X-Kid

Just Friends

Our late night conversation only seemed to make Jack and I grow closer as friends, and it was honestly a good thing. I didn’t tell him what had happened at the show with Kasey, so he he stayed with her to my dismay, but that was partially my fault I guess. I slowly discovered that everyone else in the group also had a dislike of her, but none of us were about to tell Jack that and ruin his happiness.

A couple weeks later, all hell broke loose when I woke up late on a Friday morning. I had to practically sprint around the house to get ready, and even then, I didn’t have enough time to see my friends before having to go to class. My day only got worse from there.

I got bombarded with homework in AP, I got attacked in Health, and then I messed up a lot on the poem we had to present in French. Rian kept giving me concerned looks, and by the time I trudged to the normal lunch spot, I probably looked like a mess.

“Whoa...what happened to you?” Zack asked.

My backpack hit the floor with a loud thud, and I slid against the wall to sit down. “I am just so overwhelmed. I have 10 pages of notes and 66 vocabulary words to define for AP, I screwed up French, and thanks to a girl in my health class, I’m covered in glitter.”

“Nora, just chill out. You’ll be okay, but you need to be calm,” Jack stated.

“How can I!? I have so much to do, but not enough time, not even to calm down,” I retorted.

He sighed, plopping down onto the ground next to me. “You can put everything off until next week, can’t you? Use the weekend to relax.”

“But-” I began.

“We’ll even skip our study day. Instead, everybody can spend the night at my house and have a movie marathon. Doesn’t that sound fun?” he wondered.

“Of course it does, but I can’t just-” I mentioned.

“Yes you can. Just go with it,” he said with a grin.

“Well, I won’t be able to make it. I got grounded,” Kasey added with a sneer.

“It will be the original 6 then,” Jack added before turning back to me. “Unless, you want to invite Emmett?”

The idea of spending Saturday night with my 5 best friends was so appealing in that moment, that I couldn’t help but grin. “No, he’s been ignoring me anyway, so he can fuck off for all I care.”

“That’s the spirit!” Alex added.

“Please tell me we can watch horror movies. You all know how much I love those,” I commented.

“You know it! What’s a sleepover without scary movies?” he asked, and I laughed.

I calmed down after that, knowing that I had something good to look forward to. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Kasey wouldn’t be there. The only issue would be getting my mom to agree, but I already had a plan for that. I’d just tell her that I was spending the night at Luna’s house, and since it was on a Saturday, she wouldn’t question me going to Jack’s house for a bit because that was the study day. A little white lie wouldn’t be too bad, right?

I walked to Jack’s house the next afternoon with an overnight bag in tow after telling my mom that Luna would just pick me up there. Once again, a lie. My phone buzzed with a phone call, and it ended up being Luna.

“Hey, what’s up?” I answered.

“You’re going to hate me,” she replied, a smile sounding in her voice.

“Why? What the fuck did you do?” I questioned.

“I may or may not have arranged it so the sleepover would just be you and Jack,” she said cautiously.

I felt my face get hot quickly. I wasn’t sure what to say to being alone with Jack for a whole night. “What? Why!?”

“Alex, Zack, Rian, and I all agree that Kasey is wrong for Jack, Emmett is wrong for you, and that you both need to just hurry up and realize that you need to love each other,” she mentioned.

“Jesus Christ, where did that come from?” I wondered.

“Come on, Nora! You two are exactly like me and Alex were before we started dating. You act like you’d do anything just to make each other happy, you flirt, you tell jokes. What you have with Jack is exactly what you need in a boyfriend,” she commented.

“So you’re just trying to set me and Jack up, even though he’s with Kasey?” I asked.

“No. You’re my best friend, and I want you to be happy, so I want you to realize that’s what Jack does. If after tonight, you still feel nothing but a platonic love towards him, then I’ll leave you alone, but until then, I’m going to think you do,” she stated.

I sighed. “What am I going to do with you? You’re so stubborn.”

“Shut up, you love me,” she laughed. “Anyway, go have fun at Jack’s. I’ll be here with Alex keeping your alibi intact.”

“Thanks. Talk to you later,” I said before hanging up.

Luna’s words swam through my head, even as I reached Jack’s house. His mother greeted me with a warm smile and called for Jack, who ran down the stairs eagerly.

“Hey! There you are,” he smiled.

“Turns out the others can’t make it, so it’ll just be the two of us tonight,” I said, glancing nervously at the floor.

He shrugged. “Oh well, we’ll still have fun. They’re lame anyway.”

I laughed, and we were lead to the dining room for dinner, where I was always greeted happily by Jack’s siblings. I wasn’t sure why, but they all seemed to like me, which made me feel pretty good.

After eating, Jack and I moved out to the living, turning on Netflix and scrolling through our options. We ended up picking a movie called The Caller before settling on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.

“Now just to warn you,” I mentioned. “I always fall for the jump scares, so don’t laugh too hard at me. Luna usually does, though we usually end up clinging to each other for dear life when we get scared.”

He grinned at me. “This will be interesting.”

I focused my attention on the movie, cringing at the ominous music and waiting for something to pop out of nowhere. I flinched every time the phone would ring in the movie, and I felt like I was making an idiot of myself in front of Jack.

The first jump scare came, and I instinctively leaned my head into Jack’s chest, covering my face with my hands, but leaving just enough space between my fingers to see. He chuckled at me, placing a comforting arm around my shoulders.

I felt that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, which I hadn’t really since before Drake and I started having problems. I knew it was butterflies, but I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want Luna to be right. Most of all, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be in a relationship again, and that was the main issue I had. I silently cursed Drake in my head for causing me to second guess feelings.

Jack and I watched a handful of horror movies that night, never once leaving our cuddling position. We laughed at each other for being so freaked out, but that made it even better. After awhile, I could hear the faint sound of snoring, so I turned the TV down, snuggled into Jack and little, and closed my eyes, thinking “Goddammit Luna. You were right.” as I too fell asleep.