Chapter 28: "Be a good doggy and stay"

I unclasped my seatbelt, "You stay here."

He pouted, "Why can't I come inside?" I turned to him, "Because you're not welcome. Now be a good doggy and stay." I slammed the door shut and made my way to my door.

I was surprised to see my grandmother and Mr. Jenky talking happily on the couch with a glass of wine. They've been hanging out a lot these days. I closed the door behind me, "Oh hey guys." "I thought you were going out with your friends today." I sighed, "My friend left the tickets in my room, so I came back for them."

Mr. Jenky touched my grandmother's shoulder, "I think I just heard the oven ping." My grandmother nodded and quickly made her way to the kitchen. Mr. Jenky came closer to me with a serious expression on his shriveled face. He whispered, "You haven't told her about Hannah, have you?"

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration, "No, not yet. What am I even supposed to say? Um Grandma your granddaughter that you raised like your own daughter since birth ran away with some pedophile and will never return?" He sighed, "It won't be easy but you can't keep this from her. It'll only hurt more the longer you take."

I ran my hands along my face, "I know I know. I'll tell her when I come back, I just can't handle this right now." I turned to him as I ascended the stairs, "Please don't say anything. I want to tell her myself." He nodded and returned to the couch.

A gush of wind hit my face as I opened my door. A puzzled look fell on my face as I stared at my wide open window and my obviously rummaged through drawers.

I looked along the side of the house from my window, "How in the world did someone get up here?"

"You okay there?"

I slightly jumped at the sudden deep voice and turned around clutching my chest, "You almost gave me a heart attack and what are you doing in here? I thought I told you to stay in the car." He handed my phone to me, "Your phone was ringing."

I looked at the caller ID, "Not this person again." He looked over my shoulder, "Who is it?" I shrugged, "I have no idea." He scrunched up his eyebrows, "But the person is saved as my love." I scratched my head, "Yea, I'm guessing it's the person that brought back my stuff saved himself or herself as that."

"Have you ever answered the call?" I nodded, "Yea, once but there was only silence on the other end of the line." Dylan grabbed my phone and flung it in the wall by my bed. I gasped, "What the hell?"

He placed his heavy, black boot on my phone that laid helplessly on the floor, "I'll buy you a new one." I held the shattered pieces of my phone in my hands, "My poor phone." I brought it to my chest, "I'll never forget the 6 years we spent together." Dylan rolled his eyes and closed the window, "Stop being such a drama queen, I told you I'll buy you a new one. You needed an upgrade anyway."

He looked at me seriously, "This person could be a stalker." I chuckled, "I'm sure it was just a joke." He sighed and looked around my room, "Your room is a mess." I started picking up my clothes off the ground, "Someone broke into my room while I was gone."

He plopped down on my bed, "Anything stolen?" I shook my head as I returned the clothes to their respective drawers, "Only three of my underwear is gone ." He placed two of his long fingers on his chin, "This stalker is the panty stealing creep type, they're the most dangerous."

I laughed, "What are you taking about? I'm not being stalked, maybe Hannah came back home to borrow some panties or something." He tilted his head to the side, "Who's Hannah?"

"My younger sibling." His phone rang as he was about to say something. He looked at the caller ID before answering, "It's Hayley." He placed the phone on speaker.

"Where the hell are the both of you? We're almost at the front of the line."

Dylan stood up and took up Hayley's bag from my bed, "We're on our way back now." He ended the call and swung the pink handbag over his shoulder. I muffled a laugh and he looked back at me as we descended the stairs, "What's so funny?"

I giggled, "That handbag really suits you."

He rolled his eyes and continued walking.

"Dylan?"

My eyes widened when I saw my grandmother run up and suddenly wrap her arms around Dylan's waist. Dylan smiled brightly while caressing her gray hair, "How have you been aunt?"

What?

She smiled and looked up at him, "It's been years since I've last seen you. You've grown into such a handsome young man."

What?

He released himself from her embrace, "We'll have to talk later aunt, we're kind of in a rush since our friends are waiting on us."

I stared accusingly at Dylan as he started the car, "How do you know my grandmother?" "We used to date." He took a glance at my horror stricken face and burst out in laughter, "I'm kidding!"

I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes at him, "I'm sorry but you do seem like the type to be intimate with old ladies." He scrunched up his face, "You think way too little of me." I rested my head on my arm, "So, how do you know her?"

"She taught me how to read and write when I was a child."

I was genuinely surprised.

"Hayley was a genius so being her younger brother I had a lot to live up to. However, even at the age of 10 I couldn't read or write. My parents of course were disappointed, my father especially. He ridiculed me in front of the entire family and told me not to return home until I can read and write."

He ran his hand through his lengthy black hair, "I lived on the streets for two weeks, hungry, thirsty and tired." A slight smile appeared on his pink lips, "Then I met her. She took me in and took care of me. I told her my story and she taught me how to read and write. I stayed with her for 3 weeks, I honestly didn't want to return home but she said she had family to return to in another town."

His eyes met mine, "I guess you were that family." I looked down, "You've been through a lot. My grandmother never told me this story." He shrugged, "It's no big deal."

He suddenly chuckled, "What a small world this is."

I smiled and looked through the window.

A loud gun shot like sound was heard and the car stopped after being maneuvered by Dylan to the side of the road. I turned my head towards him, "What was that?" Dylan sighed and took off his seatbelt, "Our tire just burst."