Dude, I love you

Chapter Three

Jack Gilinsky’s POV

JJ has been acting strange the last month and a half, he stopped meeting me in the cafeteria during lunch and when I searched for him he would be reading a book in the library or walking aimlessly down the back hallway. Sometimes he’s with someone, different each time, but often he’s just by himself.

I had dropped hints on my parents to make dinner plans with his parents when I asked them about the salad bowl they borrowed from John and Jennifer, JJ’s parents, the previous week and it seemed to work well enough seeing as we are here after all.

I wanted to get him alone in the basement or his room and ask what’s up, but I ended up getting distracted by Justin and Chris texting me. I’ll have to find another opportunity maybe we’ll come back down and watch TV or maybe we have an assignment from school. We have the same teachers for all our classes we’re just in different time slots except for gym. Gym class is when two or three classes are slotted together since there aren’t enough available gym teachers during all the time slots in the day.

In gym class JJ is often my partner because the teachers want the students from different home rooms to intermingle, being freshman an all. However I noticed when we have group activities like running laps or dividing into teams he would avoid me by running ahead or behind me or join a separate game entirely.

Initially I thought maybe he was angry with me for something I did but I can’t think of much that he wouldn’t forgive me for. I mean we playfully argue with each other but it’s steeped with sarcasm most of the time anyways. I even followed him when he was walking home to see if maybe he made a new friend but I didn’t see him with anyone nor was he striking up a conversation with anyone in particular lately.

When we would have to walk home if one of our parents didn’t pick us up I noticed I wouldn’t see him at all while walking, which was weird because the fastest way home from school is through the field behind school and straight through the park.

Which leaves me questioning if he’s distancing himself from me intentionally, which hurts to even suggest. Does he not like having me as a friend anymore? Did he forget the promise we made the day we met?

I realized I was staring blankly at my phone, as if I could will him to text me what is going on between us instead of just dismissing my direct question with a shrug. I pocketed my phone and followed after him upstairs into the kitchen.

JJ had already served himself and was watching the big screen TV mounted on the wall of the living room from the kitchen counter that served as a small table. I made my wrap and grabbed my salad then sat opposite of him on one of the high stools they stored under the counter table.

Our parents were watching the news from what it looks like but they had taken their food and Stanley, JJ’s dog, out back on the patio leaving JJ and I with nothing to watch but the weather. The seasons were beginning to change and the temperature was beginning to cool ever so slightly. Some of the leaves had started going yellow at the tips and very few leaves had begun to fall.

We were alone, maybe now would be a good chance to get a straight answer from him.

“JJ?” I ask. Out of the two of us I’m the more direct one, I don’t necessarily like it when people beat around the bush.

“Mm?” he replies half grunting, biting into his wrap. He sucked at building tacos and closing tortillas, hence the cheese and diced tomatoes falling out with each bite he took. I should have just wrapped it for him.

“Can you answer my question?” Making eye contact with him as I say it, he knows I’m being serious when I look at him while asking a question.