“Ali, wake up. Ali, we’re here.” I heard Jarred say as he gently shook me by my shoulders in an effort to wake me up. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times, expecting it to be bright, but the sun was down and the moon gave a faint glow over the world, just enough for me to see outlines of things within a 5 metre radius. I opened my eyes properly.
“What time is it?” I shivered. I could see my breath in the air as I spoke. Jarred picked me up bridal style and pulled me out of the car, my hand blindly finding my bag and my pillow. He carried me inside, his mum holding the door open for us. stuff was already in his room. We didn’t have much stuff, just a small suitcase each, plus my toiletries bag. I couldn’t help but smile as I sat up with my back against the wooden, apple sticker covered bedhead, hugging my pillow. I remembered I still had my shoulder bag in my hands, and my phone in my bag. Placing my pillow down next to me, I opened my bag and dug through it blindly, trying to find my phone with one hand.
“Ah-ha!” I quietly exclaimed as I pulled my phone out of my bag and turned it on.
“I wonder where Jarred went.” I thought to myself, just as he walked into his room with pizza and two cups.
“Mmmh, smells good.” I hummed as he sat down on the bed and gestured for me to take a cup.
“It’s a caramel thick shake.” He smiled.
“I can’t dr-“ I started.
“Oh, oh shit I’m so sorry, I forgot. You’re lactose intolerant and I, oh god I’m sorry.” He rushed, cutting me off mid-sentence.
“It’s okay,” I laughed, “What should I do with it?”
“You know where the kitchen is?” he asked. I nodded. “Put it in the fridge and I’ll drink it later.”
“Okay.” I shrugged as I got up and left his room in search of the kitchen, cup in hand. It wasn’t hard to find the kitchen. I opened the fridge and put the thick shake in an empty spot at the front. When I turned around I saw Jarred’s mum, sitting at the bench sipping a cup of tea.
“Hey Mrs-“ I started, but I yet again got interrupted.
“Oh, please no, call me Therese.” She smiled.
“Therese.” I repeated with a smile and a small nod.
“How are you and Jarred? He’s treating you good I hope?” she asked, her lips spread into a small smile. Therese had a small round face with very wavy greying, dark brown hair, large green eyes that were rimmed with long, thick eyelashes and full pink lips. She was a very beautiful person, much like Jarred.
“Hey Ali.” I heard a deep, male voice say as I was picked up from behind and spun around a little bit. I shrieked a little bit but ended laughing by the time my feet were put back down on the ground.
“Adam!” I laughed, turning around and hugging him.
“Jarred’s been hiding you from us.” He laughed.
“Have not.” Jarred protested, walking out and standing next to me.
“Hey little brother.” Adam laughed, ruffling Jarred’s hair before pulling him in for a quick hug.
“Hey Adam.” He laughed, pulling away and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I loved Jarred’s family. They were all really close with each other, unlike my dysfunctional family. I stood there watching as Jarred, Adam and Therese all laughed and spoke with each other. I could help but smile as I watched them and remembered the first time I met them.
~
“I’ll have to warn you Ali, my family are crazy. They will smother you with affection and will ask so many questions and mum especially, will want details, lots of details. They want to know everything.” Jarred had warned me as we walked the short distance up his family’s driveway to the front door.
“It’s okay, I’m sure they aren’t that bad.” I laughed, nudging him gently with my shoulder.
“Oh how misled you are.” He winked, opening the door and calling out to his family, letting them know he was home. “Maybe if we are quick we can run to my room and they won’t see you here.” He whispered jokingly, grabbing my hand.
“I’m starting to think you don’t want your family to meet me.” I laughed quietly as we tried to get to Jarred’s room before his family saw us. We reached his bedroom and had the door opened when someone walked up behind us.
“Who’s this Jarred?” questioned an older man.
“Shit.” Jarred cursed, turning around, my hand still in his.
“Hi, I’m Adam, Jarred’s older brother. I’m sure you’ve heard all about me.” Adam winked holding his hand out politely waiting for me to return the gesture.
“I’m Alice,” I said nervously, pulling my hand out of Jarred’s and glancing over at him “and no, I haven’t heard about you at all.” Adam grabbed my hand as I held it out and pulled me in for a hug. I was taken by surprised; my arms were pinned to my side and my feet were lifted off the ground slightly.
“Adam, let her go.” Jarred warned. My feet were placed back on the ground and I could breathe properly again. “Is mum home?”
“No she’s out. It’s just us three; Charlie will be over later though. That’s what she says but I doubt she will be, you know what she’s like.” Adam laughed slightly.
~
“Ali?” Therese asked, pulling me out of my own thoughts.
“Sorry, what?” I mumbled, dropping my head so my hair became a makeshift curtain around my face.
“Don’t worry.” Jarred laughed, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from his family and towards his room.
“Remember we can hear you out here!” Adam yelled jokingly at us as Jarred closed the door and turned his television on.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting down on his bed and grabbing a slice of almost cold pizza.
“Nothing, I just didn’t want to be out there anymore.” He shrugged, taking a large bite of pizza. I took a small bite and wiped my mouth gently with the sleeve of my jumper, pulled down over my hand.
“What are we watching?” I asked around a small mouthful of food, gesturing slightly to the T.V. and placing my pillow up against the headboard of his bed and sitting back against it. He moved up and sat beside me, the pizza box in his lap.
“You’ll see.” He said, taking another massive bite of pizza. I finished off my slice and reached for another. I watched as he scrolled through the list of movies on the screen. I looked down at my slice of pizza and took another small bite. We sat there like that in silence as I finished my piece. Jarred finally chose and movie for us to watch and was eating his fourth piece of pizza. He had chosen “This is The End”, a movie I had never seen before. As the movie went on, it became increasingly obvious that he was no longer interested in the movie, but was interested in something else; me. At first it was just little gestures like kissing me on the neck, but about half way through the movie, the pizza box was on the floor and he had moved me so I was sitting across his waist, my hands tangled in his hair and his hands up my shirt, in the midst of a heavy make out session. Jarred turned the volume of the movie up and told me to lock the door and turn off the light. I did as I was told and stumbled back to his bed in the dark; he turned on a lamp which provided a dim light, just bright enough for me to see. I moved to sit in the middle of the bed, unsure where he went. Next thing I knew, he tackled me onto my back and hovered over me in an intimate way, his lips crashing down on mine hungrily. He was careful with the way he moved, treating me like I was made of glass. His moves advanced, one thing leading to another and the rest of the night went on, the rest of the pizza was left uneaten and the rest of the movie remained unwatched.
