I may have been the head of the Jedi, but he had Luke Skywalker’s power to put up one hell of a fight with no end in sight.
And we had no Darth Vader playing mediator.
Jagger kept his head down with a smile and a laugh, and Journey…
Well, she was too little to understand anything other than shaking her booty when she heard music blaring.
The girl loved to dance.
We had that in common.
“But, Aunt Skyler,” a girl’s voice hummed through the halls from the kitchen, while I changed Journey’s diaper in her nursery.
“Who’s that, Little Miss?”
She baby babbled, answering my question.
“Oh really?”
“Bah!”
“Alright, alright, let’s go see who’s here.” I picked her up and set her on my hip.
“Harley, we’re just stopping in for a few minutes, I have to check on Camila before I come back for the night to relieve her,” Skyler replied as we made our way down the hall to the kitchen. “Then we can go.”
“But I hate Jackson! I already have to see him at school in most of my classes. I don’t want to see him after school too.”
“I know, sweetie, but you both need to suck it up and get over it.”
“It’s not me! It’s him. He’s evil.”
Couldn’t disagree with you there…
“He’s just going through a lot, be patient with him.”
“Be patient? Aunt Skyler, he’s been evil since before his mom—”
“Camila, there you are,” Skyler announced, looking over at us walking into the room.
Since before his mom what?
“Camila, this is my niece Harley. Harley, this is Camila, Jackson’s—”
“Own private stripper,” he interrupted with a cocky grin on his face, leaning against the wall.
“Jackson Pierce! Enough of that,” Skyler scolded, but I didn’t pay him any mind.
It’d only bait him.
He wasn’t trying to hurt my feelings, it was Harley’s he was after this time. She was the same girl from the bus stop.
“Jealous?” Jackson added, arching an eyebrow at her.
What was up with these two?
“You wish,” she sassed, folding her arms over her chest.
“Oh my God, give it a rest. Why can’t you guys learn to get along for the sake of our families?” Skyler questioned, coming in between them. “It would mean so much to your Uncle Noah and your father, Jackson.”
“You mean my father who’s never around?”
“He’s around, Jackson.”
“For who? Cuz it sure as shit ain’t for us.”
“Jackson! Watch your mouth. Your baby sister’s first word is going to be a cussword with how much profanity comes out of your mouth.”
“It’s not any worse than what comes out of Noah’s mouth.”
“My husband doesn’t speak like that when Journey is around.”
“Bullshit, he did with us.”
Harley scoffed out a giggle, smirking in that smitten kind of way.
Oh, she likes him.
It wasn’t until Skyler left the room, giving up on reprimanding Jackson, that I realized he liked her too. I listened to them from the living room, pretending to mind my own business.
“Hey, Harley, you have something in your hair,” he told her.
“I do?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Where?”
“Right here.”
Seconds later an ear-piercing shriek vibrated through the walls, so loud that it could be heard by the neighbors.
“Jackson Pierce! You put gum in my hair!”
I could tell by his amused tone, he was lying when he replied, “No, that’s what was in your hair.”
“You’re such a liar!”
“Relax, it’s just gum.”
“I’m going to have to cut my hair now!”
“Maybe it will make your face look better.”
She gasped. “There is nothing wrong with my face!”
“Yeah, if you’re into ugly girls.”
“I am not ugly!”
“Says who, your parents? They’re supposed to say stuff like that.”
She gasped again before screaming, “I hate you!”
“Yeah, well it’s mutual. Here, I’ll help you cut your hair.”
“Get away from me!”
I was about to intervene, but Skyler beat me to it. I wish I could say I felt bad for her, but the only thing I was grateful for…
Well at least it wasn’t me today.
Harley: 0
Jackson: 1
CHAPTER ELEVEN
<>Camila<>
Now
Later that day, I headed straight home from the Pierces.
Exhausted from the week and ready to change into jammies, watch TV, and chill. I was in the mood for some chick-flick drama. You know the kind that made you re-evaluate life and think love at first sight wasn’t just a fairytale they sold to the masses.
I hadn’t been in a relationship since Sean, and I wouldn’t exactly call that a healthy one. We’d always had problems, standing on two opposite ends of the spectrum of life.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved him, but I guess you could say I was never