All The Small Things

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the Towson Diner, a local place where a ton of kids from school usually hung out after school. I was sort of nervous that Jack and I holding hands the whole time helped to confirm the rumors, but a part of me didn’t even care in the slightest. I watched as groups of girls from my grade and even some upperclassmen looked on and even glared at me.

“Don’t worry about them.” Jack whispered in my ear as we walked over to a table where a guy was already sitting down alone.

“Hey, Zack. This is Cameron.” Jack introduced us. I gave him a small smile that he reciprocated. I could kind of already tell he was sort of the quiet one in thier group so I didn’t push it. I was usually that way too. It was kind of surprising that I had opened up as much as I did with this group. It probably had to do with how accepting they all were of my presence so quickly. After I thought about it a little, it was sort of weird how accepting they all were so quickly.

After sitting in the same booth for a couple of hours, sharing stories and just hanging out, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Erica’s name flash across the screen.

“Who is that?” Jack asked. I hadn’t even noticed he was paying attention to me so I blushed furiously.

“It’s my best friend.” I told him with a smile.

“Oh, do you want to answer it? I can get up so you can get out of the booth.” He suggested as he began to stand up a little bit.

“No, no. It’s fine. She calls me every night. I can call her back later.” I shook my head and slid the phone back in my pocket.

“Do you need to get back any time soon?” Jack asked looking at the time, “It’s getting kind of late. And I know for a fact your parents don’t know where you are.”

“Probably.” I shrugged, “But it doesn’t matter.”

“Okay. Just don’t go getting grounded on me so I can’t see you anymore.” Jack winked.

“What are you two love birds whispering about over there?” Lisa giggled.

“Is that our nickname now, love birds?” Jack smirked as Lisa giggled and nodded her head, “Cool. I kind of like it.” I could feel the butterflies build up in my stomach at Jack’s last comment. I hadn’t ever felt this way about a guy before, and it felt almost... refreshing to like someone again. I hadn't really liked anyone since Will. And I was over that halfway through our relationship.

“Aww, she’s blushing!” Zack smiled.

“Am not!” I protested, but I knew they could all obviously see that I was.

“C’mon love bird.” Jack grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the booth, “I’ll drive you home in Zack’s car.”

"But I need my car, Jack!" Zack protested.

"I'll be back, jackass." Jack rolled his eyes and slung his arm over my shoulders, "See you all in a bit."

“Bye guys!” I called back to everyone. I got a chorus of goodbyes that made me smile even more. I was really beginning to love my new group of friends, and I was very grateful for Alex coming to sit with me in Art today. Who would have known that I would make so many great friends in that short amount of time. It already felt as if I'd known some of them for years now. This was all too surreal.

“What are you thinking about?” Jack asked once we had gotten down the road a ways.

“Just... how crazy today has been.” I said with a small smile.

“Yeah, sorry about all of that.” Jack blushed, “They get... a little crazy sometimes. Hell, I get a little crazy all of the time. Today has just been an off day for me.”

I laughed, “It’s not that... it’s just... how easily they acted like I have been friends with all of you for years.”

“What can I say? We’re very friendly people.” He grinned, “Now, I’m sorry if the whole love bird thing weirds you out... That, I can’t explain.”

“No, I think it’s cute.” I smirked as he grinned even wider. We pulled into my driveway a few minutes later and I clambered out of the car as he followed me. “You know you don’t have to walk me to the door.”

“I want to.” He laughed, “If that’s alright.”

“Yeah, it’s cool.” I smiled as we walked up the steps to the door, “Well, I guess this is goodnight Jack.”

“Goodnight, Cameron.” He grinned as he pulled me in for a hug. I felt as if I could stand there forever, but eventually Jack let go, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” I blushed as he walked off and I went inside.

“Hey Paul, do you think you could make lemon bars for tomorrow?” I asked my step-dad as I walked inside to the kitchen.

“You were out late. With Erica and Will? And sure I can.” He smiled as he kneaded some dough.

“No, I was with some other friends.” I said as I pulled out a stool and sat down at the counter, “Where’s mom?”

Paul looked up with a sad look in his eye, “She’s passed out already.”

“Already?” I asked sort of shocked. She usually lasted until 9 and it was only 8:20.

“Yeah. So tell me about these other friends. I haven’t heard you mention any others that you hang out with outside of school.”

I shrugged, “Well, it’s sort of some new friendships. They’re all upperclassmen.”

“Guys and girls?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yup.” I said popping the ‘p’.

“Any of them cute?” He winked because he could totally tell I was elated from the minute I walked into the house, “You don’t have to tell me, you know. I was just curious.”

I smiled, “Yeah, one. Well, others are cute but...”

“Only one has caught your eye.” He finished my thought for me.

“I’m going to go call Erica.” I giggled as I hurried upstairs to my room.

“I’ll be here making your lemon bars!” He called back as he chuckled to himself.

-

Not even ten minutes later I was sitting in my room in my sweats talking on the phone to Erica. “You did what in front of him?” She shrieked.

“I made him turn around so he wouldn’t see, but I am pretty sure he peeked.” I giggled at her reaction.

“Oh, he definitely peeked. He’s a guy.” She assured, “I heard that you went out to eat with Jack and his crew tonight.”

“How does word travel so fast?” I asked mainly to myself.

“Because it is high school.” She answered, “So are you going to hang out with Jack again soon?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” I sighed, “Rian and Alex said they wanted to make my house the hangout spot, so it’s a possibility.”

“You should totally do that and then invite me over.” Erica said as she devised a plan in her head, “Then maybe I can get onto the A list. Did you know you’re already on the B list after one day? You made it up two levels, Cammie!”

“I’m so proud of myself.” I said sarcastically, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Erica. I need to get some sleep.”

“Bye hun!” She sang before she hung up, probably heading over to her computer to facebook stalk everyone we had just talked about. I sighed before burying my head in my pillows and drifting off to sleep.

-

I walked into school the next day to see Jack leaning on my locker waiting for me. He stood up straight and smiled when he finally noticed me coming down the hall.

“How’d you know this was my locker?” I asked as I opened it and put a few of my books away.

“Your friend Erica told me. She said she talked to you yesterday and I should watch myself if I sneak a look at you half dressed again.” He laughed a little, “It kind of scared me, not gonna lie.”

I groaned, “That’s Erica for you. She takes the overprotective best friend thing to a whole different level. You should have seen her when I was dating my friend Will. Oh my God she was just... insane. She would watch our every move.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He smirked down at me. It was times like these I really hated being 5’2”. He was literally a foot taller than me. “So, I forgot to ask you for your number yesterday, and you didn’t accept my facebook friend request last night, so I couldn’t get it from you there.

“Oh, yeah sure. Just give me your phone and I will put it in there.”I put out my hand and waited patiently for him to hand it to me and quickly punched in the necessary information before handing it back to him.

“Thanks.” Jack beamed down at me, “I’ll text you later so you’ll have my number too.”

“Sounds good to me.” I smiled as we began to walk down the halls.

“It’s the love birds!” Alex waved at us as soon as he saw us, “Hi, love birds!”

“Shut it, Lex.” I rolled my eyes as I walked up.

“Someone is grumpy in the mornings.” He smiled, “Are you riding home with us today?”

I shook my head no, “I’m walking over to my house with my friends Erica and Will.”

“The same Will that you used to date?” I could see Jack tense up a little, which I thought was kind of cute in a weird way.

“Yeah, but we’re over that. Way over it.” I chuckled a little, “You guys can come over too, if you want. I mean, you did say you wanted my house to me the official hangout house.”

“We’re going over to Cameron’s today?” Rian asked as he walked up with Kara and Lisa.

“Aww, we have cheer practice, we can’t come.” LIsa pouted.

“Damn.” Kara scowled, “Oh, by the way Cam. We are having a girls night on Friday and you are welcome to join us.”

“Thanks, I’ll consider it.” I grinned at all my new friends. It was still freaking me out a bit how they were including me in everything with them, but I was trying to accept it as much as possible.

We continued talking for a few minutes until the bell rang and I said my goodbyes. The rest of the day went on pretty smoothly. I hung out with Alex in art, then with everyone at lunch, and then with Will during Chemistry. Finally, the day was over and I started my walk home with Erica and Will.

“So Jack, Alex, AND Rian are coming over today?” Erica squealed after I told her the plan, “This may be the very thing I need to get my popularity up so I can join the A list!”

I rolled my eyes, “They’re genuinely nice people, Erica. They don’t really care about all that bull shit.”

“And you know this because you have spent a total of two days hanging out with them?” She scoffed, “Trust me, they care.”

“That’s more time than you have spent with them!” I challenged, “And maybe if you spent more time getting to know them instead of just talking about them, you would see that.”

“Ladies, ladies. Please calm down.” Will intervened, “We’ve been friends for a long time, let’s not fight over something so trivial.”

“Fine.” We both said at the same time. Even though we had ceased fighting, and went back to joking and laughing, I couldn’t help but to think she was still a little jealous they had picked me, a “D-lister” in her words, to be friends with instead of her a “B-lister" to hang out with.

A little while later, we we’re at my house, and two unfamiliar cars were already parked in my driveway.

“Took you long enough!” Alex shouted as he turned off his car and got out, “Hi, I’m Alex.” He introduced himself to Will and Erica.

“I’m Rian!” Rian said as he got out of the car too, “Oh dude, you’re in my band class.”

“Yeah, I play saxophone.” Will said rather embarrassed, “You’re percussion, right?”

“Yeah, I play drums.” Rian grinned.

I had let them go ahead with introductions as I unlocked my front door. “Did you make me Lemon Bars?” Jack shouted as he ran out of his car and straight past me into my house.

“I don’t know, we’ll have to check the fridge and see if Paul made some.” I giggled as I waved everyone inside. Once we were all in the kitchen, Jack had already devoured three of the lemon bars he took out.

“Geeze, save some for everyone else, Fatty!” Will shouted as he ran over and claimed a piece.

“Why should I? Paul made them for me.” Jack said as he held the plate full closer to himself.

“He did not.” Will said with a mouth full of food.

“Did too! Didn’t he, Cam?” Jack looked at me for reassurance.

“It’s true.” I nodded my head, “He asked for them and Paul made them.”

“Damn.” Will scowled as everyone chuckled around him.

“I was scared I got the wrong house.” Zack said as he just let himself in, “But I saw Jack and Alex’s cars so I knew I was in the right place, “Hi, I’m Zack.” He smiled at Erica and Will who just nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

“You didn’t tell me they had a GORGEOUS friend, Cammie.” Erica whispered in my ear, “You should put in a good word for me.”

“Will do.” I giggled.

“What are you two whispering about?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” We both said together.

“I don’t believe you.” Will laughed.

“Tell us!” Rian shouted.

“Never!” I screamed before grabbing Erica’s hand and running off towards the basement.

“You can hide, but you can’t run!” Alex shouted as he took off after us.

“I think you said that wrong!” Zack shouted as everyone hurried behind him. Fortunately, we had already closed the door to the basement, but we knew that we didn’t have much time when Will was on their side instead of ours. He knew where we hid the basement spare key since he used to sneak in all the time.

“Shhh.” I giggled as I tried to listen to hear if they had left yet, “I think the coast is clear.” I unlocked the door and slowly turned the knob before the door was suddenly yanked open.

“Guess again!” Jack laughed as he picked me up and started running away with me in his arms.

“Save yourself, Erica!” I called to her before looking at Jack who was taking me upstairs, “Um, where exactly are we going?”

“It’s our turn to hide.” Jack smirked as he opened the door to my house’s hall closet, “This will do.”

“It’s so tiny, Jack!” I whispered.

“Exactly why they won’t think to check here.” He smirked. We both chuckled as we heard Erica’s screams of being caught from the floor below.

“Fair enough.” I agreed as he sat down on the closet floor with me still in his arms. He let go of me with one arm to close the door before he put it back. Jack sure was a very touchy person, and I really didn’t mind it very much. I could cuddle in his arms forever if it were possible.

Jack pressed his forehead to mine and looked straight into my eyes. I could feel butterflies fill my stomach as my heart began to race. I hoped that he couldn’t feel it, but I’m sure he could with the small smirk that formed at his lips, “So about this secret you and Erica were sharing... What exactly did it entail?”

I let out a small giggle that came out more as a squeak, “It wasn’t anything about you, if that’s what you’re worried about. It had to do with Zack.”

“What about Zack?” Jack asked again. His breath was tickling my upper lip as he spoke which gave me goose bumps. I was praying that he wouldn't notice even though he was holding me so close.

“Erica thinks he is cute.” I blurted out. I was sure Erica would kill me for it later, but right now I wasn’t too concerned.

“You know who I think is cute?” Jack asked.

“Who?” I blushed.

“Love birds!” Alex cried as he opened the closet door, “Jack, you’re shit at hiding.”

Jack groaned before we crawled out of the closet, “I tried, but you had already found Erica, so I had to make a decision quick.”

“Excuses.” Alex waved him away, “Hey Cam, Erica and Will left with Zack and Rian to go chill at his place, they said I should tell you.”

“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes, “Typical. They leave me out of everything.”

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think Rian likes Erica very much.” Alex smiled, “I think Zack likes her a lot though.”

“I don’t really care about what they think of her, to be honest.” I rolled my eyes, “And how is that of any consolation, Alex?”

He shrugged, “I thought it may make you feel better. You two are really different, you know that?”

I sighed, “I know.”

“Well, I have to go pick up Lis, so I’ll see you guys later.” Alex sent us a wink in our direction before he ran downstairs and out the door.

“They all left in a hurry.” I observed when it was just the two of us.

Jack laughed, “Yeah, don’t be surprised if they do that a lot.”

“Why?” I giggled, “It’s weird.”

“Just... I don’t know.” Jack laughed, “So what are we going to do now?”

“Oh, you’re not going to leave me too?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Never.” He grinned, “As long as I keep getting those lemon bars.”

“I’ll be sure to stop making them then.” I laughed as I hurried downstairs to try and get rid of them.

“No!” Jack shouted as he ran downstairs, “My lemon bars!” I could feel tingles all through my waist as he grabbed me and spun me around, pulling me close, “Nobody gets rid of my lemon bars.” I could have sworn in that moment that Jack was going to kiss me, but he pulled away fast and looked at his phone instead, “Dammit May!” He groaned, “My sister is texting me to come home, but I will text you later, okay?” He said as he grabbed the lemon bars out of my hand and kissed my cheek before walking out the door.

"Who was that?" My mom asked as she stumbled in the door a few minutes later holding two bottles of vodka.

"My friend." I said still holding onto my cheek where he had kissed me.

"Seemed more than a friend to me." She grunted as she wandered away into the den. I sighed knowing she was already a little tipsy and it would only get worse from here. I was better off just shutting myself in my room for the night so I wouldn't have to watch her crash and burn.