Goo
Time

December

“…And that’s how I got Boo to let me keep the computer,” Jacob said as he finishes his story. Sitting next to him in front of his Stone Age computer, I still don’t understand why he didn’t want me in his room before now. No embarrassing posters or stuff animals laying around. I mean, it’s not like I was expecting anything. Its just…There isn’t anything wroth hiding in here. The old bunk bed, the desk that was once upon a time in my current room, and his bulky computer is what makes up the room. I scan over the room some more, spotting his overflowing hamper and muddy shoes. I turn back to the computer screen to see Jacob was still failing at Solitaire. He was never good at strategy games, like checkers. Then again, I think my version of it frustrated him.

“ It would be more impressive,” I say, “if you got her to buy a phone.”
“Yeah, likes that’s going to happen,” he mutters as he clicks the digital deck repeatedly.

It was silent for a moment. I poke at my swelling tummy as a question pops itself into my brain and out my mouth. “Why do you call her Boo? I mean, I know that’s her name and everything…but, you know…”
He shrugs, his brows furrowed in dismay of not finding his needed card. “I’ve always called her by her first name, don’t ya remember?”

I paused a minute to think back to all the times I’ve came here to visit. I thought about all the different little kids that use to run around here and played with me…or made fun of me. When you’re little, I guess you don’t really pay too much attention to the nut and bolts of things. Well, maybe some kids do, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I didn’t really even think about the relationship between the foster kids and my grandma too much. Least of all on Jacob’s relationship with her. I tried to think back. I tried to envision a scene from the past when he and Grandma were talking. I couldn’t. But I guess if Granny doesn’t mind him calling her Boo, I guess I don’t really care. So I shrug and say, “Yeah,” like I‘m bored, which I sort of am. I then spot a small picture frame and reached over him to get it. His brows furrows again, but I’m not sure if it’s because of the game or the fact that me and my belly bump is climbing over him. When I got the picture, he sends me a weird glance from the corner of his eye. He was biting his lower lip, like he was preventing himself from saying something. It was somewhat similar to the face Mac makes when I’m holding something fragile and…Oh. Jacob doesn’t want me holding it. Why does everybody think I’ll brake something? I mean, it’s not like I’m a klutz or anything. I place the frame on the desk and I stare at it like that. Even though he’s pretending not to have a hawk eye on me, I can tell that his face relaxes a bit.

I turn my attention back to the frame to get a good look at the picture. It was a girl leaning against some old, beat up truck. I tried to keep all the questions bubbling inside me to stay exactly there. Inside my head. I glance at Jake and he sighs, as if ready for my assault of questions. I turn back to the picture, taking in all the details. The picture it self looked worn, like he had it stashed in his pocket before upgrading to the frame. The girl’s skin was creamy. Her glaring brown eyes, shiny. Her short, black hair had streaks of hot pink. Her face seems soft, despite the sadistic face she’s making. She’s definitely Hispanic.

She’s all dressed up in black and pink gear. From her leather jacket to her combat boots, the outfit amazes me. She looks like a cross between a biker chick and a punk. I loved it!

I wonder who she is. Jacob’s girlfriend? Friend? Pen pal? Ex-girlfriend? Long-lost relative? I didn’t ask Jake anything about her. A byproduct of not talking for a while was determining when I should respond, if at all. Another byproduct would be keeping things in my head without realizing it, but that’s not important. Well, it sort of is…Anyway, the point is that Jake probably doesn’t want me pushing questions on him. So, instead, I imagine.

She’s too cool to be his girl, so their just close friends, I’ve decided. She’s been playing guitar since she was twelve…and was a prodigy. She played in a band and they’d practice every night, not caring about disturbing the peace. They’ll drive around in that old pick-up truck and hang during school hours ‘cause driving to town just for school was lame. She’d smoke in Old Millard’s field, the way I’ve heard the bad apples do at night. I picture her on a motorcycle, driving the two hour drive into town on a starry night. She’ll be going to some underground teen club, where she has a gig. The moment she steps on the stage, the crowd would cheer, her face and music familiar to them. I bet she did whatever she wanted. I bet she felt like royalty in her combat boots and fishnet stockings. I imagine her growing bored of this countryside town and running away. Far away. Never to be heard again. Yeah, I can see that happening.

Satisfied with my story and my curiosity not willing me to ruin it with the truth from Jacob, I push the frame back a little. I turn to the computer screen to see he started a new game of solitaire. The silence of the room just came to my attention, so I spit out a random question. “You’re Mexican, right?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Speak Spanish.”

He turns away from the computer to give me a funny look before saying, “Just ‘cause I’m a Mexican, doesn’t mean I speak Spanish, Goo. I can speak as much Spanish as you can speak Japanese.”

“Baka, nihon ni iku mae ni, taisetsu na goku o atama ni irete okimashita.”

He stares at me dumbfounded. I smile. It’s pretty hilarious. The look on his face, I mean. His shocked face then turns into a half-smile.

“Granny, I’m going to the library!” I yell as I zip up my coat. She magically appears next to me. She pulls down my hat so that it covers my ears, as if I was going into a blizzard or something. I mean, yeah it’s cold. But it’s nothing like home where it’s probably buried in snow.
“You don’t plan on going by yourself are you?” she dares. I shake my head ‘no’ and explain that Jake would be my body guard, even though I don’t really see the point of him coming with me. I mean, who’s going to abduct me? No one lives out here besides old people.

Jake, all bundled up for just a few measly winds, came back in from warming the car. I’m pretty sure he’ll go nuts if he spent a winter over my house. I can see him now, all cuddled up under a ton of blankets in front of the heater. I silently laugh, figuring I’ll spare him and let him visit in the summer. I then pause, realizing that I expect him to come visit me after this is all over. His gloved hand takes me by the wrist and we walk out the door to the car. He helps me to the car, a precaution to the somewhat icy ground. I gave up protesting Grandma’s precautions to the outside. I mean, I know I’m pregnant and all, but I think I can walk without somebody helping me. I’ve been walking on ice for years. It didn’t really matter, I guess. Once I’m safely in the car, Jacob walks around to the drivers side. He waves to Grandma, who’s standing in the doorway as she watches us leave.

“So you know, this is the last day we’ll be neighbors?” I say to him as I write my name with my finger on the fogged window.
“Huh?…Oh, yeah. Tomorrow you’ll be in the room downstairs…” he mumbles to me. He’s then real quite, like he’s thinking of something. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but closes it. I hate it when people do that. “You know what you’re gonna get Boo for Christmas?” he says a few minutes later. I shrug, doodling nonsense onto the glass.
“It’s usually just me and Boo,” he mutters, “We don’t do too much on Christmas. She cooks. We eat. She gives me a couple of things and I’ll give her one, big thing. And we spend the rest of the day downing eggnog and watching the specials on TV. But since you’re here, we may do something different. Who knows? But I kind of just…I wanna say that I‘m happy you‘ll be here, you know, for Christmas and stuff.”
I couldn’t help, but smile. It’s strange. I mean, we didn’t really talk when I arrived. I wasn’t talking at all actually. But he acted so weird towards me because I was pregnant. And then we had that fight, where I declared my eternal hatred towards him. But now, it seems, that we’re friends. Then again, I guess it was only make sense that we’ll become friends. I’m currently living with him, we get home schooled together, and I apparently can’t going anywhere without him if Granny isn’t there. If we weren’t friends, then all of this would be very awkward. I mean, seriously!

Only when the engine dies is when I realize we’re there. Without Grandma’s watchful eyes, I climb out the car by myself and hurry inside. I make my way to a computer and quickly sign on the internet.
“You act like you’re gonna die if you don’t check your e-mail,” Jacob’s voice comes from behind me. “It can’t be that important.”
I ignore him. Who cares if I look desperate? I am desperate! This is my only means of communication to Mac. I needed to see his reply to my message, even if it was only a sentence. I stifle a shriek when I see he’s replied, ignoring my other messages. I open it and read it over. When I got to the end, my face became heated from the memory.

“ ‘Do you remember the chocolate bunnies?’ What does that mean?”

I froze, remembering Jake was behind me. My face was now burning from embarrassment. I certainly wasn’t going to tell him what happened at Foster’s that day. We aren’t that close!
“Can you give me a little privacy, please,” I mutter to him, figuring this was the best way out. He shrugs, walking over to the computer across from mine. I turn back to the screen, my mind becoming clouded with memories again. It’s been kind of fun out here with my granny and Jake. But I really miss Mac. I now have an intense desire to kiss him…hold him…make love to him. I want to feel his arms around me. I want him to hug me tight into a ball against him, the way he does when we’re alone. To hear him softly whisper he loves me, the way he did over and over when he wants me to fall asleep in his arms. I suddenly feel like crying and I try to suck it up as I write my reply. “I wanna go, now,” I murmur over to Jacob after I hit the ‘send’ button.

January

I lay in my new bed, staring at the ceiling of my new room. I rub my swollen tummy, wondering what to name the child inside it. I shrug to myself, giving up. My parents let me name myself, which, in hindsight, might not have been the best of ideas. But they wanted me to express myself. They never smothered my creativity. Then again, if they had put a limit on it, then I probably wouldn’t have made all those imaginary friends. I mean, sure, the main reason I made so much was because I was lonely, but my creativity was a factor in overloading Foster’s so many times. Then again, if I didn’t make all those imaginary friends, I probably wouldn’t have met Mac…

A light bulb goes off and I decide to let Mac decide. Mac will name our child. I’ll send him an e-mail telling him such and I’ll tell him to make sure it’s unique and special and…What am I thinking. Mac can’t name it. He named his imaginary friend Bloo! Bloo! Not very creative, if you asks me. I close my eyes, deciding I’ll contemplate this later.

I can feel Mac against me. In his warm embrace, I feel forever loved. He says something, but I can’t hear it. Then, everything gets darker and darker until I can no longer see. I no longer feel his arms around me. I feel lost. I feel alone. I trip and fall to my death.
It knocked me out of my sleep. Tears were swelling in my eyes. I barely opened them, not even enough to see. I just laid there in my bed and cried.

“G-goo?” came a voice.

I ignored it.

“Goo are you alright? You’re shaking…”

It wasn’t the voice I longed to hear.

“…Y-you’re scaring me, Goo.”

I didn’t look up or acknowledge to voice in any way.

“Should I get Boo?”

I wanted it to go away, but when I heard the foot steps I reached out to it. I held a handful of fabric. I didn‘t care enough to decipher if it was boxers or a shirt I was holding on to. “Stay,” I hear myself sob. I still didn’t look at the person as tears ran down my face to the pillow. I let go of him and a few second later I felt the weight of the bed shift. Hesitant arms wrap around me. It wasn’t Mac. I turn into his chest, anyway. I soak up his shirt with tears as he awkwardly rubbed my back. “I-I…m-miss…I w-want…M-Ma…” I hear myself fumble out.
“I um…,” he whispers nervously. I can feel his heart pounding. “I know you miss your home…and that guy…but, um…it’s not like you’re gonna be here forever. You’re gonna leave us and go back to him…,” he whispers into my ear. His words were meant to be encouraging, but his sad voice made me feel bad. I take hold of him, hugging him ten times stronger.
“I…I love him,” I sputter out.
“I know…I’ve just gotten too use to ya, I guess.”
“I l-love you and gra-granny too.”
“I know…I wasn’t asking you to choose,” he says and I know he means it. It’s really quite as I cry into his shirt. I keep crying until I forget why I was crying in the first place.

I woke up, surprise to find myself alone. Did I dream Jake came into my room? If so, then that’s definitely going on the list of weirdest dreams. I slowly got up, my nostrils instantly became filled with the scent of pancakes. That was weird. The fact that Grandma didn’t wake me for breakfast, not the fact that I smell pancakes. Nothing weird about pancakes. Just weird that Granny didn’t wake me. I was about to head to the kitchen when Granny came in with a plate of strawberries and pancakes.
“Oh, you’re up,” she says in delight. “Jacob said you weren’t feeling well, so I was gonna let you sleep in.”

I nod. She gave me a kiss and a invite to come paint with her when I’m done eating, before she left. I sat in my room, silently eating when I saw Jacob pass by. “Hey, you!” I called out to him. He walks backwards until he hits my doorway.
“Yeah?”
“I um…I wanted to thank you for…last night, I mean,” I say and his cheeks became red. He shrugs and was about to leave. “Did you mean it?” I ask.
“What?”
“Did you mean it when you said you loved me and didn’t want me to leave?”
“I never said that!” Jake sneers, blushing. I give him a look and he gets a little less defensive. He shrugs.
“I dunno. Your growing on me. Your kinda like a little sister, I guess.”

“How can you think of me as your little sister? I’m older than you! I mean, if--”
“What I mean is,” he yells over me,“I know when you leave that I’ll…you know…miss you and junk,” his voice getting really low at the ‘miss you’ part.
“Hmmm.”
“What?”
“I don’t really know when I’ll be leaving. I mean, I like it here, but I really do wanna go home…”
“You miss your boyfriend…it’s understandable, I guess.”
“It’s not just that…I miss my parents, my friends, everything. Here, I spend all my time with you. Don’t take that the wrong way. I mean, it’s not like I don’t enjoy your company or anything. Its just…I don’t know!” I said, not really sure what I’m talking about anymore. “Can I talk to you…about Mac?”
“Who? Oh, yeah, your boyfriend. Um…Honestly…”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry I even asked.”
“Hey, big brothers shouldn’t have to listen to their little sister’s about boyfriends.”
“I’m older than you! You can’t--”
“Technically, I’m your uncle,” he cuts me off, “It’s either big bro or Uncle Jacob, make your choice.”

“You’re such a prick,” I say, giving him a slight shove.
“Don’t touch me,” he says half-jokingly, lightly slapping my hand away.

A/N: Hello everyone. I know it’s been a while, but I had no internet. Was this chapter worth the wait?…probably not. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway. the japanese said earlier translates to "Idiot, before going to japn, i learned some useful phrases by heart." anyway, in my mental timeline of how things progress, i do believe Goo is all caught up with mac. new chapter coming soon. will be way better, promise.