Chain Reaction 3.3: It'snot

     I feel terrible! The more and more I thought about it last night, the more I realized that Jarvis had to be telling the truth. I'd know if he were lying. Sure, he didn't tell me everything about him, but neither did I. I mean, we'd just met each other.
     Of course, I could see why Tommy would want to let me know. It's something I need to know. But... He also kissed me. Does he like me? Why else would he do that, and he did it like he meant to do it. It was like he was worried that Jarvis wanted to be my boyfriend or something so he had to act fast. It never occurred to me to have a boyfriend.
     But that doesn't matter. What matters is finding Jarvis and telling him that I understand he hates his step-father. I need some answers to questions, though. I need to find him and talk to him. But I'm not going near that Landgraab house. Jarvis is always out doing something. Maybe I can find him somewhere else.
     I decide to start at the park where it all happened yesterday, but I don't like who I find here...

     Pearl.
     "Ugh! You Taylors! Why can't you just leave my family alone? I'm here because I accidentally spilled that I saw my stupid brother here yesterday, and now Mommy's worried about finding him. She wants him to come home, and now she's got us all out searching for that loser."
     "What?" What does she mean he's not at home, that his mother wants him to come 'back' home? She makes it sound as if he's been gone a long time.
     "I don't have time for you today, Charlotte. Leave me alone." She turns on her heel and walks away, grumbling under her breath.

     I watch her go and think, Jarvis isn't at home? He hasn't been at home? She said her mom wanted him 'back' home. That means he hasn't been at home. That means he... Jarvis ran away.
     No wonder he was always talking about making money! I thought it was just some kind of future businessman inside him showing itself. Even if it was, he really meant it.
     I have even more questions than before. But I have to find him, and I don't know where he is.

     I wind up searching all day in the woods, trying to stick to trails that I know. When the sun starts to set, I know I need to get back home, but the breeze carries a slight campfire smell. Carefully, I follow it.
     I see Jarvis! But then, some kind of sparkly stuff surrounds him. He looks so...proud of himself.

     My mind races along as I try to take it all in. "Ja-arvis?"
     He jumps like I startled him. Then, he smiles. "Lottie?"
     I nod my head yes. Oh no.
     Still smiling from ear to ear, he holds out his hands and says, "Look at me! I'm a teenager! Finally!"
     But this is awful!

      I guess I'm a big crybaby lately. "Oh no!" I thought I'd have more time! I thought we could be friends! He'd told me this would happen, but I didn't know he meant this soon!
      "Uh, Lottie, don't... Don't cry. I'm sorry! Me and my mom were starving, and he was looking for someone to have his baby. We were just supposed to live there until the baby was born, but then they got married, and-"
      "You're a teenager!" I cry into my hands.
      "Oh. That's what you're crying about?"
      "Yes!" Isn't it obvious?
      He sounds confused. "Well, it... That's bad?"
      "Yes!" I'm kinda loud. "We were gonna be friends! I was gonna tell you I understand!"
      "Lottie, it's still me in here."
      "No it's not!"
      "Yes, it is. C'mon. Don't cry."

      He hugs me, and my nose wipes on the new shirt the game gave him when he poofed into a teenager.
      "Y-you're too b-big," I tell him in a hiccuping way.
      "No I'm not."
      "Yes you are."
      "I'm thirteen now. You're nine. So what? It's not my fault the game makes it look so drastic."
      I wipe my face on his shirt again.
      "There's still a kid in here. I don't even care that I have boogers on my shirt. See?"
      "That only proves you're a boy," I tell him, but I do think that was funny.
      He cracks up laughing at what I said, letting me go and lying back on the grass. I kick his foot. He doesn't have boogers on his shirt. Just drying tears and snot. I feel bad because of it, but that's what he gets for turning into a teenager!
      "You ran away?" I ask him, still kinda sad.
      He sighs up to the stars. "Yeah."
      I nod and sit down by the campfire. He adds another log to it.

     "He's a terrible man, Charlotte. I'm so sorry." No more laughing. He's serious.
     "You called me Charlotte."
     He smirks. "Yeah. Don't get used to it."
     I slump, wishing he was still a kid. "I'm going to miss hunting collectibles. It was fun."
     "You can't do it anymore?" He's concerned but accepting. Then, he surprises me. "Why?"
     Again, isn't it obvious? "Because you're a teenager."
     "We can't be friends because I'm a teenager," he states like a question. "That's a stupid reason."
     I scowl. "It's not stupid." We get in trouble in school for using the word 'stupid,' so I feel really brave saying it.
     "Yes it is! It makes no sense why we can be friends one day and then not the next just because one of us ages up. That's lame." He even sounds like a teenager now. Then, he gets quieter. "And I've... never really had any friends." His face pops over to the fire, embarrassed. He acts like he's beating himself up inside for admitting that.
     It's just how I am; I have to fix that. "We can be friends, I guess. I can be your assistant. And I have to warn you. They're looking for you."

     He gives me a concerned look. "Speaking of 'looking for,' we need to get you home, Lottie."
     "Why do you call me Lottie? My name is Charlotte."
     I get a surprised half-grin. "It's a nickname for Charlotte. Didn't you know that?" He stands up like a giant. "Little Lottie."
     I growl and punch his stomach. Not hard, but enough to know I did it.
     "Didn't feel it," he says anyway--just like a kid. We start back to the trail, and he says, "I'll bet I could carry you under one arm, Little Lottie."
     "I'll bet I could climb up your too-tall back and rip your hair out by the roots, Giant Jarvis." Ha!
     "Well, that's not very nice. And here I was, offering to carry you so you wouldn't get tired walking." He's funning me.
     "I like walking." I say and fold my arms.
     "Well, good because I'm not going to carry you anymore. But I'll still bet I could if I wanted to." He grins like he absolutely loves being bigger than me.