I Painted A Picture (Jalex)

Caught Up In The Moment

A few hours after school got out, someone knocked on my door.

I had just finished my homework and was about to put it away and turn off my CD player. I got up and answered it.

It was Jack.

"Hey, Alex," he said.

"You remembered my address?" I said, surprised.

"Yeah, I did," he replied. "I came to check on you."

"You can come in if you want," I said. He accepted my offer and walked through the door. "Come sit down."

Jack smiled. "Sure." He sat down on my living room sofa and I made to turn off the stereo, but Jack called out, "Can you leave it on? I like this album."

"Oh, okay." I left Nimrod on and sat down next to him. "So, what brings you around at this fine hour?"

He chuckled. "I got lonely, which was problematic as I don't have rehearsal today and I'm new in town. Honestly, you're the closest thing to a best friend I have in this town."

"If I may, why'd you move?" I asked.

"My dad got a job over here that starts early in the morning, so he thought Why not reduce some stress by moving the entire family over here? Before, we lived in Annapolis, which is about half an hour away from here, so I had to switch schools. I didn't have to stop doing theatre at the place I do it at, though, because it's in downtown Baltimore, " he finished.

"Was it hard?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. I had like one friend at the school I went to before, and he also does theatre, so I still see him. His name's Zack. You'd probably like him."

I shrugged. "Does he listen to blink-182?"

"Yep, and Green Day, too," he said.

"He's cool then," I replied. "What's your family like?"

"Shitty," he said, and I laughed. He went on. "I'm only half-joking. My dad's okay, but he's super homophobic, so I'm scared to come out. I've got three siblings; they're kinda mean. My mom doesn't really do much nowadays, but my family says she did a lot when we were coming into the US. I don't remember that at all. I was like one."

"Wait, what?" I wondered if I missed something.

"Oh, I forgot to mention." He smiled. "I was born in Lebanon. My family left because of the war and stuff."

"Whoa."

"I know, right?" He leaned back on the sofa. "If only I remembered any of it."

I giggled.

Jack crossed his legs. "Hey, did Nimrod end?"

"I think it did," I said. "Do you want me to put on something else?"

He nodded. "Sure. Do you have the new blink-182 album?"

"Yes, in fact, I do. I'll be right back." I got up and went upstairs to my bedroom to get the CD. Jack waited patiently for me to get down and put it in the CD player.

I sat back down by him, and we just sat there listening to "Feeling This" for a while. We were at the second chorus when Jack dropped this bombshell:

"You know, you're really hot."