prove it - j.g

chapter three: "he's the love of my life"

vanessa thomas

after i had gotten changed into something more put together and appropriate, i walked down the stairs to meet the parents of the son, jack.

"hi, nice to meet you. im vanessa" i smile, shaking the hand of his dad, but being brought into an embrace by his mom.

"sweetheart, you're gorgeous!" his mom states, letting me go with a smile on her face. all i wanted was to leave right now, this was so uncomfortable.

i smile at her, "thank you."

after a little bit more small talk, i make my way back outside to the yard where jack sat and waited for me. he was sitting at the table where my towel had previously sat, so i sat on the opposite chair.

"so what type of music do you and your friend make?" i ask, quite intrigued by the boy who tells me casually that he tours with his best friend while performing their music.

he shrugs, "a variety of music, we don't like being held to one type. but he raps his parts and i just sing."

i nod, not knowing what else to say.

"so tell me about yourself" jack suddenly states, seeming curious about my life.

"i don't know what you want to know" i state, "i could tell you that im eighteen and have no full idea what i want my future to be. i have a boyfriend who plays hockey and my brother plays hockey, so im at the arena a lot. i enjoy cooking, swimming, and running."

jack immediately asks about one specific topic, without acknowledging anything else i had mentioned, "how long have you and your boyfriend been together?"

"it'll be our three year anniversary next month" i respond with a smile, "we've been together since i was fifteen. he's the love of my life."

jack nods, "that's a long time. what's his name?"

"tyler. so what about you? do you have a girlfriend?" i ask, seeming like it was a fair time to ask.

he shakes his head, "we broke up just after i graduated. she was too clingy and was trying to hold me back from my career."

understandably, i nod, "did your friend like her?"

"jack? no way. jack didn't like that she was trying to get between our career" jack responds, completely confusing me.

"wait" i furrow my eyebrows, "are you talking about yourself in third person or?"

jack laughs and shakes his head, "my best friend is jack johnson. usually we call him johnson. we're jack and jack, that's what we go by when we make music and are performing."

everything made so much more sense to me, "that makes sense."

as we sat there, my phone began to buzz. the id displayed the contact photo for my boyfriend. it was a picture of us from one of his hockey games with me leaning up to kiss his cheek as he had sweaty, messy hair and was in his hockey uniform.

"are you going to pick it up?" jack asks, bringing me out of the thoughts that were making their way through my head.

"oh, no. it's okay" i reply emotionless, not exactly wanting to appear bothered by my boyfriend's phone call.

jack could most likely tell by my actions and my facial expression that something was wrong. though, the last thing i wanted was for him to ask. so, i brought it on myself to slightly explain the situation so we could go back to how things were ten minutes ago.

"we're kind of in an argument right now" i state, causing jack's eyes to shift from the table to my eyes, "he got upset for something that happened after school today, which led me to get mad at him for being upset over something pointless."

he nodded, "what happened? im a guy, i can give you my perspective."

i roll my eyes thinking back on the argument tyler and i had once i arrived home, "he kissed me and kept taking it further, but i pushed him off and said i had to leave. he acted fine, you know, saying for me to text him later. when i got home he had sent me text messages that i wasn't a good girlfriend for pushing him off of me and leaving."

jack looked at me with a kind, understanding, and sympathetic look, "do you love him?"

i am blown away and shocked by his question, "um, i mean, of course i do."

he could tell i was doubtful. he could tell there was definite hesitation in my words and in my confidence to the topic. i did love my boyfriend, of course i felt love for him.

suddenly my dad came out of the sliding doors on the phone. i could tell what was happening, so i rolled my eyes and just kept quiet. he was being told that him and my mom were going on a business trip. they do work together, but with their job, they end up going to different companies which splits them up. but overall, they do work together at the same place.

my dad ended the call and looked at me, giving me a sympathetic smile.

"when do you guys leave?"

he halted in his steps and gave me a shocked look that i figured it out, "tomorrow at five am."

i nod, "have a good time."

jack's eyebrows were furrowed, so i explained it to him once my dad went inside. it was typical for my life.