Jocelyn was ready for her brother to turn up, wanting to get as far away from school as she possibly could. She had promised not to skip any more, but after the way her day had gone, she was ready to break that promise and start cutting classes regularly. There was the annoying new kid, whose name she could not remember, and now Jenna and her annoying posse of airheads on her back. If anything else could go wrong, she wasn’t planning on sticking around to see it. Going home without any further encounters was her full intent, and she waited patiently for her brother’s little black car to pull up in front of the school so she could slip in and get the hell out of there before anything or anyone else had the chance to heckle her. She thought she could make it, but just before her brother’s car came into view, one of the top people on her list of those to avoid decided to turn up, his words doing little else than annoying her even more. 

“Are you seriously starting with me right now?” Jocelyn huffed indignantly, wishing that her brother’s car could magically skip past the line in front of him and move in front of her so that she could escape without having to stand there with Tora. She could already imagine what her brother would be thinking if he saw the two of them standing together, and she was hoping that she could avoid hearing what he might have to say. Tora was standing beside her, and smiling, which from anyone else’s point of view would have made them appear to be friends. No matter how much Jocelyn might argue against it, there was no way her sibling would believe that she couldn’t stand the kid, not when she was making little effort to move away from him. That wasn’t because she wanted to stay close, she just didn’t want to move away from her usual pickup spot. “Can’t you find some other girl to harass? I’m not you’re type, especially if you think calling me hot is going to earn you some kind of points.” 

She definitely could not figure out what his game was, not when he made it a point to get on her nerves every time he opened his mouth. If he was trying to make friends, he had a weird way of doing it, since she was the least friendly person she could think of. Sure, it was fun going back and forth, but after a while it started getting on her nerves. “Seriously, go away before my brother gets here. I don’t need him thinking we’re friends. I’ll never hear the end of it.” She scanned the line of cars again, and to her dismay her brother’s vehicle was now only three cars away, and he was peering curiously over at her and Tora through the windshield. She caught Aidan’s eye for a moment, his gaze traveling back over to Tora with a small smirk forming on his lips. “Crap….now he’s going to think I like you.” She muttered angrily, turning her head to glare heatedly over at the boy. “I hope you’re happy now. Not only is the whole school probably talking, now I have to deal with it at home too.” 

To make matters worse, her brother was not interested in letting Jocelyn explain herself all alone, nor was he going to allow her to rush away from Tora in retreat. . He did not step out of his car, but he opened the window and waved her over. “Come on, Joc. Let’s go. Bring your friend too.” Growling, Jocelyn looked back at Tora, her eyes narrowing and head shaking from side to side. “I really hope you’re happy with yourself. He’s not going to take no for an answer.”

Jocelyn stepped up to the passenger side of her brother’s car, popping the door open to peer inside at her older sibling. “He’s not coming with us, so forget about it.” She snapped, ready to reach across the car to slap her brother who looked smugly back at her. “Sure he is. I’ve never seen you stand outside with anyone, and I want to know who my little sister is involved with. Now watch out and let your boyfriend in the car.” Aidan hadn’t realized how poorly his sister was going to take the joke until she unshouldered her backpack to throw it at him. “He’s not my boyfriend!” She growled out, fuming over the sound of her brother’s amused laughter and the way he continued to motion Tora forward. “Hey, you! Get in the car, I’ll give you a lift home, and you can tell me all about how you hooked up with my sister.” Aidan didn’t often get a chance to tease his sister, and now that he had something to hold over her, he was not letting go of it. He doubted that the boy that had been standing beside her was involved with her in anyway, but he looked friendly enough, and Aidan, along with their aunt, were both trying to encourage her to make friends. “Come on, I promise I won’t let her hit you.” 

Jocelyn was infuriated, but she had already a big enough fuss to cause a scene, and she did not want to embarrass herself any further. Leaving the car door open, she stepped out of the way and motioned for Tora to get into the car. “Might as well get in. He won’t take no for an answer, and he won’t believe me if I tell him you’re not my boyfriend.”