Sex and White Lies

When Jack picked me up, I wasn’t feeling as anxious as I had been. Alex helped me find some clothes that didn’t look like I had grabbed them out of the bargain bin, and he tried to get my mind of thinking that it was a huge deal. It probably wasn’t either; I tended to overreact, so this was really nothing new.

Jack took me to a park where we used to go all the time. We walked around for a little while before sitting down. When I started complaining I was hungry, Jack stood up and walked away, leaving me on the bench by myself. He told me that he would be right back. I assumed he was going to the washroom, or something along the lines of that.

I waited for about 15 minutes until something wrapped in tinfoil was shoved in my face. I looked up to see Jack. I took the mysterious tinfoil package from him, feeling it was warm, and I carefully unwrapped it, revealing a grilled chicken parmesan sub. I looked at Jack again and smiled. “Is this from Jenos?” I asked. Jack nodded and sat back down, unwrapping his. “Oh, my God, I haven’t had one of these in forever.” I said with a mouthful of sub.

Jack kind of laughed. “I figured since we used to eat these all the time, it would be nice.”

“Well, that scores you about fifty brownie points.” I smiled. Jack smiled back and we continued eating. “This is seriously better than sex.” I said at one point.

Jack raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m not sure if the guy that’s on this date should be offended by that or not.” I noticed he almost struggled to get the word “date” out of his mouth.

“He shouldn’t.” I replied. “If he racks up enough brownie points, sex might be on the agenda.”

“Well, how many brownie points do I need?” Jack asked.

I thought for a moment, “Another 19,950.”

Jack frowned. “That’s just unfair.”

“Life’s unfair.” I reminded him. He nodded in agreement.

“What will fifty brownie points get me?”

“A thumbs up.”

“Are there any special cheat codes to get extra brownie points?”

“This is not The Sims!” I said, smacking Jack on the shoulder. He laughed at my reaction and shook his head. “You’re a determined bastard aren’t you?” Jack nodded rather enthusiastically. I only rolled my eyes at him.

Jack and I had always joked about sex, and I wasn’t sure why the jokes were bothering me. I suppose when Rian had told me that Jack used to have a crush on me is what caused it. I tried to keep my mind off of it, though.

Jack and I went back to his apartment after we finished our dinner. It was a small place, but it was very ‘Jack’. We mostly sat around drinking beer and talking. At one point, Jack took my beer from me and put it on a table. He got up and stood in front of me, holding his hands out.

“What are you doing?” I asked. Jack only smiled.
“I thought since prom wasn’t that great for you, I’d try to help.” Jack said.

I tilted my head, “You’re recreating prom?”

“Well, what I can.” Jack shrugged. “Since I can’t really afford a dance hall and a fancy restaurant, this will have to do. And, I can be a better date than Connor McCarthy.” Connor was my prom date, but he ended up ditching me halfway through the night, leaving me to sit around and watch.

“Jack, you don’t have to do this.” I said.

“I want to.” He smiled. He picked up a small remote and turned on his stereo. He turned back to me and grabbed my hands, pulling me off the couch. He took a step back from me and bowed his head slightly, holding out one of his hands. “May I have this dance?”

I smiled at him, “Ah, why not.” I took his hand and he stood up straight. Jack put one hand on my waist and I put a hand on his shoulder. Jack wasn’t exactly the more graceful of beings, so he stepped on my feet a few times. We moved out of tune to the song, which just made the whole thing a lot funnier than what it should have been.

I wrapped both of my arms around Jack’s neck and rested my head on his shoulder. When the song ended, we stood still, keeping our arms around one another. “Jack, tell me why you didn’t want me to go to Boston.” Jack was quiet, so I looked at him. He looked extremely pensive. “Jack?”

Jack finally looked at me. “Because…” he stopped, not knowing how to word what he wanted to say. “I didn’t want you to forget about me.”

I gave him a sympathetic smile. “How could I ever forget my skunk-haired Jacky?” I said, ruffling his hair. “I mean, even though I was your best friend…”

“Are.” Jack cut me off, and I raised an eyebrow. “You are my best friend. That’s one thing that will never change.” I smiled at him. “Even though we’ve both changed drastically, you’re still my little Jilly Freeman.”

“You know, I miss the dick jokes.” I said.

“I can throw a couple of those in from time to time if you want.” Jack smirked.

“It might help.” I smiled.