Tell Me Why You Love Me (TMWYLM) Read online

  I gave her a shocked expression and turned to face her. "How did you-"

  "Oh, come now, honey. A mother can spot the sudden changes in her child's attitudes and determine what they mean!" She laughed.

  Oh, right. I guess my mum was the same with me. Whenever she asked me what I would like for dinner, going through a list of things, without me even saying anything, she would pick out the ones that sounded appetizing to me at the time. She said it was because of her 'mother magic' that she could read my mind. But I never bought it. I just went with it because it was a fun way of thinking.

  "Nobody can hold their true feelings, sweetie. We always have that hint in our eyes of what we truly feel." She spoke gently to me, looking in my eyes. "And you're no different, you know." She added, placing the book she was holding back on the shelf. "I can tell you still miss her, dearly. And that your relationship with your father is... More than a little shaky" She commented.

  I lowered my eyes, feeling slightly ashamed. How could she see through me so much? "I'm sorry." I spoke under my breath.

  I felt a hand pat my head and I looked up to see her face with a gentle smile. "You don't need to apologise. What happened to you has greatly affected you. But you're giving your father a chance, I can see that. So I'm not angry with you or anything. In fact I'm rather grateful to you more than anything." She looked at me with a smile and took the book I had in my hands away from me. "I'll pay for this, sweetie." She stated.

  "Wha-wait, no I can't let you do that!" I retorted, reaching to take the book back from her, but she pulled it back out of my reach.

  She shook her head at me. "It's no problem, sweetie. I'm buying this for you as a gift. A 'thank you' gift." She replied, walking up to the queue, stretching a fair way back.

  "Thank you? For what?" I asked her. She chuckled at me and shook her head.

  "Why don't you go hunt down Jordan. Keep him company for a while." She spoke, dodging my question.

  I didn't argue and went to find Jordan. I went down aisles and aisles of books, until I came across the second to last aisle. I noticed him looking concentrated in what he was doing, going from one book to the other, flicking through them quickly, then setting it back and going for another.

  I didn't want to disturb him, but I accidentally knocked into a small shelf, creating a small clatter. I held my hand out, stabilising the shelf and looked to Jordan, who was looking my way with his usual gaze.

  "A little clumsy, aren't we, brat?" He asked me, a smirk on his lips.

  I scoffed at him and made my way towards him. "Are you ever going to stop calling me a brat?" I asked him, pouting a little and folding my arms.

  He stopped and thought about it for a while, then came to a conclusion. "When you're older than me, I'll stop." He stated with a smug smile on his face.

  I threw my arms to my side with intolerance. "That's impossible! You're really mean, you know that?"

  He gave me a chuckle and a warm smile. "I try." He gave me a playful look, before sliding out another book from the shelf, quickly scanning it and placing it back.

  I had to ask. "Are you reading them THAT fast?" I spoke teasingly.

  He didn't look my way, too concentrated on the books in front of him. "I'm looking for something, but none of these books have it." He mumbled.

  "So, what are you looking for?" I asked him, leaning in. He stopped and turned to face me, slightly surprised. I rolled my eyes at his look. "Oh, come on, dude. I read, too. I'm sure I could give you a hand."

  His eyes averted my gaze. "It's a book written in Latin, so I doubt you wouldn’t know it..." He stated, continuing to look through the books.

  ...Latin my ass. This isn't even the Latin section! This is Classic English Literature.

  I shrugged at him and turned back. "Well, you're not going to find that book in this aisle." I made my way back to Miriam, but turned before I left the aisle. "We're almost done. Do you want to join us or stay here a while longer?" I asked him.

  He waved his hand, as if shooing me away. "You can go. I'll stay here for a while." He answered, his eyes still focused on the books.

  I clicked my tongue. "Suit yourself, Jordanne." I had the last word before leaving the aisle and walking towards Miriam, who had just finished paying.

  She turned to me, handing a small bag. "Here. The book you wanted. And... A little something else." I looked at her and she winked.

  I looked at the contents of the bag and saw a small box. "Wait, you didn't get this at this store, did you?" I asked her.

  She shook her head. "No, I bought it yesterday at a jewellers. I wanted to give you a 'welcome' present!" She gave me a soft smile and I returned it thoughtfully.

  "Thanks. I'll open it when we're back home. I don't want to lose it." I told her, her smile widening slightly. "What?" I asked her.

  She looked away with a smile. "Nothing. Let’s go!" She sang, taking me by the hand and dragging me out the bookstore. When we walked out the door, she turned around, realising something. "Wait, Where's Jordan?" She asked, trying to find him through the window.

  "Oh, he said he'll catch up with us later. He’s looking for a book, but hasn't found it yet. I guess he'll catch up to us when he finds it." I told her.

  She looked at me and smiled. "Alright, then." She grabbed my by the arm and linked hers around it. "Whilst it's just us two girls, why not go clothes shopping!" She sang.

  I gave her a look of avoidance. "Yeah, sure."

  She stopped singing and looked at my expression. "Honey, I can read that face like a book, you know. Do you not want to go clothes shopping?" She asked me.

  I gave her a shocked look. "Oh, no! On the contrary, I'd love to go clothes shopping with you! It's just..."

  "Nostalgia?"

  "Yeah."

  There was silence between us until Miriam broke it. "Come on." She said gently, dragging me by my arm. "I know of a good place we can go. I promise it'll be fun." She added, seeing my look of confusion.

  I didn't protest. Maybe she was right. Perhaps it could be fun... Or not.

  *

  "Hmm... Turn." The woman standing next to me said, once again.

  I had to hold back rolling my eyes at her, again, and did as she said.

  "...Turn." She said again. "Turn." And again.

  She was pissing me off....

  "....Turn-"

  "Alright, that's it!" I yelled in protest after several hours of hearing nothing but the word 'turn' coming out of the woman's mouth. "Please, lady. If you say only the word 'turn' I'll begin to think your calling me a seabird..." I mumbled to her. She looked at me confused. Obviously she didn't understand what I meant, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain it to her.

  "Freesia?" I heard a voice yell from another room. It was Miriam. "Freesia! Where are you?"

  "I'm in here-ouch!" As I said that, the lady next to me jabbed a pin in my leg. She had a straight face, but I knew she did it on purpose. Something just told me that she did. I gave her an evil look and, surprisingly, she returned it. Yep. It was so on purpose.

  "Freesia!" I heard Miriam's voice again as she opened the curtain. "There you are! I never realised you were this far back from my booth!" She stated, laughing a little.

  We weren't originally. But Miriam was talking so much it drove me crazy, so I had asked to be moved further away. The lady that was jabbing pins in my leg, happily agreed. It seemed it was getting to her, too. Something we had in common, but that's where the similarities ended.

  "Wow!" I heard a gasp from Miriam and looked her way, seeing a blush spread on her face. "That really suits you, sweetie!" She stated.

  "R-really?" I asked, feeling my cheeks flush. I looked to the woman, still jabbing pins into me. "C-can I turn?" I asked her sheepishly. I'd rather not have her stab me again.

  She gave me a look of impatience and shrugged, rolling her eyes. "Sure."

  I mouthed a 'thanks' with a forced smile and I turned to the mirror behind me. What I saw in front of me... Well, to put i
t simply, it didn't even look like me! It was too... Gorgeous.

  I had a long burgundy dress with some frills, but not too many to make it stick out like a sore thumb, and some fabric flowers trailing from my left hip to the centre of my chest and then it ran across the collar bone to the right, stopping at the top of my shoulder. There was a slit at the base of the dress that ran straight and up to my hip a little before the fabric flowers.

  It was too pretty to be on my body.

  "Wow. Nice. But you've got the wrong colour."

  I heard a male voice and both my head and Miriam's veered to the curtain Miriam had just entered from. I blushed a little, trying to hide it from everybody by turning around. Why was HE here?

  "What're you talking about, Jordan? It's perfect! It suits her to a 'T'!" Miriam defended. But Jordan had other ideas.

  "First off, her hair's a dark shade anyway. Her face is just going to get lost in the deep shade of fabric. A paler colour would suit her better. And those roses running up her chest just grabs more attention to that area." He spoke a-matter-of-factly. I knew he had a smug look on his face.

  I turned to him with a smirk. "What, you're jealous, Jordanne? Wanna try a dress on, too?" I looked down to the woman who stopped sticking pins in me, with a pissed off look on her face. I got her attention by tapping her head with my hand. "You think that's a good idea? He's practically insulting your work." I stated, seeing the lady click.

  She showed me a smile, for once, and looked back to Jordan who knew what was coming. "Shit!" he yelled, racing out the booth and far enough away for his footsteps to become just echoes.

  I looked back at the woman at my feet and we shared an amused look, giggling to each other. Seemed like we had another thing in common; teasing Jordan.

  "Okay, you two. Stop picking on the poor boy." Miriam gave us a smirk. I knew she was just itching to burst out laughing.

  But she gave me a once over and rubbed her chin with her hand. "Actually, he did have a point." she stated.

  The lady took a step back from me and saw what Miriam was meaning. "Oh, it does seem to blend in too much with her hair colour." She spoke. Wow, a sentence. A lot better than hearing the word 'turn' over and over. I saw her walk back up to me and frowned. "Okay, strip."

  I gave the two women a protesting groan, before slipping off the dress, leaving me in nothing but my underwear.

  "Wow, matching panties?" I heard the same male voice again and we all turned to the curtain, seeing him peer in with a smirk.

  I threw the dress at him and he caught it with his hand. "Jordan, get the hell out! And stop ridiculing my body for god's sake!" I yelled at him.

  I saw Miriam look towards me and winked. "I'll handle him. You just get prettied up again, sweetie." She said, walking out of the booth. "Jordan Michaelis Baxter!"

  I had to choke a laugh back down, unless I wanted to get thrown out for how loud it would be. Oh, I'm so using that against him next time! "ow!" I flinched as I felt the woman sticking a pin through me again.

  She gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry." She whispered shyly. I gave her a quizzical look and she reflected it back to me. "He your boyfriend?" She asked bluntly.

  My face turned full on red. "N-no! He's my-uh..." I didn't want to say it, but I had to. "He’s my step-brother. No blood relation." I stated to her.

  The look on her face was an 'oh.' look, but changed to a soft smile. "You know, you still do have a chance, considering you aren't blood related, right?"

  "Wait, are you suggesting-" I saw her look and I laughed awkwardly. "Oh, no! No way, not like that! He's my step-brother! There’s no way that's even possible!" I overlapped my hands, making the shape of an 'X'

  I heard the lady giggle to herself a little and shook her head. "Of course not." She stated, sarcastically. What was she thinking?, I thought to myself. I don't have feelings for Jordan. And there's no way in hell he'd have feelings for me! Though I admit we have a lot in common. But that's it. That means nothing!

  I was in there for well over an hour, and I was glad to get out of there after having several pins jabbed in my skin. I swear if it wasn't for the fabric being over my body, I'd look like somebody threw a porcupine to my legs. Not a pretty sight.

  "So, any plans for the rest of the shopping spree?" Miriam asked me, a loving smile on her face.

  I took a while to think, and then shook my head. "There's not any place I can think of." I stated to her. I turned to Jordan on my other side and scowled. "Anywhere you want to go, Jordan Michaelis?" I used a posh English accent for his name, being rewarded with a sharp glare.

  "Call me that again and I'll-"

  "What ever do you mean, Jordan Michaelis?" I broke his sentence and gave him a wry smile.

  "Right, that's it!" He yelled, trying to make a grab for me, but I saw it coming and jumped out the way. I couldn't stop laughing at his face, it was priceless! I swerved and hopped and jumped out of his way, watching his irritability increase.

  "Children, stop fighting." Miriam said in a sweet, slightly sarcastic voice.

  "Oh, like you don't want to join in!" I answered her, still running from Jordan.

  "Sweetie, I'm an adult. I don't go chasing after others." She stated. Somehow, those words of hers had a deeper meaning, by the sound of her voice, but I couldn't work it out...

  "Ha!" Jordan took my momentary distraction to his advantage, and grabbed me around my waist, hoisting me up and over his shoulder. "You're gonna pay for that, brat!" He spoke through gritted teeth.

  I shrieked, hitting his back, trying to get him to let go. "Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't quite hear that last part. Say it again, Jordanne?" I said to him sweetly, knowing I hit a nerve almost instantly. I suddenly regretted it when Jordan tightened his grip, squeezing my stomach against his shoulder. "Hey, easy! You could break me!" I yelled at him, kicking my legs, trying to hit his face.

  "That's the plan, little brat." He stated with a smug look on his face as usual.

  I stopped wriggling in his grip, knowing it was getting me nowhere and thought of a way to get him to let go. Then it hit me.

  Childish, I know, but it was the best thing I could do.

  I discretely raised his shirt and spat on my hand, before wiping it on his bare back. It caused Jordan to jolt and he dropped me in surprise. I fell head first to the ground, but was able to put my hands before me so I didn't slap my face against the ground.

  "What the hell! What was that? What'd you put on my back!?" he asked me, yelling.

  I gave him a smirk and paused for a while, seeing the tension in his face. I raised my hand and pointed to it. "Spit-slap!" I announced, and ran to Miriam, who was just smirking at us. "Hey, Miriam? Can you tell Jordan to stop bullying me?" I asked her in a school-girl voice.

  "Jordan, be nice to her!" She called back at him, a smile on her face.

  He clicked his tongue and looked at me. "Schmuck." I heard him mumble. I answered his look with a devilish smile.

  I couldn't help but wear a pure smile for the rest of the day.

  After browsing through some other stores, we met with the boys and had our lunch in a little cafe. I was surprised, expecting them to go into one of those fancy restaurants with small portions for ridiculous prices. But, when I thought about it, they always ate normal food at home. I was glad about that, considering how much of a glutton I could be.

  After a noisy lunch, we decided to head back early. We had gone to all the places we wanted to in half a day. None of us complained. Besides, we all decided to have a baseball game when we got home. The twins and Craig wanted me to show Miriam how well I played. It's not like I was great at it. I just had fun doing it.

  "So, had a fun day, Freesia?" I heard Miriam ask from beside me. The car arrangements were the same as when we arrived.

  I gave her an honest smile and nodded. "Yeah, I really enjoyed it. It's been a long while since I went out shopping with anybody since my mom-" I stopped myself and my eyes widened. Shit, I shouldn't have said that. I felt my
heart wrench with my words I couldn't swallow back. Why did I have to say that? I didn't want to ruin such a good day... And I just did.

  I looked down, trying to fight back tears of nostalgia and pain. A stupid slip of my tongue and the day had been ruined for me.

  Suddenly, Miriam stopped the car, jerking both me and Jordan in our seats. I heard Jordan curse in the back seat, but Miriam ignored him, looking at me with concerned eyes. She tilted her head a little. "Sit in the back." She told me, that sweet voice of hers still there.

  "Wha-why?" I asked her, unfastening my seatbelt. I saw a smile on her lips and she nodded to the back again. I didn't argue. I didn't want to argue. My day had been ruined because of a few simple words from my mouth, I didn't want to ruin everybody else's day because of the same mistake.

  I slipped into the back, sitting beside Jordan. I couldn't look at him or Miriam in front of me. I felt too stupid.

  Out of nowhere, I felt a hand rest on top of mine and I looked to Jordan, who was gazing out the window. I saw his reflection in the glass and it looked as if he was staring straight at me with a gentle gaze in his emerald eyes. But he couldn't be.

  When I felt his hand wrap around mine, I felt a sudden sense of security. I looked to Miriam through the rear-view mirror, seeing only her eyes. But I knew she was smiling. She was right when you could see somebody's true feelings just through their eyes.

  I tried to hide a rosy blush and looked out my window tightening a little on Jordan's hand. I didn't feel him jerk or anything, so I thought it was okay. And for the rest of the journey, we all sat in our seats silently with the only contact being mine and Jordan's hands.

  Chapter 7

  It was a long day for me, but I enjoyed it. Except after I blundered myself with the memory I tried to avoid all day thinking or saying.

  I lay on my bed, gazing at my ceiling. I lifted my left hand and faced the palm to my eyes. I remembered Jordan holding it as gently as he did and it suddenly made my heart feel a little warmer. I smiled and dropped it to my side, continuing to look at my ceiling. My eyes weren't glazed over, this time. I was actually just staring at my ceiling.