Anger Issues

99

Austin

Jess' alarm blared out loud. It woke both of us up- but jerked Jess awake. I woke up, but I didn't move.

I heard her sigh as she turned it off, before laying back down. She said nothing, but I could tell she was awake, and allowing me a few more minutes.

"How much time do we have?" I mumbled, kissing her shoulder. "We have a good 45 minutes," she softly said.

"Jess!" Noah called from downstairs. I stretched, rolling off of her. "Wait for me," I said, standing up after her.

When we got downstairs to Noah, he was holding Nite in his grip.

"Sup' bro," I said, clapping my hand with his. "How was the trip?" He asked. "Good," I smiled, nodding.

"Mom said to take Nite to the groomers before you go to dance," he looked at Jess. "I thought dad was taking him," she said. "Can we really count on him anymore?" Noah sighed, handing Nite to her.

"Why can't you take him?" She asked. "Cause I have a friend coming over," he quietly said, suspiciously scratching the back of his head.

Jess gasped, a smile forming on her lips. "Is it-" "Shh, leave," Noah cut her off, smiling. "You have to tell me what happens," Jess said. "No I don't. Now go," he turned away.

"We should probably leave now, then," Jess shook her head, still smiling her beautiful smile.

We got our stuff and went out to my car, but Jess was driving since she knew where the groomers was.

"I need a dog ASAP," I said, petting Nite. "Get one And I'll love it more than I love you," Jess said. "Okay, never mind then," I defended.

"I'm kidding, I love you," she said. "Mhm," I sarcastically nodded.

—

"Alright guys," our instructor clapped. All of us were catching our breath, tired from today's work.

"So, all of you know that we're a pretty good dance team," he began. The other coach, Tristan, was walking around, handing out sheets of paper.

Slowly, people started gasping, but I still didn't know why. I looked at Jess, who was just as confused as me.

"I would like to proudly announce," the instructor continued. "That we will be preforming in state championships," he said. The second the words left his mouth, the entire class started cheering.

"No way," I laughed, looking around. Everyone was smiling, all excited.

"Austin," Jess gasped, looking at the paper that I hadn't yet gotten. "We will have a solo, three duets, two small groups, and a big group dance. So it's gonna be a lot. We have a few months to do so but it will be very, very strict and tiring," he continued.

"We're gonna have a few more instructors come in, and we'll take it from there," he finished.

"On the sheets you're getting, and on the bulletin board back there, you'll see the groups. Now come on! We got this!" He shouted, making everyone cheer again.

"Great job today guys, make sure to be on time next week," he laughed.

When I finally got a sheet handed to me, Jess ran over. "Look," she pointed.

Duets

Molly J and Conor F
Zach G and Melissa B
David D and Austin C

"No way," I said, my eyes widening. "You're preforming a duo for state fucking championships," she said. I looked from the paper, smiling.

"Austin that's amazing!" She added, throwing her arms around me. "I- I wanna react but I don't know how to," I said. "Babe this is amazing," she said. "I know," I nodded.

Holy... shit.

After a couple minutes, everybody calmed down, and we all slowly left the studio.

As I drove into the street, Jess spoke again. "You got a duo," she put her hand on the side of my face, smiling again. "I know," I laughed softly.

"Are we picking up Nite?" I asked. From the corner of my eye, I saw her phone light up. "No, Noah got him," she did. I nodded.

"Let me see the pictures from your trip," she said. "Oh! I forgot," I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

Handing it to her, she went to my gallery, scrolling to the first picture I took.

"Woah," she said. "I know. I took a picture almost everyday," I said.

I did take a picture everyday. Minus.. that one day. I was just hoping she didn't notice.

I talked about the trip for a few minutes, until she finished look at all the pictures.

"You're so cute. I sent myself a ton of those," she said, handing me back my phone. "Okay," I laughed softly.

The next few minutes were filled with nothing but the music softly playing- but it wasn't a bad silence. It was casual. And comfortable.

Jess leaned her head back, and that's when I could tell something came to mind.

"Tell me what happened while I was gone," I glanced at her. She stayed silent, before looking at her hands.

"Aus.. do you know what happened.." she paused. "On Saturday?" She slowly finished.

The conversation was bound to come up, but I didn't want it to.

Looking at the mirrors, I cautiously pulled to a stop on the side of the road.

Putting the car in park, I paused the music, turning to her.

She still looked out the window, and hadn't looked in my direction since she brought it up.

"I remembered," I nodded, reaching for her hand softly. "That's the day you said you were going out but you didn't have plans," I added. She nodded.

"That's the day you didn't go out because you didn't feel good," she forced a smile, looking at me softly.

I leaned the side of my head against the headrest, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked. "What's to talk about?" She breathed in, slowly pulling her hand away from mine. She looked away, and through the dim streetlights, I could see her biting her lip.

"Don't cry," I said. "I'm not," she shook her head.

I leaned my head back, licking my lips.

"Are we gonna talk about you getting high?" I hesitantly asked. She leaned her elbow on the armrest, putting her head in her hand.

"Do we have to?" She asked. "Sooner or later," I nodded.

"Can it please be later?" Her voice was soft. It was our first day together again and I didn't want it to end with her being upset, so I just agreed with talking about it later.

"Okay. But it will come up," I said. She nodded her head.

Doing the same, I looked forward, before slowly driving off again.