A Story to Tell Your Friends

Nine.

The cab pulled up outside Jack’s apartment building and the two of us climbed in. We’d agreed to meet Lisa and Alex at the diner they’d mentioned in her text, Jack knowing exactly which of the thousands she was referring to. It had taken Jack half an hour to get ready, throwing me one of his hoodies to cover my tank in case I got cold and Lisa agreeing to meet me with some sneakers. I was crazy glad I’d kept it reasonably casual last night and brought a large bag I could fling my heels into once Lisa provided me with more appropriate shoes. I’d text Tammy, letting her know I was going out for breakfast with everyone and that I’d be home after, knowing that after last night it was best to follow her instructions and keep her in the loop. Jack had offered to come over for a few hours after lunch, to try and ease Tammy’s concerns a little and, in his words, ‘prove he’s not a dangerous maniac’, so I’d kept that out of my text to her. If I told her now she’d freak out at me again, whereas if Jack just appeared behind me when I came home, she’d have to keep calm. Plus, I had an excuse to leave the house with him if she was freaking out and drive him home. Besides, I couldn’t wipe the cheesy grin off my face when he looked at me.
“You guys look like crap,” I laughed, sitting myself down opposite Alex and Lisa. Alex glared at me over his cup of coffee and Lisa handed me the shoes. I thanked her, quickly replacing my heels with her sneakers and throwing the spares in my bag as Jack finally sat down next to me.
“You guys look awful,” he told them. I snorted.
“You’re a little late to the party; I already told them that.”
“I hate you both,” Alex told us, taking another drink from his cup. “I already have one Jack, I don’t need another one, Clara.”
“I’m not another Jack, I’m better than that.” Alex opened his mouth to reply, but Lisa cut him off.
“Don’t say a word, Alex. You’re too hungover and we’ll all hate you for it later.” Alex quickly quietened down and went back to his coffee. Our waitress came over, filling Jack and I’s cups with coffee and taking our food orders, the guys promptly informing me that the pancakes were the best ever, almost forcing me to order them.
“How are you guys so freaking perky?” Alex finally asked, as his coffee was refilled. He looked a little more alert and less grumpy than he had fifteen minutes before when I’d initially walked in.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jack asked, smirking. I rolled my eyes.
“Being burnt, or in fact burning someone, seems to wake you up, regardless of how hungover you are,” I told him, before he could reply to Jack’s remarks.
“So, you’re telling me, absolutely nothing has happened between the two of you in the last twenty-four hours?” Alex asked, focussing his attention on Jack.
“I thought this was breakfast, not an interrogation.”
“All I’m sayin’ is you look a little too chipper this morning,” Alex stated, holding his hands up in defence at Jack’s retort. I bit my lip, my chest tightening slightly. The same feeling of anxiety started to claw its way to my throat again as I was abruptly torn from the little, oblivious world I’d housed myself in since this morning. I suddenly felt like everything I’d been so happy about was something I should never have done; like Jack and I were something nobody wanted to happen.
I thought about Tammy and Lisa’s reactions this morning, a sense of shame filling my stomach. Should I have just gone home with Tammy last night? Maybe if I had I’d have woken up in my own bed and I’d be gossiping with Tammy about whatever boy she’d found cute that night instead of being on her bad side. Then again, hadn’t it been her and Lisa actively encouraging our relationship (or whatever it was. I suppose at the moment it was barely even a friendship. Acquaintance, maybe)? I knew I was being a little dramatic, but I couldn’t take the swings in opinion everyone seemed to be throwing our way. I felt like they were telling me to take a risk and put myself out there, but not so much that something could actually happen. I excused myself quickly, heading for the bathroom and locking the door behind me.
I closed the toilet seat lid, perching myself on it and taking a deep breath. I was being dramatic. That’s all. I’d done nothing wrong. So I was getting myself involved with a guy I barely knew, who was only going to be around once in a blue moon. What was it to everyone else? I understood the concern everyone felt, but I also knew what all of our friends had been pushing for since we first met. How were we supposed to get there if they kept acting the way they were? I wasn’t fifteen, and neither was Jack. We’re old enough to know the risks we were facing, and surely it was our decision to make, not anyone else’s? Despite the interference from Lisa so far, this was purely based on Jack and I’s decisions.
Are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.
I smiled at my phone, seeing Jack’s text.
Not to look like a perv, but could you come here a sec?
“What’s wrong, Clara?” Jack asked, shutting the door behind him and looking at me as I sat back down on the toilet lid. I could only imagine how my face looked, based on how I’d been feeling and all the deep breaths I’d been taking since I got in here.
“I totally feel like hiding from everyone,” I half laughed. “We’ve barely reached midday and we’ve been lectured a total of four times by three different people. Don’t you ever feel the pressure?” Jack kneeled down in front of me, grabbing my hands as I went to run them through my hair. I didn’t know how else to tell him how anxious he and I were making me feel without him running for the hills. We barely knew each other and here I was already having doubts? Well, I suppose I wasn’t doubting him, just our entire situation.
“I’ve felt this exact pressure every day for the last three years. I did tell you they were intense. Lisa is freaking out because she knows I can be a jerk with girls when I want to be, and Alex is freaking out because Lisa is and he’s getting the backlash of it. They’ll back off before you know it, trust me.”
“I do trust you,” I mumbled. “I just didn’t know people could make such a big deal of such a new thing, you know?”
“If you think this is bad, just do a search on Lisa’s name. It gets way more intense than this.” I gulped a little. I knew what she’d faced from dating Alex all this time. Lisa had already told me plenty of stories over the last few days, but she always seemed to get right back up. “I’d like us to get as far as everyone knowing about you, but if you don’t think you can handle it, I’d understand.”
“I feel like a fucking child.”
“You’re not being a child. You’re reacting to a crazy situation.”
“But it’s not crazy. It’s very much normal; typical boy-meets-girl.”
“Ever since the guys and I started getting recognised everywhere, it stopped being typical. That’s why everyone is so all over anything new. Lisa has been around since the beginning and Cass faces the same shit we do. You’re not the same as either of them, and they’re just making sure you’re not up to anything and can face everything we get thrown our way.” I sighed, knowing he was right. Lisa was used to this; it was normal life for her. Same for Rian’s girlfriend Cassadee, who I knew from her days in Hey Monday. I suppose I couldn’t blame them for putting the pressure on me a little.
“I can handle strangers, Jack, but do you think we could convince everyone else to calm down a little?” It was true. I’d heard some awful things from strangers in my time, but I’d never bat an eyelid. The only reason this was getting to me so much was because I wanted these people to like me and I felt like I was failing.
“You convince Tammy, I’ll deal with the other guys,” he told me, standing up and pulling me with him. “Come on, our food will be getting cold.” I followed Jack out of the bathroom (thankfully, no one was waiting to go in) and back to our table. Lisa looked at me questioningly as I sat back down but I shook my head slightly. I didn’t really want her knowing how everything was making me feel. Besides, Jack hadn’t actually told them that we’d kissed, so it would just make me look insane, which, admittedly, is how I felt.
For the remainder of our time in the diner, Jack made a point to avoid the topic of he and I, making jokes whenever he could to avoid anything serious, Lisa and Alex taking the hint fairly quickly. Jack and I avoided being too cuddly this morning, aware that the way we acted last night probably fuelled everyone’s reactions this morning, though he and I continued to hold each other’s hand as often as we could. I waited outside the diner for the cab to take Jack and I to my apartment, glancing out of the corner of my eye into the diner where Jack was talking to the others. I could see the sympathy on Lisa’s face and felt a little ashamed of myself. I knew they were looking out for Jack, for me even, but I just wasn’t ready for everyone to make such a big deal of something when I didn’t even know what that something was yet.
“Just, give us time to figure ourselves out first, okay?” I heard Jack say as I put my head back through the door to tell him our cab had arrived. I smiled, thankful that he understood what I was feeling. “She’s feeling overwhelmed and I don’t want to do anything to make her want to leave, you know? I really like her.”
“Jack, cab,” I called, before I could eavesdrop any further. The trio turned to look at me, clearly surprised by my interruption.
“So, how much of that did you hear?” Jack asked, smirking. I laughed, at least he knew what I’d heard. We sat down in the back of the car before I answered.
“Just the bit about how you really, really like me.”
“Well, I didn’t say ‘really, really’ but I definitely stand by it.” I grinned, leaning over and kissing his cheek.
“Don’t worry, I’m totally cool with your giant crush on me.”
“I suppose that’s all a guy can really hope for,” he told me, pulling my face into his and kissing me softly. I kissed him back, still grinning.