Adelaide’s Perspective

I know something is off when I wake up at around ten in the morning with Dallas nowhere in sight. I had pretty much expected her to be here at eight o’clock blaring an air horn loud enough to wake the neighbors. Though instead of worrying over it, I decide to ignore it and jump out of bed to get ready.

After a nice shower, I rush over to my bureau and start to dig through drawers of all sizes. I find a pair of cute light blue skinnies and a white cami and throw them on, but I can’t find a shirt! Groaning, I turn my attention to my closet, hoping to find the perfect shirt. Squealing when I finally find it, I scramble to pull the soft yellow material over my torso. As for shoes, I decide on a pair of white knee-high Converse, which I put on over top my skinnies (‘cause I’m cool like that.) To top it all off, I spray on a little sea island cotton perfume (which does not smell like old people) because it’s my favourite.

Deeming myself ready, I head for the door, but I stop mid-step when I realize that I have no way there. Instead of bothering with Dallas, (who’s probably knee-deep in an outfit crisis of some sort) I call Jack and ask him to come get me. He agrees quickly, saying he’ll be right over before hanging up.

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In a matter of minutes, my doorbell rings, and I rush to get it. I open the door to reveal Jack smiling at me like a goofball.

I smile back shyly and open my mouth to greet him, but before any words come out, he says, “What are you waiting for, doll face? There’s a party waiting for us!”

Finding no words, I simply nod and follow him out to his car.

As I reach for the door handle, Jack speeds in front of me and opens the door for me. “Milady,” he says, gesturing broadly with his hands.

I giggle and get inside, “Why thank you, good sir.”

He shuts the door as well before sliding into the driver’s seat. He pulls out of my driveway and turns up the street.

There’s a few minutes of silence without even radio music to fill the gap because his radio’s broken.

Jack is the first to break it. He clears his throat and says, “So you look nice today, Adelaide.”

I instinctively look down at myself then over at him, “Thanks.” I smile. “I’d say that you do too, but I think that ‘looking nice’ calls for more than basketball shorts and an over-stretched tank top.” I wink as he glares playfully at me.

Then with a stereotypical gay lisp he says, “Sweetie, this is the latest trend in the ‘just-rolled-out-of-bed’ fashion line. I think I look absolutely fabulous in this outfit,” and punctuates it with a snap and a head roll.

After that, I could not contain my boisterous laughter by any means, and I just let everything go. I can feel the tense, heavy cloud around us melt away, and from this point on I know that there will be smooth sailing ahead.

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Immediately after we pull into his driveway, Jack flies out of the car, jumps over the hood, and opens my door before I even have the chance to unbuckle my seatbelt. He’s standing there, a little out of breath, his hand extended, waiting for me to take it, with that goofy grin of his still adorning his features… It’s all I can do to get out of that seatbelt as fast as humanly possible and grab a hold of his hand, smiling all the while. He pulls me up and out of the car and I fall into him. I blush and look away, but he takes my chin and makes it so that I have no choice but to meet his gaze for a single moment.

Then he turns and intertwines our fingers as we race to the front door. He lets me in, but doesn’t let go until he has to.

I am already having a good time and the party hasn’t even begun.

Jack leads me to the main room where all the guys have gotten together. He introduces me to Matt Flyzik (AKA tour manager with a Mickey Mouse obsession), Evan, Grieco, and a few others, along with Rian’s girlfriend, Cassadee. For that little meet and greet, I slap on a fake smile and pretend to be nice to her because she’s with Rian and I’d hate to be nasty in front of everyone.

Retreating as soon as possible, I take a seat beside Jack on the floor in front of Grieco who’s on the couch and almost immediately, Matt drags me into the middle of a discussion about (surprise, surprise) Mickey Mouse.

“So Adelaide, who do you think is better, Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny?” Matt asks, almost pleading with his eyes for me to say Mickey.

“Um… Bugs Bunny.” I smile and shrug like it’s no big deal.

“That’s it, dude. We’ve got you beat, three to one.” Grieco laughs as Matt buries his face in his hands.

“Hey Adelaide-” Alex starts, but I cut him off with a groan, “Why do you people keep calling me ‘Adelaide’? That’s what my teachers call me!”

Everyone is suddenly silent, and I swear I hear a cricket chirp somewhere, before Alex says, “Hey Addie-kins, do you know where Dally bear is?”

I smile and laugh at the name as I think, “No… No, I don’t. I haven’t seen her since yesterday. I assumed she was having some sort of outfit crisis, but it’s been a while. I’m sure nothing bad happened to her. Right guys?” I ask, getting increasingly worried the more I think about Dallas.

Alex stares me in the eyes for a moment then nods resolutely, “I’m gonna give her a ring.”

I nod once then turn my attention to Jack who smiles warmly and discreetly grabs my hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

“Dally bear, are you okay?” Alex says, and I see Zack wince noticeably and then glare at the singer.

“Where are you?” he continues, seemingly unconscious of everyone else in the room. Then he sighs and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.

It’s really awkward to only hear one side of a conversation.

“Dallas, is it a bad time for us to hang out? Because if it is, I don’t see how avoiding us is helping at all-”

Geez. Really, Alex?

He got real quiet, like a kicked puppy, “I’m sorry. I just really wanted to see you tonight.”

I see Zack clenching the cushion of the recliner underneath him and could nearly imagine the sound of his teeth grinding together.

Deciding that I needed to do something to calm him down, I let go of Jack’s hand (that I had forgotten I was holding) and get up, skip over to Zack, and plop in his lap. His eyes widen and feelings of first surprise then confusion flash in his orbs as he looks down at me. I simply shake my head and lean up to whisper in his ear. “You looked like you were going to burst into flames, so I thought I’d come over and cool you down.” I pull away and flick my head in Alex’s general direction.

He merely chuckles nervously and runs his fingers through his hair.

I thought the lava was cooling, but then I see Alex smirk as he says, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll look sexy either way.”

That got Zack’s lava bubbling all over again. I elbow him in the ribs, but it doesn’t help.

Then Alex rips at his hair and shakes his head roughly, “Oh no no no, I didn’t mean it like that!”

Fired up, Zack says calmly through gritted teeth, “Alex, please give me the phone.”

The blonde spins around and shouts with the phone still pressed to his ear, “No!!!” Then smiles ashamedly, “Oh, sorry Dallas, dear.”

“Gasbarf, stop flirting with Dallas,” Zack snaps. There’s nothing I can do at this point but go along for the ride.

“But I wanna talk to you!” Alex whines into the phone. Then he sighs, “Okay.” He thrusts the phone at Zack and grunts, “Here.”

Zack snatches it from him and says pointedly, “Thank you.” He smiles and says, “Hey Dallas.”

“What’s going on?” When she answers, he rolls his eyes at me and mouths, ‘outfit problem.’

I stifle a laugh with my hand. Ah, Dallas.

“Do you want me to come over?”

Knowing she would freeze, I speak up, “Let him come over, bitch!” I smile and wink at Zack.

“I guess it’s settled then. I’ll be there in, like, five minutes.” Zack says and hangs up soon after, smiling like he just won the lottery.

I roll my eyes and shake my head before getting off the love-sick puppy dog and return to my place by Jacky. He looks at me, rolls his eyes and laughs, and I know he knows, as I laugh with him.

Once again, he slips his fingers in between mine. Our hands rest between our bodies, hidden from view.

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Jack’s Perspective

Zack left about an hour ago, and everyone seems to be getting bored of my house. Even Cassadee left, claiming she had ‘other plans.’ It’s odd how the absence of one or two people can make such a huge impact on other people’s moods.

Adelaide groans and stands up. I frown as my fingers slip out of her grasp. She looks at me with half-lidded eyes, “I was going to get something to drink, but I realized that I don’t know where your kitchen is.” She chuckles nervously.

I smile and stand up, “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.”

She smiles shyly and quietly says, “Thank you.”

‘It’s like she’s bipolar or something-’

“Follow me.” I say, and she does.

‘-bold one minute, timid the next.’

“Here we are,” I say as I walk over to the fridge, “What do you want to drink?”

“A juice box, if you have any.” She says quietly, wringing her fingers. Her eyes are everywhere but on me.

I nod, “Sure thing, doll face.” I grab a box and hand it to her.

She thanks me softly before plunging the straw into the box and taking a sip.

After a moment of awkwardness, I speak up and say what’s been on my mind, “Hey, Addy?”

She finally looks into my eyes, “Yeah, Jacky?”

“Why are you so shy around me?”

Her gaze sinks to the floor and her cheeks heat up slightly, but she quickly shakes her head and it’s gone when she once again makes eye contact with me and smiles slightly, “I’m not really sure,” she shrugs, “It’s just something about you. You do something to me, Jacky, and I don’t know what it is or what to do about it.”

Unable to come up with a response, I just stand there and stare at her.

She takes another sip of her juice and says, “Zack’s been gone awhile and still isn’t back with Dallas. How about we just bring the party to them?”

I smile, “That’s a great idea.”

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Adelaide’s Perspective

Instead of knocking, I grab the key (Dallas gave it to me when she first got the apartment. One of the perks of being her best friend.) from around my neck and let everyone in, then usher them all into the living room as quietly as possible. They didn’t know we were here yet.

Then I hear Zack say from another room, “Ready to go?”

Taking that as my cue, I yell, “Y’all aren’t going anywhere because we decided to come here!”

Soon after, Dallas appears, Zack following behind her.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asks as if it isn’t obvious.

“We got sick of waiting, so we came here.” I explain.

“And we brought movies, betch!” Jack yelled.

Dallas laughs and leaps into Alex’s lap.

“Well, hello there, pretty lady,” he says in an attempt at a Southern accent, making Dallas laugh.

“Guess it was worth the wait then,” Rian says.

“Hey, watch yourself, Chip Skylark, before I call Cassadee on you,” Dallas says pointedly, shaking a finger at him.

There’s a lull in conversation until Jack yells out, “Hey, look! It’s my face!” He points at the wall, but we all give him a look.

He tries again, this time yelling, “My face is on the wall!”

Everyone turns their heads, and sure enough, Jack wasn’t kidding. He was pointing to one of the many magazine covers in the apartment.

Dallas smiles, “Yep, that’s you, alright.”

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It’s now quite late, the sun having sunk below the horizon hours ago, and people are slowly leaving, dwindling down until it’s just me, Dallas, and the band, minus Rian.

I hear Alex sigh and get up. He announces his departure and then promptly leaves. I can’t say I blame him, he probably felt like a fifth wheel, as Zack and Dallas, and Jack and I are all caught up in our own conversations.

Feeling tired myself after the long day, I yawn and ask Jack to take me home. He agrees and stands up from the couch with me.

We say our goodbyes and I send a secret wink to Dallas before leaving the apartment with Jack and locking up behind me, having forgotten to do so earlier.

Once that’s done, and we’re out of our friends’ sights, Jack grabs my hand and smiles at me. I return it and intertwine my fingers with his.

We make our way to his car slowly while we swing our arms between us. It’s a wonderful moment, and I don’t want to ruin it with words.

Eventually, Jack gets me home, with only a few close calls (stray cats, raccoons, people… The usual jaywalkers) on the way.

He pulls up in my driveway and turns to stare at me. I can’t help but stare back, there’s just something about him that keeps me wanting more.

I pick up on something different in the way he looks at me, but I blink and it disappears.

All too soon, the moment’s over, and he smiles hugely. I smile back and reach over the centre console for a friendly hug goodbye. We pull away and untangle our fingers. I leave the car and pause on my porch to watch him pull out of my driveway and speed up the street.

I sigh and turn around, use my key to enter my house, and then walk upstairs to my room.

As I lie down in bed and curl up over the covers, I stare longingly at my hand, missing the warmth that encompassed it for almost the entire day.

Notes

Hello again, lovely readers! Not much to say, except thanks for reading and I hope you liked this uber long chapter! :3

Title credit: Jasey Rae - ATL

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