Unexpected //Jack Gilinsky

Chapter 14

"You what?" I say in a panicky tone. I felt scared to look into his eyes. I wasn't the best liar.
"I saw Jacks car there last night. Around like, 9. I came over because I was bored and I was going to surprise you if you were awake. Obviously you were but I decided to go back home, you could've been busy." Matt shrugs. He didn't seem like he was trying to be rude about it. I kind of felt like I'd been shot through the heart. I couldn't tell where he was going with this, or if he was upset.
"You did? You should've just came up and knocked on the door Matt. Jack brought me back my wallet, I didn't even realize I forgot it when we were with them yesterday." I fake a laugh.
"Oh, really?" Matt asks. Even though before he was keeping his cool and sounding normal, he now sounded really relieved. I nod my head and smile brightly.
"Yeah, really." my stomach churned. I notice Jack watching us intently, no doubt he knew what was going on. Jack licked his bottom lip and then snapped his head to look at Madison as she began to talk to him.
"Well that was nice of him. I guess I should've came inside so I wasn't lonely all night." he sighs. It seemed like he was angry with himself for doubting me. When in all reality, he should have doubted me, he should think I'm lying right now.
"Yeah, you should have. It would have been nice to have company. Jack literally brought it and stayed for like five minutes. Eve was already asleep." I lie. Eve could have been asleep, Jack wasn't there for five minutes. Matt nods his head and both of us turn back the the rest of the gang.
"I've heard that if you go there late at night you can get in for free." I catch Johnson saying. Jack and Johnson looked really into the conversation, Madison looked pretty bored.
"What are we talking about?" I ask. If the boys looked eager about it, I wanted to be eager too.
"So there is this place like downtown, and it costs crazy money to get in. Not that big of a problem but, it is annoying to pay that much for this specific place. Rumor has it, you can get in for free if you go pretty late, talking like eleven or twelve in the morning. It's open almost all night." Jack answers me. I was confused.
"What is this place?" I wonder aloud.
"It's like this little swim place. You go in and it's just a pool, but a big one with lots of different rooms and things." Johnson says.
"Why does it cost so much?" I ask.
"It's really stupid. I've been there plenty of times, people shouldn't even waste their time on it. Or money." Madison chimes in. I didn't think it sounded dumb, I liked to swim. Johnson and Jack made it sound intriguing.
"I think it's dope." Johnson shrugs.
"I wanna see." I tell them.
"I'll take you sometime babe." Matt nudges me. I nod my head slowly. I preferred to go with Johnson too, and Jack. They were the ones who sounded excited about it.
"I'll come when you guys go, I personally think it's cool. Only time I've been there is when I paid but I think it'd be cool to try and get in free." Johnson pipes. I sight the waiter walking towards us, rolling a cart full of our dishes. He stops at our table and hands Jack his chocolate chip waffles and sides. Madison had ordered an omelette that didn't look too tasteful, and Johnson got his usual chicken and waffles. I didn't like the combination, I just didn't think it was good. Matt got handed his plain pancakes and I got my blueberry ones.
"Anything else I can help you with?" the waiter asks politely, folding his hands together if front of him. We all shake our heads in sync.
"No thanks, we're all good for now I think." Johnson smiles. The waiter walks away and we all dig in. It wasn't hard for me to eat in front of people. Eating was normal, everyone did it. Most girls picked at their plates when with boys. I didn't think it was necessary. I observed how everyone ate. Matt piled huge pieces of pancake into his mouth, only after he made sure it was drenched in syrup. Jack took normal sized bites, and he took a drink of water after every swallow. Madison took tiny bites, stopping every time and looking at her phone. Johnson just scarfed it down, as fast as he could. It was as if he was trying to set world record for it.
"Thanks for inviting me, this is nice." Matt tells me. Everyone else nods in agreement at me.
"No problem. It's not any fun to sit at home on a day off all alone. Pretty boring." I state.
"Don't you live with your friend from Oregon?" Madison asks me, taking a sip of whatever juice she ordered. I nod.
"Yeah I do, she's never around though. We both work, but when she's not at work she's with the friends she has made since we've been here. If we are both off the same days, it's not really like we are because both of us always have other plans." I say.
"Why don't you guys have the same friends here?" she wonders.
"I don't know. I guess just because when I met Jack I talked to him, and then the next time I ran into him I was alone and then I met Johnson and also Shawn. Kind of just happened from there." I shrug. Madison nods her head.
"I didn't know you knew Shawn. I've met him a couple times, we aren't close. He's a cool guy, super talented." she comments.
"Yeah, he is. I'm not close with him either, we only met once I think. Where's he been?" I ask the boys.
"He's been dealing with a lot of music stuff, traveling a lot. I think he will be back in LA in a week or so, it'd be fun to get together with him again." Johnson smiles.
"That would be super cool. I miss that guy." I state. Johnson had finished his food completely, Jack was close behind him. Madison had almost a full plate, Matt was on his last bite now and my food was a little over half way gone. Jack was making heart eyes at me from across the booth all the time we'd been here, it was making it hard to concentrate. I didn't know if anyone else noticed how he was kind of zoning out Madison and barely answering her questions. I hoped no one really did.
"You guys eat really slow." Johnson notes, checking out plates out.
"I'm done too." Matt defends himself.
"Just now, I've been done almost thirty minutes." Johnson scoffs.
"We haven't even had our food thirty minutes." Madison laughs.
"Okay I've been done like, ten minutes." Johnson corrects himself.
"That sounds about right." I tell him, nodding my head and giving him a small smile. I liked how Johnson was usually the center of attention, he was so funny and told great jokes. He'd act goofy and make everyone laugh, it always lightened up the mood, especially if things became awkward. I loved how he never wanted anyone to be in a bad mood. He'd try his best to be the happiest he could, and it really brightened my day.
"What are you doing after this?" Matt asks me. I turn my head to look at him and shrug.
"Eve dropped me off, so I suppose I'd call her and have her pick me up if she could." I say, pulling at my sweatshirt sleeve to bring it down to the length I wanted. It had ridden up my arm and became uncomfortable, too tight.
"I could drive you back, or we could hang out and do whatever." Matt offers. He places his hand on my leg. I glanced at Jack and saw him watching us.
"Yeah that'd be cool." I agree.
"Is everyone all ready? Boxes or anything?" the waiter walks up and interrupts everyone's side conversations.
"I think we are ready for the check, no boxes right guys?" Johnson answers, giving us a questioning look. I shake he head, and look down at my phone as it buzzes. Jack texted me.
Jack: mmm
Me: Huh?
Jack: You look good over there, tell Matt hands off
I smile and get out of the text.
"What are you smiling about?" Matt asks.
"Oh, Eve sent me a funny message." I lie, scrunching my nose.
"Oh." he laughs.
"Well I'll be right back with the check, thanks." the waiter announces, picking up the few plates and cups he can before he goes.
"Are you coming home after here or?" Johnson asks Jack.
"I think I'm just coming home, I've got nothing else to do." Jack shrugs.
"I'm busy all day after this so yeah Jack, go hang out with JJ have fun babe." Madison tells him, patting him on the cheek. He looks slightly annoyed but smiles and nods his head anyways. I remembered what he told me in the car on the way here, and began to smile at him. He licks his lips and smiles back, despite the confusion in his eyes. I try and stop myself because I probably looked creepy to everyone else.
"Here you are." the waiter sets the check in the table, and then hurries off.
"I'm gonna pay for everyone." Matt says, stealing the check from the middle of the table.
"No, I've got mine and maybe even some others." I insist, trying to grab the bill from him to look at prices. He shakes his head and clutches onto it tightly.
"Just let me, no one else is fighting it." he says. I sigh, and move from the seat so he can get out. He walks away and up to the front counter.
"That was too nice of him." I tell Jack, Madison and Johnson. They all nod but keep quiet. Maybe they were used to people paying for their every meal and didn't care, but I honestly felt bad. I had money for myself, I could manage.
"Well, thank you for hanging out everyone." Johnson smiles, sliding out of his spot and standing up. I got back up too and gave him a little hug.
"Anytime, it's always a good time." I say. Madison gets up and Jack follows her too.
"It was good to see you!" she cheers and gives me a hug. I awkwardly hug her back and notice how good she smells. It made me want to actually ask her what perfume she wears.
"Yeah you too! This is so weird, but like what perfume do you use oh my gosh." I ask. She laughs and opens up her purse, digging around for a second.
"It's this Gucci one, I space the name. It's super affordable!" she excitedly informs me. If it was Gucci it was not affordable, but okay.
"Oh wow, okay cool!" I play along.
"Good to see you, Lexi." Jack walks up to me, engulfing me in a hug. I embraced him a little tighter than I did Johnson, and his hug meant a lot more to me than anyone else's. Little did anyone here know that this morning I woke up in his arms, and Jack chose my outfit and that there were purple spots along my body from his mouth. That was a secret though. The only thing anyone here knew was that we made up from our uncivilized acts, and that we were cool with each other now. I let go first so that we didn't look too touchy and sighed deeply as our bodies left contact.
"All payed." Matt smiles walking back up to us. He wrapped his hand with mine and rubbed his thumb along the top.
"Thank you." Madison smiles, and Johnson and Jack peep a thanks as well.
"All good. I have the extra cash once in awhile." Matt smiles.
"Well, I'll see you soon bro." Johnson pats Matthew on the shoulder, and Jack gives him a quick nod.
"Shall we?" Matt squeezes my hand, motioning us towards the door.
"Yeah, bye guys!" I wave with my free hand.
"Bye!" They all chorus. Matt and I swing our arms back and forth on the short walk to his vehicle.
"That was fun, huh?" Matt asks me, buckling up in the car.
"Yeah, sure was." I peep from the passenger seat.
"What do you wanna do?" Matt asks, starting his car and waiting for me to buckle up.
"I don't know." I shrug.
"Anything you aren't fine with doing?" he questions, starting to drive away. Matts seats weren't very comfortable, his car was nice though.
"You know what actually, this isn't very fun at all but I need to go grocery shopping. I came home to a practically empty house and it's bugging me, if you want you could drive me there?" I ask, itching my arm.
     "Sure, that sounds fine. Where do you prefer to go?" Matt wonders.
     "Well I always just go to the closest place to my house but, if you know of anywhere just take me there. It doesn't matter to me." I smile sweetly.
     "Okay cool. There's a grocery store close by, I'll just take you there." he says, turning left out of the restaurant parking lot.
"Sounds good." I reply, turning my gaze out the window. When I was little I'd love to watch us pass by things when we were driving. I'd play this little game too. The white sticks sticking out of the ground along highways mainly, I'd pretend I was jumping along those, hurrying to catch up with the car. I'd even count the seconds it took for us to pass by one, to measure how long it took me to jump. If they were too spaced and I didn't think it would've been realistic to make that jump, I just imagined jumping on a sign in the middle or maybe even a tree. It kept me busy and content whenever we went somewhere. Nowadays I just watched the cars or studied the buildings if I wasn't driving, and it seemed much more boring. More boring but more adult like, because adults didn't have imagination as strong as kids do, and I'm supposed to not be a child anymore. But I was a child to my mom, and I would be forever. Maybe I was a child in the eyes of my boss, especially since I'd been doing so many wrong things lately.
"What are you thinking about?" Matt interrupts my thoughts.
"Nothing much, mainly just looking outside." I tell him. My eyes caught on to some girl with dyed yellow hair and piercings everywhere I could see. I don't think I could ever do that to myself, even if I wanted to. I'd be too embarrassed about others thoughts.
     "Thinking about what you're going to get at the store?" he questions.
     "Kinda." I say. Now that he said it I did need to think about what I needed for home. Milk, bread, more fruit. The usual things.
     "Do you typically buy a lot of junk or mostly healthy food?" Matt asks me, taking a quick glance over.
     "Why?" I ask, laughing a little. Matt shrugs his shoulders.
     "I don't know, I'm just curious."
     "Well, I usually get lots of fruit and vegetables. I guess we always have ice cream, but it's not like we eat it that much. Sometimes I get chips and stuff, but I don't know." I tell him.
     "Whenever I buy things for home it's a lot of healthy stuff too, but I do buy quite an amount of candy and I order in a lot." he says, switching on the blinker to go left and stopping for the red light. I nod and return my attention to outside. I didn't want to stare at him if we weren't talking, it made me feel awkward. The trek lasted only a couple minutes longer before we pulled into a store named 'Park and shop'. Pretty clever, I mean after all you did park and shop.
"Okay cool let's do this!" I try and say as sarcastically happy as I can, with out sounding actually bored.
"This will be so, so much fun!" Matt yells. I watch as he slams his door shut and runs his hand through his hair.
"Oh most definitely." I agree dramatically. We skip into the store and Matt pretends he has super powers when the automatic doors slide open. I giggle at his childish act and proceed to enter the store.
"I'll grab a cart." Matt says. When I was little I begged to push the carts, mainly because I pretended they were cars. It became a task now, having to push them especially when they grew to be heavy.
"Okay let's head over to the milk first." I instruct. Even though I'd been trying to cut out dairy for the most part milk was pretty essential. I've heard that the hormones in dairy don't do much good for complexions and it's really hard to cut it all out, so I just limit my drinking of milk typically. Even though I love cereal. I suppose I could always buy a milk substitute.
"What kind do you get?" Matt asks opening the door to get to the milk.
"Just get two percent." I say.
"Okay, what next?" he asks, tossing the milk into the area where little kids are supposed to sit in the cart.
"Bread, oh and butter."