Champagne's for Celebrating, I'll Take a Martini

He didn't think it was possible, but Jack's mood had progressively sunk even lower than it had been that morning. Mandy had outdone herself, ruining the possible friendship that was starting to take off between him and Arianna. He was so close. He made her laugh and she'd played along when he teased her. Now she treated him like the bug on the wall that no one wanted to be within six feet of.
 
His phone was going off every five seconds with calls and texts from Rian, Alex, and Zack. He'd skipped out on band practice after school and just went straight home. Sure he may have been acting a little—or a lot—like a diva, but they'd all get over it. Shutting off his phone, Jack rolled over on his bed mentally and physically exhausted. His head sank into his pillow and he closed his eyes, ready to pass out for an hour or two.
 
Julia Reed had other plans.
 
She burst through the door, ran in and jumped up on the bed next to him.
 
"I've been sent here on a mission," she informed him, poking his shoulder to get his attention. He groaned and opened his eyes, turning to her. "You're M.I.A man, why aren't you at Rian's?" she asked, a frown set upon her lips. He buried his face back into his pillow and shrugged. "Oh come on…" she urged, using one of her weird voices. "Tell Jules what's wrong."
 
He heaved a heavy sigh and sat up, not meeting her wondering eyes. They sat in silence for a minute or two, Jack collecting his thoughts and Julia waiting patiently.
 
"I just don't get why nothing works out for me…" Jack muttered, hoping she hadn't caught what he said even though he was quite sure she had. She cocked her head to the side, her frown sinking deeper.
 
"I'm not following…" she said slowly. "What isn't working out?"
 
"Nothing, forget it," he flopped back down on the mattress. He was never the open "spill your guts out" type. He didn’t like talking about his feelings. Not even to his friends. Julia knew very well how her friend worked and emitted a frustrated groan, knowing it was going to take some work to pry any information out of Jack.
 
"Okay…well what do you wanna do?" she asked, dropping the subject for the time being. She knew if she pressed too hard he'd just push her away further. Jack shrugged his shoulders and lethargically crossed his arms over his face. He was usually so lively and spirited. What was this girl doing to him? "Jack?" Julia spoke softly, a tone of concern laced in her voice.
 
"Can you just like…cuddle with me right now? I'm in a cuddling mood," he mumbled and she wrinkled her nose and laughed.
 
"All right Barakat, but if you tell anyone about this I will deny it," she warned, but he knew she was full of it. She settled down next to him and let him wrap his arms around her middle. The two lay in content silence, the door left ajar and the cool mid November air creeping in through the open window. Julia placed her hand over Jack's comfortingly and squeezed it gently. It was intimate yet completely casual for the both of them, which may have not made sense to a lot of people, but it did to them.
 
"It's Arianna, right?" she guessed and he wasn’t surprised by how accurate she was.
 
"Yeah."
 
She patted his hand and sighed. "Well Jacky, you already know what I think about that whole situation…if you want her you know what you have to do."
 
"Yeah," he said again, feeling hopeless as ever. Breaking up with Mandy wasn't going to kill him or even break his heart really. Still, he felt comfortable with what they had. The two had fallen into a routine that he followed extremely well. Mandy was a sure thing. Arianna, however, was not. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take that risk.
 
Quite pathetically, the truth was he just didn't want to be alone.