the type of teenage boy to encourage her behavior.
Jonah: I don’t think that kind of teenage boy exists in real life.
Morgan: You’re not making me feel better about this.
I wait for his response, but I don’t get one.
I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to keep Elijah awake so that he’ll sleep for Jonah tonight, but once six o’clock hits, there’s no hope left. He’s out cold. His tiny body is limp in my arms, deep in sleep as I place him in his bassinet. His fever finally broke a couple of hours ago, so I think the worst is over, but I have a feeling after Elijah sleeps for a few hours, he’ll be up all night with Jonah. Maybe I should offer to keep him for the night so Jonah can rest.
I pull out my phone to text Jonah those exact words when he knocks on the front door. I look down at Elijah, and the sound doesn’t even make him flinch. When I open the front door, I whisper, “He just fell asleep.”
Jonah is no longer wearing a tie. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, and his hair is messier than it was this morning. He looks even better than he did this morning, despite the exhaustion consuming him. Why am I even having these thoughts?
I motion for him to come to the kitchen so I can make him a plate of food to take with him. I pull Tupperware from the cabinet.
“Have you already eaten?” Jonah asks.
“Not yet.”
“I’ll just eat here, then.” He opens the cabinet next to me, where I keep the plates, and he removes two of them. I replace the Tupperware in the cabinet and take a plate from him.
This is good. This is casual. Friends eat food together.
We both make our plates and take a seat at the table. As normal as it is for two people to eat a meal together, Jonah and I have never done so without Chris and Jenny. That part seems off. Like there are two huge gaping holes sucking the comfort out of the meal.
“This is really good,” Jonah says, taking another bite. “So were your burritos.”
“Thanks.”
“Is everything you cook this good?”
I nod confidently. “I’m a great cook. Chris hated going out to eat because he said restaurants never compared to what he got at home.”
“How was he not fat?” Jonah shakes his head. “I’d get so fat eating this every day.”
“He worked out twice a day. You know that.”
It feels weird talking about Chris like we don’t hate him, but I like it. Eventually, I’d like to remember all the good memories without the shadow of the bad ones. We had a lot of good memories together.
“Where’s Clara?”
I point my fork at him. “With that boy. All your fault.”
Jonah laughs. “He’s still one of my favorite students. I don’t care what you think of him.”
“What kind of student is Clara?”
“Great,” he says.
“No, for real. Don’t tell me what I want to hear. I want to know what she’s like when she’s not around me.”
Jonah regards me quietly for a moment. “She’s good, Morgan. Really good. Always turns her homework in on time. Makes good grades. Doesn’t act up in class. And she’s funny. I like her sarcasm.” He smiles. “She gets that from you.”
“She is a lot like I was at that age.”
“She’s a lot like you are now. You haven’t changed.”
I release a half-hearted laugh. “Okay.”
He