Chapter 2

The next day after I counted down the hours for school to be over. I couldn't wait to get home and possibly see Jack. I had made the mistake of telling Wendy that Jack might come over, so naturally she wanted to come over as well.

Gabriel was in one of my last classes of the day and I was usually anxious for that class to come around, but today everything felt different. I felt different.

Wendy and I got to my house later that afternoon. As always we went straight to the kitchen to get a snack and then went to my room to gossip. I cut up some apples and scooped up some peanut butter so we could snack. Wendy turned on the radio and put on her ipod on my ipod dock. She was dancing around to one of Katy Perry's song when I walked in the room.

She saw me but continued dancing anyway. I placed the plate with apples and peanut butter on the nightstand next to my bed and watched my friend dance.

"Why are you so happy?" I shouted over the music.

She stopped dancing and turned the music down. "Because I'm hoping to see your hottie brother."

I rolled my eyes. "What about Marvin?" I reminded her.

She shrugged. "Marvin and I are not in a stable relationship you know."

I sat on the bed and took an apple, dipped into the peanut butter and enjoyed. "So if Marvin were to ask you to be his girl you'd say no?"

Wendy groaned. She flopped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know Sara. I mean you know how much I like him but we argue so much. Maybe your brother will be a nice distraction."

"I see ... so you didn't come to hang out with me, you came over just to check my brother out huh?" I teased.

She raised herself up. Her eyes widened. "No!"

"I'm kidding," I said and handed her a slice of apple. She leaned over me and dipped in the peanut butter.

"He might not even show up," I said not realizing how disappointed I sounded.

"I hope he does. Maybe he'll take us riding in that cool car of his."

"Wishful thinking my friend," I said and got another slice of apple.

"Or better yet, he'll only take ME with him," She giggled.

That, for some reason made me feel jealous.

We finished up our homework and listened to more of Wendy's music, when I heard a loud roaring car noise. I felt my heart race. I looked out the window and sure enough Jack had come just like he said he would. Wendy squealed when she saw the car.

"He's here! The man of my dreams is here!" She yelped.

"Shhh!" I shushed her.

"Sorry," she said embarrassed.

He rang the door bell and Wendy and I went to answer the door. He stood wearing his dark blue jeans, white polo shirt and brown sketcher shoes. His black hair was combed neatly and his icy blue eyes ... oh those eyes...

"Hey," he said looking at me and then he looked at Wendy who was smiling ear to ear.

"Hey there," I said trying to sound as casual as I could.

"Come on in," I moved aside to let him in. Wendy barely moved making him brush past her.

I closed the door and introduced my friend. "This is Wendy, Wendy this is Jack."

"Hi Jack," Wendy flirted. She extended her and out to him. He politely shook her hand. I kept wondering what that felt like.

"Nice to meet you Wendy," Jack said.

"Um ... what's your last name?" Wendy asked curiously.

I listened in because I secretly wanted to know what his last name was. I couldn't believe I hadn't asked him.

He looked at me as he said it, "Bancroft."

"Ah ok ... cool," Wendy said. "I'm Wendy Jennings. I believe you met my dad last night."

"Yeah sure did. Good man. He totally fixed my car."

Wendy blushed.

"Do you want something to eat?" I offered.

"No, I'm good," he replied.

We all stood there for a moment in an uncomfortable silence. My father got home relieving the silence.

"Hey Jack," my dad acknowledged his possible son.

"Hey Mr. Evans," Jack said and went to shake my father's hand. I could tell my dad wanted to hug him.

"What are you all doing?" My dad asked.

"Hey Mr. Evans, we're just hanging out. Jack didn't want anything to eat so we were just going to uh ... I don't know..." Wendy looked at me for help.

"We were going to ask Jack if he could take us riding in his car," I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"Yeah! That's right. Can you take us please?" Wendy implored.

Jack smiled. "Yeah no problem."

"That way you can also drop me off at home," Wendy smiled.

I looked at my dad to see if he would bring up the paternity test but he never did.

Jack took us riding around in his awesome car. I rode shotgun while Wendy sat in the back. Jack played The Smith's "Meat is Murder" album and cranked it up when How soon is now played.

It was a beautiful day outside. The weather was warm but pleasant and not a single cloud in the sky. We rode with the windows down enjoying good music. Jack drove by his house and pointed out where he lived. I didn't see another car parked there so I figured his mother was still at work. It was a small house nearly thirty minutes away from my house. He passed by the school he attended which was one of our rivalry schools. I teased him on how we beat them in football that year. He said he didn't care too much about football anyway.

I hadn't realized how late it had gotten and how hungry I was. Wendy had to get home so we dropped her off first. After we dropped her off, Jack lowered the radio and asked if I was hungry. I couldn't lie because he heard my tummy growl the moment he asked.

He laughed. "I take that as a yes?"

I giggled nervously. "Yeah, a little."

"Cool, you want to go get a burger or something?"

"That sounds perfect," I answered happily.

We stopped by a Dairy Queen. I ordered a chicken strip basket and Jack got a cheeseburger and French fries. We sat at a booth near one of the windows. I wanted to ask Jack so many questions I didn't know where to start.

"So your last name is Bancroft? Is that your mother's last name or did she get married?" I asked.

"My mom never married. She's had plenty of proposals but says she vows never to get married. She's had a few boyfriends here and there but I guess she's never been in love," Jack said sadly.

"What does she do for a living?"

"She's a flight attendant. She's hardly ever home. She actually just started as a flight attendant about two years ago. She worked for my grandpa's law office for a long time as a secretary but she had always secretly wanted to be a flight attendant. She loves her job. She's a people's person."

I took a long sip of my diet root beer as I listened to the way he spoke about his mother. I could tell he loved his mother so much. "So what about you? Do you um ... have a girlfriend?" I couldn't believe I asked so soon but I was dying to know.

He smiled shyly. "I don't know. What is your definition of a girlfriend?"

I was taken back by his question. "Well you know someone you go out with, that you um ... kiss and stuff like that." I could feel my face turning red.

He laughed in that low sexy laugh. "I guess you can say I have a girlfriend. Her name is Megan."

Megan? I thought to myself. With a name like Megan, I bet she's beautiful and all the men want her. "Oh so have you been with Megan for a long time?"

He shrugged and chewed his fries. "Not a long time. A couple of months. I'm not in love with her though. She's just a girl I spend time with."

I tried to pretend that didn't bother me. I was hoping he wasn't a playboy like a lot of guys I knew. I kept wondering if he'd had sex with her. There was no way I'd ask him that of course.

"What about you?" He questioned. "Got a boyfriend?"

I felt myself blush. "No. I like this one guy but I don't know. Wendy thinks he's into me but I doubt it. He doesn't show it."

"Most guys don't show it. We try to act all tough."

"Why do you guys do that? We hate that."

Jack smiled. "I don't know. We're stupid sometimes I guess."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. I knew Jack would have to know sooner or later. If I didn't tell him, my mother definitely would.

"Um ... my dad is going to ask you about a paternity test."

Jack's face darkened. "A paternity test? Seriously?"

I nervously sipped my diet root beer. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"I suppose it was your mom's idea?"

I nodded. "How did you know?"

"I could tell at dinner she didn't like me. I didn't mean to cause any trouble for your family I hope you know that."

I don't know what made me do it at that moment, but I reached out and touched his hand. He didn't move. "I know you didn't. My mom doesn't hate you or anything, she's just a little upset and this was a big surprise for her, for all of us." I paused and smiled. "But a good surprise I must add. I hated being an only child. I always wanted a sibling."

Jack smiled. "Yeah me too. I kept hoping my mom would marry again but she never did. She always said she could never find a good man." He looked down and saw my hand was still over his. I felt myself blush and took my hand away.

"So ... are you going to do the paternity test?" I asked.

His smile faded. "I really don't want to. I mean I'm not asking your father for child support or anything like that. I just wanted to know him and maybe ask him a little bit about himself."

"Well I think my dad deep down hopes you are his son."

Jack's eyes lit up. I saw a look on his face that I will never forget. "He does?"

"Yes. I really believe he does."

Jack looked down. "I'll take the test if that's what your mom would like. I understand she doesn't want some strange guy claiming he's your father's son."

"It's not just him Jack. I'd like to believe you're my brother," I said softly.

Jack looked into my eyes. "I'd like to believe that too."

We were silent for a long time after that.

Jack dropped me off later that evening. I stalled as much as could to stay in the car with him.

"So you're car is running smoothly now huh?" I asked as he put the car in park.

"Yeah, thanks to your friends Dad. I really appreciate you calling him for me."

I giggled. "And remember how mean you were to me?"

Jack looked embarrassed. "Yeah, I'm so sorry about that."

"Well think about that, as our first sibling fight. How cool is that?"

Jack scoffed and looked down and then looked at me. "Well, I had fun today you know. Maybe you and I could hang out some more."

I smirked. "What about Megan? Won't she be jealous?"

"She can't get jealous. You're my sister after all right?"

"True, just make sure she knows that otherwise she's just going to think I'm someone you have on the side."

He laughed. "Yeah wouldn't that be nice."

I froze.

He cleared his throat. "I-I better get going home. I have a lot of homework to do."

I licked my dry lips. "Yeah me too. Thanks for dinner though." I paused and then took my cell phone out of my purse. "Can I get your number?" I asked nervously.

He recited his phone number to me and added mine to his cell phone as well. He showed me what he put on his phone instead of my name, he just put "sis." My heart melted.

I hesitantly stepped out of the car and closed the door. He waited until I was in my house before he drove away. I heard the car roar down the street. I somehow felt sad.

"Where were you?"

I almost jumped up when I heard my mother's demanding voice. "I was hanging out with Jack ... and Wendy." I added Wendy's name to make her less angry.

"It would have been nice if you called me. I was waiting for you to come home for dinner you know."

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"Besides, you don't know him. I don't think it's safe to be going out with him."

I frowned. "Mom, he's harmless. Besides, he and I are possibly related. Shouldn't I have the right to know my own brother?"

My mother narrowed her eyes at me. "Sara, you do not know if he is your brother or not. No one has proof. Until there is proof, then you can't go around calling him your brother." With that, she walked away leaving me speechless.

"You're going to do what?" My mom's voice shook the house. She was beyond livid. Dad announced that he was going to go talk to Debbie, Jack's mom.

"I'm not going to go see her in that kind of way Annette. If you want me to get a paternity test then I need to ask her too. Jack is her son after all and she has every right to know."

"I can't believe this. Jack is eighteen isn't he? Wasn't that what you told me?"