A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Chapter Seven: part 1

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sharks, spiders, ghouls, and clowns didn’t even begin to scare me as much as my newly realized feelings. And trust me, that’s scary. 

“What’s wrong, Drea? You and Alex have a lovers’ spat?” Kip’s voice pulled me out of my daze.

I looked up from my BBQ covered paper plate and blinked at the gorgeous young man sitting across from me, remembering that I was at dinner with my family and the Jones family at the Jones’ outdoor picnic table. Everybody was giving me glances like I was crazy.

“Dana Kip Jones, you leave that poor girl alone,” Mrs. Jones snapped at her son as she re-entered the outdoors, giving him that look. You know, that look; the mom look. That look, whenever given by my mother, almost scared me more than my feelings did at that time in history. “Besides, anyone could tell that it’s not my Alex she’s thinking about.”

I would have laughed at Mrs. Jones use of Kip’s full name as his brothers and my sisters did, but at the end of the table, my mother’s bright violet eyes widened and my father’s blue ones narrowed. My own jaw had dropped slightly. Mrs. Jones was like an aunt to me, but sometimes she could be a lot like an older sister. Right then, for instance.

“Alexandrea? Is there some boy you’re sweet on?” Asked my mother in her southern drawl, she pushed her red hair behind her ear the way she always did when asking a question about the dating lives of Whitney, Brittany, and I. My mother, the southern bell my yankee father had fallen for back when the dinosaurs still walked the earth, was a worrywart. Well, only when it came to her ‘babies’ (Ahem, eighteen and nineteen year olds? We’re not babies) and boys outside the Jones family. It was like she thought we were made of rice paper and that we’d get our hearts broken. 

“Um...” I shoved as much BBQ into my mouth as I could fit onto my fork and began talking around the food, but even I couldn’t understand myself.

“Well, it’s obviously me,” Ben, the youngest Jones’ brother (as you may or may not remember), spoke up, puffing out his chest. He tossed his flaxen mane triumphantly. I say mane only because, for the past few years, he had refused to cut the back part his hair, and it had grown out to where it touched his shoulders. The front had be hacked off with a pair of Crayola scissors to keep it out of his eyes, and formed choppy bangs around his freckled face.

Wrinkling my nose, I shook my head violently while everyone else laughed. My father remained silent and just looked at me from his spot at the table. I could feel his eyes penetrating my soul. The mass of food was making my cheeks puff out like a chipmunk’s, so with much effort, I swallowed.

“It’s nothing. I just...I mean, it’s really...” With everybody looking at me expectantly, what was I supposed to say? ‘Hey everybody! I’m cross-dressing to hang out with a guy I think I may like! He doesn’t know I’m a girl, but whatever!” Yeah, I don’t think so. “I canta speak english!” I exclaimed, using a stereotypical Italian accent.

Next to me, Alex snorted. I stomped on his foot. We all picked at our food uncomfortably. Then I got an idea.

“Alex is seeing some gal named Lillian. She’s older than he is,” I offered to the crowd.

Go forth and nitpick.

That shifted the limelight from me to mi amigo. I sat on the sidelines, silently applauding my use of smarts to get myself off the hook whilst Alex was bombarded with questions. However, I could still feel Dad’s gaze on me.

Yes, I do realize that I have failed to mention again Alex’s date with Lillian since the time I first mentioned it until now. The truth is, Alex never really told me about it. I had nothing to divulge. Don’t get mad at me.

“Blame Dana,” Alex tried to defend himself. Then flinched as Kip kicked his shin under the table.

That time, I snorted. The next thing I knew, Alex’s foot was crushing mine. I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out.

“So I was thinking...” the warm breath in my ear tickled as Alex spoke.

Narrowing my eyes, I attempted to look at him with peripheral vision. “What were you thinking, Lexi?”

“I was thinking-”

Without warning, my pocket was vibrating. 

Holding up a finger to stop my friend, I slipped my phone out of my pocket to find that Jason had texted me. “Just a sec.”

 Pressing my lips together in surprise, I opened the message.

“Oh,” The word slipped through my lips before I realized that I should probably keep silent. Heads turned toward me expectantly. “I gotta go.”

_________________________________________________ I know this is short... sorry. I've been super busy and stressed lately even though it's summer. I hope to finish this chapter soon.