Witness to a Love Story

Twenty-Eight: Non Traditional

Mentally, I facepalm. I grimace and turn to Jay. Without much thought, I grab Jay's sleeve and press my forehead to his forearm. In a wispy voice, I ask him, "I made a mistake, didn't I, Piercings?"

I feel Jay tense up, but my brain doesn't register that. Instead, it's focused on the eruption of laughter coming from Kayla and Mars. Through a fit of giggles, Kayla answers my question. "You sure did!"

"But everyone makes that mistake, so don't sweat it." Mars says to comfort me.

I pick up my head and turn to face them. "So, you gals wanna sit me down and explain things to me?" I inquire awkwardly.

Mars nods and Kayla gets up to give me her seat. "I've got a paper to write, you two have fun now. And don't get any ideas." She says jokingly and disappears down the hallway.

Jay clears his throat. "Maybe I should tell her. I know her better."

Mars looks at Jay questioningly. With a silent nod from Jay, she gets up slowly. "No funny business." She goes down the same hallway that Kayla disappeared down a minute ago.

Jay sits down with a heavy sigh. "I told you my family is different." I simply raise an eyebrow. Managing to restrain myself, I let Jay tell me everything. He only lets me know that Mars is his aunt and has been raising him since he was little. He also lets me know that Kayla is Mars long-time girlfriend.

I nod my head as I absorb all the information. "Can I ask you a question, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He nods his head. I'm sure he's bracing himself mentally because he already knows what I'm going to ask. "What happened to your parents?"

He closes his eyes and lets out a breath. "My mom... I don't really remember the events so well. It happened a long time ago. I do know that my dad had skipped out on my mom a few weeks before I was born." Jay's eyes go a little glassy and I can tell he's being brought back to some memory in the past.

I look down. "Wow. Who knew?"

Jay snaps his focus back into the present. He sits up a little and asks, "Knew what?"

I give Jay a cheeky smiles. "That neither of our moms are in the picture and that both of our dads are dead to us."

Jay and I share a look. It's a fleeting moment, lasting no more than a second, but it felt like an eternity. Then, as quickly as the look came, it was gone and both of us were cracking up.

"Damn, kitty. I thought you were going to say something deep or try to comfort me." A genuine smile plays on Jay's face while he talks.

His smile, being as contagious as he is, works its way onto my face. "Piercings, I'm the worst when it comes to comforting."

"Clearly," an eye roll accompanies Jay's words. I'm tempted to smack his arm at the sight of it.

"Oh, wow. She got our teddy bear to smile." I hear a familiar voice say in a not so quiet tone.

I sit up right away and turn to the entry way for the hallway. Mars and Kayla stand there peeping on us. Kayla elbows Mars and says, "Not only that, but she got him to smile."

I look back over at Jay with a devilish smirk on my face. "Teddy bear?" Jay's face goes beet red.

"I smell love in the air, Kayla." Mars says a bit too giddy. Kayla nods her head.

They continue their chatter and teasing of Jay as if we aren't watching. I giggle as I watch them. A strong hand grabs mine and tugs me out of my seat. "Jay!" I gasp. The ladies turn and I hear them whoop loudly.

"I think it's time for you to go home." He says hurriedly, his ears still red.

Jay starts leading me to the door and I let him. "It's barely four, piercings."

He turns to look back at me, his hand already on the doorknob. "Didn't your dad want you home?"

"Not till six." I give him a smile and look down at his hand on mine. Jay's eyes follow mine. His face gets even redder and he lets go of my hand. "Aww, so soon?" I tease.

"Shut up, kitty. And it's never too early to go home. Being early is a virtue, you know?" The words rush out from him in a flustered manner as he yanks open the door. I laugh lightly to myself and let Jay take me home.