Jacob threw his backpack on the couch and walked into the kitchen, slumping onto a bar stool. He didn’t have any homework, so he had time to kill before heading to Taga Village.
His mom looked up from the newspaper she was reading. “How was school?”
“Stupid—couldn’t play basketball during lunch.”
“I’m sorry, dear. Did you get the chance to talk to Coach Birmingham?”
He grabbed a pear from the fruit bowl on the counter and took a huge bite. “No,” he said, slurping the juice.
“Well, he and Anne haven’t been over for dinner since school ended, so your dad and I thought we’d invite them over tonight.” She folded the newspaper. “You can talk to him then.”
“Great! When will they be here?”
“Around seven.”
Jacob hopped off the stool, picked up his backpack from the living room, then took the stairs two at a time to his bedroom.
His mom called up the stairs. “Jacob? Would you ask Matt to drive to Ida Mae’s and pick up Amberly? Ida Mae is having problems with her diabetes again, and Amberly’s over there playing.”
Jacob banged on Matt’s door. “Go get Amberly from Ida Mae’s. Mom said.”
Matt opened his door and went down the stairs, saying something about a level he was about to beat and wanting to get back soon.
Jacob sat on his bed. He was debating whether to shoot a few hoops before Coach came when he noticed Aloren’s bag on the desk across from him. He’d put it far from his mind. Thinking about Aloren frustrated him too much. It was just so upsetting that the Makalos wouldn’t let him go get her without their permission. Hopefully they’d give it in the meeting that night.
He stared at the bag. Should he open it? He mused over that question for a moment. He only had it in the first place because he forgot to give it back after Aloren had asked him to carry it for her.
No, he shouldn’t touch it. If Aloren was anything like the other girls he’d met, she’d be furious with him. And opening a girl’s bag could be dangerous. Who knew what was kept in it. Girly things, makeup, mirrors, brushes—with hair all over them. Disgusting.
But, if it had something in it—food, for instance—that would spoil, his room would start smelling gross in a day or so. He didn’t want to deal with that.
Jacob heard Matt return—Ida Mae didn’t live far away—and he decided to ask him for backup. He was going to open the bag.
Kilenya Series Books 1, 2, and 3 Page 52
