After picking up Mikal from the middle school, she went to the high school to pick up Kodi and Landon.
When she pulled up to the high school, she watched as Kodi walked over to get Landon, who seemed far too engrossed in a conversation with some boy. The two of them approached the car and got in. Kodi picked up the flowers she had placed in the passenger seat.
“These are pretty,” her little sister stated, leaning in to smell them. “Are they from the guy you’ve been talking to?”
Jalen glanced at her sister as she pulled off to find her smirking.
“They are, aren’t they?” she then questioned when Jalen clearly didn’t answer fast enough for her.
“Landon, who was that boy you were talking to?” Jalen asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, he’s just a friend.”
Kodi snorted, and Jalen knew there was more to the story. However, they hardly ever kept anything from one another. So, she knew that her little sister would tell her when she was ready.
When they made it home, everyone went their separate ways to put their things away and get out their homework.
Once she’d put her bag up, Jalen changed clothes and headed into the kitchen, where she knew her sisters would be sitting around the table doing their homework. She asked if anyone needed help yet, while she went to the refrigerator to remove the ground beef she’d pulled out of the freezer that morning to thaw. She had class at six that evening and wanted to have dinner done before then, so her sisters didn’t have to worry about what they would eat.
It had been Mikal’s turn to choose what they had for dinner that night, and she had chosen cheesy beef baked potatoes.
As she made dinner, she stopped whenever one of her siblings asked her for help. Mostly, Kodi tried to help them, so Jalen could focus on cooking, but she knew that her little sister had homework of her own she needed to focus on.
She was sitting at the table, going over fractions with Mikal, when the timer went off, signaling that the baked potatoes were finished.
Getting up, she went back into the kitchen and grabbed an oven mitt before taking them out. She turned the oven off and set the dish on top of the stove.
Jalen looked at the time and saw that it was almost five forty-five. She cursed under her breath, too low for the twins to hear, but it didn’t escape Kodi.
“It’s all good. Go.”
“Mikal still has fifteen more problems to do,” Jalen told her.
“I’ll help her with it. Go, or you’re going to be late.”
Jalen smiled at her sister. She knew most teenagers would not be fond of having to watch their younger siblings as much as Kodi had to, but her sister had never complained. They were very much the same in that respect. She didn’t know what she would do without her.
Going around the table, she kissed all of her sisters on the forehead, telling Mikal and the twins goodnight. She knew they would be in bed by the time she got home from class.
Dashing down the hall, Jalen grabbed her backpack before heading out the door. She got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot. She hadn’t had time to eat, but she kept a few granola bars in her backpack for times like these when she was running behind.
Jalen pulled into the parking lot of the university with two minutes to spare. Getting out of the car, she hurried into the building and to her class. If there was one thing her professor didn’t play about, it was being late. The woman would literally lock you out of class.
Once she was inside the room, Jalen took a seat, pulling out her books and a granola bar. Preparing herself for the next three hours to come.
6
Jalen looked herself over in the mirror. She was going out with Rohan, and she was nervous. It had been a while since she’d gone on a date, and that one hadn’t ended well. They’d gotten to talking, and she told him she had five girls at home that she took care of. She hadn’t told him they were her sisters, but she didn’t feel the need to. If he was trying to date her, it didn’t matter her relationship to them; the fact that she took care of them wouldn’t change.
In this situation, she had already told Rohan that she took care of five girls, and he had still asked her out. She had to give him brownie points for that. As did Kodi when she asked Jalen if he knew about them.
While that seemed to be a good sign, she still had not told any of her other siblings that she was going on a date. She just didn’t want to make anything too serious out of what was happening. So, she decided she would go on this date first and see how it went. Then, maybe after some time had passed, if they were still dating, she would let her other siblings know.
Being the oldest, there would never come a time when she thought she needed her younger siblings’ permission to date anyone. However, since she was their guardian and anyone she dated would have to realize that she and her siblings were apackage deal, she wanted her sisters to be comfortable with that person.
“You look pretty.”
Jalen turned around to find Kodi standing in her doorway. Her little sister was leaning against the doorframe, eating a bell pepper.
