Poison

A few weeks past and before I knew it, I was standing in a crowded room with Jack and the rest of All Time Low celebrating the release of Nothing Personal. There were a lot of record executives and friends and family of Jack’s, Rian, Alex and Zack’s that I was ambushed into meeting. I would say, looking back at it – it went about fifty-fifty. Most of the people I was meeting were just happy that Jack was happy and didn’t give a hoot who I was, but the rest looked at Jack then looked at me and shook their heads; this thankfully wasn’t the opinion of his parents.

“Mom, dad – I want you to meet my girlfriend, Jade,” Jack’s tight grip on my waist loosened as he pushed me in front of his parents. Scared didn’t even begin to cover what I was feeling because it hasn’t been that long since we tried to tell my own parents at us and their reaction was exactly what I was expecting and more; my mother kicked me out officially and unofficially disowned me since she hasn’t spoken to me since.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Jade,” Mrs. Barakat, or Joyce as she insisted that I called her because Mrs. Barakat just made her feel old, said. “If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you?”

I looked up at Jack, who just smiled, “I’m seventeen.”

I could’ve seen their shocked expressions from a thousand miles away even if I hadn’t been standing directly in front of them. I saw Joyce bite her lip and Jack’s dad, Bassam, clear his thought,

“Son, I want to talk to you,” Bassam then led Jack to a corner where they could talk privately. I cringed, as nice as I know Jack’s mother could be because he constantly talked about her, I didn’t want to be left alone with her at that very second.

“Don’t be so worried, Jade – my husband is just making sure Jack has his head screwed on straight, but I’m thinking he does,” I turned my head away from Jack and his father to look at the woman before me. Joyce smiled. “Jack may be known for saying and doing stupid things but when it comes to girls, he doesn’t make mistakes. I taught my son better than that. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can,” Worry was still seeping through every pore of my body. It scared me to think that if Jack’s parents didn’t approve I would be kicked out onto a some strange Maryland street without a clue as to do next. But then again, in the back of my head, I always knew they would never say no to say Jack wanted.

“Do you love my son?” Joyce asked a simple and honest question. But it had been about a month since I hopped on a tour bus with him and said good-bye to everything that was familiar; it was hard to deny those certain butterflies and feelings though.

“That’s a hard question to answer, Joyce. We’ve only known each other a month but when Jack’s out on stage or not next to me in general, I want him next me, no, scratch that, need him next to me. When he texts me even if were sitting next to each other, I think it’s the cutest thing. He makes me laugh and smile and I just… love being with him,” I sighed. “If that’s what you call love then, yeah, I’m in love with Jack.”

Those words were true the day I spoke them very first until the day I took my very last breath. It filled me with such great amazement to actually be able to say that I’m in love with Jack. When Joyce’s eyes filled up with tears and she wrapped her arms around me I know everything was going to be just fine, even more so when Jack and Bassam finally walked back over with smiles on their faces. This was going to be my family; I just didn’t know how soon that was going to come true.

“I love you too, Jay,” Jack said as he wrapped his arms around me and put his head on top of mine. I honestly didn’t know how this could ever change.