afraid to love [j.u.]

23: they're back

Jazmin's Point of View

Music from the radio played as Grayson was driving to wherever our date was going to be. I rested my head on the window. I hope this turns out okay. I closed my eyes for a bit.

"Jazmin" I heard a whisper.

"Jazmin!" this time, they shook me.

I opened my eyes and Grayson was in front of me. I furrowed my eyebrows, "D-Did I fall asleep?"

He let out a laugh, "Yeah, but it's okay."

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Oh we're at the restaurant.. Here let me help you."

He unbuckled the seat belt as he grabbed my right hand. He held on to my waist with his free hand as he helped me get out of the car. I pulled down my dress as we walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. When we were inside, Grayson asked for a table for two and the host lead us to the table and gave us a menu.

"I think i'm getting the spaghetti and meatballs.. what about you?" Grayson asked.

"Think I might just get chicken strips with fries." I said quietly.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah" I murmured.

The waiter came back and Grayson ordered what he wanted then what I wanted.

"Any drinks?" the waiter asked.

"Uhh.. can I get a coke? What about you Jazmin?" Grayson asked.

"Water will be fine" I said. The waiter smiled before he left.

I fiddled with my fingers as we sat in silence. This feels weird. We're not talking. I think he's just staring at me. I'm staring at the table.  Our silence broke as the waiter came back with our drinks. I took a sip of my water.

"A-Are you sure you just want water?" Grayson asked "Yes I'm sure" I said.

"Okay." He said. A couple seconds later he said, "Hey why don't you tell me more about you? And then I'll do the same after."

"Well there's nothing much to know about." I mumbled.

"Come on. I'm sure there is"

I started thinking of what I can tell him. I'm not ready to open up to him yet. It took me a really long time to open up to Jesus and Alya.

"Well um .. I'm sixteen and as you know I have a brother named Joel and... that's it" I mumbled.

"What about your parents?" He asked.

"My parents? My parents hate me... and Joel." I said as I look down, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.

"Wow, I-I'm sorry to hear that. Joel has never told me about that."

"It's fine." I managed to say. I looked up and smiled.

The waiter finally came back with our food. We thanked him and started to eat.

• after dinner •

The ride back was also kind of silent. I think I might have said too much about my parents thing. Grayson stopped at a park, and he told me to get off. We started to walk around. "Hey... um Jazmin?" he said. "Yeah?" I said as I looked up.

He held my hands, and looked down. He took a deep breath, before he started to say, "I know that um.. we kind just met, but I- would you like to be m-my girlfriend?" I froze. I looked down. I should give him a chance. I looked back up at him, and smiled, "Yes."

Grayson smiled so big. He grabbed my face and kissed me, and I gasped. This was unexpected. He realized what he just did and he apologized. "We should go back" I said. "Of course" He said. We walked back to his car, hand in hand.

The park wasn't too far from my house. When we were on my block, I couldn't help but notice there was a car in my driveway. It wasn't Joel's car. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. It's my parents car. They're back. They're really back. Grayson looked at me, "Are you okay?" "Yeah Yeah i'm fine." I said rather quickly. He parked his car two houses down, since that was the only parking spot. We were now at the front of my door. My heart racing faster than ever.

"T-Thank you." I said.

"Any time" He smiled, and pulled me into a hug. I'm gonna be honest, I wanted this hug to last forever. His strong arms made me feel safe, and his scent was amazing.

I waved goodbye as he started walking back to his car. I took a deep breath. I took out my keys but before I can put them in the keyhole, I heard yelling. Oh my god I hope Joel's okay.

"Where is she!" I heard. It was mom.

"I said she's on a date! For fuck sake leave me alone!" Joel yelled.

I put the key in as fast as I can and opened the door. All eyes were on me. I closed the door and Joel walked up to me and hugged me. "Can we talk about this on the roof later on?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded. He pulled away, and stood next to me as our parents were looking at each other.

"Where were you." my mom asked sternly.

"On a date" I said bluntly.

"I was scared when I came and only Joel was here."

"Now you care?" I asked.

She didn't say anything. She just looked at me, then Joel, then back at me. Before anyone could say anything else, I went upstairs and into my room. I thought they'd called my name, but they didn't. Joel followed behind me.

"Let me change and we'll go." I whispered.

"Hurry" He whispered back. He looked really scared and worried.

I nodded and walked into my room. I took off my flannel and my dress. I put on a black hoodie with some sweats. I kept in my converse on. I peeked out my door and my parent's room was closed, but the lights were on. Coast was clear. I walked to Joel's door. I tapped my nail on it.

He opened it and motioned me to his window. He closed the door, and we started to climb out the window and onto the roof. We say across from each other. I looked at Joel, and he started crying. I pulled us into a hug.