"I'm not really working too late tonight, only till about nine. So if you want you can take her to the park after then stop by the cafe at the end of my shift,"
"Yeah, sure, that works," Trinity agreed. She was actually looking forward to this night. Jenny was one of the cutest pre-schoolers you could ever meet. Her dark brown hair, which she got from her mother, had grown to about her shoulders now. And she was doing her best to talk in complete sentences, doing her best to pronounce every word right.
"Just one more thing," Jake started, they walked into the living room where Jenny was sitting on the couch watching a video, "Jenny, remember Trinity? She's going to baby-sit you tonight while daddy is at work,"
"Hi Trin-uh-tee," Jenny said, smiling, "Babysitting me? I'm gonna go and gets my babysitting kit then," Jenny hopped off the couch and ran off to her room.
"Right, one more thing, last person who babysat her was Brooke," Jake said, as if that answered everything.
"Brooke? Babysitting kit?" Trinity finally pieced these things together. Jenny then came running back into the room with a small container of make-up.
"Make-up. Thanks to Brooke's brilliance,"
"Oh, how great, so that's okay if.. uhm, we use it?"
"Oh yeah, sure, it's fine, comes off easy. But I should get going before I end up being late, bye Jenny, daddy's going to work now,"
"Bye daddy!" she ran to give Jake a kiss then returned to her make-up.
"Have fun," he said to Trinity then he was out the door.
"Trin-uh-tee, come on, I haves to do your make up! I can make you pretty,"
"Aren't I pretty already?" she joked with the youngster as she sat beside her on the couch.
"Yesh.. but I can make you prettier," Jenny said, nodding and opening the kit.
"Alright Miss Jagelski, do your worst," Trinity laughed, leaning back and letting the little girl play. It was an enjoyable time they shared, Jenny explaining about her day with dad while Trinity nodded along, asking questions and making sure Jenny felt good and happy.
Trinity glanced at her watch after Jenny was done her makeup. It was about seven thirty now. "Jenny, you want to go to the park?"
"Then after the park we go see daddy?" Trinity could see a longing in her eyes to see her dad again. At that point she realized how close Jake and Jenny were, even at such a young age. It made Trinity think about her relationship with her father. It was really a give and take sort of situation, with good days and bad days between them. Mostly bad. That's how it was with Nathan and their father. And Lucas.
"Yeah, after the park we'll go to the cafe,"
Haley walked into the local music store with Brooke by her side. It was only a few days before full classes started at the community college they were both going to attend and Brooke had insisted on going shopping. Haley agreed, only if they went to the music store first. She needed some new cds.
"Tutor wife, we aren't going to be here long are we? We have important stores to hit today," Brooke complained. They were only in the store for barely five minutes and they were already starting.
"Brooke, I don't complain when we go to those useless lingerie stores do I?" Haley replied to her friend as she flipped through some cds.
"Of course you don't, because I always see you eyeing those skimpy outfits. With that undying sensation to buy them to wear for Nathan," Brooke joked.
"Okay, no," Haley said, finally finding the cd she wanted, "The Get-Up Kids, alright, now we can go,"
"Phew, I can't take this place and it's constant play of emo music," Brooke admitted as they walked up to the till.
"What would you rather us play? Beyonce?" an annoyed voice from behind the cash register spoke.
"Yes, anything but what you already play," Brooke retorted, leaning against the counter.
"Ignore her," Haley defended her friend, putting her cd on the counter. She took out her wallet looking for her money.
The guy behind the counter looked at the identification in her wallet then smiled a bit, "Haley James, right? You used to play at that cafe,"
Haley laughed a bit, "Haley James-Scott, and yes, I did. But that was like.. almost two years ago now." She paid for her purchase and took the bag.
"That's too bad you don't play anymore, you weren't that bad,"
"Alright, thanks" Brooke read his name-tag, "Chris, but we have places to be, plus this music is killing my ears," Brooke walked out of the store, waiting for Haley outside.
"Thanks, really," Haley replied to him, a chipper smile on her face.
Chris reached into his back pocket and pulled out a card, "Trust me, you have some potential. Call me sometime if you are interested in a future," He dropped the card on the table then walked into the back of the store. Haley looked at the card with a promising smile. Chris Keller.
Lucas stepped onto the basketball court of the university. It was his first real practice as part of the team and he was really pumped up about it. After lunch he started having strange aches in his chest, but he chest sensed it was heartburn from the spicy food he had to eat. He was sitting on the ground stretching when he saw Peyton walk in and onto the bleachers. Practice was always an open event for anyone to come in and experience. He quickly got up and walked over to where she was sitting.
"Hey," he said, looking her in the eye. She smiled at him and walked down to the floor level.
"Hey, you ready for your first big practice?" she joked with him, crossing her arms.
"It looks like you are," he replied to her, pointing to her sketchbook. She shrugged.
"Gives me something to do, can't stay in the dorm room all day,"
"Good point," Lucas said, stretching his arms a bit.
"How's Dim doing?" Peyton asked, referring to Tim with his old nickname.
"Actually looks like he might be late for his first practice," Lucas laughed, "I don't know how he got here on scholarship at all,"
"I guess it's just the way things work out," Peyton smiled, then motioning to the people on the court meeting up, "Looks like you should go, I'll be watching,"
Lucas gave her a smile then walked back onto the court to where his team was. The practice began slowly, with laps around the court. Lucas jogged them slowly, as the pain in his chest was growing worse slowly. He took a few deep breaths and the pain stopped for a bit, just in time for a quick pickup game. The coach wanted a game this early in practice to see how the team worked together, how they played and meshed with each other.
The line Lucas was put on worked together well, their passing skills already quite strong. As Lucas ran down the court, he knew he had a break away going for him. Tim passed him the ball and he went up for the shot, which sailed in perfectly. Just as he released the ball though, he fell to the ground. Collapsed more like it. No one had realized until they were another third of a way down the court, about the same time Peyton saw Lucas lying there. She let out a loud yell of his name and they all rushed to his side.
Peyton raced down the bleachers to the huddle of people.
"We need to call an ambulance," the coach announced, checking Lucas' vitals and looking quite frantic.
"Here, use my phone," Peyton exclaimed, rushing to the side of the coach and handing him the phone.
She whispered to herself, "Oh Luke, you better be okay,"
"Are we's going to the cafe to see daddy now Trin-uh-tee?" Jenny asked as she skipped along the sidewalk. It was sort of an uncomfortable skip, as she was holding Trinity's hand.
"Yes, we are," Trinity smiled as they arrived at the cafe. She opened the door, the familiar bell chiming as it opened, and Jenny raced over to the counter, which she still couldn't see over.
"Daddy?" she asked.
"Here kiddo," Trinity said, lifting her up and putting her on one of the stools. Assuming Jake was doing something in the back, Trinity waited for someone to come out.
"Muffin?" Jenny asked, pointing to the pile of blueberry muffins sitting on the counter.
"How about we split one?" Trinity offered, not wanting hand Jake off with a full of muffin daughter, who might just get more energy from the snack.
"O-tay," Jenny said smiling. Even sitting at the stool her head barely was the height of the counter but she still enjoyed the aspect of sitting up there. Trinity grabbed a muffin and ripped it in half, leaving half on top of a napkin for Jenny. There was only a few people in the cafe, a group of friends over in the corner booth laughing and sipping coffee. Trinity gave a second look at the group, recognizing a few of the people. There sat Janessa, Ryland and some other people she had hung out with in previous years. She laughed to herself. They seemed so fake now.
"Daddy!" Jenny exclaimed as Jake appeared from behind the counter area.
"Hey baby," Jake said to her, "Oh you look so pretty," He was referring to the make-up Jenny had done on herself, without using a mirror. It looked really cute.
"Hey Jake," Trinity said, biting into her piece of muffin.
"Oh now don't you look nice Miss Scott," Jake laughed, quickly wiping down the counter. Trinity had let Jenny do whatever she wanted to do to her with the make up. She didn't mind either.
Moments later, as Trinity was explaining what they had done tonight, Karen walked out from behind as well. She looked quite happy and refreshed.
"Is that Jenny?" she asked the little girl playfully, "You look so big!"
"Yesh it's Jenny," Jenny said happily.
"And Trinity, it's good to see you in here again," Karen smiled at her and she smiled back. Suddenly the phone rang, as if on cue for the small silence.
"Want me to get that?" Jake asked, as he was still on shift. Only a few minutes, but he was still on shift.
"No, it's okay, you get ready to go," Karen said to him as she went to answer.
"Karen's Cafe," they heard her answer, then there was a silence. The look on Karen's face slowly faded into a worried, close to tears sort of face, "What? Wait... oh my god Lucas..."
(ahksjdhgkjsdhgksfdg thats the end! ahha, for now, end of chapter. i really felt my usual style and type of writing got into this chapter, i loved the way it turned out :) i probably played jenny sorta young, but thats okay :) and i had to throw in 'o-tay' cause of the little rascals. teehee. if you are reading this, go review, cause i love you. adn i love you all for reading, and i am glad you are happy with my longer chapters :P thanks for reading!)
