Boy Interrupted

➵8

Jade

          It was a beautiful sight on the beach today. The waves were crashing up against the shore, the sky was cloud free and the sun was sitting beautifuly above the water.

I had been sitting here for the past hour with Alina and Lucas. Chris hadn't been on his porch lately, I've only seen him once these past few days and he was taking out the trash. He acknowledged me but did not say a word.

I wasn't paying attention to what Alina and Lucas were rambling about, I was lost in my own thoughts. But it wasn't until I noticed Gio, Violet and Cam coming towards us on the sand.

I was about to get up but Cam beat me to it. "Wait, Jade."

I sighed in defeat. "Mm?"

"Look I'm sorry about the other week, I was just really drunk. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's cool. I get it."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Can I get a hug or something?"

I got up from the sand and pulled him in for a quick friendly hug. Chris so happened to be watching from the window, and he looked a little upset. I looked him right in the eyes as I pulled back from Cam. He shut his blinds, and that was that.

We didn't do much after that, we just chilled on the beach. Around 6:30 is when everyone left, and I went in the house.

Mom was preparing dinner, and Jesse was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. I kicked off my flip flops and just as I was about to sit, the doorbell rang. I sighed dramatically and proceeded to go and answer it.

Christopher was standing on my porch with his hands in his pockets, like always.

"What do you want?" I said. Clearly upset.

"I wanted to see you."

"Oh, now you wanna see me?"

"I always wanna see you."

"Well you have a funny way of showing it. Why did you run off like that after we... You know."

"I don-"

"Oh.. You have company?" Jesse said coming up behind me, cutting Chris off. He looked between me and him, expecting me to introduce them.

"Oh, Chris this is my stepdad Jesse, Jesse this is Chris."

"Hello Sir." Chris nodded his head, he put his hand out and Jesse was glad to shake it.

"Nice to meet you. Are you staying for dinner?"

Chris looked at me, then back to Jesse. "Yeah, sure why not."

I stepped aside to let him in, he stood behind me as I led him into the kitchen.

"Oh hey Chris." My mom smiled.

"Hello Ma'am."

Even though he was a dickhead, his manners were quite exquisite. I was impressed.

"Please, call me Kathy."

He gave her another smile and a little head nod. I took my seat at the dinner table and he took the one next to me, he looked a little nervous.

For most of dinner we were just talking about school, considering that it would be starting in less then a month. Chris seemed to be warming up to my parents for the most part, and that made me happy.

After dinner, Chris offered to help me with the dishes, which I was a little surprised by. I washed while he put them away.

"Your mom and stepdad are cool, I like them." He mentioned.

"They ight." I chuckled.

"You're lucky to have them in your life, they really care about you."

I didn't say anything. In fact I began to think about what he said as I continued washing the dishes. Then my mind wondered over to the day when Alina called Chris a murderer. I was so curious as to what happened, but I didn't wanna ask him. I guess you could say I was a little nervous.

After we finished, I let mom and Jesse know I would be walking Chris out.

We stopped at the bottom of my porch steps when he placed my hand in his. "I have problems Jade, a lot of them. I don't really do this whole dating thing, and the only person I'm used to seeing everyday is my mother. So if I act weird, it's not because of you. I just... I don't know."

"It's okay. It's fine." I reassured him. I interlocked our fingers, and gave him a quick kiss on his lips.

I could see right through Christopher. I saw the pain in his eyes. The hurt. He was broken. And I wanted to fix him. I wanted to love him.