What's My Age Again?

"I think you might be a nymphomaniac." Kellin joked and I rolled my eyes at him. That was probably my sixth time doing that to him today. We were in art class working on our new projects. Our teacher gave us an easy assignment since it was our first day back from break.

"You're one to talk. Alex and I don't even do it that often, you just always text or call me when we just happen to be doing something." I told him.

"Yeah right.”

"Oh I forgot to tell you! I think Alex and I are dating like officially now." I said.

"Why? Did he say something?"

"Yeah he said I was his and only his. That sounds like he doesn't want me with anyone else right?" I asked.

"Yeah definitely! Cause guys his age don't ask for someone to be their boyfriend that would be lame. I'm pretty sure that was his way of saying you two are together now." He agreed.

"I was in a state of shock all day yesterday. I couldn't believe he actually wanted to be with me."

"You can thank me for that." He gloated. "I helped you actually talk to him."

"You mean you forced me against my will to interact with him in certain situations." I chuckled.

"And looked how well that turned out for you."

"You're right. Thank you, Kellin."

"Mhmm you're welcome. His birthday coming up." He stated.

"Yeah, it's like two weeks away so I need to think of something to do for him really soon." I said.

"Well Vic said Rian and Zack wanted to give him a surprise party at their house. They're supposed to ask you to keep Alex distracted all day until it's time for the party." He told me.

"That sounds like a good idea. I could take him out to eat and just hang out until it's time to come over."

"Yeah I bet he wouldn’t suspect a thing."

"I want to stay with him that night, but I would have to leave early before my mom gets home." I sighed.

"Ugh I know. I wish we could tell May the truth and ask her to cover for us. Then we could pretend to stay at her place." He said.

"I'm ninety-four percent sure May would tell my mom. It might be on accident, but she would do it. She accidentally told my mom that I had hickeys on my neck." I told him and he chuckled.

"Why are you still alive?"

"Because I lied and said I didn't know how those marks got on my neck and she didn't know if I were lying or not." I laughed.

"You keep dodging bullets."

"I know and that's not even the worse part. Guess who May's mystery guy us?" I asked.

"Who?"

"Matt. Matt freaking Flyzik." I sighed and his mouth flew open.

"No fucking way!" He yelled accidentally.

"I hope that wasn't a swear word I just heard, Kellin." Our teacher, Ms. Wells, said.

"Of course not, Ms. Wells." He told her politely and she nodded and went back to work. "No fucking way." He repeated quieter and I laughed.

"Yeah and she said she met Rian and Cass already. You don't think she'll find out if she meets Alex do you?" I asked nervously.

"Well probably not if she just meets Alex and not you and Alex."

"Shit. What if Matt brings her to Alex's surprise party?" I panicked.

"Oh no I didn't think about that. There's no way Matt isn't going to be there." He said.

"I'm going to have to tell May right? At least ease the information out to her. If she finds out on her own she's going to kill me." I said and he nodded.

"It's either you tell her or you don't go to the party at all."

"No I have to go to his birthday party."

"Well you kind of have to tell May." He said and I sighed. I had no idea what kind reaction to expect from May. Sometimes she could be cool like she was on Halloween night, but sometimes she was overprotective. She was never consistent when acting a certain way.

"I'll tell her tonight."

***

My mom was laying in her bed when I got home. She had to go to work in a couple hours so she was trying to rest up. I walked in and laid down in her bed with her. I was bored since Kellin went home today.

"Hey, Sweetie how was school?" My mom asked.

"It was a pretty chill day since it was our first day back." I told her and she nodded understandingly. She looked at my neck and sighed.

"Are you sure these aren't hickeys on your neck?" She asked worriedly. I spent time with Alex Saturday and I didn't exactly stop him from biting all over my neck. "It's really important that you tell me things like this, Jacky."

"Yes I'm sure mom. I think it might be a rash, like it might be eczema or something." I lied. I don't know why she was making it so serious.

"Does it itch sometimes?"

"Yeah. I think all the scratching makes it worse." I lied.

"Okay, I'll try to remember to get you some eczema lotion tomorrow." She said and I thanked her. I wanted to tell my mom the truth, that I actually was seeing someone but she would go crazy. She would want to meet him and constantly want to know everything we were doing together. I would rather rub eczema lotion on my non-existent eczema than have to go through that.

"Is May coming over today?" I asked.

"Yeah she said she's coming over when she gets out of class today." She told me.

"Oh okay good." I said.

I laid with her for a little while then I got up to make us both a snack. Usually I would take a nap if I were lying in bed but I was too nervous about talking to May. I went into the kitchen and took out some apples so I could cut them for us. I grabbed the cutting board and sat down at the kitchen table as I began to slice the apples. I was almost finished with the first one when my phone started ringing. I picked it up and saw Alex's name pop up.

"Hello." I answered.

"Hey Beautiful, what are you doing?" He asked. I instantly felt happy just hearing his voice.

"I'm cutting up apples for me and my mom." I told him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm at the mall with Rian helping him pick out a new pair of shoes." He said.

"Do you see any potential birthday gifts?" I asked and he chuckled.

"No not yet. I really don't know what I want for my birthday. Well I guess I know what I want from you." He said suggestively.

"Oh my god." I giggled and blushed.

"Rian, will you hurry up and make up your mind!" He complained. I heard Rian say something back to him and they both laughed.

"I'm going to die in this store." Alex groaned and I chuckled.

"You'll be fine. I'm sure he's almost finished."

"He just asked an associate to bring him a different shoe to try on. He's nowhere near finished." He said. "But when are you coming over again? I already miss spending time with you."

"I can come over Wednesday night and Friday when I get out of class." I told him.

"Uh Wednesday is fine, but Friday I'm going out with the guys." He said. I kind of felt bad because he was choosing to hang out with his friends over me.

"Oh where are you guys going?"

"To Rockwell like always." He answered.

"Sounds like fun." I mumbled.

"You don't sound like you meant that."

"I did."

"I can stay home and hang out with you if you want." He said.

"No go with your friends." I insisted.

"I don't have to especially if you're going to be mad at me if I go with them instead of staying with you."

"All I said was it 'sounds like fun.' Why does that mean I don't want you to go?" I said kind of irritated.

"It was the way you said it."

I heard the front door being opened which meant May was here. I didn't want to end the call with Alex, but I couldn't continue this conversation with May here.

"Okay I have to go. I'll call you back later. Bye." I quickly rushed him off the phone without letting him get a word in. May walked in a second later and looked confused.

"I thought Kellin was here. I thought I heard you talking to someone." She said.

"Yeah I just got off the phone with Kellin." I lied.

"Oh okay. Is mom in her room?" She asked and I nodded.

I followed her to our moms with a bowl full of apple slices. When we made it in there we saw that our mom was fast asleep. She was probably too tired to wait for me to finish.

"She's turning into an old lady." May joked and we got out before we accidentally waked her.
We went into the living room and turned on the TV. I was trying to figure out a way to start the conversation about me and Alex. I didn't want to come out and just say it. I needed to beat around the bush. She was texting on her phone so I needed to get her attention. I opened my mouth to say her name but I couldn't get it out. I was so nervous.

"So how was school today?" She asked me.

"It was fine. How was your day?" I asked nervously.

"Long." She answered and I nodded. I figured I could bring Matt up and then switch to the topic of Alex.

"How are things with Matt?"

"Great, he's really sweet." She gushed.

"Yeah I um looked him up on Twitter to see what he looked like and he's pretty cute." I said.

"Thanks. It kind of scares me how much I like him." She chuckled.

"That's not a bad thing." I chuckled and she agreed. "But I also looked up the band he manages and the lead singer is really good looking too." I told her.

"Yeah Alex is really attractive." She agreed. Hearing her say his name made me feel more afraid to tell her.

"Since you know the band do you think you can introduce me too him." I asking jokingly, but not really joking.

"Oh my gosh no he's like seven years older than you." She laughed. I couldn't tell her.

"Oh I didn't know he was that old." I said.

"Yeah they're all like my age. There are plenty of people your age you can like." She said and I nodded.

I couldn't tell her which meant I couldn't go to Alex's party if she was going to be there. I needed to find out if she and Matt were going to be there or not. It was too early for me to ask what she was doing two weekends from now so I was going to have to wait until it was closer to the date.

I texted Kellin to let him know the bad news.

***
I was just getting in bed at ten pm. My mom was at work and May had left hours ago so I was home alone. This wasn't a good day, first I had a small argument with Alex then I found out May wouldn't approve of our relationship. I wish I could start this day over with and do everything differently.

I was playing Candy Crush on my phone and watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I was close to beating this level I've been stuck on for a few days when my phone vibrated and showed Alex's picture. I stared at it for a second debating if I should answer or pretend to be sleep. I was just afraid of answering and making things worse. I slide the answer button and decided to talk to him.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey." He sounded like he was in bed too. "Were you sleeping?" He asked.

"No I'm just lying in bed." I said.

"Oh. Well I wanted to call and make sure everything was okay between us. I didn't want you to go to bed angry at me or something." He said. It was sweet that he actually called to make sure I wasn't mad at him.

"No I wasn't angry. I was just being jealous and stupid earlier." I said.

"No you weren't being stupid. I understand how you felt because sometimes I get upset when I can't spend time with you." He said honestly.

"Yeah but you don't make a big deal out of it." I mumbled.

"You weren't making a big deal. You were just trying to let me know that it bothered you and I wouldn't leave you alone about it."

We were both silent cause neither one of us wanted the other person to blame themselves. I knew the small argument was my fault though.

"...come over." I said softly.

"Will your mom mind?" He asked.

"She's at work."

"Okay. I'm on my way." He said and hung up.

I waited patiently for him to ring the doorbell. He did fifteen minutes later and I went down to let him in. I opened the door and he was standing there already in his pajamas. I closed the door behind him to stop the cold air from coming in and then he bent down to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck as we made out. It felt good to have him here with me.

I pulled away and lead him up to my room so we could lay in my bed together. When we made it to my room he took his shoes off and got in bed with me. I cuddled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around my waist and placed kisses on my forehead.

A simple visit from him made my whole day better.

Notes

Jack has really dug himself into a deep hole.