"You're what?" I didn't know how I was supposed to react because this could still be really good or really bad.
"I'm moving!" Jack basically screamed over the phone.
"Okay, where?" I pried.
"Oh, it this tiny town you've probably never heard of..." He trailed off.
"Okay?" It came out as question, asking him to give more detail.
"It's in Maryland..." He trailed off again.
"Maryland?" My breath caught in my throat. He was going to be in the same state as me instead of a thousand miles away.
"Yes! We're actually moving to this town I've never heard of called Baltimore. Have you heard of it?" He was always a sarcastic bastard, but I felt tears prick my eyes anyways.
"Wait, you're telling me. You're moving to not only my state but my fucking town?" I felt a tear escape my eye and for the first time it was from happiness and not sadness.
"I know." Jack's never sounded so happy in his life.
"When?" I asked.
"Few months. I think Dad said something about November." He was finally giving me details.
"Wait, so you're going to be here in like two months?" Holy shit.
"Yup." Was the only reply I got.
"And this isn't some sick ass joke you decided to play on me?" It occurred to me that this could just be some joke. He had played some pretty cruel jokes on me but nothing even close to this.
"Nope." Jack's voice rang with honesty.
"This is amazing!" I was beyond ecstatic. I was overjoyed. I was thrilled. I was delighted. I was euphoric.
"Okay, you go do your little happy dance. I have to go again. Text me. Love you, man." Jack's voice was music to my ears.
"Will do. Love you too, dude." I mumbled before he ended the call.
"What was that about?" Rian and Zack pounced on me in an instant.
"My best friend is moving here." I said smiling like an idiot as more happy tears slid down my cheeks.
"Wait, seriously?" Zack asked, his jaw dropping.
"Yeah, he said he's moving in November." My face was starting to hurt from smiling so much but it was okay because I had better things on my mind.
"That's fucking amazing, dude." Rian exclaimed.
"This calls for a celebration." Zack announced.
"Oh?" I questioned. Okay, let's take a moment. My best friend was going to move here AND someone was going out of their way for me If you asked me if this was possible a month ago I would've let out of most pathetic attempt at laughter and said no. Yet, here I am.
"I'll treat. Ice cream?" Was he serious? This definitely qualified as the best day in my entire life.
"Hell fucking yes." I replied with wide eyes.
"Let's go then." He said getting up and grabbing his wallet.
"Hey, Mom, can we go get ice cream?" Rian asked as the three of us walked down the stairs.
"Sure, just be back soon." Their mom was so chill and I loved her.
"Okay, thanks mommy." Zack said, sounding like a little kid.
We walked out the door and started down the street.
"Okay, I gotta know more about this mysterious guy. He's your best friend and lives in Louisiana and you met on Tumblr. What else?" Rian asked as we made out way down the street.
"Well, what do you want to know?" I asked him.
"What does he look like? What is he like?" Zack asked the questions before Rian could.
"Let's see, he's 5'10 so he's a little taller than me. He has dark brown hair and has part of it dyed bleach blond so he looks like a fucking skunk-" I was in mid-sentence when Rian cut he off.
"Wait, he just has a stripe down the middle of his hair?" Rian asked, confused.
"No," I laughed, "Just a section on the left. Here, I'll show you." I pulled out my phone and scrolled to his Instagram and pulled up one of his recent selfies.
"Damn, he's cute." Zack ogled at the picture of my friend.
"Yeah, he is." I wasn't going to lie; he was fucking attractive.
"Anyways, more about him." Rian steered the conversation back to what Jack was like.
"He likes to joke a lot. He has a brother named Joe and a sister named May, but they're both a few years older than him. Oh, he was born in Lebanon."
"That's so cool. I wish I was born in another country." Zack stated.
"I was born in England, but that's another story for another time." I said, the conversation was taking a bit of a turn but oh well. I could talk about the skunk-haired kid all day long.
"Seriously?" Zack said like it was the coolest thing he'd ever heard.
"Yup." I said, popping the p unnecessarily.
"Where in England? What's it like? When did you move here? Why did you move here?" Zack started rambling off questions before I could answer any of them.
"Slow down there. Let's see, it was in Essex, England, which is like northeast of London on the coast. It's not that different from here. I lived there until I was seven and we moved because my dad got a job here and my parents wanted to move back to the states anyways." I tried, and hopefully succeeded, to answer all of his questions.
"That's fucking awesome, man." Rian flashed me an award-winning smile. Whoa there, Alex, your gay is showing.
We finally arrived at the ice cream shop and got in line behind two little kids and their mom and some creepy looking dude. I got chocolate ice cream and sat down on the little bench outside while Zack and Rian got theirs.
"So plain. So boring. You're so cool with your chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone." Zack taunted me as he sat down next to me on the bench outside the shop.
"Shut up. You just think you're cool because you got cotton candy." I retorted and made a face at him.
"Mhmm, that's because I am cool. You're just jealous that you're not as awesome as me." Zack said.
"Whatever, man." I still couldn't help but smile at him comment though.
Rian soon exited the shop and sat next to his stepbrother. We sat and ate our ice cream with mindless chatter filling the silence. Today was great.
"Thank you guys." I whispered.
"For what?" Rian asked. I was surprised he even heard me.
"For today. I mean, this morning wasn't the best but it's just been a memorable day. I told someone besides Jack about... Tom... and my best friend told me he's moving here and now I got free ice cream from two of the best friends I've had in a long time." I said, occupying myself with studying the ice cream cone rather than having to look at their faces as they thought it was stupid.
"Thank you for being awesome." Zack said. I simply looked up at him and smiled.
"You're welcome. I'm glad we were a part of it and as stupid as it sounds I'm glad you trust us enough to tell us about him." Rian smiled and it was his turn to look down at his ice cream to avoid my gaze.
*******
Whoa, another author's note. I might make these a regular thing if I remember, which I probably won't. So, I know this is short but I'm really proud of myself for posting this only a day after my last update because it literally took like month between updates for the first few chapters. Hopefully I'll get the hang of quicker updates. I won't be able to update this week since I'll be all the way across the country at camp. Anyways, thank you for reading!
