Living

Chapter 15: Date or No Date: The Basketball Game

Look, I have no idea how New York works, okay? Just please bear with me.

EDIT: I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHAPTERS BECAUSE IM AN IDIOT AND AHHHHHH That's why this one is very long
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Jack and Davey were walking through the streets and neighborhoods of New York, their destination being Chipotle.

They laughed and talked as they walked, telling stories from their childhood.

"So, how'd you meet the guys?" Davey had his hands stuffed in his pockets, even though he kept glancing at Jack's. "I never officially heard the story."

"That's right, you haven't!" Jack hit his forehead. "I feel kind of dumb not tellin' you sooner."

"It's fine", Davey assured, a soft smile on his face. "It probably slipped your mind. Slipped mine, too."

Jack smiled, taking a deep breath. "Well, I first met Blink durin' preschool. We ended up goin' to two different grade schools, so we lost contact, but I met Race and Albert in second grade. They was first graders and the second graders could hang out with the first graders—you know, to teach us responsibility."

Davey laughed at the thought of a smaller Jack with the same outgoing—boisterous is a better word—personality.

"Then, all four of us went to the same middle school, that's when we met Romeo, Mike, and Ike. Mike later introduced us to JoJo. By this point, Books and Snipe are, like five—no, six. They met Boots after that. It was just us for a while. Then, Denton adopted Crutchie, and I had a new little brother."

David couldn't help but imagine a younger Jack in middle school, hair probably a Wild West of confusing, and probably running through the halls. "Did you have an emo phase?"

"Nah", Jack shook his head, chuckling. "Blink did, though."

"Oh, gosh", Davey laughed, shaking his head. "You know, that actually makes sense."

"He would kill me for tellin' you, but", Jack looked around, "he still listens to MCR when he's sad."

Davey giggled, thinking of a Blink with black hair, heavy eyeliner, and skinny jeans. He looked at Jack, trying to swallow a laugh. "Go on."

"Okay, so in high school, the eight of us met the Brooklyn boys. We still ain't got no idea why they was goin' to school in Manhattan, but we didn't care because Race fell face first in front of Spot the first time they met."

Davey couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed loudly, getting a few weird looks from strangers. "Really?!"

"Really", Jack chuckled. "Sophomore year, we all decided we was friends—including Spot's friends Hotshot, Graves, Myron, Bart, and York. Then Romeo met Specs in senior year, Specs met Mush, Albert fell in love with Elmer right after Race and Spot fell in love with each other. After all that, Mush met you."

"At Walmart", Davey recalled. "I bumped into him and we had an hour long conversation about cookies."

Jack laughed, shaking his head at the thought. "Why?"

Davey shrugged. "They were there, and I needed to emphasize that Oreos are the superior cookie."

Jack shook his head, looking ahead of him. He could see Chipotle nearby, and felt his stomach fill with nervousness. He looked at Davey, seeing the other's smiling face.

Davey looked down at the shorter. "What?"

"Will you go on a date with me?"

They both paused in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at each other. Jack cleared his throat and rocked back and forth nervously.