Fast Forward

Chapter 1: What To Expect When You're Not Expecting

"I literally just said to her--"

"That he wants me to leave you. He's been shamelessly hitting on me all day," I cut Xavier off before he can tell Jay the truth.

"What?!" Xavier splutters out in confusion.

Landon snickers and shakes his head, washing his hands clean of us. He tosses the core of his apple into a trash can before leaving the room.

Jay furrows his eyebrows as he looks from Xavier to me in disbelief, not buying it. "You're right," he eventually answers, "it would freak me out...if it were true."

He knows us too well.

"Idiot," Leban directs his words at me, he and Kyle casually snacking on some of Emma and Xavier's leftovers from last night.

Jay drops the box he's holding and frowns at all of us. "I can't believe this--"

"Believe it, BroJay!" Troy shouts over him for the heck of it. "Believe you can fly!"

Jay ignores him and merely continues, "Am I literally doing all the work by myself again?" He asks at seeing us all lounging around, eating.

"It's snack time, CoolGuyJay-Dawg," Blubber answers him, stuffing his face with more food, so much so that his cheeks have inflated. "You don't mess with snack time," he mumbles through a mouthful of food.

Gland, also with a mouth full of food, makes a strong, inhumane noise from the back of his throat before nodding profusely, backing Blubber (his prodigy) up. He clearly feels strongly about this, as does Simo.

"You guys have had three snack times in the past two hours," Jay points out, not happy.

"Lunchtime then," Blubber corrects himself. "Point is, we're eating."

"My boy!" Gland utters before high-fiving Blubber in pride, food flying out of his mouth in the process.

Oog growls at Blubs in jealousy.

"It's hot out, bro," Dean tells Jay. "I can't anymore. I'm dying."

"Yeah," Blubber agrees. "I was sweating like a beached porpoise out there."

"Simo too, sorry Jay," Simo adds, seeking Jay's approval.

"I vote Jay, Dean and Zac do all the work," Max pipes up. "Jay's the ringleader, Dean is Mr. Muscles, and Zac's a badass," he explains.

"And Zac won't hesitate to turn badass on your ass," Zac glowers at Max for the suggestion, tired of working and lazy as ever.

"Babe, your man-crush on Dean and Zac is getting embarrassing," Bell teases Max, deliberately humiliating him in front all of us. Max admires Dean's build and always tries to impress Zac with every given opportunity.

"Max's existence is one big embarrassment!" Susie chirps tauntingly given the opportunity.

"That's it! Today your existence ends!" Max stands up threateningly, only for Jay to push him straight back down into his seat.

"She'll kick your ass," Jay warns Max, aware of the facts, before winking playfully at Susie.

"Jay's right," Susie voices her opinion a second time, pleased that Jay's on her side – when is he not? "I'll destroy you."

My fiancé flops down beside me with a sigh. "I'm taking a break then too," he tells all of us, putting his arm around my shoulders. "I'm exhausted."

Yeah...he's done about 80% of all the work.

"Thanks for all the help, JT. We really appreciate it," Emma expresses her gratitude, all the while, Xavier nods, agreeing with everything she's saying.