All The Small Things

“So where are you taking me today, Jack?” I asked once we got off of a subway and ended up near the entrance of central park.

“To the park, obviously.” Jack rolled his eyes as we wandered inside. I looked around curiously at everything. From the little kids screaming and playing on playgrounds, to couples sitting on picnic blankets on the grass, it was all just so perfect.

“What are you thinking about?” Jack asked as we walked past a little boy who was crying and his mother was comforting him. I felt a slight pang in my chest, wishing that my mom cared that much about me still. She did at one point, I know it. It all stopped a little while after she married Paul when she rediscovered the bottle and her depression resurfaced. At that point, she stopped caring about almost everything, including her kids and husband. I imagine Paul would have left by now if we weren’t around. He was such a good guy and I felt so sorry for him that he had to deal with my family on a daily basis and take care of us all the time.

“Just... my mom,” I sighed, “And Paul.”

“What about them?” Jack twisted up his face in confusion.

“Nothing, nothing.” I shook my head, “Just wondering what their plans are for the weekend, is all.”

“You don’t talk about your parents much.” Jack said after a moment of silence, “You can go on and on about Jace and how much he is annoying you, or how much you love him, but you never talk about your parents.”

“There isn’t much to talk about.” I mumbled as I looked down at the ground.

“If something is wrong, you can tell me, Cameron.” Jack said. I refused to look up into his eyes because I knew he would be giving me one of his looks that made me melt inside, “Cam, really.”

“Just drop it, Jack.” I snapped surprising even myself considering I almost never got angry, “There’s nothing to say.” Jack sighed deeply and just nodded. Thankfully Jack was the kind of boy who knew when to shut up, unlike his best friend Alex who constantly put his foot in his mouth. We walked in awkward silence for a little while until Jack couldn’t take it any longer.

“Want to go on the playground?” He bit his lip and bounced excitedly as we looked over at the almost empty play area.

“How could I turn down playing on a playground?” I laughed as Jack took off running to the slides. By the time I managed to catch up with him, he had already befriended an eight year old boy. Any by befriended, I mean they were bickering like two small children. Albeit, one of them indeed was a child, it was still funny to watch.

“You’re too old to be here!” The child protested.

“No I’m not!” Jack stuck out his tongue. I was beginning to wonder which one was the child and which one was almost considered an adult by societies’ standards. Jack had crossed his arms and stomped his foot at something else the little boy said. It was only when I began to laugh that they both looked in my direction.

“Is that your girlfriend?” The little boy whispered to Jack. I looked down at my feet hoping that the hair falling in my face would hide the blush on my cheeks.

“Nah,” Jack laughed, “She’s way out of my league, Squirt.”

“Yeah, I know.” The boy scowled, “And I am not a squirt, asshole.”

“Such bad language coming from such a tiny, tiny child,” Jack jeered, “And to think, all I wanted to do was to join your friends’ hide and seek game.” He pointed over to the large group of young girls giggling from on top of the slide.

“You can join!” One of them squealed before they all burst into fits of giggles, “We don’t mind!”

“Fine.” The little boy spat, “But you’re counting… idiot.” He mumbled the last part, but I still heard it and it made me laugh. I quickly tried to muffle my laughter once I caught sight of the glare Jack was giving me.

Jack’s glare quickly faded and a goofy smile took its place as he covered his eyes with his hands, “You better hide, Cameron, or you’ll be it next.” My laughter quickly subsided as I rushed to find somewhere to hide on the playground. Inside the tube slide? No- that was too obvious. Maybe behind the bench of mothers watching us all warily? No, I’d be too easily spotted.

“Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen…” Jack continued to count. I froze as I searched for a good spot to hide, “Eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one…”

“Psst.” A girl got my attention from the other side of the playground. She was crouched in some bushes and I would have never seen her except for the fact that she was waving me over. I took one last look at Jack who was squeezing his eyes shut and swatting at a gnat flying around his head while he counted before I made a mad dash towards the girl’s hiding spot.

“Thanks.” I muttered to her quietly as we watched a few other kids make their last minute changes to their hiding places.

“AND FIFTY! READY OR NOT HERE I COME!” Jack screamed like a little child. The girl beside me and I stifled our giggles as he made loud “Ah-ha’s!” every time he thought he found someone and then proceeded to pout when there was actually no one there.

Nearly seven minutes later, Jack finally found someone, and I was certainly relieved that he did because my legs were beginning to cramp up from sitting down for so long.

“No fair!” The same little boy Jack was arguing with earlier objected as we climbed out of the bushes and made our way over to the group of kids forming around them, “He totally saw Penny and his girlfriend hiding first and didn’t get them out!”

“Did not!” Jack laughed, “You were totally just crouched under the slide dude. You’re it.”

“Fine!” The little boy groaned and closed his eyes, “One! Two! Three! Four…”

“Oh shit.” Jack muttered. He looked over at me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me in the direction of the playground equipment. He quickly lied down on the highest level and encouraged me to do so. When I only looked at him skeptically, he yanked me to the ground next to him and smiled. I was about to protest when he clamped his hand over my mouth and placed one finger over his lips to shush me before he removed his hand.

“Ready or not, here I come!” The little boy exclaimed before he began running around below us, trying to find someone.

“He won’t look up here because it is such an obvious hiding place.” Jack whispered as he watched the boy look for everyone.

“Why is it when we hang out, we always end up hiding for some reason?” I chuckled.

“Because we-“ He was cut off by my phone blaring a Blink-182 song I’d never heard before. I quickly pulled it out to silence it as Alex’s picture came up on the screen.

“I found you! I found you!” The little boy screamed as he ran up the stairs to the both of us.

“You didn’t turn your phone on silent before we began playing hide and seek?” Jack practically shrieked as he jumped to his feet. I rolled my eyes playfully and answered the phone while I sat up.

“You changed my ringtone?” I asked.

“And hello to you too.” Alex laughed, “I was just wondering where you and Jack disappeared to.

“Goodbye Alex.” Jack laughed into the phone as snatched it from my hands and ended the call. I scowled at him as he handed it back with a smirk.

“You’re it.” The boy pointed at Jack, “I found you.”

“Sorry Squirt, we’ve got to get going. We’re on a tight schedule you see.” Jack winked at me as the boy frowned.

“I’m not a SQUIRT!” He protested as he stomped on Jack’s foot causing him to yelp in pain before the boy took off running to find his other friends.

“That little…” Jack growled. I had to pull on the back of his shirt to keep him from chasing after the giggling kid as he looked back and stuck out his tongue at Jack.

“So what is next on our packed agenda?” I asked. Jack looked down at his phone to check the time before he smiled wide.

“Food!” He cheered. I was about to protest that we ate only hours ago, but then I remembered that Rian ate half of my pancakes to make up for Zack stealing half of his food.

“Where to?” I giggled as my stomach also growled in agreement with Jack that we needed to stop and eat.

“The best place in all of New York City, obviously!” He exclaimed before he grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the park and out to the main street. We hurried down block after block, almost getting run over by a taxi before he stopped at the front of what looked like a small store.

“Serendipity Three?” I said as I read the name of the place out loud, “What is this?”

“You’ll see.” Jack smiled as he pulled me through the small doorway and into the cramped storefront. I looked past the host podium where Jack was now talking to an employee to see a fairly large restaurant crowded with people.

“Right this way.” The hostess smiled at me as she led the two of us upstairs where there was a second level of dining.

“How did you ever find this place?” I looked up at Jack who was scanning the menu intently next to me.

Jack shrugged and didn’t even bother to look up at me as he spoke, “Alex and I watched this chick flick called Serendipity with our girlfriends and this place was in the movie so we took them here once. We’ve been coming back ever since.”

I swallowed hard and nodded my head as I looked down at my menu again, trying to distract myself from the sinking feeling that I felt in my chest.

“Shit, I mean ex-girlfriend.” Jack chuckled as he looked up at me, “The bitch was crazy.”

I laughed awkwardly and smiled at him as a weird sense of relief washed over me. Thankfully, our waiter came to take our order which saved us from any awkward tension.

“What can I get you?” The waiter smirked down at me.

“We’ll just have two sandwiches and one frozen hot chocolate.” Jack glared at him until he walked off. Once he was finally out of sight, Jack smiled at me and grabbed my hands which sent sparks of electricity through my body, “Have you been enjoying the city so far?”

“It’s been great.” I grinned, “That little boy in the park really didn’t like you.”

“He was just intimidated because he didn’t want me stealing all his little ladies.” Jack winked playfully.

“Because you’re such a ladies’ man, Jack-O.” I rolled my eyes.

“I really am a ladies’ man.” Jack said as he scooted his chair closer to my own. When did he get so close in the first place? “But he has nothing to worry about because I’ve only got one girl in mind.”

My breath got caught in my throat as he brushed some hair out of my face and began to inch closer. My eyes began to instinctively flutter closed as I could feel his hot breath on my face. Were we really about to kiss? My heart was beating insanely fast and I prayed that Jack couldn’t hear it, because I know that I could.

“There you two are!” Alex screamed as he appeared at the top of the stairs. Jack and I quickly tore apart as he walked over to our table with a sour expression on his face, “I’ve been calling you both for ages! Thank God that this isn’t our first time in the city and I know all of Jack’s usual spots.” He groaned as he pulled up a chair right in between Jack and me. I sighed and looked over at Jack who had a very unreadable expression on his face before I turned to Alex and smiled.

“So are you joining us for lunch?”