Hope that you can keep it, my dirty little secret.
The strong smell of something burning immediately woke me from my sleep. I sat up and looked around, confused for a second on where I was but then remembering the tour. I popped my head beneath my bunk to see Alex out cold on his bunk, sprawled out lazily. His mouth was hanging open. I giggled quietly and swung my legs over the side, climbing down the ladder carefully, that is, until I reached the last step.
I slipped and completely fell onto poor Alex. He awoke with a start, his arms flailing matching his wild eyes. His gaze softened once he realized it was just me and that I'd fallen on him. The shock quickly wore off and a smirk set on his lips.
“Well good morning to you too,” he laughed. I couldn't even look him in the eye.
“I'm so sorry,” I mumbled almost incoherently and skittered away. As I entered the kitchen to inspect the burning, I heard Alex laughing from the other room.
_____
“Jack?” I asked when I saw him leaning over a frying pan, defeated.
“I tried to make breakfast...” he trailed off, his gaze drifting to a completely black pancake in the pan.
I started laughing madly and Jack shot me a look of fake anger. “Well, we got to have breakfast sometime. Alright, come with me. I'll treat. I gotta tell you the tour basics anyway, rookie.”
“Ok, let me just change out of-”
“Nope,” Jack cut me off. “Pajamas are just fine for this place.”
And with that, he grabbed my hand excitedly like a little kid, and we were off.
_____
“Much better than my pancakes,” Jack said with a mouthful of food. I chuckled and took a bite of my bagel.
“Ok, so tour basics,” Jack swallowed a big bite of food and then gave me a mischievous smile. “Rule one: We're going to treat you like a dude. Don't expect any special girly treatment. You're the only chick on this tour so you better get used to the guy atmosphere.”
I nodded, simple enough. I figured that before I even joined the tour.
“Rule two: No eating my food. Just don't do it. Ever.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You're so odd.”
“Ok, last and final rule. Rule three: Don't fall in love with Alex. Even though it's going to happen so it's pointless to tell you.”
I choked on my water and Jack patted my back until I stopped.
“What was that?” I squeaked out.
“You're going to fall in love with Alex. It always happens. Never failed us once,” Jack had a smug smile on his face.
“Jack, I don't even know Alex, and I'm dating Jeremy.”
“But you're not into Jeremy,” Jack stated.
My gaze shifted to my feet and I squirmed uncomfortably. “How do you know?”
“Just the way you act around him. It's a fairly new relationship, no?”
I nodded numbly.
“He's way into you. I could tell he's the one who asked you out and he's the one who wanted you on this tour. He's totally taken by you, for sure. But you're only kinda there. I don't know, it just kind of seems like he's not your type. Almost like you were forced into dating him.”
I gulped. “I didn't want to say no. He was always a real good friend of mine and I just didn't want it to be awkward if I said no. I do like him a lot, but in a just friends way.” I ran a hand through my hair frustratingly, still shocked that I admitted that out loud. He's the first person I've told that to. I looked to Jack and he nodded, keeping steady eye contact.
“See, I could tell that and I can tell you're going to fall in love with Alex.”
“And how do you know that?” I scoffed.
“You're his type and there's very few girls out there that are. You guys have a lot of common ground, too. I can just tell. It's all kind of hard to explain. You'd just make a great couple. He needs someone like you right now in his life and if you weren't dating Jeremy I'd tell you to go for it because there's no doubt you would both fall helplessly in love with each other. But, alas, you are a taken girl,” Jack sighed and mumbled something about young love and how tragic it can be.
“I'm not here to fall in love with Alex. I'm here to support my boyfriend and hopefully start to get feelings for him so this whole thing between us doesn't have to be so confusing for me.”
“Whatever you say,” Jack took a long sip from his orange smoothie. “We'll see how you feel about Alex a month from now.”
-song credit to Dirty Little Secret by The All American Rejects
