Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
***
“I bet Cole is totally pissed right now,” Alex told me later that day. We were in his room, and I was snuggled down into the pillows on his bed. I could smell the detergent that Katherine used to clean the sheets, along with Alex’s musky scent. My anatomy book was propped up in front of me, and we were supposed to be studying together. But as soon as Alex heard the garage door close, indicating that his parents had left for vacation, he’d logged on to his computer to play
GoG.
“How come?” I asked, flipping to the end of the chapter to see how many more pages I had to read.
“We always throw an end-of-the-year party. It was supposed to be tonight, but with Will babysitting, I don’t know if it will happen.”
“But what about exams?”
“What about them? We have the next two weeks to study.”
“Okay. So what’s he going to do?” I asked, even though the prospect of a party made me nervous.
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know, but he’ll think of something. There’s no way Cole will turn down a chance to show off.”
I tried to go back to studying then. If there was going to be party, I knew Riley, Heather, and the rest of the gang would want to come over and I would get nothing done. After ten minutes of rereading the same passage, I slammed my book shut, unable to concentrate with the annoying music coming from Alex’s computer.
“Alex, do you have to play that right now?”
“Yup,” he said, grinning at me. Somehow, even though I was slightly annoyed, his smile made my stomach flutter. Alex was too cute for his own good. “And now that you’re my girlfriend, you should start playing
GoG too.”
I snorted. “I have no problem with your obsession, but online gaming isn’t really my thing.”
“But think about how much fun it would be. We could conquer the entire continent of RuWariah together.”
“Shouldn’t you be more focused on studying?” I didn’t have a clue what the RooWar place was, but I knew that I had no desire to conquer it. “Two weeks of studying isn’t much.” Knowing Alex, he wouldn’t even start studying until the weekend before. That would leave him with no time to properly prepare. The thought made me nauseous.
“Jackie, stop worrying so much.”
“We only have fourteen days,” I pointed out. “Come on, Alex. I saw your grade on the last anatomy test. You’re going to need at least a ninety on the exam to even think about getting a B in the class.”
“That’s okay. I’m fine with a C.”
At this, I felt uncomfortable. How could he be so unconcerned about not doing his best? “Well,” I said, taking a different approach. “We need to start thinking about where we’ll apply for college. If you want to get into a good school, your transcript will need to be polished.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll just go to the local community college like Will.”
“But don’t you want to go somewhere more…prestigious?”
“Like where? Yale? Jackie, my parents can’t afford that.”
“But if you worked hard and got good grades—“
“I’m a geek, not a brainiac. No school is going to give me a scholarship,” he said. Three seconds later, “Argh! Damn these undead priests that keep respawning.” His fingers were pounding away at the keyboard, his eyes glued to the screen.
I became quiet. I didn’t understand how Alex could be okay with settling for less than the best. Snapping my textbook shut, I untangled myself from the bed and stood up. Yes, living with the Walters had taught me how to loosen up, but that didn’t mean I was going to let my grades go slack.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“Um—yeah, fine,” I said, picking my way across the littered carpet. “I’m going to head back to my room. I really need to finish reading these chapters before tonight.”
Alex swung around in his computer chair. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
I offered him the best smile I could muster. “Just nervous about these next two weeks. Don’t worry about me.”
“Well, are you going to come to the party?”
If I could avoid it, then no, but something told me that wouldn’t happen. “Of course,” I told him.
“Awesome. See you then.”
***
Sure enough, four hours later, I was watching my friends get ready for the party.
“Tonight is going to be to die for, y’all!” Riley gushed, sounding more twangy than usual.
She was stationed in front of the small mirror in my room, attempting to do her makeup. As Alex predicted, Cole was able to convince Will to let him have the party. From what I had heard, it hadn’t been too hard, considering Will was the original creator of the Walter end-of-the-year bash. Also, Cole reminded Will of how many times he’d covered for his older brother during high school when he had snuck out of the house.
“Have you ever been so excited about something in your whole life?” Heather asked, being her usual dramatic self. She was rummaging through my closet, looking for something to wear. “Jackie, are you planning on wearing this, or can I?”
In her hands was a shirt my mother gave me from one of her fashion shows. The flashy colors weren’t my style, and back home it sat in my closet untouched. Like my sister’s dress, it had somehow gotten from New York to Colorado.
“Knock yourself out,” I told her with a nod. Then I added, “So what’s the big deal about this party?” My friends were acting like they had been invited to Cinderella’s ball, but it was just another party.
“Oh, Jackie,” Skylar said, looking up from a
Cosmo. He rolled his eyes and dropped it on the ground before getting up out of my computer chair. “Sometimes I forget how little you know.”
When I hung out with the girls and Sky, I was always asking questions. They knew so much more about the Walters, and boys in general, which was ironic since I was living with what felt like a million of them.
“The big deal is that we’re friends with you,” Riley said.