30 Days

“Tricking through the morning,
The tramp with the trampoline under his arm,
Shifts past your whiskers,
So spark is a charm with the barking alarm,
Weighs coil 'til the corner is turned…”
- Pretty Visitors, Arctic Monkeys.

“Hey Jack.” I said in my phone, kicking a stone into the road. I was walking to Jack’s house.

Jack’s sleepy voice greeted me, “Why are you calling me Lex?”

“D’you wanna go for a walk?” I felt nervous for asking, but what could go wrong? Jack already liked me.

“Yeah, sure, just give me a few minutes to get dressed and then I’ll meet you-“

I cut him off with, “Well, I’m already outside your house. Might wanna put a hat on, it’s cold.”

“Speaking because you haven’t got one?”

I heard him stumble around, obviously trying to get dressed without getting off the phone. At his sentence, I became aware of how cold my ears were. I laughed.

“Yeah.”

“Typical,” I could imagine Jack shaking his head on the other end of the phone, “Fine, I’ll bring you one.”

“Don’t make it sound like such a hardship Jacky.”

He laughed, “But you know it is!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“Jack, we sound like children.” I said, laughing as I walked.

“Well, that’s what we aren’t we?” He replied, “Are you here yet?”

I turned the corner and Jack was standing outside his house, clad in jeans, converse and a jacket complete with a sung black beanie on his head. In short, he looked adorable. I grinned uncontrollably.

“Hey Jack!” I called, as he turned towards me, a grin light up his face.

“Lex!” He said, walking towards me.

When he got to me, I pulled him into a hug and silently revelled in his warmth. It was to be expected, Jack had just come out of his home, but even so, I enjoyed hugging him. Jack put the hat on my head and I smiled, tugging it so it covered my ears.

“Why are we going for a walk in the cold?” Jack asked as we began to walk down the street.

“Don’t you want to spend time with me?!” I said, in mock offence, putting a hand on my chest.

He laughed, suddenly grabbing my hand and pressing kisses to my knuckles. I gasped in surprise and shock, but then I smiled as he let go.

“How that was ok?” He said nervously.

The feel of his soft lips on my skin had made it tingle in a good way, so I couldn’t complain. My smile widened, “Y-yeah it was.”

Jack smiled in relief, exhaling a breath of air and said, “That’s alright then.”

I smiled, grabbed his hand and then tugged him further down the street. I pulled him all the way to the local park, where we’d spent many days hanging with Rian and Zack after school, and opened the gate. I pushed him through and continued towards the swings. I sat on one and Jack sat on the one next to me.

A question occurred to me.

“Why me?”

Jack looked at me with confusion on his face, “What do you mean ‘why me’?”

“I mean,” I clarified, “Why do you like me?”

In the half-light of the moon and the street lamps a few feet away, I saw Jack’s eyebrows furrow in thought. After a few minutes of thinking, he had apparently come up with an answer because he started to talk in a quiet voice.

“Because, you’re Alex. I mean you’re the one who agreed to listen to blink and Green Day with me and start a band,” He said, “You’re the one who wrote your own songs for the band, you’re the one who fills me with such hope that our band could actually become big.”

I blinked, “Thanks Jacky.”

“I mean it though.”

The seriousness in his voice surprised me, but it shouldn’t have surprised me. Not when I had known Jack for over five years, not when he’d supported me through some tough times, and I’d done the same for him.

I was overcome with admiration for my best friend who always looked at me with such – now that I thought about it – love in his eyes. I stood up and he did the same. I placed my hand on his right shoulder and pulled him forwards, silently enjoying the look of shock in his deep brown eyes. Then I pressed a quick kiss to his nose and chuckled when I pulled away because his face was still in pure shock.