me and you - isaac garcia

part fifteen: here for now

"Hey, Jack in a Box."

I closed the door lightly behind me. Jackie merely peeked over her shoulder, her back turned to me as she laid on her bed.

"Hi." was as all she said, before turning back. I frowned, walking over and taking a seat right beside her.

"Hey." I whispered, reaching to grab her arm. She didn't budge, only continued to lay there. I leaned close to her, shaking her arm a bit. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She simply shook her head. I sighed, laying myself next to her, my side propped up from all the pillows. I reached my hand to her, running my fingers through her hair.

I hummed, softly and finding a rhythm. After a few seconds, she sighed.

"I remember when mom used to do this with us."

I chuckled, "Yeah, me too. It would put me to sleep every single time. Mom always knew how to shut me up."

She laughed at this, her shoulders visibly relaxing. For a few seconds, maybe even a minute or two, we sat in silence, except for my humming. My fingers trailed from her scalp to the ends of her hair, over and over again.

After awhile, I finally spoke, "So...how is everything out here? We haven't checked in on each other in awhile."

"Okay. I think...I think I'm liking it here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've made friends here, I think almost better than the ones back home." she replied, and I raised my brows, unimpressed. I remember all her little friends that stopped talking to her once the accident. No one offered to comfort her or maybe they didn't know how. Still, it pissed me off. Anyone would be better than those friends back home.

"That's good. I like your friends here. Skylar and Grace." I said, "Skylar's super nice when I see him at school, and Grace offers me candy when I see her."

She chuckled, "Yeah. Grace always has snacks."

"And I thank her for that."

Jackie sighed as I continued to play with her hair more, "And you. How has it been here?"

I sighed too, "It's been good. I feel like I've gotten used to all the chaos here. Its actually not so bad once you get the hang of it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And, I mean, there's so much thing here I've done that I had never done in New York."

"Like partying?"

I laughed, "Like grooming a horse, I was going to say. But yes, like partying too. There's one on Saturday that I might go to."

"Yeah, I heard there's a bonfire happening in a couple of weeks too. Alex said it's a thing they do every year. He wants me to go."

I raised my brows, "Really? With him?"

I could sense the slight shyness creep into her, "I don't know with him. Probably just all of the guys too. And you, obviously."

"Hm." I hummed, a smirk growing onto my face. "Are you sure he didn't just want you to go with him?"

At this, she glanced back at me over her shoulder, "Are you trying to say something?"

"Maybe." my smirk grew wider, "You don't think Alex is cute?"

At this she laughed, and I could see her face turning pink, "Yeah. I think so."

I smiled at my sister, knowing that she had indeed developed a little crush. "So no more Cole?"

She scoffed, shaking her head, "No. It was never Cole. He's too...intense for me. Too complicated. Alex is easy and knows what he wants already. He's not just, you know, doing whatever."