The Boy Next Door

"It's not a date!"

"You're going to the movies."

"Well, yeah."

"And dinner too."

"Yes.."

"Just the two of you."

"Stop it, you guys! Jack's just being friendly, it's just a casual hangout." I throw a pillow playfully at Jaz

The girls have decided to come and do a 'first date' makeover for me, since I told them that me and Jack were going to see a movie tonight.

Let me just tell you, this is nowhere near a date.

"You and Barakat? Wow, I never knew you guys were a thing!" Holly exclaims

"We're just friends! No more than that I swear." I say for the hundredth time

Lillia shakes her head, "Seriously, you're going out with your nemesis's best friend?"

"Alex? Well, believe it or not he's gotten a lot better to me now. Just because he's friends with Alex doesn't mean I can't be friends with Jack, can I?" I pull the cover up to hide my face

"What the hell are you doing lazing around? Jack's gonna be here in like 4 hours and you haven't even get ready." Jaz pulls me out of the cover and drags me to the bathroom

"And who the hell takes 4 hours to get ready for a night out?" I groan

"The first step of the ritual. Take a long hot bubble bath, with rose petals if possible."

"Ritual? Do we need the blood of a left handed pink dolphin to sacrifice too? This is ridiculous. I only need 30 mins max to get ready, it's not like I'm trying to impress him." I shake my head

Jaz sighs, "Oh Gail, you're hopeless. And also, I don't think that dolphins have hands."

"Do you always do this too whenever you're going out with Steve?" I ask

"Not always, but this is your first date. You gotta make a damn good impression!" She pushes me into the bathroom and shut the door behind me

"For the last time, it is not a date! I don't do dating, you guys know that." I shout from inside the bathroom, I hear them giggle behind the door in return. I guess they just won't ever give up, will they?

-------------

A few hours later, the girls have finally finished dolling me up. But I did manage to pick the clothes myself, because I'm certainly not going with Jaz's 7 inches heels for this one. I'm wearing a pair of dark blue jeans with a brown belt, white blouse and army jacket over it.

"No, no, no! No jacket! You need him to offer his jacket so you know it's real!" Lillia squeals, pulling my jacket

"Fuck no! I'm keeping this, I don't want to die in the cold. What's with boys offering their jacket to their date? I'm an independent woman. And, it is not a date." I yank my jacket back

My phone buzzes, a text from Jack saying he's here already. "He's here, just please don't do anything stupid." I sigh. I tried to kick them out of my house before I leave, but they insisted that they need to see me leave on my first 'date'.

"Oh my, our little Gail, out on her first date." Holly fakes a sob

"Have fun on your date!" Jaz hollers. I roll my eyes and close the door behind.

I briskly walk down the stairs and to the door. I come face to face with Jack right after I open the front door.

"Hey! Uh, so.. Are you ready?" Jack greets. He's dressed in a navy short sleeve button up shirt and dark brown pants, which quite surprise me since I've never seen him this dressed up before. I hate to admit it but I should've gone with the white dress Jaz'd chosen.

"Hey! Yeah of course, let's go!" I answer with a smile

We walk to his car without a word, that continues until the first few minutes of the drive. The only sound audible is coming from the radio which plays a random pop song. I feel a tingle in my stomach. What if.. This is actually a date?

"What?"

"Sorry?" I daze out of my thoughts

"I didn't catch what you were saying." He repeats

I shake my head. "I don't remember saying anything.."

"Just trying to make things less awkward." Jack sighs. I can hear disappointment in his voice

"I'm sorry... I just.." I don't know how to put it to words. "Is this.. Like, a date?" I finally muster up the nerve to ask

He bursts out laughing really hard and my face turns red from embarrassment. After what I just said, and he answers it by laughing? "Don't laugh at me, Jack!" I jokingly smack his side

He finally stops laughing, "Alright I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. Well, to answer your question. It could be whatever you want it to be. What do you want it to be?"

"I don't know.. I don't know how to act on.. A date." I say shyly

"Let me tell you something. I asked you to go out tonight because I like you. I like being around you. Just act how you normally do because that's the Gail I like. Maybe calling this a date is too serious at this point. Hell, it doesn't even matter what this is called, but I do know that I want to spend tonight having dinner perhaps watch a movie afterwards with you. As friends, as a couple, whatever it is. For us to enjoy the night and get to know more about each other. That's all that matters. Alright?" He glances sideways to look at me

Something about his tone's really assuring. I find myself nodding, "Alright."

"Now, I hope you enjoy pasta as much as I do because we're here." He pulls over at a familiar looking restaurant

I notice the sign, "Le Quartier?"

"Yeah, best pasta place in town." He says as he shuts down the engine

"I've been here before a few times with my mom. Can't argue with that on this one." I follow him inside

When the waitress arrive at our table, we don't even need time to look at the menu and order straight away. We exchange conversations, changing from topics to topics. We keep chatting even after our food arrives and continue it over pasta.

"This is so good, I order this everytime I come here. You should try it." I twirl the fork in my pasta

"Try mine too, here." Jack leans in and directs his hand to feed me. I hesitate at first, but he gives an approving nod as I bite into it

I chew the pasta, "Not bad." I put some amount of my pasta to his dish. He opens his mouth and says, "Feed meee!"

"No!" I giggle, "You're such a kid!"

"So are you! I fed you, come on! Aaahhh." He opens his mouth wider

"I didn't ask you so!" I laugh, but of course I bring the fork to his mouth.

"Mmmm, tasty. Especially becuase you're the one feeding me." He makes a face. I playfully smack him and we continue finishing our meal.

After we're finished, we hurry to the cinema because we only have 15 minutes left if we want to catch the movie. Jack hasn't told me what movie we're gonna watch. I'm down for anything except for horror movies. They scare the shit out of me, it takes me weeks to get over one movie atleast.

And... The movie turns out to be a horror movie called 'Insidious'.

"I'm soo not watching it! Oh come on, I'm home alone a lot of time!" I wail as Jack pulls me inside the theatre

"You'll be fine! I'm with you, aren't I? Besides, I heard it's not that scary!" He laughs. He's literally dragging me, I know I have to give up eventually.

We take our seat and the movie starts not long after that. Jack's a freaking liar. It isn't not scary! I close my eyes most of the time. He watches it without blinking, he even laughs at me for my reaction. I slap him jokingly so he would stop, but of course he only stops after the movie ends.

"I enjoyed watching your reaction better than the movie." He laughs as we step out of the cinema

"Remind me once again why I agreed to watch this. You're such a liar, I thought you said it's not scary." I frown. And right now I have to figure out how I would manage to sleep without the thought of that creepy old lady in black. Damn you, Jack.

"At least we're having a good time, aren't we?" He puts an arm around me as we walk to his car
I snort and pulls away from him. "Hey, don't be mad at me!" He pouts. "I'll buy you ice cream to me it up." He runs after me

"I'm not mad at you, but I'll still take the ice cream offer." I grin

We walk some more and find an ice cream parlour that's still open. I order cookies and cream while he chooses mint.

"I haven't met a single person that doesn't like ice cream." I say as I dig into my ice cream. My nose hits the top of it, leaving a speck of white stain on the tip of my nose.

Jack wipes it clean for me, "You must really like ice cream that much your nose wants to eat it too."

"Ha ha, you're funny." I say sarcastically

We finish our ice cream and he drives me home since it's really late. We sing along to Blink-182's album Enema of The State which I've taken a liking to, even though I only know 2 songs off it. 'Adam's Song' and 'Going Away to College' if I'm not mistaken. Jack'd put it in the mixtape, I've been listening to it almost everyday.

I don't pay much attention to the road and all of sudden we're in front my house. Jack turns the radio off, and then the engine. We stay in silence for a while, none of not daring to say anything.

"Well, it's been fun. I had a great time tonight, props to you." He begins to speak up

"Props to you too for making this happen." I smile slyly

"Do you want me to walk you to the door? You know, I bet you're still scared from the movie." He smirks playfully

"What the hell, don't even remind me!" I groan

"Okay okay, I'm just kidding. I'll walk you.. As a friendly gesture." He unbuckles his seatbelt. "I promise I won't let any ghosts near you." He adds

"Yes, because you're gonna be the one who get killed first." I say jokingly

We get out of the car, taking our time really slowly to reach the front door. "I forgot to offer you my jacket back there," he murmurs

"You needn't have to, I have my own."

"But that's what guys do in movies." He laughs lightly

"Sadly we're not actors and we're not in a movie, Jack."

We're right in front of my doorstep right now, getting ready to say good bye to this long night.

"Good night, Gail." He turns to face me

"Good night, Jack."

I watch his back as he returns to his car. "Jack?" I call

"Yeah?" He turns around

"Wanna come inside for a while?"

Notes

Here's another update! So.... On Valentine's day I went and see Neck Deep and A Day to Remember in Brussels! It was on Tuesday and as I'm writing this on Sunday, parts of my body is still bruised from crowd surfing and moshing. Hope you all had a nice valentine's day!