Four Doors Down(26)

I look up and he’s pulling more multipacks out of his bag. There are bags and bags of it. I’m literally bouncing in my seat with excitement. Ryan and Jake finally stop laughing.

“Wait, there’s more.”

Jake pulls his own backpack off his back and pulls out some cans of soda.

“APPLE TANGO?” I’m back to screeching. I love this stuff! This sets them off laughing all over again. The girls at my table are just looking at us in shock, along with quite a few other tables which are staring curiously at us. Ryan and Jake aren’t exactly laughing quietly.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” I don’t remember the last time I was this excited about something. “Where is this place?”

Ryan smiles at me in amusement. “It’s in the mall on the bottom floor. It’s this English candy store; they’ve got tons of stuff.”

“Thank you guys so much. This is the best thing ever.”

Jake grins and slaps Ryan on the back. “Hey, it was all Jackson. He remembered that you were obsessed with this stuff when we were kids. He practically bought all their stock, I just helped carry it.”

“Oh God, let me give you some money.” I reach down and start rummaging in my bag for some cash. I pull out some bills and hold them out to him.

He holds his hands up in protest, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it. It was worth it to see your face.” He grins at me one last time and not his usually cocky smirk, but a genuine smile like it’s just the two of us in the room. He picks up his empty backpack and turns, sauntering over to his own table and the curious stares he finds there. Jake follows still chuckling to himself.

I turn back to the girls absolutely beaming. Everyone is staring. Sam is raising her eyebrows questioningly at me and Erica’s jaw is practically on the floor.

“What?” I say, looking around.

Erica’s eyes widen at my apparently stupid question. She pulls herself together. “Ryan Jackson, the guy who rules this school, bought you half a candy store just because he remembered you liked that stuff when you were a kid?”

Rules this school? She is so dramatic.

I roll my eyes, dismissing her. “He’s just being nice,” I say. “Seriously, guys, you’ve got to try this. This is the best candy in the world.” I rip open a bag and start dishing it out. I can’t stop smiling. In fact, I don’t stop smiling all day.





Saturday afternoon comes around and I just got off the phone to Charlie. We were supposed to hang together this afternoon but my mom dropped Jay on me with no warning and Charlie isn’t into the idea of babysitting with me. Can’t say I blame him. Now I’m stuck with the devil child until my parents get home.

I turn around to see what the brat’s doing but he’s left the kitchen. I wander into the TV room, expecting him to be watching a movie, but he’s not there either.

“Jay,” I call. There’s no response. “Jay!” I call again, louder this time. There’s still no response. I start walking quickly through the house looking in all the different rooms calling his name. With each empty room, I can feel my panic starting to build. He’s nowhere to be found. Shit! Where is he? I run back downstairs and notice that the front door is slightly ajar.

Oh God.

My heart starts racing; he must have left the house.

I rush outside shouting his name. I run to the end of my driveway, looking up and down the street but still can’t see him. Oh God, this is bad. This is really, really bad. What if he’s left this street and is on the busy main road? Or what if he’s been snatched? Or hurt? He’s so small. Tears spring to my eyes. This is bad.

“Jay!” I scream as loudly as I can, running up and down the street hoping I’ll see him hiding behind a car or something.

“Becca!” I hear someone call my name and turn to see Ryan at the bottom of his driveway. I rush toward him panicking.

“I can’t find my cousin. He’s only five and I don’t know where he is.” I’m wringing my hands anxiously. I don’t know what to do.

Ryan reaches out to touch my arm trying to calm me down. “Becca, relax,” he says just as Jay strolls out of Ryan’s house and heads down the driveway toward us.

“Oh my God!” Relief floods my body and I reach out to grab Jay, pulling him into a tight hug. Then I get mad and hold him away from me.

“What the hell were you thinking? You don’t just run off like that, Jay!” I scold shaking him hard.

“Becca, stop.” Ryan pulls Jay away from me. I stand up, my whole body is shaking; a mixture of adrenaline, relief and anger.

“Don’t ever do that to me again!” I shout, pacing up and down. One glance at Jay tells me he doesn’t care at all that I’m mad. He just pulls a face at me. “I didn’t know where you were!” I shout again. “Never do that again.” Jay just rolls his eyes at me. Actually rolls his eyes. At me. Like I’m being unreasonable.

“I wanted to see, Ryan,” he says.

Wait, what? This is news to me. How does he know Ryan? I turn to look at Ryan accusingly. He holds his hands up like he’s innocent. “He just turned up,” he explains.

“AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO LET ME KNOW?” I explode.

“We were just coming to,” he says. “He just wanted to use the bathroom first.”