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“How about the program?” Evelyn asked, turning her gaze to Will and Janessa. “Were you able to come up with some ideas?”
“Yep.” Janessa flipped open the notebook in front of her and read through their ideas.
After each group had shared, Evelyn opened the meeting up to suggestions, and there were plenty of them. Janessa jotted down any comments that were directed at the program sub-committee, but she didn’t offer any of her own to the other groups. Neither did Will.
When they were finally dismissed, Will blew out a sigh of relief. Janessa fell into step beside him as they walked down the wide hallway to the foyer.
“I think that went pretty well,” Janessa said. “They seemed to like the ideas we came up with.”
“Yep, and you did a good job sharing them all with the group.”
“So, I get a passing grade?” Janessa asked with a laugh.
“I’d say that you got an A.”
“An A? Only an A?” she demanded indignantly. “What would it have taken to get an A+?”
Will grinned, putting his hands in his pockets as they walked. “Perhaps a PowerPoint or some visual display as part of the presentation.”
“I think I would have hated to have you as a teacher in high school,” Janessa said. “Such high standards.”
“Most of my students don’t seem think I’m too bad of a teacher.”
When they reached the doors, Will pushed one open, then held it for Janessa to step through.
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.
Will followed her out, then walked beside her down the steps. Without even thinking about it, instead of going to his own car, he walked with Janessa to hers.
“You’re such a gentleman,” Janessa said when they reached her car.
“Mom and Dad drilled it into me,” he told her. “Always treat the ladies well. Actually, treat everyone well, but especially the ladies.”
“So, I’m not special, huh?”
For a moment, Will was speechless. Did shewantto be special? Not that she wasn’t special. She was Jay’s little sister, and since she was special to him, Will had always viewed her as special, too. He knew that Jay loved all his sisters, but he and Janessa, in addition to being biological siblings, had shared a trauma, which resulted in them being closer to each other than they were to their other siblings.
Well, they’d been closer until the events of the past few months. Janessa’s anger with Jay had created a distance between them. Plus, Jay had grown closer to Charli because she’d stepped in to help him care for Peyton and offer him advice and support since she was a single parent too.
“Everyone is special,” Will said, quoting his parents once again. It felt like the safest thing to say.
“Even… Casey?”
He wondered if she’d been tempted to say Daphne. Regardless, his answer would be the same. “To her parents.”
Janessa laughed, and her laughter was infectious enough to make Will smile. “Sometimes I wonder if her parents really think she’s all that special, or if they just tolerate her because they made her.”
“Since it has always seemed like she could do no wrong in their eyes, I’d say they really do think she’s super special.”
“My folks all think we’re special, but they rarely let us get away with stuff.”
“Yep. Mine too.”
“I think that if one of us girls did to a boyfriend what Casey did to Jay, Mom and Dad would have had alotto say.”
“Who knows what Casey told her parents about the situation, though,” Will said. “I have a feeling that she fed them a line.”
“It doesn’t really matter anymore where Jay is concerned, but I have to wonder what she’ll be like with future boyfriends.”
