Timing Is Everything

Chapter 11

What Jay didn't tell me? His birthday is nine days before mine. Of course, I spent three hours grilling Dallas about what Jay likes and eventually, he helped me come up with the sweetest idea: date night around the city ending with a night under the stars where I give him a framed photo of us Dallas secretly took at a family game night. The picture is so adorable, we're on the couch and laughing, Jay's arm around my shoulders and my hand in his other one. I have my head resting against his with the cutest smile on my face and it's a perfect image of us in love. It's always the photos I don't know are being taken of me that turn out the best.

Now, I'm just waiting in the Frat House's living room with Alex, Mike and Shane (who's fully recovered two weeks later) watching the Hunger Games. Jay apparently went out with his friends from Red Deer (whom I've never met) and knows that I'm going to take him out for dinner, just not the other stops I have planned. (I'm so freaking excited. This is the first time I'm doing something romantic for my very first boyfriend!)

"You were so right, Brook," Shane announces from beside me (taking up the whole long part of the sectional, might I add). "The books are way better."

"The books are always better." I tell him. Shane asked to borrow some books while on bed rest and I was happy to give him some. I love reading, I just only have time for it during the summer.

"Except for Harry Potter." Alex says from beside me. I dramatically turn towards him with a look of horror on my face.

"Especially Harry Potter."

"What? No, the books take too long." Alex tells me.

"No, the movies take too long. At least the books keep your attention and it's easier to follow along and see what happens." I say.

"But the movies were so accurate and a little more exciting." He argues.

"Nope. It's all cancelled anyways because the author's a racist and a homophobe. End of conversation." I say stubbornly. Alex nudges me playfully and I punch him in the arm (rock solid, by the way).

"Guess who's back!" A familiar voice shouts from the front door. I then hear a lame attempt at clapping followed by a slurred "Back again." I'm confused for a second, hear a series of thumps, and then see my boyfriend walk into the living room holding a half-empty whiskey bottle. My stomach drops and I can't imagine what my face looks like.

"Not again." Alex mutters. I would have wondered why he said that but I'm lost in my own world of flashbacks.

Fun fact: my father used to drink heavily for the first fourteen years of my life. He wasn't a violent or abusive drunk, but he sure was irresponsible and hard to watch. Most of my childhood, I blocked out the worst times of my father's inability to speak properly, clumsiness and irritability the morning after an at-home bender in front of his children. He never hurt me and I didn't have it nearly as bad as other kids do, but I was grateful when he decided to quit for good. So far, he's three years sober and I couldn't feel more proud of him.

"Oh look, there you are." Jay says as he stomps over to me, his face red and puffy. Alex gets up, looking like he's going to stop him, but Jay swerves and falls onto the couch beside me. I smell the booze and see what I call the Drunk Face and get a gut-wrenching fear build up inside of me. I continue staring at him, trying to figure out what happened to the sweet and thoughtful guy I was going to take out tonight for a romantic evening.

"What're you lookin at?" He says with a bit of aggression in his voice and I stand up and walk away as fast as I can. I head straight for the door and slam it shut so no one will see the tears fall down my face.