Chapter 12

I wrote this whole thing on notebook paper during the winter retreat with the youth group!

12

"So...do anything interesting at school today?" Blake said as he picked hungrily at his dinner.
Jenn took a sip of milk.
"Jenn?"
She gulped quickly and pointedly took a bite of lasagna. Then, motioning at her outh, mumbled, "Mouf fuh..."
"Seth?" he asked, dissapointed.
Seth wiped his mouth and set his napkid down on the tablecloth. "Uh...self-portraits...in...art?"
Sasha nodded her head."Fun,fun."
Seth shrugged.
"Seth has Science with Sam," Jenn said. "She's pretty psyched."
Seth dipped an eyebrow. "She talks a lot," he mumbled.
Sahsa smiled knowingly. Jenn just looked at him.
"Don't get me wrong, she's bery nice," he added quickly.
Jenn grinned and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
The table was silent for a uncomforable minute.
"May I have more lasanga?" Blake held his plate out to his wife.
"She took it from his hands. "sure."
"So, Seth, do you have any hobbies?" Blake asked, taking a big forkful.
Seth shrugged. "Guitar."
"Oh! Okay, that's cool," Blake said, "What songs?"
Seth tapped his long, pale fingers on the table. "I figure them out as I go."
Jenn suddenly got this "epiphany" look on her face. "So you play by ear?" she asked.
Seth nodded. "You're brilliant>"
She smirked.
Sasha spoke up. "Would you be willing to play for us?"
Seth frowned. "Uh...no."
Jenn pouted and Blake busily cut his food. "Please?" Jenn begged.
Seth shook his head. "I don't feel comfortable playing in front of people."
Sasha pursed her lips. "I know how that feels. I used to play the flute and was so embarrassed playing in front of groups."
One of Seth's dark eyebrows was down. "Yeah..."
"You can play for us when you're ready," Blake added.

* * *

"Hey, Seth!" Flashman called, motioning with his hand for Seth to join him in the computer lab at school. "Let me show you how to hack a computer's hard drive."

It was access period, and they had time to finish homework and projects.

Seth, of course, had nothing to wok on, because he'd only started school the day before. So he warily walked over to Flashman and pulled up a chair from the neighboring computer monitor.

"So, okay, first I need to check my blog real quick..." Flashman started, clicking open the Internet icon.

Seth frowned. "What's a blog?" he asked.

"Random text and crap I decide to share with the world," Flashman said plainly, his eyes never leaving the screen.

The Internet window opened and Flashman typed in the address. A screen popped up and the title "FLASHMAN!!" became visible against the dark blue background. The caption read "Providing hacks at ALL hours."

A teacher walked up behind them and gripped the back of Seth's chair.

"Doing homework, boys?" she asked.

Flashman tensed. "Yeah...I'm doing a report on basic computer DNA," he said unconvincingly.

"Sure," the teacher said. "And you're getting off now."

Seth's eyebrows drew together."He's just doing a project, come on."

She looked at him like he was crazy and walked away.

"Thanks, dude," Flashman said, slapping him on the shoulder.

"No prob."

"So first, you --"

"Look, I have some makeup homework to do," a lie, "so I'll see you later."

Flashman paused and frowned. "Oh. Well, uh, okay."

"See you later," Seth muttered and walked out of the lab.

The hallway was empty and had an almost ominous feeling to it.

Seth sat next to a wall and put his face in his hands.

Half of Chapter 11

“Who was that?” Blake asked, holding the door open for Seth.
Sasha looked a little shaken. “I don’t know.”
Jenn walked into the room and saw everyone a little freaked out. “Uh…is everyone okay?” her eyes met Seth’s.
One of his eyebrows dipped. “Yeah, some strange guy just came and verbally assaulted your mom,” he said, shaking his head. “No big deal.”
Blake gripped Seth’s shoulder. “Uh…Saush, what’s for dinner?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.
Seth tensed and held Jenn’s gaze. “Who was that?” Jenn asked Sasha.
Sasha looked at Seth uneasily. “Um…it was someone who said he worked for Seth’s dad.”
Seth frowned. “Wait, where does he work?”
“He didn’t say.”
Blake rocked back and forth on his feet. “Can…can we discuss this over dinner? I’m bushed.”
They all looked at him. His blue eyes were wide and scared. “Okay,” Sasha said. “I made some lasagna and it’s in the oven. It’s not quite ready,” she looked at Blake. “Can I talk to you in private?”
Seth and Jenn exchanged glances. “Sure,” Blake said.
The kids were left in the living room alone as Jenn’s parents walked down the hallway towards the family room.
Seth shifted his feet. “I thought he was dead,” he said, sounding disappointed, going over to the stairs to put his new clothes in ‘his room’.
Jenn followed. “Why did you think that?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Well, for one, he left seven years ago and didn’t come back,” he said, stopping at the top of the stairs and waiting for Jenn. “Two, he never sent us letters or anything. We never heard from him.”
Jenn stopped and stood by him at the top.
Seth was a good four inches taller than her, and her eyes were about level to his chin. Jenn looked up at his dark face and he peered down at her through a few strands of his black hair.
“When’s your birthday?” she asked suddenly, eyes questioning.
His chin moved back a half inch in surprise. “What?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “When is your birthday?”
One of his eyebrows dipped. “November eleventh,” he said. “Uh…yours?”
“January fifteenth,” her brow furrowed and she was silent for a minute. “What year?” she asked.
“Ninety-three,” he said. “Why?”
She wrinkled her nose. “You’re older than me.”
Seth laughed, his face breaking it’s normal impassive state. “Of all the things you could worry about, it’s me being older,” he chuckled.
Jenn rolled her eyes. “How old were you when your dad left?” she continued.
He stopped laughing and just looked at her. “Six.”
“Huh,” Jenn concluded.
She didn’t say any more about the subject. Seth held his bag a little higher. “I’ve got to go put these away,” he started walking towards his room, Jenn following.
“So,” she persisted, “that would give your dad plenty of time to…I dunno…like, start things over, you know? Like maybe you have half siblings in Britain, or something, and your dad mentioned you, and they decided they wanted to meet you.”
They got to his door and he turned the handle and stopped. “What are you getting at?” he asked, a little irritated.
She shrugged. “I dunno, I thought that maybe you have a better life outside all of this. Like, maybe you really do have somewhere to go. Maybe your dad wants you back.”
Seth opened the door and walked to ‘his’ dresser. “I don’t think so. I mean, you don’t just show up after seven years and demand custody of your kid that you don’t really know.”
Jenn sat on his bed and fingered his guitar. “Maybe you do.”
He frowned and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. “Are you trying to get rid of me or something?” he questioned.
She looked up and smiled at him. “No,” she said, “I'm just giving you hope.”
Seth scowled. “Hope?”
“Yeah. Someone obviously wants you, and I think you should try and find them.”