Bottled Blue

I told Jett he'd have to ask my mom for permission to stay the night. So I led him downstairs to the kitchen, where she was preparing dinner. She smiled at us and wiped her hands on her cupcake apron. I motioned toward Jett.

"Jett has a question for you," I said. He gave me a look like I was throwing him to the wolves. But I ignored it, so he straightened himself out.

"I um—I know this is really last minute, and everything, but uh—my parents are going out of town for the weekend. So I'm supposed to spend the weekend at my friend's house. But they decided to leave early, and their house is full until tomorrow. So I was wondering—if it's not too much to ask—if I could possibly stay the night here."

I waited for the inevitable 'No,' but it never came. Instead, my mom just smiled and nodded.

"Sure, that's okay, sweetheart," she said. "Let me just make sure it's okay with my partner first, alright?"

"Yeah, of course. Thank you so much. I feel bad asking." She waved him off.

"Don't even worry about it. You're a good kid. We couldn't let you sleep on the streets." Like that would ever even happen. There were tons of people he could stay with, and I was pretty sure his parents wouldn't actually give a shit if he stayed home for one night alone. He was almost eighteen years old, for fuck's sake. I was going to have to murder my own mother.

"Awesome. Thank you."

"And I'm making chicken and dumplings for dinner. It's Aasha's favorite."

"It smells amazing."

"Is there anything you need to pick up, or do you have everything?"

"Um—I have my mom's car for the weekend. So I have a change of clothes."

"Okay, good. Go ahead and get ready for dinner, and I'll figure out the details."

"Alright, thanks again." He turned back to me and smiled. Oh great.

My mom forced me to help Jett get his stuff. So I followed him out to where his mom's little blue car was parked against the curb. The neighborhood smelled like fresh-cut grass. The sky was turning pink. I followed him down the sloped lawn to the curb and then crossed my arms over my chest as he went to get his stuff out of the backseat.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" I asked. He looked at me with confusion and shut the door. He was saturated in that pink light. The wind was knocking his curls into his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you have a family you can stay with? What about your aunt Billie or your cousin Selene?" Selene went to school with us too. She had the same coloring as him. Black hair and green eyes. But she was so pretty and popular that she had her own group of friends and a modeling contract. He rolled his eyes.

"My parents are going out of town to play a festival in Orlando. Billie's husband is my Uncle Quinn. Quinn is the singer of Shoot the Gems. So he's obviously taking his family, including Billie. Selene's dad is the drummer of Shoot the Gems, Aasha. So he's taking his family too."

"Don't you have grandparents or other family members?"

"Sure, but I'd rather stay with you."

"Why?"

"Because you're closer to Finn's house, and you don't annoy the crap out of me."

"Did you plan this from the beginning?"

"The beginning of what? The afternoon? Yes. They were already packing up to go when I got home from school. I called Finn, but his grandparents are staying the night for his sister's Bar Mitzvah tomorrow and don't have an extra room for me."

"Bat Mitzvah."

"What?"

"It's her Bat Mitzvah, not Bar Mitzvah. There's a difference."

"Sorry. Anyway, I didn't plan this. It was last minute, but I'd rather stay here than sleep on my grandpa's couch or be stuck at home alone, okay?"

"Fine. But you're sleeping on the couch here."

"That's cool with me."