The Hidden Gem

Chapter Two

October 12, 2008

Friday Night.

Smoke poured from the windows of Manse's car as he pulled into Jaymie's driveway. It was Friday night and Jaymie's house was the closet thing to a party that they could get to since his father always had an abundance of alcohol hidden in the garage.
Manse, Megan, Gemma and Jaymie climbed out of the red car. They trailed behind Jaymie as he led the way around the house to the back door, where they entered into his basement. Warmth instantly comforted Gemma's face like a long hug when she walked in. She had never been to Jaymie's house before, but looking at the basement she came to the assumption that it was his bedroom,

"Make yourselves comfortable, I'm gonna grab some beers." He said before disappearing through a door at the end of the staircase.

She looked around, the basement was refinished and it was the style of a studio apartment. The wood stove was small and old fashioned in the corner of a living area, with a couch, a small TV and a bean bag chair on the ground. There was a small kitchenette to the other side, with a sink, cabinets above, and a mini fridge on the counter. There was a half-wall that was topped with candles, picture frames, a bong and more. From what she could see, the other side of the wall looked like it could be where Jaymie's bed was. She turned to her left to find a seat in the living area, Megan and Manse had already claimed the couch, so she plopped down into the extremely large bean chair. To her side, a wall was covered in posters, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Stones. She leaned back onto the chair, above her there were tapestries thumb tacked into the ceiling.
She sat up quickly when she heard the door by the stairs open. It was Jaymie. He entered the room with two logs of wood under one arm, and he carried a case of beer by the handle in his other hand. Gemma watched him put the wood in the stove and lite it, his flannel was thick but she could see where his prominent muscles were underneath. An instant burst of warmth his her legs as the fire roared. He shut the door on the stove, and opened the case of beer. He handed one to Manse, one to Megan, and reached a hand down to Gemma. As she reached to grab it, he pulled it back and chuckled.

"You gotta come get it." He said towering over her, he held the beer against his chest. She was nearly swallowed by chair, but she quickly jumped up. She grabbed his arm, he guarded the beer closely to his chest like a football player with a football. She hit his solid arm a few times playfully and he spun around so his back was to her. She stood on top of the plushy chair and jumped onto his back, he spun around with her.
"Take this!" He said to Manse and handed him the beer quickly. He easily pulled Gemma over his shoulder and dropped her onto the bean bag chair, she screamed then broke into a hysterical laughter.

"Jesus, why don't you two just get it over with and fuck already?" Manse said as he handed the beer back to Jaymie. Gemma's giggling stopped.

She looked at him seriously, "Shut up!"

"Yeah Man, chill." Jaymie said.

They looked at each other and one side of Jaymie's mouth tugged up. She examined his face as he finally handed her the beer.
"Thanks." She said quietly.

His smile was her favorite quality on his face. His teeth were perfectly straight, but the best part of his smile is that it changed his whole face. His large round eyes would squint almost shut, and his naturally serious face portrayed his personality better when he would smile. It made him look younger for some reason.
He had a nervous habit that she had quickly picked up on; running a hand through his shoulder length hair when he was nervous, pushing it back over his forehead. After she took the beer from his hand, it went up to his hair like it was magnetically attracted, and pushed the light brown strands backwards.

She looked at his lips as he pressed him beer to them, his Adam's apple bulged as he took a sip. She'd be lying if she said he wasn't attractive. He was very tall and thin, but his muscles were toned and prominent, especially in his biceps. He looked much older than almost any other 17 year old she'd seen before. If she didn't know him she thought that she would guess he was already out of high school. Especially when she heard him speak, his intelligence was greater than people his age, never mind just boys his age.

She quickly looked away when she snapped out of a daze, realizing she was watching him for a few minutes.
"Where's the bathroom, Jaymie ?" She asked.
"Up the stairs, first door in the hallway.." He instructed her and sipped his beer again.
Megan shot up from the couch, "I'll come!"
She kissed Manse on the cheek before following Gemma to the stairs.

The girls found the bathroom easily.
"Just come in with me" Megan insisted.
Gemma felt weird about that, but she never had a close friendship with another girl before. It seemed like something all girls did, so they went in together.
"You really don't like Jaymie?" Megan asked as she peed on the toilet, Gemma fixed her hair in the mirror, in attempt to provide her friend with some sense of privacy.
"What do you mean? He's my best friend, obviously I like him." She laughed, acting innocently. Avoiding what she knew Megan meant.
"Shut up, you know what I mean."  The toilet flushed, the girls switched spots, only Megan didn't look away, she stood facing Gemma as she waited for a response.
"I've never thought about him that way.""
"Well, I wish I had somebody that looked at me like that."
This confused her in a few ways, "what about Manse?"
Megan bursted out laughing, the toilet flushed and Gemma stood up.
"Me and Manse are the type of couple that is only together for something to do, to pass time, it's obvious that we don't actually like each other."
Gemma looked at her confused, she didn't know couples like that existed. She always thought people didn't waste time together if they didn't actually like each other, but apparently some people stay together just to waste time.
"That's interesting."
"We have absolutely nothing in common and don't bond over anything... except sex."

Gemma wondered if Manse felt that way too. She never had a boyfriend before, but she always imagined a boyfriend as someone to share interests and hobbies with and talk about everything to..

They opened the bathroom door, to their surprise an older version of Jaymie waited outside. He was taller, more broad, and more wrinkled than Jaymie, but so similar that he could have been a version of Jaymie from the future that time traveled there.
"Good to see that my kids are inviting girls over at least." He laughed, his brown eyes squinted and created wrinkles in the corners. His eyebrows slanted upwards the same way Jaymie's did.  He didn't seem very old at all, but he looked like he aged fast.
He was noticeably intoxicated, holding on to the wall for balance, it made the girls slightly uncomfortable.  Jaymie didn't talk much about his family to Gemma. He mostly listened to other's talk about those types of things, and he talked about less personal topics. She remembered the few things Jaymie had said about his father like, he was a big drinker, but a hard worker. He wasn't home much, he was either at the mechanic shop where he worked, or he was at the bar. She realized then that she had never heard about his mother at all. It made Gemma nervous meeting people's parents, but the resemblance to Jaymie comforted her. If Jaymie was such a nice person, nice people must have raised him.

"I'm Gemma, I'm friends with your son, it's good to meet you ."
"Which son?" He asked quickly, disregarding her introduction.
"Jaymie."
"Oh ya.. Jaymie.. ya.." He pointed a shaky finger to her, "good for him."
He grabbed the door and the girls shuffled to the side. Megan grinned at her, Jaymie's dad disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. They went back down stairs . The boys were on their second beers sitting in the same places they had left them. Jaymie sat on the ground, leaning back on the bean chair with his elbows.
"You look just like your dad" She said to him. He laughed, and the statement was confirmed in her mind again.
"Ya I've heard, no question bout what I'll look like in 20 years"
That would make his father only 37.

They sat around drinking, and joking. Gemma quickly understood what Megan meant about her and Manse; it was easy to see that they didn't talk very easily and she was bored. She would most likely be out shopping if she could chose how to spend her Friday night. She wasn't used to sitting in a guy's basement drinking beer. She hated beer, Gemma could tell by the faces she made when she took tiny sips.

Gemma loved beer. They all had 3 beers each before the 12 pack was gone. It was nearly midnight, Manse was ready to bring them home. They quickly said their goodbyes to Jaymie before the left him alone.