Sweep Me Off My Feet Again (Jack Barakat)

I yawned as the morning sun reflected off of something and shone onto my face.  My eyes opened sleepily, and I saw Jack staring down at me. “Morning, sunshine,” he greeted, pressing his lips to my forehead, as I wiggled around to wake myself up.

“How long have you been staring at me?” I yawned, my fingers grazing his cheek as I circled around his ear, toying with it just like he liked.

"Not long." he shrugged.

“I don’t think I could have imagined a more perfect first time,” I said shyly.

“Well...” Jack said nervously.
 
"What's wrong, Jack?" I sighed.

"Well, it, umm...broke." he mumbled.

"IT? It being the..."

He looked at me apologetically.
"I'm so sorry, Meg."

I waved it off, "It...it's okay, Jack. Everything's going to be fine. It happens to people all the time. Let's just forget about it."
He smiled, and kissed me quickly. “Youre way too understanding about things. Which is why I’m going to make you breakfast!” Jack grinned as he grabbed his boxers off the floor, slipping them on before making his way downstairs. His words sunk into my brain, and my eyes widened.

“Jack!” I screeched, pulling on my panties and Jack’s old t-shirt before running after him. “I was supposed to be home at two!"
 
“It’s Sunday, Meg. Your dad golfs on Sundays and your mom's probably covering for you. Did I mention I love your mom?"

“My mom is the best.” I smiled thoughtfully, thinking of all the times she had covered for Jack and me when we’d stayed out a little too late.
“She loves you so much."

“I’m pretty sure she loves you just as much, Jack. You’re my first boyfriend, and you’re not scum like the rest of the men on the planet she’s known.”

“Come on, I’ll take you home,” he smiled, offering me his hand. “We wouldn’t want Julie to start hating me now, would we?”
--
I walked into school. Jack had picked me up like always, but the road to school was unusually quiet this morning.

“Youre being unusually quiet," Jack said as if reading my mind, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He kissed my cheek, and I leaned into him contently.

“Sorry, baby,” I murmured.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I replied, turning around in his arms and gazing into his eyes. "just tired."

“The happy couple!" Alex announced, coming up to stand next to us. “Did you guys go to the movies with Rian and Kara on Saturday?"

“No, we went to Jack's house,” I answered, wrapping my arms around Jack’s skinny torso as we started to walk down the hallway again.

“Ooh, Jack's house,” Alex teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.  “Have a party of your own, did you?”

“We just hung out,” Jack defended. “Stop thinking of my girlfriend like that, Gaskarth.”

“Sorry, man,” Alex grinned. “And speaking of love, I was supposed to meet Lisa at her locker ten minutes ago. That girl will be mine!" he declared, mumbling a sheepish "eventually" to the end of his declaration as he waved goodbye and sprinted off to the lockers.
I laughed, shaking my head as Jack squeezed me closer to his side. “You sure you’re okay, Megan? You seem...different.”

“I’m fine, Jack."

“You’d tell me if something were up, right?” He stopped for a moment, looking down at me with genuine care and concern in his eyes. But behind that I saw uncertainty and fear; two emotions Jack rarely showed.

“You’d be the first, Jack,” I promised, placing my hand on his cheek. Jack half-smiled, his hand resting on top of mine. He laced our fingers together, kissing the top of my hand and smiling wider. “But nothing is wrong.”

“Good,” he smiled, continuing down the hallway, tugging me along.

As I followed him, I swallowed the lump in my throat. Something was definitely wrong.