All Chapters of Jenny & Jay - Volume 1: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Sunday morning, I studied biology with the two younger girls. After we finished, we went to visit family before lunch—it wasn’t far by car.After retiring, my grandparents had moved from Dad’s hometown to a small town, where they renovated a tiny house with a huge garden. They grew vegetables regularly. As kids, we boys used to sword fight in the garden—some grapevines suffered for it. They used to keep small animals too, but now only the vegetable garden remained. Grandma made her own jams, and they sold most of their produce at the local market.Even the front yard was big—enough space for three cars, though the first one in had to be the last one out. There stood a huge walnut tree, planted on Becca’s birthday because that’s what she asked for as a gift.Their house started with a large semi-enclosed terrace, leading into a hallway. To the right was a large white-and-gray bathroom with a tub. Straight ahead was the spacious white-and-gray kitchen, next to it the living room, furnis

“This has nothing to do with Jenny,” I snapped. “I’m just out of shape.”“All right, sweetheart, eat,” Mom said gently. She usually waited patiently when I was grumbling.“I don’t know why everyone thinks some girl could mess with my head this much,” I kept muttering. “She’s not my first girlfriend. I’m not some dumb, soft little—”Mom raised an eyebrow, so I bit off the last word.“No one brought up Jane—only you,” Dad said, clearly amused by me. “We’ll be there tomorrow no matter what. Everything will be fine.”I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but exhaustion took over.—I woke up to my alarm. Dad was already downstairs waiting.“Come on, eat—today’s important,” he said, pushing breakfast toward me. “I made it. Your mom’s still asleep.”“Thanks,” I said, and scarfed it down. The warm breakfast felt good. “You’re coming later, right?”“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said, handing me a few sandwiches for the competition.I had to go. The meet was at the city pool, which had official comp

The next morning, I headed to the competition feeling much calmer. By the time I arrived, the whole team was already there. We warmed up, and Coach Stein brought out the lineup.“Alright boys, no one swims together today. You’re all in different heats. Tashiro, you’re always in the first heat. Taylor, you’re next. Simmons, third. Then Hill, and finally Turner.”That worked well. If needed, they’d compare us later, but not now. So I was after Brian and before Aaron.Mayoko appeared at the edge of our area, and Brian quietly slipped away.“I don’t like interruptions during competitions, but I made an exception yesterday too,” the coach said, rolling his eyes. “Seems like social life is very important.”Jenny showed up and gave a quiet wave. I gestured for her to come over.“I won’t stay long. I just wanted to say I love you and wish you good luck,” she said, standing awkwardly, her eyes occasionally flicking down to my chest as she spoke.“Come here,” I said, pulling her close and kissi

“And is that because of her lack of experience?”I nodded again.“Would I be wrong to assume you’ve never had a girlfriend like her before?”I shook my head.“And am I right in thinking you’ve really fallen for her?”“I’m afraid so,” I replied.“Are you happy now?” I asked, a bit snappily. “You figured it all out.”“Son, this isn’t something to be embarrassed about,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder.“It’s a fantastic adventure, one you two can embark on together—but you need to take much better care of her than you do of yourself,” he continued.“You already know what’s good for you—you’ve learned that over the past few years from quite a few teachers. But she doesn’t know that yet. Be patient with her, be attentive, and take care of both of you, even for the parts she can’t yet.”“I stopped everything right away as soon as she said so,” I said.“I’m proud of you for that,” he replied, “but make sure you give it proper time and create the right environment. If needed, I’ll help

“Messyhair,” Jenny said one morning in the car. “I’m not going home with you this afternoon—neither today nor tomorrow.”“Is something wrong?” I asked.“No, it’s just that Amber and I are doing a photo shoot for the catalog both days, so she’ll pick me up after school.”“Alright. Just don’t call me that in front of my grandparents this weekend, okay? It’d be kind of embarrassing.”“Depends on what you offer in return,” she laughed and jumped out of my car.I loved her sense of humor. I knew she wouldn’t call me that.At school, the identity of the mysterious father was finally revealed, and with that, my name was cleared too. I didn’t know him personally, but it turned out to be the same college guy she was seeing last year—at the same time she was involved with me.I was just glad they left me alone.During the day, Jenny and I barely saw each other. She sat far away during the geography test—she’d picked that seat at the beginning of the year—so we only had lunch together. Before sw