"Dana, is Ms. Payne''s backpack ready?"
As they finished eating, Shanley instinctively reached for a napkin to wipe Juniper''s hands, but he caught Jimmie''s stare out of the corner of his eye. His fingers twitched, and he awkwardly dabbed at his own lips instead.
"It''s ready." Dana brought out the backpack.
Shanley checked its contents. "Put some bread in there. Juniper gets hungry in the afternoon."
"Oh, my memory, Ipletely forgot," Dana said with an embarrassedugh, rushing to add the snack.
Jimmie, who had lost his appetite, simply watched the entire exchange in silence.
"Let''s go, Juniper." After a final check to ensure nothing was missing, Shanley turned to her. "Bring a jacket. It''s supposed to rain today."
"Okay.” Juniper obediently grabbed her jacket and followed Shanley out the door.
From start to finish, aside from peeling a few shrimp, Jimmie hadn''t been able to contribute at all.
On the way to school, Juniper sat quietly in the corner, ying a game on her phone.
"Ahem."
She had eaten too much that morning, and her stomach felt a little upset.
"Have some water."
Just as Jimmie was about to find her some water, Shanley had already twisted open a bottle and was holding it to her lips. Juniper didn''t even have to turn her head; she just drank from it as it was held.
The motion was so practiced, so familiar, it was as if they had done it a thousand times before. Was this how they always were? What kind of brother was so meticulously attentive to his sister?
After watching his sister walk into the school, Jimmie felt a growing sense of unease on the drive home. He pulled out his phone and called his agent. “I need you to find out which girl Shanley is seen with the most."
He knew Shanley supposedly had someone he was interested in. If he could just confirm who it was, he could rest easy. But if Shanley really had his sights set on Juniper...
Jimmie''s expression darkened, his fists clenching.
After school, Juniper found herself cornered by several of her teachers.
"We agreed today was for essay writing! Don''t you understand firste, first served?" the literature teacher dered.
"You clearly said it was math today! I even prepared the worksheets," the math teacher countered.
"Is my chemistry ss not important? It''s worth a hundred points!" the chemistry teacher chimed in. Students in their sses were a waiting for Juniper to break down the key topics so they could pass the information along.
“I don''t care, she''s mine today," insisted the literature teacher.
"Anyone who tries to take her from me is making an enemy," threatened the math teacher.
"Fine by me,” the chemistry teacher shot back.
The arguing gave Juniper a headache. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she was forced to create a tutoring schedule. Half an hour every afternoon. For her teachers. Today''s lottery winner was the math teacher.
After the session, the math teacher walked her to the school gate. "I heard you have something on tonight, so you''ll be a bitte for evening study hall?"
"Yes," Juniper nodded. “I''ll be back as soon as I can.”
"No rush," the math teacher chuckled. "Just be safe. As long as you''re here before ss ends, it''s fine."
He''d heard the physics teacher was always giving her time off. After all the tutoring Juniper had given him that old man was now confidently preparing to enter the Global Physics Olympiad He wanted enter the math one mimself but was just missing that special something. Juniper was that something. He had to keep her happy.
“Thank you, sir.” Juniper politely bid him farewell and hailed a cab to theb.
The preliminary gic analysis report was ready. Her fingers
trembled as she read the word
"simrity The matching giet
markers indicated an extremely high probability of a close familiab rtionship. Just two more tests, and it would be confirmed.
The likelihood that Melvin was her brother was incredibly high. Barring any
surprises, she would have her answer tomorrow.