Chapter 31 - Alyssa.
Jack seems to have cooled down slightly when we get back to his house, but I can see his jaw is still flexing and his posture is tense and rigid. We just hang around, lie around, and I talk and kiss the anger out of him. By the time Dan, Stella and Jess get home from school he's grinning and sitting Jess on the counter, giving her Smarties and looking at the pictures she painted at school.
Dan comes and sits down beside me, still in his slightly scruffy uniform. "Do your parents know you're here?" He nudges my side with a smile.
"Not really, but I don't care." I smile and look down at Jack's hoodie that I'm wearing - far too big for me, but warm and soft. I pull the sleeves down over my hands.
"Ah, I didn't think so," Dan laughs to himself and shakes his head. "You aren't as goody-goody as you look."
"Hey!" I swat at his arm. "I think I look like a very rebellious, dramatic, independent-"
"Don't be traumatising my girlfriend," Jack calls over to us with a smirk, as Jess hops down from the counter and then runs up the stairs with her pile of paintings. I feel my cheeks blush, still not used to being called his girlfriend.
"You want a drink?" Stella asks me with a sweet smile. Dan rolls his eyes with a smirk, then stands up and wanders off upstairs, probably to get changed.
"Oh, I'm alright at the moment thanks," I tell her.
Jack makes his way towards us, then sits down on the sofa beside me. Stella sits down on my other side and flicks on the television.
I love Jack's family. Every one of them, and even though I've only met his dad once, he seemed like a polite, genuine person. As I talk for ages to Stella and Jack, I find myself wishing I could have met his mother. That's how much I love the whole family.
Mr Hart does get back at six, like Jack told me he would. Apparently this is the earliest on any day of the week he ever gets back and they all seem to make the most of it. He looks surprised when he sees me, but a big grin lights up his face and he hugs me again like he did the last time - it's as if I'm one of the family.
When I greet him as Mr Hart, he frowns and smiles at the same time, and then says in a booming voice, "Please, call me Michael!"
He announces that he's going to order a pizza delivery, which is fine with the rest of us. Dan sits at the kitchen table on Skype with his girlfriend, and his dad lingers in the background calling out things to embarrass him. Jess goes and starts talking to her too, and from what I hear, his girlfriend sounds as embarrassed as Dan looks.
"Dad," Jack calls out. Mr Hart is just piling plates into the oven to warm, and after he closes the door he nods and walks over to sit down on the sofa beside us. "Alyssa's stayin' over tonight."
I feel my colour rise, my palms become sweaty, trying to work out what his dad must be thinking. My house is just up the road, so even if I was bunking off classes I would stay there. I bet he's going to think I'm a real slut.
"Oh, that's fine." Michael nods encouragingly at me. I gawp. "Well then, Jack, you'll be on the couch."
I bite my lip. "I can sleep there-"
He shakes his head vigorously. "No, don't worry." He smiles and pats my knee. "Jack knows how to treat a girl properly, and that's what he's going to do."
I glance back at Jack to see him smirking at me as he strokes his hand slowly up my side. "I already told her, it'll be fine."
The pizza arrives soon after that, and the six of us all gather around the table with bottles of Coke and Sprite. Pizza is good after hardly eating anything all day, and all the trauma not only made me hungry, but made me not realise it until now too. Jess comes to sit on my knee and she begins to plait my unruly hair as I still eat slowly, insisting that it cannot be plaited. But she gets it eventually into something resembling a braid.
"Alyssa has princess hair!" Jess sings as she rest her head against my chest, and I smile as I slowly eat. Michael begins to clear away his and Dan's plates, and Stella and Jack sit there talking.
After swallowing, I mumble, "More like just been dragged through a hedge backwards hair."
"Oh no," Stella catches on and grins brightly. Before taking a sip of Coke she exclaims, "Your hair's beautiful."
I blush. "Thanks, but seriously-"
"If you think your hair is messy then take a look at mine," she laughs, and tugs on her shoulder length black curls. I often think that Stella resembles Rue from The Hunger Games film, only slightly though. The four siblings in the Hart family each have their own special kind of beauty - and you can tell that they're all related.
"Let's play . . . I love you because!" Jess calls out. Dan laughs, and Stella immediately rolls her eyes as Jack smirks and lays his arm along the back of my chair.
"What's that?" I ask, looking down at Jess as she plays with my plait.
"Well, we spin a spinner and everyone gets a turn," she begins slowly. "When it's your turn you spin the spinner and whoever it lands on you have to tell the person why you love them!"
"Please, no," Dan moans.
Jack grins rather evilly. "Let's introduce Alyssa to the game and make it one she'll never forget."
I stare at him, wide eyed. "This sounds scary."
"Oh no, it's fun!" Jess grins as I see their dad starting to make tea on the other side of the room and chuckling to himself, shaking his head. Jess then suddenly jumps up off my knee and goes to get a little spinner, placing it in the middle of the table and sitting down at the head of the table.
A thought suddenly occurs to me.
"How do you win this game?"
Jack smirks at me. "If you pause for more than five seconds, you're out."
I laugh and then rest my head in my hands. "Alright! Let's do this."
Jess goes first, enthusiasm radiating off her. It lands on Jack, and she calls out, "I love you because . . . You make really nice pancakes and . . . When I have nightmares you let me climb into your bed."
As Jack just grins, I refrain from making an 'Aww' sound, but if it ever was appropriate then now would be the time. I love how caring Jack is to his family.
Next is Stella, who lands on Dan. She tells him, folding her arms, "I love you because you're a complete idiot-"
"Stella!" Michael calls from the other side of the kitchen as he 'watches' TV.
"-and you make me laugh." Stella smirks .
Dan sighs, then it's his turn to spin. It ends up landing on Jack. After briefly resting his head in his hands, he says, "I love you because . . . You give me advice about girls, and it's actually good advice too."
"Oh, what sort of advice?" I laugh, nudging Jack in the ribs.
"Guy stuff, Alyssa," Jack says nonchalantly, waving his hand dismissively with a lazy smile.
Stella rolls her eyes, "Right, Jack! It's your turn."
"I hope it lands on Alyssa!" Jess giggles, and I feel my face heat up. The spinner seems to spin for ages, but finally I find it pointing towards me. It makes my face grow even hotter, wondering what he's going to say.
"I love you because you're really cute, especially when you blush," Jack begins, as we meet eachother's gaze. "And I love your helpful and sweet attitude." He stops abruptly and looks around at the others. "I could go on all day but I'm not letting you guys hear it," he tells them, and the three of them just laugh as I try to not smile and go red so much.
"Your turn, Alyssa!" Jess grins. I reach forward to spin the spinner, and it lands in between Jess and Stella.
"You have to do both of us," Stella laughs, then shakes her head.
"Okay." I grin, and then look between them, remembering about the five seconds thing. "Okay, Stella, I love you because you're friendly and sensible, but you were also fun to go shopping with, remember that?"
"Yeah." She grins. "We should do it again."
"In the Christmas holidays," I tell her with a smile, then turn to Jess. Right in that moment, I feel like I'm a part of the family. "Jess, I love you because you were good at doing my hair, and you're also very nice to me and explain things very well."
"That was a good game," Dan smirks from the other side of the table, and Jack laughs.
"Ahuh, it was nice to introduce Alyssa into it."
-
An hour later at half eight, Jack carries Jess up to bed, then Stella says she's going to get ready for bed since she doesn't want to be tired for school in the morning. Dan disappears upstairs to do homework, and while I'm waiting for Jack to come down, I'm left sitting with Mr Hart.
"Alyssa, do your parents know you're staying here tonight?" He asks me gently, as he looks up from a book he's reading.
I bite my lip, then stammer, "I- I . . . No. I'm sorry, I know it's really cheeky for me to stay like this-"
"Oh no," he begins, looking and sounding surprised. "All of us enjoy your company, it was nice to have you round for dinner. Is everything okay at home, though?"
"I know it seems stupid . . . Staying here when I have my house down the road," I say in a wavering voice. "But, I wanted to spend time with Jack and I don't think they'd be happy about me skipping school so I thought if they didn't know . . . I don't know. I can go-"
"Alyssa, don't worry, dear." He smiles reassuringly and pats my knee. "You're very welcome to stay here any time you want. Trust me, it makes a nice change, having you around."
"Thank you," I tell him, trying to sound as earnest as possible. I smile, just as Jack walks in with a tired sigh and sits down beside me.
"Everything okay?" He asks. "Where are Stella and Dan?"
I nod. "Upstairs," I tell him, as his dad stands up and stretches, then goes over to the kitchen area. "Stella's getting ready for bed and Dan's doing homework."
"Thank God," Jack sighs, then smiles and leans back in the chair, pulling me close. I smile and rest my head against his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.
"Good night kids," his dad calls over to us, as he walks out of the room with an apple. "I'll be in my study."
"Good night!"
"Night, dad."
As soon as he's disappeared, Jack surprises me by leaning in to kiss me deeply. I feel myself smiling one of my annoying uncontrollable smiles into the kiss, and I close my eyes to kiss him back lovingly.
"I feel bad about you sleeping all by yourself down here," I whisper with a frown after pulling back.
"Ah, I'll be fine." He grins and presses his lips to my neck, making me shiver slightly. "My dad won't have it any other way, anyway."
"Wish my dad was a bit like yours," I mumble, and Jack laughs softy.
"I guess both of them have their pros and cons." He sighs, then sits up straight to look down into my eyes with his heavenly green ones. I lean into his hand as he caresses my cheek, then kiss him deeply when he presses his lips against mine.
"I love you so much, Alyssa," he whispers huskily between kisses. I want him to kiss me all over, but there are four other people upstairs and they could come down any second. So I run my hands through his hair and try to ignore the strange sensation in my stomach and chest.
"I love you too, Jack," I murmur softly, as he breaks away from the kiss to lead a trail of heated kisses down my neck.
My hands rest against his chest, feeling the muscle through his shirt as I lean my head to the side to allow him more skin. Then we start kissing again, and before I know it I'm lying beneath Jack on the sofa, as he runs his hand up my shirt slowly, and I wrap my legs around his waist.
"Oh God," he groans quietly after pulling back, and we stare at eachother, panting softly. I smile and slowly kiss his nose, then cheek, as we both regain our breath and sit up again.
"Mm. That was . . . Refreshing," I whisper in his ear with a giggle.
Jack blushes, and I see him slowly grab a cushion and place it on his lap before peeking at me with a shy smile. It's strange, seeing Jack looking shy or timid.
I find myself blushing too, as he places as the cushion over him, surprised I'd have that much of an effect on him. "Could I borrow a shirt of yours or something to sleep in?" I ask with a sheepish grin.
Chuckling awkwardly, Jack smiles and kisses my forehead. "Of course. I love you."
"Love you too," I smile and ruffle his hair. "You're so cute."
After a while of Jack sitting there and waiting (I won't go any further), we both head upstairs hand in hand. Jack goes over to his drawers as I plop down on the bed, and then he hands me a green shirt which I can see is going to be massive on me.
Suddenly my eyes catch onto a picture on his bedside table, half hidden underneath a Biology textbook. I stand up slowly and then go over and lift the textbook up to reveal an old photograph of a brown-haired woman in her twenties with a pale but rosy-cheeked complexion, and in her arms the most adorable toddler with black curly hair. Both of them are grinning happily up at me as I lift up the picture and smile.
"That's my mum," Jack says quietly and sits down beside me. He nudges me and smiles slightly. "Told you I was a cute kid."
I smile and slowly run my finger over his young, photographed face, then gaze over at the landscape - they're on a pier, overlooking a calm blue sea. Finally I stare back at his mother's face.
"She's beautiful," I whisper, then look up at him to see him watching me intently.
Jack nods slowly, then hands me another picture from his drawer as he mumbles softly, "I know."
I smile and lean my head against his shoulder as I look at the next picture - a younger version of his dad, still as handsome, his arm wrapped around Jack's mother who now was holding a new-born baby, a tuft of jet-black hair sticking up from under the blanket. I'm guessing it's Dan, because a two or three year old Jack is stood there at their feet, staring up at his mother and looking confused.
I laugh softly. "You look jealous there."
"Oh, I was the ultimate jealous older sibling every time a new one came." Jack grins and shakes his head, then wraps an arm around me as I give him back the photo.
"You were very cute, may I say," I whisper, and cuddle him close. I feel a weight in the bottom of my stomach, thinking about his mother. I don't know how he must feel. A part of me wishes I could understand better, but maybe it's just better left as it is.
"I'll leave the room so you can get changed," Jack murmurs after some silence, then stands up and stretches. I watch as his shirt lifts up and reveal some of the golden skin of his torso, flashing his boxers waistband, and his arm muscles flex. I stand up and shake my head.
"I'll go in the bathroom," I tell him, then walk out. I successfully find the right door, and then go inside and change. In the mirror I'm shocked by how pale I look, but then I realise that it must be the lighting. I quickly undress and then pull on Jack's shirt. It manages to cover the very top of my legs, but still feels a little revealing. It'll have to do, though. I hurriedly tie up my hair and then splash some water on my face, before stepping out and sneaking over to Jack's room with my clothes in a neat pile.
I open the door to find Jack stood at his chest of drawers only in boxers as he goes through the drawers. I hear myself make a strange, squeaking sound before closing the door again. Already, I can feel my face heat up as I stand there and listen to the movement in the room and then I'm facing him again, this time standing before me in sweatpants, but still bare on his upper half.
He begins to laugh quietly, then pulls me gently inside as I bite back an awkward smile.
"Sorry."
"Don't worry, it's not like I was completely naked," Jack teases casually, and then flops down onto the bed.
"Yeah, but . . . It was a shock," I whisper, then laugh. I can't help but run my eyes over his glorious upper body, before turning round and putting my clothes on the nightstand.
"I know, I'm a sexy beast. I'm sorry, I should have warned you. Nice bra," Jack calls out, and I look down to spot my pink bra peaking through from under my faded, folded up jeans.
I blush even more and roll my eyes before going to sit beside him. He smirks and picks me up, bridal style, and pulls back the covers to place me properly in the bed, then climbs in beside me, both of us sitting with our backs against the wooden headboard.
"I must say that attire looks awfully sexy, Alyssa," he comments, stroking the side of his borrowed shirt which I am wearing.
I smile and then lean my head against his bare chest. I'm always smiling around Jack, no matter what he says.
"You smell nice," I observe, my voice muffled against his body. I close my eyes and silently breathe him in, trying not to sniff audibly.
I feel him playing with my ponytail, as he says with a smile to his voice, "Thank you. So do you. So are you goin' back to Cambridge tomorrow?"
I look up at him and sigh. "Yes. But I'll see you soon. There's only a few more weeks until it's Christmas, I mean, we're coming to the end of November. And I'll see you before Christmas, anyway."
He nods, and kisses me on the end of my nose. "Of course I will," he whispers, sounding relieved.
"You still annoyed about Katy and Niall?" I ask.
"No. I guess it was just a heat of the moment thing. But maybe just a little bit. People in general get on my nerves from time to time. But I guess I was being stupid, I mean, Katy must be in pain," Jack sighs and shrugs. "And I'm pissed off about not realising at first who that guy was."
"Will?"
He scowls. "Yeah. I could have-"
"Jack," I sigh and pat his chest. "It's okay. I really don't want you to be fighting like that."
He stays silent, then shakes his head. "I just, I can't believe someone could do that. Y'know? Especially to you."
I lean up to kiss him deeply, then run a hand gently though his hair. "It's alright. I have you now, and that's more than enough."
After a while, I begin to drift off, and Jack gathers a blanket and pillow for the couch, wraps me up in the quilt in his bed and lays me down. And he isn't gone until everything else is gone, along with my consciousness.
-
Even though Katy and Niall continue to be distant - in fact, neither of them call me at all - and the fact that the weather is getting colder and frostier, it seems as though things just keep getting better.
I don't see Will at all - I just assume that he's embarrassed and that's fine with me. I can't have him keep approaching me all the time when I'm trying to move on with my life. Irene, Martin and Anthony are good friends and there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not grateful for them. Jack comes around a few times and we go out, but I don't go back to Kingston.
December is soon here, and with it, it brings mountainfulls of rain. There doesn't seem to be any signs of snow, but that's good because it will make getting back to Kingston hard. It seems like I'm getting more and more work to do - that just makes me feel even more relieved that it's soon going to be the holidays.
About a week into advent, Irene pulls me out into the city centre nearby to get some Christmas shopping done. Irene keeps everyone in order and I'm relieved because I need to get Christmas presents for my family and friends - and fast.
I soon lean that she's hilarious to go shopping with. We walk around the cold streets, Irene pointing out various random decorations and then dragging me into peculiar stores. I decide to sort out my brother and parents first, but it isn't easy. Irene also has a younger brother, but he's thirteen, not ten. I sigh and look around the model shop we are in.
"Caleb loves these cars and stuff," Irene explains. "What about your brother?" She asks, as she picks up an aeroplane model.
"Books," I sigh. "He likes science."
"What about those . . . You know those little chemistry sets?" She raises an eyebrow. "I think they sell them in the toy shop next door."
After Irene pays for a model car, we go into the store next door and I realise that Phillip would be in his element here. I end up buying a telescope and a chemistry experiment kit for him.
Getting presents for our parents is easy - we go straight to Debenhams. I buy my mum an elegant turquoise scarf and some perfume, and my dad a tie and aftershave.
I then have to look around the shops for Niall and Katy, as well as Jack. What's more, it's Niall's birthday at new year. I also decide I will need to get something for Martin, Anthony, and Irene, of course. For a second I think about my old friends - Zara and Reina - and I wonder if they've thought about me whilst buying presents. I wonder if they're going to visit me this Christmas, but the voice inside my head tells me I'm stupid. We all have new lives now and new friends, and they all must think I'm still with Will Palmer, since I haven't told them anything - that way, they won't want that much to do with me. I haven't spoke to Zara or Reina for months now.
For Niall, I buy a Killers CD, since we share a love of them. For his birthday I pick out a nice shirt - probably the best thing to buy because from what I've seen, he hardly ever buys clothes for himself. Thank God he has Katy. I get Katy a pretty silver necklace with a raindrop-shaped diamond pendant on. Irene is obsessed with musicals so while she's away getting my present, I buy her the soundtracks to Les Mis, The Sound Of Music, and Guys and Dolls. Since Anthony and me always discuss books, I get him a copy of The Great Gatsby, and then for Martin I decide to let him geek out over a massive set of highlighters, ink pens, pencils and various mathematical instruments - all made from recycled materials (he's also obsessed with Eco-friendliness and all that).
"I don't know what the hell to get Jack," I tell Irene when we meet up again. She frowns, then crosses her arms.
"Well, what does he like?"
"I don't know," I sigh, and then her eyes widen.
"But he's your boyfriend, Alyssa!" She exclaims.
"Well he fixes cars. And he likes Biology a lot. He's good at cooking," I recite, running a hand through my messy hair.
Irene looks thoughtful, as she taps her chin and then flicks her brown curls off her shoulder.
She's about to open her mouth again when I add, "I want to get him something special, not just one of those presents everyone buys."
"You can't go wrong with a mix tape," she shrugs.
"That's cheesy, Irene!"
Her eyes widen. "Well, don't you have songs you both like? Or songs you'd like him to listen to? Or, songs that he likes?"
That makes me think. I think about how in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, Charlie makes mix tapes for his friends and family. It seemed popular in the nineties, but now? I could just give him a CD.
But there is something strange and unusual and alluring about an actual cassette tape. And as I walk back to campus with Irene as it rains down heavily on us and our shopping bags, I think I have a few ideas sprouting in my head even though I haven't bought anything yet.
---
Sorry it's been so long! This month has been pretty hard for me. I'm preparing for exams and also went on a camping trip and over the past few days I've been really ill after it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks very much for reading! :)
Please don't forget to vote and comment. :)