Jalen wasn’t a big fan of it. While she didn’t see a problem with her sister liking a boy and talking to him occasionally, it was coming to the point that every time she turned around, Landon was on the phone with him.
Going down the hall, she could hear Landon’s voice from her bedroom. She knocked on the doorframe to get the teenager’s attention.
“It’s time to go,” Jalen told her when Landon looked up. She listened to her sister tell whoever that she would text them before hanging up.
“I’m ready,” Landon told her, about to place the phone in her pocket.
“Let’s leave the phone here,” Jalen stated.
Landon furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”
She raised one of her own. “Because I asked you to.”
She watched as Landon placed the phone on the nightstand between her and Kodi’s bed. Jalen stepped aside, gesturing for her to go first down the hall, and followed behind her. She stopped in the kitchen to grab the cooler as her sister headed out the door. She made sure the lights were off and the door was locked behind her before going back to the car.
After loading the cooler into the trunk, she closed it before getting into the driver’s seat. She ensured everyone was buckled in before she pulled out of the parking lot onto the street. They were supposed to meet Rohan and Alynn at one-thirty. They had a little over ten minutes before then, but they didn’t live too far from the park they were going to. As long as the traffic wasn’t bad, they should make it right on time.
The twins serenaded them as they drove. Opting to singHey Diddle Diddle. Mikal joined in at some point when they were close to the park.
Pulling in, Jalen chose a spot close to where they liked to set up. It was where she could see her younger siblings as they played, regardless of the equipment they played on. Jalen was unbuckling Omari when a car pulled up beside her. Turning, she saw it was Rohan’s vehicle. She helped Omari out, and the little girl immediately went to where Nathan was standing with Mikal.
“Hi, Jalen!” Alynn greeted excitedly as she got out of the car.
“Hey, Alynn,” Jalen responded, hugging the little girl as she wrapped her arms around her. The hug was quick as Alynn went to join Jalen’s younger siblings.
“Can we go?” Nathan questioned.
“No, not yet. I don’t want you by yourself.”
“I’ll go with them. If Rohan helps you unload the trunk,” Kodi volunteered.
“Of course,” he stated as he came around from the driver’s side.
“Let’s go then, kiddos,” Kodi spoke, and all of them except for Landon and Kodi took off running.
“You’re a kid too,” Landon responded before going over to the table they would sit at.
Jalen was more than sure that her sister was in a salty mood because she’d made her leave the phone at home. However, she would have to get over it. She made a mental note to speak with Landon and ask more questions about the boy she was talking to. As well as setting up a time to meet him. She didn’t like that he was garnering so much of the teenager’s attention, though at the moment, it hadn’t taken her focus off her schoolwork. Jalen had no intention of letting it get to that point.
“You’re thinking awfully hard, baby,” Rohan spoke, drawing her attention.
“Yeah, sorry. Hey, you,” she responded, rising on her tiptoes, and he leaned down and pecked her lips.
“You want to talk about it?” he questioned as she let the trunk of her vehicle up.
“It isn’t anything too serious,” Jalen responded as she pulled the tablecloth and picnic basket out while Rohan grabbed the cooler, closing the trunk for her.
“As long as you’re sure,” he responded, placing the cooler down, opening his own trunk, and taking out another cooler. He grabbed them both, and the two of them went to the table Landon was sitting at. She was watching the smaller children play while Kodi pushed the twins on the swings.
Jalen handed Landon the tablecloth while she set the picnic basket on the bench. The two of them spread the cloth over the top before placing the coolers and picnic basket on top. Shefigured they could let the kids play for a bit before they had lunch.
“You don’t want to go play with them?” she asked Landon as the three of them sat.
“If you want to be alone with him, just say that,” Landon responded, going to stand.
She grabbed her wrist to stop her. Leaning over to her sister, she whispered in her ear. “You need to go over to the monkey bars, take a few minutes to collect yourself, and get it together before I have to get you together. When you come back, I expect you to be in a better mood.”
Releasing her little sister’s wrist, Jalen turned her attention towards Rohan, who was watching the others play. She had told her to go to the monkey bars because it was far enough away that Landon could be by herself and calm down, but close enough to where she could still see her.
