by CJ Adler
Jay groans and covers his ears in response. “Not so loud.” He winces. “I feel fuzzy.”
“Not an emotion, bud,” Benley points out to him in spite of what he's going through.
Jay ignores him and glances down at the sleeve of his leather jacket. “When did I grow fur?” he asks himself in childlike wonder. “I think I'm in transition to be a werewolf.” Benley and Max crack up laughing, which is no surprise. Bells, on the other hand, is infuriated with her brother. I mean, clearly, Jay's already losing it.
I glare at Troy, trying to murder him with my gaze. “You better fix him. Do you understand me, Troy? Fix him!” I hiss while slapping Jay's wandering hand away from my jaw.
“You're so prettttyyy,” Jay remarks as he takes my face in both his hands and begins moving my cheeks up and down with his fingertips.
I lean away from him, moving out of his reach.
“I'm with Lawson. Fix him! I can't be friends with him if he's going to spread lies like that,” Grey speaks up, scowling at Troy, indirectly insulting me in the process. “A sappy JT is not the real JT.”
“There's a child here, Troy!” Bells scolds her brother, angry. “If Laiken finds out about this, we're all dead.”
Troy backs away from all of us with an overdramatic pout. “Okay, I feel like you're all attacking me and I don’t feel like I deserve it.”
“Are you serious right now? You drugged Jay!” I remind him with a shout.
“Maybe so but I also gave money to a poor, unfortunate drug abuser,” he replies, trying to persuade us into seeing his non-existent good side.
“Yeah, money that he can now use to abuse on more drugs!” I lecture him.
His head is empty.
“What's drugs?” Susie asks aloud, clueless.
I open my mouth to answer but find myself at a loss for words. Bell gives me a reassuring nod. “I got this,” she tells me before turning to Susie with a smile. “Sweetie, drugs are bad substances that most fall into under peer pressure. One dose can get you addicted and you can use and use and use until the day it slowly kills you and drains all life out of you.”
Susie's eyes widen as her mouth falls agape in horror. “Jay's going to die?!”
“Bell!” I raise my voice at her, shocked. “I thought you said that you got this.”
“I thought you wanted me to give her a truthful, detailed description,” Bells answers, now sheepish. “You know I can't be trusted to lie.”
I shake my head at Susie. “He's not going to die. He's just going to be a little more funny than usual.”
“Speaking of which, where is he?” Benley asks. We all turn to find Jay's seat now empty.
“Why weren't you watching him?” I ask as I frantically look around for Jay.
“Since when did I become Jay's keeper?” Benley retorts with attitude.
“Since you were the only one doing nothing,” I reply, giving the attitude straight back.
“Guys…” Max pipes in, “I think I found him.”
We all follow Max's gaze, only to see Jay balancing on the high railings of the stadium. He has his arms spread out like a plane.
“Get off the railings, you idiot!” people shout at Jay out of pure concern for his safety. We really don't need another injury today.
Jay merely waves them off with his hand, unfazed, and continues on walking on the railings as if walking on a balancing beam.
How did he even manage to get to the very top of the railings in any case?
The people gasp in fear, worried. Jay scoffs at them before flipping them the sign.
“Never mind, I think this JT is growing on me,” Grey says with a small chuckle, amused.
I don't waste a second longer as I sprint my way there before he falls and dies. “Jay, get down!” I call to him from the bottom.
“Oh, hey there, Klutz!” He waves down at me in pure excitement, a boyish grin on his face.
“Jay, please come down before you slip and hurt yourself,” I reason, trying to persuade him into listening to me.
He nods yet walks further along the railings. I follow him from the ground, walking beside him.
I've never wanted to kill someone as much as I want to kill Troy right now.
“Will you catch me?” he suddenly asks.
“Huh?”
He stops walking and turns to face me, holding his arms out to me as if dead serious about it.
I stifle my laughter and shake my head, slightly amused. “You'd crush me,” I tell him. “Now come down,” I plead.
He shakes his head.
“For me,” I add quietly.
At the last part, he doesn't hesitate before doing a backflip off of the railing, landing swiftly on his feet like it's nothing. People end up clapping for him and the unbelievable stunt he just pulled.
My heart is pumping madly. For a second there, I thought I was going to lose him.
Grey, suddenly beside me, slaps Jay on the shoulder, impressed. “Nice, man.
Haven't seen you do something like that in a while.”
I turn to Grey for an explanation, my eyebrows furrowed. “But h-how?”
“He didn't tell you that he used to do parkour and freerunning?” Grey asks.
I shake my head, a blank expression on my face.
“Figures as much. He gave it up for racing anyhow,” Grey says, updating me on the life of Jay Taylor.
“That explains why he can jump down from Oog's tree house without hurting himself,” I reply as it all starts to make sense. “But why didn't he ever tell me?”
Grey shrugs unknowingly. “It probably just never came up.”
There's still so much about Jay that I don't know.
Jay, himself, interrupts our conversation by holding his phone out to me.
“I have to show you the prettiest girl I've ever seen,” he says, practically shoving his phone into my face.
My expression drops at his words as jealousy quickly sets in. I'm sure he finds other girls attractive but, as his girlfriend, I don't want to hear about it.
I snatch his phone from his hand and glance down at the picture. A smile lights up my face as I quirk an eyebrow at Jay, confused. “But that's the picture of me that I took with your phone?”
He frowns, also confused, before comparing the picture to me. “It is, isn't it?” he finally concludes, now certain of the fact.
I laugh. He's quite adorable when he's like this.
“Best sound ever.” He sighs in what seems to be nostalgia before throwing an arm around my shoulder, steering me away from all the people. “I need to hear it more.”
I do a double-take. This is not my Jay.
“Aqueela, have I ever told you that you're not just my girlfriend but you're also my best friend?” he asks, out of the blue, as he leans down and places an affectionate kiss on my cheek.
His words warm my heart. I cannot not smile. Also, Grey can suck it!
“Be the mother of my children,” he finishes in a serious tone of voice, staring down at me with those alluring eyes of his.
Stunned, my smile fades very quickly. I'm far from ready to have kids. I shouldn't even be thinking about it yet.
“Woah there, JJ. Put some brakes on. Slow down, m'kay,” I tell him, aware that it's just the drugs speaking. “Maybe I'll take you up on that offer someday in the future,” I humor him as I tug him along to the commentators’ room, an idea having formed in my mind.
I'm going to have Luke and Jason put the Kiss Cam on Grey and Nancy.
“I'll be waiting…impatiently,” he hums, grinning down at me as I continue to drag his limp body along after me.
Upon entering the commentators' room, I stop to see Melinda talking to Jason and Luke:
“It's Aqueela and her friends. I'm telling you. It's always her.”
“Speak of the devil,” Jason states when he catches my eye.
“We're kicking you out of the stadium,” Luke tells me bluntly. “Don't even bother to deny it. We all know you and
your friends are the ones responsible for all the stuff that went down earlier.”
I sigh before nodding, admitting to the truth. “I'm responsible,” I confess. “But if you don't let us stay, I'll be responsible for your deaths too. Please don't kick us out,” I beg politely, hoping that a good attitude will save us from being asked to leave.
“Too late, weirdo,” Jason answers before all of my friends' faces come up on the big screen for everyone to see.
Luke then speaks into the mike for the audience to hear. “All the people we are displaying on the screen are to leave the premises immediately.” He continues by saying each of their names, at least, the ones he knows.
My face drops at the cruelty. They're humiliating my friends. They could have done it silently. They didn't have to make it public, nor request for the security guards to escort them all out.
“Look, Aqueela, my face is on big screen!” Jay nudges me in excitement, not understanding how humiliating this is.
“Don't kick out my friends too. They didn't do anything,” I try to persuade them, only for my pleas to fall on deaf ears.
“You've caused enough trouble as is. Leave, weirdo,” Jason demands, his glare freezing me on the spot.
See, this is exactly why I prefer to be rude. If you're nice, people walk all over you like some dirty doormat.
There's no changing their narrow minds. I huff and cross my arms over my chest. “Fine. I'm going.”
“What? Why?” Jay questions, at a loss.
I tug at his hand. “C'mon, Jay.”
Melinda waves at me as I pass her by. “And you're out,” she taunts.
I'll take her out for good.
I glance up at the 'no trash' sign stuck on the wall of the room. I look at the sign and then point to Melinda knowingly. “Perhaps you should leave too. It says no trash allowed.”
With that said, I'm off…at least, I thought I'd be. Jay lets go of my hand briefly to punch Jason in the face. “Don't ever speak to my Aqueela like that again,” he threatens him quietly, sensing my distress.
I just stand there, my mouth agape. I did not see that one coming.
“Let's go, buttercup!” Jay chimes, overjoyed, as he clasps my hand in his once again. This time, it's him pulling me along.
We leave the stadium, only to find the rest of our friends waiting outside for us.
“I can't believe we got kicked out.” Max frowns, annoyed.
“I can,” Grey replies back rudely, unfazed by the matter, almost as if he'd been predicting this outcome all along.
“Sorry, guys,” I apologize, feeling guilty. “So much for spending the last game together.”
“Are you kidding? That was the best game I've attended all year!” Bells reassures me as all the others nod and agree, everyone except Grey and Nancy.
It's then that Laiken comes running out after us before taking Susie away from us. “Don't worry, Lai, nothing will happen,” he mocks me in a sarcastic tone of voice. “Yeah right!” He snorts.
“Do I have to punch him too?” Jay asks, looking down at me as if wanting to do it; he's done it before.
I pull Jay back by his arm before he can do any more damage.
“I had fun!” Susie persists as she waves goodbye to us, Laiken storming off with her in his arms. “I won't do drugs!” she adds, her brother seemingly shocked by her words.
Yeah…now would be a good time to run.
“Bye, Susie!” We all chorus simultaneously.
“It's Lu…” She trails off. “You know what, never mind!” she calls back, accepting her new name.
There goes any chance of ever babysitting her again. Next time it really will be over Laiken's dead body.
“Thanks, Aqueela! Simo and my mom are officially dating,” Blubber whines, breaking the tension.
We all end up laughing at his misfortune. Simo moves in quick.
“Simo think Blubber mom hot!” Simo chirps in with a mischievous grin on his face.
“Look at the bright side—” Grey starts but I cut him off. “You're capable of doing that?” I tease.
“When not being interrupted!” He glares at me but continues nonetheless. “This night was a disaster.”
“How is that the bright side?” Benley scoffs. Grey shrugs in nonchalance.
“None of us died.”
Chapter 53
Downtime
I take my stand before his bed and watch him, staring at him intensely as I try to clear my mind of all thoughts, focusing only on him in order for this to work.
His defined chest rises up and down as he breathes in and out, still stuck in lullaby land. He's usually an early riser, that's if he hasn't worked an evening shift. Sleeping in late is out of character for him.
I stare more, trying to focus all my energy on waking him up with my mind. He shifts in his sleep, his sixth sense kicking in. By natural instinct, his eyes flutter open, only to reveal the beautiful blue hue that I've already missed seeing.
As he goes about his usual morning routine, he fails to notice my presence, still in the process of waking. He reluctantly sits up, leaning against the headboard of his bed, not at all ready to face the day. He runs a hand through his hair, unintentionally spiking it up until it's nothing but a wild attractive mess atop his head. He lets out a soft yawn before stretching his arms out, the muscles in his arms flexing. The blanket falls from his torso as a result, revealing his drool-worthy abs.
I pull my eyes away from his body and cough loudly, alerting him of my presence. “Morning, JJ!” I chirp overenthusiastically, trying to give him a fright for the fun of it.
Jay, completely unfazed by my presence, moves his eyes to me as he finally notices me in his room. “Did you do that thing again when you stare at me while I'm sleeping to see if you can wake me up with your mind?”
I nod. “Yup, indeedo! And eureka, for once, it worked!” I clap my hands, impressed with myself.
He flashes me an easy-going smile. “You're so weird.”
“I can do anything I put my mind to. The mind is a powerful weapon,” I tell him, explaining my reason behind all of this.
“I agree,” he says. “The exception is your mind,” he teases.
“Don't make me use my mind to make your head burst into flames,” I warn him with a playful glare.
“Nah. I'm not worried.” He brushes off my threat. “You'd miss me too much.”
I would miss him too much.
“Get dressed,” I order him about. “We're going shopping.”
He groans and throws his head back against the headboard. “Please take someone else,” he begs. He hates shopping more than anything in the world.
“Okay,” I agree to his request easily.
His face lights up with hope, his blue eyes sparkling with joy. “Really?” he asks, unbelieving.
I nod at him. “Yeah really and maybe I'll date someone else too while I'm at it,” I threaten.
His smile drops as he catches my hint. “I'm changing, I'm changing,” he mutters begrudgingly, complying with my orders.
***
“Aqueela, are we done yet?” Jay asks for the billionth time, exhausted. He stops walking and leans his head against the handlebars of the shopping cart.
We've been at the mall for a good few hours. Jay's been complaining non- stop since we got here. It might have to do with the fact that I forced him to carry all my shopping bags. However, soon enough, I felt guilty and got him a shopping cart to push around instead.
“Yeah,” I answer and place my hand over his one resting on the handlebars, comforting him with a small smile. “We're done,” I confirm the words he's been waiting to hear since four hours ago.
He lets out a breath of pure relief before taking all the shopping bags out of the shopping cart, heading to his car to load them. Meanwhile, I hop in the shopping cart and try to wheel myself around so that I don't have to go help load all the packets. I've always been one for the easy way out.
I actually manage to get
the shopping cart moving, except, it happens to be on a downslope. I let out a shriek as I pick up speed, people jumping out of my way as a result. By the end of it, I ram straight into someone.
I'm about to sass the doofus for not getting out my way when I hear familiar chuckling. “Troy?” I question. “What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to lay low for a few days? Jay was really angry when he found out. I don't think he's ready to talk to you just yet.”
“Ram me over with your new hot wheels, why don't you?” he replies back in sarcasm, completely dismissing everything I just said. “Bells knows your shopping schedule like the back of her hand. She said that you'd be here right 'bout now,” he explains. “I just want to speak to Jay.”
“Well, he's here,” Jay, back from his car, speaks up. “And I really don't feel like talking right now,” he tells Troy, making his way over to me where I sit inside the shopping cart. He doesn't seem at all surprised that I'm not in the same place where he first left me.
Jay was incredibly furious about the whole drug thing. I don't blame him.
Still, he was ready to kill Troy on the spot.
Troy pulls a dejected expression in response. “You still on about the whole 'me accidentally drugging you' thing? I thought we're over that,” he replies, not taking any of it seriously. “I wasn't even sure if the drink was spiked. You were my test subject.”
Jay narrows his blue eyes at him, keeping his anger at bay. “Not helping your case, my man.”
“I'm appalled at the lack of faith you all have in me,” Troy says, feigning hurt as he places his right hand over the left side of his chest where his heart is supposed to be.
“You literally could have killed me,” Jay mutters, unimpressed with Troy's lousy excuses. “Or worse, I could've got hooked.”
Troy's never been one for a straight up apology; it is never 'cut and dry' with him. He has way too much pride. “You should be more angry with Benley. He's the one that was going to happily kiss your girlfriend and not tell you about it.”
Troy throws Benley under the bus just so that he can get back into Jay's good books.
It's not like I didn't tell Jay about the whole almost-kissing-Benley ordeal after he came out of his lil' drug inhibition. He was infuriated about it but he was even angrier about being caught on Kiss Cam. He hates the spotlight and he hates public displays of affection. I gladly pointed out that he made it longer by happily kissing me back. Therefore, his fault.