Jasper's POV

"I like games too," I called out to Hattie and Evan, but it was apparent they weren't listening. Suddenly, Hattie turned back to look at me. We locked eyes for only a moment, but she soon disappeared into the crowd along with Evan. It wasn't like I could object the two of them spending time together. I knew how Evans feels about Hattie, and I'm pretty sure she felt the same way too towards him. I was only in the way.

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket which snapped me back to reality. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my phone to see that my father was calling. I haven't talked to my father since before I left with Hattie yesterday.

"Hey dad," I say as I held the phone up to my ear.

"Hey, did you guys leave yet," he asked in a tone that clearly meant that he was annoyed.

"Yeah, we left about two hours ago but we made a little pit stop," I explain to him. "Is everything alright dad? You sound a bit weird."

"Hold on a second," he says, and suddenly I hear the sound of muffled voices, footsteps, and then the back screen door creaking open. "That woman is gonna be the death of me."

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "Who? Mom?"

"No. Elenore," he explained to me. "It's like she's a completely different person."

"Sounds like it," I mutter. "Something is going on with her."

"That's what you're mother is trying to figure out," dad said with a sigh. "I think something happened on her trip."

"Dad, I don't think it started on the trip," I started to tell him. "Hattie said this has been going on for years. Apparently her mom has been acting strange, but not around you or mom."

"Years?" He questioned as if he didn't believe me. "What do you mean?"

"Well, according to Hattie her mom has been going off the deep end ever since Frank left. Well actually, it was happening even when Frank was still there apparently."

"What do you mean by that, Jasper?"

"Do you not now the truth about Frank?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes.

"No. What truth? When did you talk to Frank?"

"Hattie talked to him today. She wanted to go to her grandparents to stay with them for a bit, but that didn't go as planned."

"Okay, and what's this whole Frank thing about?"

"He's not actually Hattie's father," I told him. "Her mom had been cheating on him for a good bit, and the DNA test or whatever said that Hattie wasn't his."

I could hear my dad let out a sigh, and I knew he must be running his hand through the little hair he had left. "Well that explains a lot."

I narrow my eyes in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," he started to say to me. "You were too young to remember this, but when they split, your mom and I found it strange that Frank wouldn't want to see his kid. If I was in that position I would have fought to keep the kid with me."

"I wouldn't doubt that dad," I say with a chuckle as I step up closer to the concession stand. "Listen, I have to hang up now but I'll keep you updated about what's going on."

"Good, and listen," he started to tell me. "Whenever you get back here, Hattie is gonna stay with us until this whole thing is sorted out. Neither me or your mom want her over there right now with everything that is happening."

"That's fine with me," I tell him.

"Okay, do what you have to do."

"Will do. Love you," I say before hanging up the phone.

It didn't take long to get all the food, and before anyone knew it I was walking through the crowded game area looking for Hattie and Evan.

Up ahead, I caught a glimpse of Hattie's blond hair and I made a beeline straight towards her. Both she and Evan had their backs turned to me and they were playing the one game where you had to knock over empty bottles to win a prize.

"How's it going," I say, which startled Evan when he was in mid throw. The small ball he threw hit the wall at least two feet away from the target.

"Ah damnit," he said under his breath which caused Hattie to chuckle.

"Who's idea was this?" I asked as I handed Evan both of their food.

"Well, Hattie was eyeing up that teddy bear up there," he said as he pointed to a blue fuzzy bear that was hanging on the wall towards the top.

"How's that going for you?" I chuckled as I glanced at the last ball in front of us. Without another word, I reached down and picked it up. It had a little heft to it, but I doubt there was enough weight to knock them over.

"He wasted like ten dollars already," Hattie said, which caused me to let out a loud laugh. Evan, on the other hand, looked slightly embarrassed.

I turned to look at the tower of bottles as I began to roll the ball in my hands. Winning that bear for Hattie wouldn't make up everything to Hattie, but it was a start.

I lifted my arm up and aimed at the bottles. As best as I could, I threw the ball and it hit right in the middle of the two bottles that was supporting the whole structure, and it all toppled down with a satisfied clang.

"Winner winner," the boy said as he handed Jasper the blue bear they were talking about.

"Thanks," I say as I take the bear. Without skipping a beat, I turned and handed the bear to Hattie. "Here you go, but I guess I'll hold onto this for now."

"That would be best," she said as looked down at her crunches and smiled. "Thank you for the bear."

I nodded as I quickly looked away. When she said thank you, I could feel my heart beat fast in my chest and my face felt warm. "Come on, there's some tables over there. Let's go eat."

"For the record I was about to knock those over...so...," Evan said in defeat, which caused us both to laugh.

__________________

Hey guys, it's your girl Katie.

Thanks for those who sent me all those good wishes. I'm back to my usual stuff and all is well. These past few months have been a lot better and I have been a lot happier, and let's just says the turd face previous mentioned got what was coming to him.

*Cough cough* prison

But at least it's over and it's just your regular scheduled shit show.

My life is back on track, and now I'm doing what I can with my life. Been seeing a new guy for the past 3 months and I'm getting treated like I'm supposed to be.

I'll be writing more to this story soon. I did start a full time job recently so I'll be a little busy but I'll still have time.

Once again, thanks for understanding