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ng to be leaving soon, she should definitely be here by now. Worry builds as I walk through my house and peer through my windows.
Well, that’s odd. Jamie’s car sits in my driveway. I walk outside and over to her car, but she’s not inside. My worry triples, especially when I see her bag is in the backseat still. Where the hell is she?
“Oh, hey, Brent.”
I turn on my heels at the sound of her voice. She jogs toward me in her running gear. “You went running?”
“Yeah, sorry. I figured I had time and I really needed it.”
“Without me?” I tease. When I hear the car doors unlock, I open the back door to grab her bag for her.
“It’s one of those days. Plus, you like running in the morning, right?” She glances over at me as we walk toward the house.
“As long as I can get up, but I would’ve gone with you. I do run in the evenings, too, sometimes.”
“It’s okay. I needed to go by myself.” She inhales deeply when we step inside. “Dinner’s ready?” she asks.
“Yeah. Is everything okay, Jamie?” I ask as I drop her bag on the couch and we head into the kitchen to eat. Jamie runs for a few reasons, but one of them is to burn run off emotional steam. Considering we ran this morning, I’m guessing that might be why she needed to run again this afternoon.
“I told you telling my mother about us backfired. Turns out, it’s now worse. I talked to my sister today, personally congratulated her on her pregnancy, talked about school, and then she told me my mother plans on calling me in about week or so and will insist that my new boyfriend and I come home for dinner so they can meet you. She was calling to give me a heads-up. This is all your fault, Brent.” She glares at me, and it’s a serious glare too.
“I’m not afraid of your parents, hon. If she wants us to go, let’s go.”
Jamie groans. “But we shouldn’t have to endure the hell that will surely be given to us.” She narrows her eyes at me. “And you are way too eager to meet my parents.”
She has me there. What I wouldn’t give to put those people in their place for Jamie. From what she’s told me about them, I’ve concluded she deserves better and if I get the chance to tell them how they can treat her better, I’m taking that opportunity. I think it’s my obligation as someone who knows Jamie and as her boyfriend. I won’t go looking for the fight, obviously, but if things seem to get out of hand with how they treat her, I’ll have no choice but to step in.
“She’ll bug you until we go, right?” Jamie nods. “Then when she asks, surprise her and accept. You don’t need to worry. I have your back. We’ll be fine.”
“I sure hope so. If your plan doesn’t work out for me again, I’m firing you.” She points her fork at me and looks serious.
I laugh. “You’re the one choosing to listen to me. Fire yourself from taking my advice.”
Finally, I get a smile from her. “It’s more fun to blame it on you.”
We finish eating dinner and then Jamie heads upstairs to take a shower. I lie down on the couch and watch TV while I wait for her. My eyes may drift closed, but they pop open when Jamie carefully lies on top of me. I rest my hands on her lower back and immediately struggle to keep them there.
“Sleeping already?” she teases.
“I was bored waiting on you.”
She rolls her eyes. “I have schoolwork to do.” She sighs.
“Then you should probably do that.”
Jamie shrugs. “It’s no fun and I just want to be here with you.”
“Why do you hate school so much? I think it’s time you finally tell me.” She tenses slightly in my arms, so I know it’s not something she’ll enjoy. “Let me in a little more, Jamie.”
She looks at me for a long, long moment. “I’m not the brightest bulb in the box, Brent. Just ask my mother to tell you when we have dinner with her. She’ll be happy to tell you all about how I almost flunked kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. She told me in the third grade, which is when I discovered how bad my test anxiety is. I freeze up and forget almost everything. Make stupid mistakes. School is torture, Brent. I’m telling you, if I could quit right now and work at the store for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. But I can’t do that because my parents would shit a brick if both of their kids didn’t graduate from college, including the dumb one.”
I really, really hate her parents. “You aren’t dumb, Jamie.” I almost want to tell her that finishing her degree would be a good thing. She’s almost finished and if she completes it, then at least she’ll have it if she does ever want to use it. But I don’t think I should be another voice telling her what to do, even if it’s only a suggestion.
“Do you know how many times I’ve had to retake tests over the years? My parents constantly worried I would get behind. I had a tutor for every subject, even though I knew the material. I just forgot it all when I’d take the test and I’d get lazy about completing my schoolwork the older I got.”
“See? You just agreed with me.”
Jamie lifts her head to look at me. “I know I’m not dumb, but I’m not exactly super smart either. I’m average and my parents can’t stand it. Let’s forget about this, okay? You’ll experience all of this firsthand when you’re forced to meet them.”
