Run Away With Me

And They Were Roommates

"Oh my god."

"You said that already." Jack murmured as he took our bags from the trunk of the car. But I didn't care if I was annoying him, this house was amazing. Like something out of a magazine.

We were still outside of the modern home, all of the walls like crisp white lines. From where we are standing, you could see into the second-floor bedroom behind a balcony, with all of the window coverings wide open. The first floor only had a couple of windows but on the porch was a quaint set up of a porch swing and a few plants. "Did you want to go inside or do you want to just admire the front porch?" Jack teases.

I scowl at him and close the trunk of my car. "Excuse me for admiring a nice house."

"I'm sure you've seen nicer." He mocks referring to my car and his new found knowledge of parent's money. But he is wrong, my family never saw the need for an extravagant house. Sure, ours is nice with its open floor plan and spacious rooms but it's not as if we live in a mansion on 60 acres of land. We live in the suburbs in an old house with creaky floors and a small backyard.

"How do we get the keys?"

"The owner said he would leave them under the cushion of the swing. Can you check?"

I walk over to the padded seat and lift it up. Sure enough, there is a set of keys underneath with a surf board keychain attached. I unlock the door for Jack and he carries our things inside. I walk in after him and flick on the light switch.

"Oh my god." I say again and I can practically hear Jack roll his eyes. "I know, I said that already." I say in a voice mocking his.

A light-colored stone covers most of the walls, matching that modern look from outside. The floors are a dark brown wood, and a large off-white area rug covers the middle of the living room we are currently standing in. There is a long sectional in the room that has a washed-out blue hue to it, matching the chairs on either side of the room. On the other side of the room is the only wall not covered in stone, instead it is taken up by large glass double doors that almost reach the ceiling.

Right outside those doors, is the ocean. The waves lapping against the shore, seagulls walking along the sand poking randomly at the pristine white grains. The sunshine is glinting against the water in sparkling rays and I just want to touch it.

I almost don't hear Jack saying my name. But when it registers, I look over my shoulder at him, where he stands by a doorway waiting expectantly. "Do you want dinner?" He asks slowly as if I wasn't actually there but he was still trying to make me understand.

"Don't we need groceries first?" I ask and peel my body away from the windows. Looking over my shoulder once more just to make sure it's real and not going anywhere.

"I saw a grocery store on the way, maybe 5 miles back the way we came. Do you want to go?"

"Yes! I'm starving."

He nods his head and I take the car keys back out of my pocket. After locking the house back up and getting in the car, I go back towards the main road where Jack said he saw the store. I park up front, backing into the space.

Jack leads me inside and grabs a cart, heading down each individual isle.

"I know I said I would pay for groceries, but I don't know the first thing about cooking. We eat out a lot at my house."

"Lucky for you, I know a thing or two about cooking. My mom taught all of us when we were little. Now we take turns making dinner every week. It's pretty fun actually. Sometimes we have cook offs, sometimes we get something we never would have tried before. I can teach you, if you want." He shrugs, but he has a nostalgic look in his eyes that makes me smile.

"I would love that." I watch as he takes a couple of cans from the shelves. "So, you have siblings then?"

"4 of them. Me being the oldest but the others aren't far behind. My youngest sibling, Alicia, is 10. I guess my parents never wanted to have alone time again." He chuckles. I gape at him but he doesn't seem to notice, or maybe he is just used to people having that reaction. He takes a few more cans off the shelf and tosses them into the cart. "You aren't allergic to anything, are you?" He asks after a moment of silence between us.

Still stunned by his family's size and filled with so many questions, I say, "No, I'm not."

"Good because you have to eat everything I make, no questions asked." He smirks.

"Wait, what are you going to make?" I ask as I follow behind him.

"Pretty sure that's a question, Miss Maddie." He keeps walking, leaving me behind.

It takes us about an hour but we finally finish up at the grocery store. We are back at the house now, unloading everything from the car. We carry our groceries inside and as I start putting things away, Jack gets started on dinner.

I finish putting everything away in the cabinets and fridge and prop myself on one of the barstools that surround the natural wood island. I watch Jack flit around the kitchen, filling pots and opening packages. "Hey, Madeline, can you grab one of the big pans from the cabinet beside the stove?"

I shimmy off of my stool and do as he asks, setting in on one of the burners that isn't on yet. "Great now put the burner on to like, 7?" Again, I do as he asks and wait for more instructions. He side-steps past me and drizzles some clear liquid into the pan, followed by what looks like tiny white specs. "Oil and garlic. Stir that would you?" He hands me a wooden spatula. Again, I do as I'm told. No questions asked, right?

After a minute or two, the tiny white specs turn a golden brown and the kitchen smells amazing. Jack looks over my shoulder and murmurs a "Perfect" to himself, then disappears again. When he comes back, he tosses in a wad of pink meat into the pan and sprinkles something over it. It makes a loud sizzling noise and the oil starts splatting everywhere. He shields my arms with his and pulls me back with him. "Oil burns hurt like a bitch." The oil calms down a bit and he removes his hands. "Can you stir that and break it up?" And once again he is gone, doing something else around the kitchen.

"These are so good." I moan through my mouth of food.

"Gross." Jack laughs and takes another bite of one of his tacos. "I'm glad you like them."

Jack and I are sat on the back porch, overlooking the twilight on the sea. We discovered that the back yard was a massive deck with a table and umbrella in one corner surrounded by chairs and on the other end were sun bathing loungers and a hot tub. We decided after the food was finished that we should eat dinner outside.

"Well now you can officially cross 'make a home cooked meal' off of your Summer Bucket List." He smiles thoughtfully.

His words pique my interest and I set my food down for a moment. "Summer Bucket List?"

"Yeah, you know, like everything you have ever wanted to do during the summer- "

"Like go to California?"

"Exactly. Or use a fake name while ordering." He smirks and the grey in his eyes twinkle with mischief. "What else would you put on your list?"

"Well I know for sure that watch the sunrise out here is on that list." I say as I watch more waves crash against the sand. "Maybe go to a bonfire or something?"

"Your bar is too low." He scoffs. "Tell you what. Since you are against plan making, I will have a list and make sure everything gets crossed off." He says and takes the last bite of his food. "I actually have something in store for tomorrow, but I can't tell you yet."

"As long as it's not going home, I'm in." we grin at each other.

Jack stands and takes our empty plates into the kitchen. A few moments later, he rejoins me on the porch. He holds out a water bottle for me and I take it with a quiet 'thanks'.

The longer we sit, the darker it gets. Its nearly pitch-black outside and we still haven't said anything, but it's nice. Sitting in a comfortable silence and watching people trickle off of the beach, the lights go out in the houses surrounding us, and the waves get louder without anyone else around making noise.

A relaxing official first day.