Joel slapped his hands on his knees and rose from the arm chair. "No. No way, Marlene-" He began to pace the room, frustrated.
Marlene looked out the glass door next to her seat on the desk. It was getting late, the sun was setting, and the autumn breeze was rustling the large tree in the backyard, causing the leaves to scatter at its base.
"Joel. She needs this, ok?" Marlene adjusted herself to face Joel, who now stood under the archway leading into the kitchen, hands on his hips, a disgruntled glare plastered on his face. "It'll be just for a few weeks, and then she'll be out of here before you know it. Besides," she spread out her arms and gestured to the entire house, "you could use some help fixing the place up-"
"No!" Joel closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before looking at the stubborn woman. "Now, I don't want some teenager hangin' around my house all afternoon, alright? Can't she find someplace else? How 'bout Louis' farm-" Desperation was seeping through his voice, and Marlene knew it wouldn't be long before he gave up. She knew her friend too well...
"He's already got some kids helping him out. Come on Joel! Just...let her clean up a bit, plant some flowers, paint a wall, anything!"
He began to pace the room again, focusing on adjusting his rolled up sleeves. Marlene watched him carefully until the weary Texan finally released a defeated sigh. He knew that Marlene would not stop until he gave in.
"...fine." Marlene lightly slammed her palm on the table, letting out a satisfied breath and smiled. "Fine, I'll let her help out. But only until she's got what she needs, ok? After that, I don't want you goin' around tellin' kids they can come volunteer here-"
"Thank you Joel," Marlene exclaimed, jumping from her seat. Joel followed her into the living room. "I promise she won't cause any trouble..." She stopped, hovering over the door handle, and with a second thought murmured, "Well... she won't cause too much trouble." Before Joel could ask what she meant, the door had slammed shut and she was gone.
Joel stood next to his couch beginning to regret his decision. Letting out an exhausted sigh, he collapsed on his umber couch, threw his arm over his eyes to block the scintillating light of the sunset burning through the blinds, and fell into a deep and well deserved sleep.
~~~0~~~
The familiar rhythmic knock woke Joel up the next morning. Pulling himself up from the sofa with a soft grunt, he made his way to the door, stumbling a bit before opening it.
"Morning Joel."
He rubbed his face and ran his hands through his white flecked hair, forcing a gruff reply heavy with sleep. "Mornin' Marlene." He was about to ask her what she needed, when he noticed a pair of jade eyes narrowed at him from behind the woman.
He furrowed his brown in confusion and slight annoyance at the judgment behind their stare. He focused on Marlene's face looking for an answer to his silent question, but was met with a raised brow and warning eyes he knew too well: You promised. Don't forget.
Joel sighed and cleared his throat, "Right... the kid. All right then, uh... come on in..." Marlene stepped in and the auburn haired teen followed, bluntly eyeing the entire house (which Joel will admit was a little... unmaintained.) with a look of obvious disdain.
Shutting the door behind him, Joel crossed his arms and waited for the next step. The little punk was now looking at him with contempt. The crease on his brow deepened for a second before he turned to Marlene, who noticing the awkward tension, finally spoke up.
"Joel, this is Ellie, the young lady who's going to help out for the next couple of weeks. Ellie, this is Joel. He's a real good guy who's gonna give you some chores to do in exchange for your hours, ok? Remember, you need to do 70 hours of volunteer work, which means you'll be here for a while, so don't give Joel a hard time. And Joel? Let's play nice, ok?"
With a slight huff and hesitant nod from both of them, Marlene clasped her hands and began to slink away.
"Remember, if there's a problem, or you have any questions, call me... that goes for the both of you. Good luck..."
After the door closed, Ellie immediately turned to face Joel who began to make his way into the kitchen, making sure to pass Ellie with as much space between them as possible, which meant a ridiculous trip around the coffee table. He opened the fridge and was looking for a drink when he heard the girl drop her bag on the counter.
"...you smell like beer and sweat."
Joel closed his eyes, hand ready to pop the cap of his first beer of the day, and suppressed an inappropriate response. Lord, give me strength...
"Yea, ok, here's how this is gonna work." He turned towards the island and took a sip of beer. Ellie stared at him with a stolid look, waiting for him to continue. "Clearly, neither of us are happy to be in this situation. But I'm not an idiot and I know better than to argue with Marlene for too long. So let's just...tolerate each other...for her, ok?"
Joel waited for a response, but she just rolled her eyes and nodded looking at her hands splayed out on the counter.
"So you'll be comin' over for how long exactly?"
She closes one eye and begins to count on her fingers. "Hm...about three months. I have to help you out every weekend until New Years if I want to get these hours done in time. That means I'm going to need to be here a few hours at a time."
"...um...ok-"
"Oh and here," Ellie pulls out a folder containing pages with a blank table. "This is what you have to fill out and sign so I can take it to school and log it in."
She hands him the folder and Joel cautiously takes it and looks it over. Simple enough...
"...alright then, kid. So I guess you start today. I've got some weeds that we need to get rid of from the front yard and the back. Help me with that and then we'll see what else you can do."
Joel motions for Ellie to follow him into the garage. He gives her his pair of gloves and then walks out to the driveway. He begins to explain what part of the yard they're going to focus on first. "We're gonna start under that window there and then work our way around to the back," he explains while pointing towards the area next to the porch.
Joel kneels down on the dirt and clarifies which plants to pull out ("Just pull the weeds, not the asters- no that's weed, get that one...good, just keep doin' that...yea, you go on ahead of me and I'll get the ones you miss, don't worry 'bout it.") They finally began a steady pace around the rest of the house.
When they reach the side of the house, Joel pulls away a handful of weeds before straightening up with a soft grunt. He places a hand on his lower back and wipes away sweat from his forehead, turning to to look at Ellie who was a few feet away. Poor girl was drenched in sweat. Even Joel had to admit that heat was almost unbearable. She had fussed around with her ponytail before picking up her hair in a loose bun.
He was impressed that she hadn't complained, aside from the occasional frustrated sigh and curse when she got a hold of a tough plant. ("Don't worry 'bout it, just keep goin'...I'll get it...just...just keep goin', Ellie, I'll get it when I get there.")
They finally reach the backyard and Joel can sense the teenager's patience depleting. She's rushing through and missing a lot of plants, slowing Joel down.
When she reaches the last corner of the yard, Ellie stands up, hands on her hips, and breathes out exaggeratedly, face towards the harsh sun.
Joel looks up from where he's kneeling and wipes his face with his dirt covered shirt, squinting up at Ellie. "Problem?"
"Yea, it's fucking hot, dude! I thought it was supposed to be nice in October-"
"Not around noon it isn't. Plus it's too early in the month." He puts his hands on his knees and heaves himself up, cracking his back and feeling the soreness in his legs from being on the ground for so long. Man, I'm feeling my age now...
Rubbing his hands on his tarnished jeans, delayed realization crosses his face and he turns to the girl. "Also, don't call me dude."
Ellie says nothing, shuffles her feet a bit, and looks the other way, glove adorned hands on her hips. He knew very well that she was rolling her eyes.
Sigh. "Alright kid, what'll it be? Water or water?" Joel asks walking into his kitchen through the sliding glass door and towards the fridge.
"Well how can I possibly choose from all those wonderful options!"
"...Don't be sarcastic, kid."
"You were being sarcastic too! Fine, I'll take a beer...also, don't call me kid."
He turns to look at her and is met with a cheeky smirk. Joel shakes his head, trying to hide his smirk, and hands her a glass of water.
They cool off in the air conditioning before going back outside to finish the last of their work silently. By the time Marlene comes by, they're both smelly, dirty, worn out, and situated on opposite ends of the couch.
Ellie grabs her belongings and reminds Joel to fill out the paper for the day ("Yea, yea..."), heading out the door.
Marlene thanks him and shuts the door behind her.
Joel walks up to his room and peels off his filthy clothes, takes a quick shower, and practically passes out.