Alex
Everything was good. Actually, everything was great for me right now. For once, things seemed to be going right for me. My dad had made it through the last round of treatment without much trouble. He’d felt okay after it which was unusual. Normally, it took him at least a week to get back to full form. Most importantly, I’d kissed Jack last week and to my surprise, Jack had kissed me back more than once. I wasn’t quite sure what exactly Jack and I were right now, but I didn’t care. Jack had the same feelings for me as I had for Jack, and that was all that mattered. I had spent the last few days on a high. Jack hadn’t been in school but he’d been texting me all the time; Bella had caught a bug so Jack couldn’t send her to the créche. Now, I was on my way to music class and I couldn’t deny that I was excited to see Jack. I had spent the whole day getting mocked by my friends for not paying attention. They said that my head must have been somewhere else. They joked that I must have been thinking about some girl; if only they knew the truth. I had never been so eager to get to class before but now, I couldn’t wait to get there. For the next two periods, I got to sit in front of Jack and watch him teach.

When I arrived into the classroom, Jack was talking to one of the other students in the class and it looked as though she was asking him for tutoring help. Jack looked wrecked tired and as if he didn’t want to be dealing with her. Eventually, he managed to convince her that she didn’t need his help and he began to teach the class. I didn’t even feel the next two periods pass but before I knew it; the bell was ringing and I heard Jack telling me to stay back.

I slowly packed my bag up as everyone rushed out the door to go home. When the class emptied, I followed Jack to his office where he was packing up his stuff into his own bag.

“Hey,” I started, suddenly feeling shy as I leaned against the frame of the door.

“Hey Alex, I just wanted to see if you wanted to come over to mine a little earlier this evening. I haven‘t seen you in a while. You could come over now if you want.”

I smiled as Jack slung his bag onto his back and made his way over to my direction.

“Sure, that sounds great. My dad’s at work so he won’t be missing me anytime soon.”

Together, Jack and I walked out of the school talking about normal school stuff as any student and teacher would until we had reached the safe confines of his car. In his car, Jack relaxed even more as we drove in the direction of town to pick Bella up from the créche. By the time that we had reached Jack’s house, Bella was asleep. The driveway was empty which meant that Matt wasn’t home yet and that Jack and I would be alone. Jack put Bella up into her cot so that she could have a proper nap while I raided the fridge for two sodas. When I got back into the living room, Jack was looking really comfortable as he lay back on the couch. He motioned for me to sit next to him and I had just taken my seat when he pulled me into his side for a hug.

“I have wanted to do that all day, even more since you walked into class,” he mumbled as he buried his face in my hair and placed a kiss on the top of my head. “It has been a long few days.”

“It really has been, Jack,” I agreed as we lay on the couch together. “I‘m glad that we have this time together though and I‘m really glad that you didn‘t change your mind about us over the weekend. You look exhausted though, why don‘t you sleep for a while and I‘ll keep an ear out for Bella.”

Jack simply laughed at my suggestion as he placed his arm around my waist which would stop me from falling off of the couch. His hand found mine and he linked our fingers together.

“Why would I do that when I have you here? I invited you over so that I could spend some time with you, not because I needed a babysitter whilst I slept. Silly Alex, why would I sleep when I have you here? I can sleep later but I only have a few hours with you. Now, why don‘t we find something on TV to watch and after that I‘ll go and fix us something to eat.”

So that’s exactly how we spent our afternoon. Both of us were cuddled up together on the couch while we flicked through random channels trying to find something to watch. Every now and then, when we stopped at a music channel, Jack was start singing the song in my ear which would send shivers down my spine. I loved the time that we spent chilling out together as Bella slept. It was so relaxing. It was great to be able to just let go of everything and not have to worry about anything. Being with Jack felt natural and nothing felt weird about the relationship between us. It was perfect, well for me at least.

We had been so engrossed in what we were watching that we hadn’t even heard Matt’s car pull into the drive or Matt walking into the house. We only became aware of his presence when he decided to interrupt us.

“Aww, if that isn’t cute, I don’t know what else is,”

His voice gave me a fright and I know that I would have jumped a mile if it wasn’t for Jack’s arm around my waist. I felt Jack lift his neck to look over the edge of the couch and greet Matt while I called out to him from my comfortable spot nestled in Jack’s chest. Matt came and sat in the chair beside us and began watching TV until we heard Bella cry through the baby monitor. I attempted to get up and let Jack up but Matt jumped to his feet.

“Stay where you are, I‘ll run and get her,” he assured us as he made his way out the door. “I‘ll be right back with her.”

Minutes later, he was back with a smiling Bella in his arms. Jack and I sat up and Bella came and sat in between us. Jack was so good with Bella and it was clear that she adored him. It was easy to tell that she was very happy around him.

“Are you hungry?” Jack asked, turning to me after a while. “I‘ll go and make us something to eat.”

“Sure,” I replied. “That sounds like a good idea, I‘ll come with you and help.”

Bella and Matt were on the ground playing with building blocks and Mickey Mouse was playing on the TV. It was difficult to tell who was having more fun, Bella or Matt. Jack’s hand found mine as we walked to the kitchen. I loved the feeling of someone else’s hand in mine. It made me feel special. Jack made me feel special.

“You sit down and I’ll cook you something. It’s only right. You are the guest in this house.”

“But, I want to help. We can both cook and that means that we’ll get it sorted faster.”

Jack just laughed at my pouty face and smiled as he kissed my nose.

“Fine, but you can chop the onions. I don’t know what we are making but I’ll add onions to it just to make you chop them.”

Cooking with Jack was fun. I really liked it. He was a good cook and together we managed to make chicken korma with vegetables and rice. It was really tasty even if I do say so myself. My time with Jack went way too fast and before I knew it, Jack was bringing me home. It was after ten and Bella was in bed. Matt had just gone up to his room to give us some alone time before we left and we hadn’t done one bit of English coursework. This was a fact that hadn’t gone unnoticed by Jack.

“I think that we‘ll have to do things differently in the future. Work first, and then fun. Okay? Tonight was an exception though.”

“I could always come over again tomorrow night and we can do some English then?” I suggested as we pulled onto my street. “That way, we don‘t miss out on anything.”

“That sounds like a plan. At least we only have a few more months of school left and then this won‘t seem so bad. We won‘t have to juggle school work with everything else and you won‘t be my student. Anyway, I‘ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night, Lex.”

Jack gave my hand a gentle squeeze before letting go as I got out of his car.

“Bye, Jack. Text me later if you get the chance.”

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Jack was supposed to be my teacher. We got on so well and it had always felt as though we were best friends. I had no issue with the fact that he was my teacher and when I went to kiss him first, I knew that regardless of whether he kissed me back or turned me down, he wouldn’t have been angry or grossed out. He knew me well enough to understand my emotions and what I was feeling. I was so happy when he did kiss me back though. I won’t lie about that.

I found my dad in his office when I got inside and he still looked okay. We talked a little about our days. Of course, I left out a big chunk about what happened at Jack’s but my dad knew that we were friends and he was okay with that. He had met Jack once before and he thought that he was great. He didn’t see anything wrong with me being friends with a teacher as young as Jack; he just thought that it was the same as me being friends with Danny or Zack.

Once I got to my room, I realised that I hadn’t spoken to Zack in a while, so I dialled his cell phone number as I flopped back onto my bed. When Zack answered, he demanded to be told everything. It was clear that he had been talking to Danny and that Danny had been relaying his suspicions that something was going to happen between Jack and I soon. I hadn’t told Danny the news yet because he had just started back on tour and I was giving him a week or two to settle back into his routine on the road before telling him.

“Tell me what I‘ve missed, Alex,” Zack started, wasting no time in trying to find out information. “I want to know everything, no details spared.”

“I think that I’m in love, Zack. This time, it’s for real.”