Manage Me, I'm a mess

"How about these?" I asked, looking at myself in the mirror.

"Fine." Alex said.

"Nice." Jack said.

"Great." Zack said.

"Nice." Rian said.

"I really like them. But I kind of like pair number two," I thought out loud.

"Were those the ones with the stuff on the pocket?" Jack asked.

"No, those were the ones with the cool button. Your thinking of pair number 12," Zack said.

"You guys are both wrong. Pair number two were the ones with the flaps on the back pocket. Number 12 were the ones with the stuff on the front pocket, and the ones with the cool button were number 17." Alex said.

"Hold on, wasn't pair number two the ones that made my legs look long?" I asked.

"No, pair number two were the ones that made your thighs look huge," Rian said. "The ones that made your legs look long was pair number 8."

"Oh. I guess I have to try them on again and find the one I'm thinking of," I said. The guys all groaned loudly.

"Fine! I'll just come back later!" I laughed. They all sighed in relief as we walked out of the store, leaving the clerk with about a billion pairs of jeans to sort through.

"Man, she must hate me," I said referring to the sales lady.

"Who cares? She was a bitch, anyway." Alex laughed. "By the way, I'm coming over tonight." he said.

"But you have to go to dinner, at Nat's remember?"

"Nah, my parents will be fine if I don't go. Especially if they know it's to hang out with you," he grinned. Alex's parents loved me. I was like the daughter they never had.

"Okay." I said. "I'll pick you up, I want to say hi to them."

"Wait! I want come too! Don't you leave me out, Woods!" Jack warned. I laughed.

"You guys can all come. We'll watch a movie or something." I said.

After looking at a couple more stores, we headed home. Everyone went their separate ways, planning to meet at 6 at my house. Alex was riding home with me, since I wanted to say hi to his parents. He was just going to grab a couple things and we'd head over to my place.

"Mom! Dad! Serena's here!" I was greeted with the smell of fresh baked banana bread as we stepped into the house.

"Serena's here?" his mother asked anxiously. She stepped into the living room, wiping her hands on her apron. Alex's mom was a petite woman, with timeless features.

"Hi, Mrs. Gaskarth!" I said, hugging her. She hugged me back tightly.

"How was your summer, sweetheart?"

"It was okay, sort of boring," I said, shrugging.

"Did someone say Serena was here?" Mr. Gaskarth's voice boomed from the hallway. "Serena!"

"Mr. G!" I said, giving him a side hug.

"I made banana bread. Come have some, kids." she said. The three of us went to the kitchen to find Alex, his mouth already full of bread.

"Alex!" Mrs. G scolded. He shrugged apologetically. He was about to put in another piece when I plucked it from his hand and slipped it into my mouth, laughing. He glared at me.

"Oh hush, you had half the pan," I said, gesturing to the half gone pan of banana bread.

"Mom, were going to Serena's house." he said, his words muffled.

"Take some banana bread with you." she said. She placed several pieces into a plastic container and gave it to me.

"Thanks, Mrs. G." I smiled. We chatted as I waited for Alex to change. Once he was finished, we headed over to my house.

"Are they home?" he asked in the car. I cast my eyes downward, knowing who he meant. I looked up, smiled softly and shook my head. He hooked his arm around my neck, pulled me close, and slapped a kiss onto my forehead.

He was talking about my parents. They were big shot lawyers and home about a month a year. You could hardly call them parents. I was raised by our maid (though I never thought of her that way), Eliza. She knew Alex almost as well as I did and she knew me better than I knew myself.
"Liz! I'm home!" I said, throwing my keys onto the table.

"I'm in here!" she called from the kitchen. I walked in, Alex behind me. "Oh, Alex. It's nice to see you again!" she said. Liz wiped her hands on her apron and hugged Alex. She was much shorter than him, he head at his shoulder.

"You too, Liz." he said and they continued chatting as I went up to my room. Alex joined me not long after and we watched some TV.

"I'M HEERRREEE!" Jack's voice boomed from downstairs.

"Jack Barakat! This is my house not one of your rowdy concerts! Keep it down or I swear I will wash your mouth out with soap. That'll teach you to use your indoor voice..." Eliza scolded.

"Yes, Eliza." he said. Alex and I started laughing as we went downstairs. The three guys were standing together, Zack and Rian laughing at Jack.

"You got yelled at, you got yelled at," Zack teased as we went down to the basement. Jack was glaring at him.

"Shut up, Zack!" He crossed his arms.

"Hey Zack! When you tease Jack, you have to deal with me!" I joked, pointing my thumbs at myself.

"You hear that Zack? You have to deal with her!" Jack came and stood beside me.

"Psh. I could take you both. At the same time. With my eyes closed." he said. I was about to protest, when an arm circled around my waist.

"Soon, you're going to get your ass kicked. So I'd stop now." Alex mock whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. Jack and Zack were still arguing about who could take who while Rian was looking at our billions of movies.

"Were watching Saw!" Rian called out.

"Nooooooooo! You know how I am with scary movies!" I protested.

"It's okay. Alex'll protect you, won't you, Alex?" Rian asked.

"Eh, sure," Alex shrugged. I crashed onto the couch beside him and his arm went around my shoulders holding me close.

Eliza came down holding a tray with two bowls of popcorn and several cans of coke and 7up, with one grape crush for me. She put the tray on the table.

"Aw, thanks, Liz!" I said. The guys yelled out thank you as well.

"No problem, have fun." she said. "You're watching Saw?" she looked at me. Liz knew how I was with scary movies.

"Yeah, I have my protector right here..." I slapped Alex's chest. As soon as she went back up the stairs, my cell rang. Princess Nat, it read. By the way, she put that in, not me.

"Hiya love," I said.

"Hey. Do you know where Alex is?" Without saying anything I handed the phone to him.

"Your girlfriend," I mouthed.

"Hello?"

Pause.

"Yeah, I'm at her house."

Pause.

"We'll the guys are here too,"

Pause.

"Because I wanted to hang with her, I haven't seen her all summer,"

Pause.

"Yeah, I got it."

Pause.

"How about Friday?"

Pause.

"Okay, see you then." He hung up and handed it back to me.

"Arranging your date?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"You don't sound too excited," I noted. He just shrugged as the movie started.

I spent most of it with my eyes closed, leaning into Alex's shoulder.

"It's only a movie," he'd whisper. "It's just ketchup,"

Finally, finally, it was over. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can I choose the next one?" I asked, walking to the movie cabinet. I pulled out Princess Diaries. The boys all groaned and refused.

"Quiet. We all need something cheery after that," I said, slipping it into the DVD player. The guys tried to look bored during the movie, but I could tell they were interested.

"Is it weird that I suddenly wish my parents are going to tell me I'm a princess?" Jack asked. We all laughed.

"Nah, I felt the same way the first time I watched this," I said.

"But you're a girl,"

"Your point?" I teased. Jack pouted as the others laughed. Alex decided to sleep over, and the rest of the guys left after we talked for a while.

"You want to sleep in the guest room?" I asked, hesitantly. He looked at me, confused.

"I'll just sleep in your bed, that's what we always do, right?"

"But you have a girlfriend," I said, quietly.

"I've had other girlfriends,"

"But Nat is your girlfriend," He ran a hand through his hair.

"Nothing is going to change between us. I haven't even asked her to be my girlfriend. If she can't accept us being tight, she's not worth it." he said. I smiled.

"Okay," I said, and we headed to my room. Alex slept in his t-shirt and boxers while I slept in short shorts and a tank. My bed was huge, king size so there was loads of room.

For the very first time, I felt slightly awkward and self conscious in the same bed as Alex. I fell asleep wondering why.