ValleyVille

Move On

Two days ago
Dukes POV
I looked at the paper Jasmine gave me. I dialed the number.

"Hello?" She asks
"Hi" I say.
"Oh, hey. Duke, right?" She asks
"Yeah. Whyd you want me to call you?" I ask. She laughed.
"Because, I think you're cute. I figured you knew what I meant. I meant that if you ever wanna go out then call" she says. I stayed silent for a moment.
"Ok" I say
"Ok?" She asked
"I... uh... we can go out" I say.
"You really want too?" She asks
"Um, I think so. I need to get out of the RV anyway" I say
"Ok, Ill text you when Im free" she says
"Ok, bye" I say

Now
Im playing a video game. I got a text and I picked up my phone. "Im free today. You wanna get some food?" Jasmine said. "Sure" I texted back. I shut off my game, put on my shoes, put my hat on backwards as always, and left. "Dad Im going out!" I say. "Ok!" He says.

I met up with Jasmine. "Hey" she says. "Hi" I say. "So uh, you ready for lunch?" She asks. "Yeah" I say. We went in and sat down. "Can I ask why you asked me here?" I ask. "Yeah, well, I think you're really cute and Im not a pussy so I have no problem with asking out a boy. Most guys get intimidated and say no, so you saying yes just made me like you more" she says. I smiled. "I guess Im not intimidated because Ive never had a girlfriend, or been on a date for that matter" I say. "Really?" She asks. "Yeah. Im kind of annoying. My brother surely thinks so" I say. "You're not annoying, you're just happy. Theres no problem with that. Frankly you should be happy. You should enjoy childhood" she says. "You say that like you arent a child" I say. "Im seventeen but my childhood got stripped down when I had to get a job to help my family" she says. "Im sorry you had to do that" I say. "Its fine. My mom never had an actual boyfriend or husband so none of my siblings or I were planned" she says. "How can you live with five siblings? My brother hates me and I dont even know why" I say. "We argue a lot and its not always easy but we respect each other and we know that even though we get mad sometimes that if we ever needed each other, we'd come through" she says. "I used to believe that with my brother. When I failed second grade he was there for me. He stood up for me when kids made fun of me, but now he makes fun of me more than other kids do" I say. Jasmine reached across the table and held my hand. "I would stick up for you" she says. I smiled. "I could try to stick up for you but something tells me you dont need it" I say. She smiled.

We continued to talk through lunch. Shes actually really cool. "Now, I have a serious question" I say. "What?" She asks. "Is this a date?" I ask. "Do you want it to be? Like, would you wanna do this again? Date me, I mean?" She asks. "Yeah of course" I say. "Then yes. Why?" She asks. The waiter walked up. "Are you splitting the check?" He asks. "No sir" I say taking the check from him. I paid and handed it back to him. "You didnt have to do that" she says. I stood up and walked to her. I held out my hand. "A gentleman always pays on the first date" I say. She smiled and took my hand. "Who made you this sweet?" She asks. "My mother" I say. "You should thank her. This is making me like you more" she says. My smile faded. "Did I say something wrong?" She asks. "No! I- uh- I gotta go" I say leaving quickly.

I got home and went to my room. I threw my hat down at my bed and ran my fingers through my hair. I dropped to my knees and rested my head in my arms on the bed. I looked up at my hat. I keep a photo inside it. The only photo of mom I managed to steal from my dad. She died a few weeks before school started this year. Jack and I are depressed. Jack is taking it worse than I am. Im trying to stay positive which is why Jack thinks Im annoying but Im just giving myself a way to be distracted. I dont want to think about it. Mom would want me to move on right? I dont know anymore. Jack used to be an awesome guy but now he's kind of an ass. I feel bad for leaving Jasmine but I dont want to cry in front of her.

Jacks POV
Im at Spotters playing video games with him. Wyatt and Andy are handling that chick that punched her soon to be ex-husband. Spotter looked at his watch. "Damn. Theres a cat stuck in a tree. You wanna come watch? It wont take long" he says. "Sure" i say.

We pulled up to this tree. "Hi ma'am. Is this your cat?" Spotter asks. "Yeah" the woman said. "Ive never seen you around town before" Spotter says grabbing his ladder. "Im new in town. My husband and I just moved here" she says. "Oh so you're the newlyweds im hearing about" he says putting the ladder against the tree. "Yeah. Im Riley" she says. "Spotter. Thats Jack. Nice to meet you" he says climbing up. He gently got the cat down and handed it to Riley. "Have a nice day" he says. "You too. Thank you" shs says. "You're really good at that" I say. "Its my job Jack. I train for it" he says. "I meant talking to strangers. You meet random ass people you know nothing about and treat them with kindness" I say. "Well, you get what you give. If you give kindness, youll often get it in return" he says. "If only i was capable of kindness" I say getting in the car. He got in and started driving back. "You are" he says. "How so?" I ask. "If you weren't kind, you wouldn't be my friend" he says. I stayed silent for the rest of the drive. He's right. He's my friend. My actual friend. I never thought Id have a real friend. We got back to his room and before he started the game again I stopped him. "Spotter?" I ask. "Yeah?" He asks. I stared at him for a moment and then I hugged him. He hesitated but hugged back gently. "Thank you" I say. "For what?" He asks. "For being here" I say. He hesitated. "Jack... are you alright?" He asks. "No" I say. "Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked. I pondered his question for a moment. "Yeah" I say.

"Remember when you asked me what I meant by move on?" I ask. He nods. "Well i lied to you. The move isnt whats making me like this" I say. "Like what?" He asks. "Like a jerk" i say. "You're not a jerk, you're just stubborn" he says. We sat down. "Whats making you that way?" He asks. "Before school started this year... my mom got in an accident. She didnt make it." I say. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly in shock. "Dad decided that after the funeral we would move here to have a fresh start. It hasnt been an easy transition" I say. "Of course not. How could it be?" He says. "I didnt want to start over. To me, leaving Dark City just meant leaving her behind. Like she doesn't matter anymore" i say fighting back tears. "You didnt tell your dad?" He asks. "I didnt wanna put more on him. I know he's hurting more than me" I say. "Wait, what do you mean you didn't want to start over?" He asks. "Well, now that Im here, its not as bad as I thought. I guess thats cause I have an actual friend" I say looking up at him. He put his hand on my shoulder. "No matter what happens in the future, Im here for you" he says. I dont know what happened but when he said that, suddenly I felt my face get hot and my heart beat faster. My breathing picked up a little. "Thank you" I say. I think I have a crush.