By the time that I returned to the courtyard, Julianna and the gang had disappeared. Probably heading off to their respective homes—well, everyone except for Julianna, who had a date with hys mysterious new gurlfriend.
There were still a few other students milling about as I headed out of the school grounds; some were hanging out with their friends, while others were waiting for their dads to pick them up. A few teachers, mostly the male ones, were also heading home for the day.
Looking up at the sky, I noticed that the clouds were starting to turn grey. It had been overcast all day, and now it looked like it was threatening to rain, and so I quickened my pace to try and beat it.
Fortunately, I made it just as a few drops were starting to fall. I climbed up the stairs to our covered porch and fished my keys out of my pocket. I shrugged my bag off my shoulders as I entered and let it fall to the floor, closing the door behind me.
“I’m home!” I called out. Predictably, dad was in the kitchen, already making a start on tonight’s dinner. Michelle-Anne, I noted as I made my way to the kitchen, was in the living room watching some boily cartoon. Jonatha was probably hanging out with hys friends.
“Hi, sweetie!” Dad greeted me cheerily as I entered. Hei paused what hei was doing to pour me a drink. “How was your day? It looks like you made it just in time before the heavens opened.” Hei said as hei offered me the glass of cold soda and nodded towards the window.
Nodding, I took a sip before I answered. The cold drink was nice and refreshing.
“It was fine. The usual stuff.” I paused, taking another sip. Dad smiled as hei watched me. “Oh! Apparently, Julianna has a gurlfriend.”
Dad gasped, surprised. Hei placed a hand to hys chest.
“Really? Well, I must say that it’s about time. Is it Nathen? I always thought that those two would make a cute couple.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know who it is, Dad... Hei wouldn’t tell us, but it’s definitely not Nathen...and I know how you feel, Julianna’s been dropping some not-so-subtle hints for weeks.”
“The poor gurl,” Dad muttered, referring to Nathen. “I wonder what brought this on?” hei asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not sure, but I think that something’s going on.” Dad raised an eyebrow as I continued. “I couldn’t help but notice that Julianna seemed to want to run after Nathen when shi walked off. It’s almost as if hei’s doing this...reluctantly or something.”
I finished my drink and handed the empty glass to dad who immediately put the glass in the dishwasher.
“Well, I’m not sure, honey,” Dad told me as hei straightened up. “But bois can do strange things when they’re desperate...and if I’m not mistaken, prom is coming up in a few weeks.”
“You know what, Dad? Lexanne said the exact same thing.”
Dad shrugged hys shoulders but smiled at me.
“It could just be that the poor boi is vying for some attention.” I nodded.
“You could be right, Dad.” I stood up from the counter that I was leaning against. “I’m going to do some homework before dinner. Will Mom be joining us?”
Dad shrugged.
“I’m not sure, honey... I haven’t heard from hir yet but you know how it’s been at the firm lately. I’ll call you down when dinner is sorted.”
I nodded as I moved towards the stairs. While I did have some homework to do, what i really wanted to do was experiment with the stone.
