Summer of 19-You-And-Me

Chapter 4: Just In Case

I spent the rest of the day with boys, and it was nowhere close to awkward. These boys were hilarious; they were constantly cracking jokes and making bad puns. They insisted on playing cricket, but I didn't understand the appeal. Apparently, cricket was a big deal down under. I told the boys that I didn't understand the hype, but they said they would make me a true Aussie by the end of the summer.

As I stood on the sidelines watching, I felt someone's arm brush against mine. I looked up to see Jack smiling down at me. "Having fun watching the young ones?"

"In case you don't remember, half of them are my age right now."

"There's no way that you're only 15 years old."

"It's not like you're that much older than me."

"I'm almost two years older than you."

"That's not a huge gap."

"Normally, I'd disagree, but when you look like that..." He paused to look me up and down. He then scanned the yard around us. "I think I'd be willing to make an exception."

I smirked. "That's cute."

"What is?" The confusion was written plainly across his face.

"That you think you're calling the shots here. I'll be making the exception for you." I didn't feel confident after I had said it. What if he called me on my bluff? I thought it was pretty obvious that if he asked me to jump, I'd ask how high.

"Is that so?"

I couldn't read his expression; I wasn't sure if he was playing along or thought I was ridiculous. I decided to keep going. I always heard that you're supposed to fake it until you make it. "Yeah. I usually don't go for such old guys. You're pretty cute, though. I think I could let it slide this one time."

He clapped his hand over his heart and chuckled. "I feel honored. Thank you for overlooking my gray hairs." I laughed along with him. "You're not like most girls I know. They're usually so overly flirty, you know? It's kind of annoying."

"I know what you mean. I bet it's awful to have girls falling all over you." I nudged Jack with my shoulder, and he dramatically swayed.

"I mean, that's not so bad. It's more how they go about it. It's like I'm not even a person anymore. They just want to hook up and that's it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hooking up. I just think that something should come after that. At least some sort of relationship, I guess."

"You're not like most guys I know, either. They usually don't care about relationship things."

"I didn't before."

"What changed?"

"One day, my mom came home crying from work. She had a really tough day. I still don't know what happened; I just know that it got to her pretty bad. So, she walks right past me and my dad without saying a word, which was weird because she always talks to me when she comes in. She walked straight to the couch and just collapsed onto it. My dad had just boiled water, so he made my mom a cup of tea. He just walked over to her, kneeled in front of the couch, and held the cup there. God, he must have knelt there for at least five minutes by the time she looked up." He shook his head at the memory, and I tried to imagine how this could have possibly sparked his beliefs on relationships. "I was staring at them, and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't holding her. I mean, she was crying, and he just sat there with that stupid cup of tea. She finally sits up, and I could see it in her eyes. The tears were still there, but there was a light - a kind of spark. She took the cup and smiled at my dad. He just smiled back and said, 'I know.'"

"What did he know?" I was even more confused than I had been before.

"That she loved him too."

"What do you mean she loved him too? Neither of them said anything before that."

"Exactly. My dad said it by making the tea for her because he knows that it always makes her feel better. She said it just by the look she gave him. That's why I think relationships are important. To have someone just know you like that is beautiful. I never noticed before that day, but he always has boiled water ready when Mum gets home. He doesn't even drink tea."

"So why boil water all the time?"

"Just in case she needs it." I smiled and looked over at his parents. They were on a love seat, whispering to each other. Liz laughed as Andrew started placing kisses all over her cheek. "I think I'd like to be with someone like that some day."

I looked up to see him looking at his parents as well. "Me too."

He smiled down at me and said, "I'm glad I met you today." With that, he walked away, and I caught myself smiling at his retreating form.

Australia was turning out to hold more than I could have ever dreamed of. It was no longer a place of surf, sand, and hot boys. It held the most amazing people who made me feel more alive than I ever had before. I had a sinking feeling that one summer wouldn't be enough here.

-/-/

I lost inspiration here, but I wanted to give you something. I hope you like it. Let me know where you want this to go. I have an idea for how I want things to go, but I'm open to suggestions.

How's this Jack interaction stuff going? Do you guys like it or just think it's weird? I don't know how I feel about him yet and whether he'll be a major or minor character.

I hope you're all doing well, and I love each and every one of your molecules :-)