Teenage Dirtbag

Jack’s POV
It was about 8 PM by now. All of the festival visitors had left by now and the barbecue for the artists and the festival crew was about to start. I was sitting at a long wooden table with my friends. Quite some tables had been set up around a couple of barbecues. A lot of people had sat down at a table already and the barbecues were heating up. I was sitting in between Alex and Aimee, with Zack and Rian across from me. For as long as we’d been sitting here, Zack and Aimee had been talking about childhood memories. I didn’t really mind it though; it was an interesting way to find out more about Aimee. There were some embarrassing stories about the both of them as well, some of which I will definitely be holding against Zack some day.

While I enjoyed sitting next to Aimee, having her pay attention to me, I still couldn’t help but think about Tay. I wasn’t in love with her right? I was in love with Aimee, I had been for years. The only reason I was even doubting by feelings towards these girls is because I now knew Tay was in love with me. If I were to make Tay think she was anything more to me than just a friend, I’d be leading her on for all the wrong reasons. Yet here I was, thinking about Tay while Aimee was sitting next to me. I would just talk to Alex or Haley about my feelings tomorrow. Tonight was about having fun.

I noticed Alex, Haley, Rian, Cassadee and WATIC get up and noticed we were allowed to go get food. I got up as well as I was quite hungry. Aimee and Zack followed my lead and we headed for the tables covered with food to get some.

​​​“Well, you seem deep in thought” Haley appeared next to me.
“Yeah well…” I trailed off.
“Is it about Tay?” she asked.
I looked around me to make sure neither Tay nor Aimee would be able to overhear us talk.
“Strangely, yes” I answered.
“Why is that strange?” she asked.
“I’ve been in love with Aimee for years and now I’m here, at a barbecue, sitting next to her all night and the only thing I can think of is Tay” I explained.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing” Haley noticed.
“Not necessarily a bad thing, but it sure is confusing” I answered.

​​​By now we had gotten to the buffet and Haley stopped asking questions, which I was thankful for. We would probably continue the conversation later though. I grabbed some food that looked tasty from the buffet, got some meat and went back to our table. To my dismay, I noticed Tay was the only one sitting there already. Though I was sat on the other side of the table, I couldn’t just ignore her. I sighed and headed for the table.
“The food’s looking good, huh?” I asked.
Damn, that was so lame. Couldn’t I have come up with something witty to say?
“Yeah” Tay replied.

​​​Alex and Haley then showed up next to me so I decided to go sit with them at the other end of the table. I noticed Tay glance at me, but pretended like I didn’t. From the look on Haley’s face I could tell she had seen it too. I locked eyes with her but she just shrugged. Aimee and Zack then sat down around me, so I decided to give them my undivided attention. They both appeared pretty eager to start eating though, so there wasn’t much talking on our side of the table. I was once again alone with my thoughts. We all went to get more food once or twice until we were all finished eating.
​​​
“Jack, can I talk to you?” Aimee asked. “In private?”
“Uh yeah sure” I replied surprised.
Zack looked suspiciously at the both of us, but we both upped and walked away from the barbecue scene. After walking a few meters Aimee halted and turned around.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I just wanted to tell you I’ve been having a lot of fun with you today” she said, suddenly rather shy.
“Yeah me too” I answered.
“I have to admit you’re actually a lot cooler than I thought you’d be” she continued.
“Uhm thanks… I guess?” I answered.

​​​And then, without a warning, Aimee leaned in to me and before I realized it, her lips were pressed onto mine. At first I was kind of shocked as I wasn’t expecting this, but then I remembered I was kissing the girl of my dreams. I kissed her back, wrapping my arms around her waist.