42 Chapter 42 Decided
"Is everyone excited for the fair?" Mary asks everyone at the table.
"I am!" exclaims Missy as she grabs some cabbage.
"Connor and I are too," says Paige, speaking for me as my mouth is full.
"Of course," says Georgie.
At that moment, when Mary asks this to the table, Sheldon freezes and remains like that for a few seconds before finally saying, "I'll pass," refusing to go.
"But you're going," Mary argues with Sheldon, already expecting this reaction from him.
At this moment, Georgie intervenes.
"What time do I need to arrive to help set up?" Georgie asks, intending to assist with the fair.
"At noon," Mary unconsciously responds.
George, who was at the end of the table, looked suspiciously at his son and asked, "Are you going to help, then?"
Georgie replies, "I am," convinced.
Still suspicious, George says again, "Why?"
Georgie then shrugs and says, "I just want to help my mom... and God."
At this moment, Missy speaks with disgust in her tone, "You're only helping because Veronica will be there."
At that moment, Georgie thinks quickly and says, "And who made Veronica?" and points to the ceiling.
Later, Mary was at the back of the house retouching a poster for the fair, along with Paige.
"Thank you so much, Paige, for offering to help me," Mary says to her little helper.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Cooper, I'm having a lot of fun," Paige replies with a smile on her face.
"Oh dear, you don't have to call me Mrs. Cooper, Mary is fine," Mary says, also with a smile.
At that moment, Sheldon comes from inside the house and asks Mary, "Mom, Missy said grandma is upset because of Dr. Sturgis."
"Don't worry, she'll forget about it," Mary says, the cheerful mood returning.
"The question is, will she forget by Friday at four in the afternoon? That's when we leave for my class," Sheldon asks his mother, who was busy retouching.
"I don't know, Shelly, these things are complicated," Mary tries to explain to Sheldon not to worry about it.
Ignoring what his mother said, Sheldon says, "I think she might leave me outside. What do you think about me crossing the parking lot alone?"
Seeing where this conversation is going, Mary gives in and says, "I have an idea. Until she feels up to it, I'll take you."
"Thank you, the parking lot still makes me nervous," Sheldon says, making a sound that appears to be a sigh.
"Mhmm, want to help me with these posters?" Mary asks Sheldon, who immediately responds with, "No way I'm wasting my time making posters," and turns and goes back inside the house.
At this moment, Mary sighs and says, "They would line up to throw him in the dunk tank," and then looks at Paige, who was strangely quiet making the poster, and wonders, "Why such a big difference, Lord?"
The next day,
Georgie asks, "Does he really have to wear that?" he asks Sheldon, who was using an umbrella while talking to Missy.
"Mary, George, I'll take Missy and Paige to play in the attractions. Take care of Sheldon before he gets beaten up," I say to George and Mary, who stopped to look at me in a strange way.
After Connor and the girls left, George and Mary looked at each other and George said, "I think we're the parents here," George said indignantly. "For a moment, I thought I was talking to my dad," Mary said exaggeratedly.
As soon as we were out of their sight, we went to enjoy the booths around.
"Look over there, Missy, popcorn!" Paige exclaims like a true child as she grabs Missy's hand and drags her along.
Helplessly, I follow behind. "Finally, you arrived, you slowpoke. Come on, give me money," Missy says in a commanding tone that sounds strangely cute.
As soon as they bought popcorn, the girls went from one attraction to another.
"Look, Connor, a throwing game, let's go," Missy says as she drags me along without a choice.
Approaching the booth, we hear Pastor Jeff shouting, trying to attract customers.
"Come, come, three chances and win a big prize," he points to a unicorn with a strange coloration.
"Pastor Jeff!" Seeing that it was a familiar person, Missy, who was sitting on the dunk tank, is surprised.
"Oh, Missy, come try it, hit these balls with the power of the Lord and wash away my sins," Pastor Jeff says with a strange joy in his voice.
As I pay for a chance and give two balls to Paige and one to Missy, Pastor Jeff notices Paige's presence and asks, "Oh, I don't remember having a beautiful girl like you in our town. What's your name?" At that moment, Pastor Jeff notices Paige and asks.
"My name is Paige," Paige says as she prepares to attack the target.
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Paige. But can you really hit it? Haha, I doubt it with those little arms," Pastor Jeff taunts.
And then Paige throws the balls.
Puff Miss
Puff Miss
"HAHA, better luck next time, little lady, HAHA..."
Before he finishes his evil laugh, Pastor Jeff falls into the water totally unprepared and swallows water. Missy, who was watching the scene with a mischievous smile, says, "Let's go, I want my prize," Missy says to the man handing out the prizes.
"It was fun, we have to come more often," Missy says to Paige, who at some point dragged Connor to eat cotton candy. "Hey, I want some too," Missy says, jumping in indignation.
"Calm down, we'll buy some for you too, no need to throw a tantrum," Connor says to Missy, who was pouting and rolling her eyes.
As soon as we returned to the Cooper's house with everyone,
Finally, Paige and I decided to talk to Linda, Paige's mother, about college.
Picking up the phone, I dial Linda's number.
Ring ring
Ring ring
Soon the phone was answered and a young voice came from the other side.
"Hello?" Erica asks, who answered the phone.
"Hi Erica, it's Connor, Paige's friend, could I speak with your parents?"
"You can, but what did Paige do this time?" Erica asks curiously about the reason for the call.
"No, she didn't do anything, I just want to talk to your parents. Could you pass the phone to them, please?"
"Okay," Erica responds, seemingly losing interest.
After a few seconds,
I hear an older voice on the phone, it was Linda. "Hello, Connor, Erica told me you wanted to talk to me about something. What is it?" Linda asks.
"So, we were talking, Paige and I, about the university we want to go to together, and we decided on Princeton. I wanted to talk to you if you would allow Paige to go to university with me. Of course, everything will be on our account from housing to university resources, you don't need to worry about anything else," I explain.
After processing the information for a while, Linda asks, "Can I talk to Paige?"
and I reply, "Of course," and hand the phone to Paige while I whisper, "Mine's already done."
Paige rolls her eyes and picks up the phone.
"Yes, Mom, I'm fine."
"Yes, Mom, they treat me well."
"No, as Connor explained, you don't need to worry about anything."
"In a few weeks."
"I'll be fine, Mary and Meemaw will visit us."
"Yes, it's what I want to do."
"Thank you very much, Mom."
"Bye, love you too."
Seeing Paige put the phone back on the wall and sigh, I ask, "So, how was it?"
and Paige replies to me, "Exhausting... but she agreed to let me go to college with you," she says the last part with a smile that couldn't escape my sight.
I go to her side, take her hands, and say, "Good, good. This is just the beginning. Our next step will be college."
"Yes!!" she says with a smile while looking into my eyes with tenderness.
-End of Chapter -
