Sunday, September 26
I usually spent my Sundays at work, but I had asked to today off.
It was Jack’s birthday.
He was turning 18, but he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. He wanted to hang out with me and a few other friends and go to the mall arcade. Jack and I spent our childhood allowances there, playing the silly games and racking up points. My phone buzzed and I glanced at the message from Jack.
Jack: Be there in 10
I chose a simple navy blue T-shirt and black shorts, and then pulled my grey hoodie on. I grabbed my wallet and phone and headed downstairs to grab something to eat. There was some cereal in the pantry, but no milk to go with it. I found some blueberries, raspberries and strawberries in the freezer and some strawberry Kefir in the fridge to make a smoothie. I found some disposable cups in a cabinet, and poured the smoothie inside. After washing the blender and putting it in the dishwasher, I heard Jack pull into the driveway. I locked the door and headed out to meet him.
“How’s it going?” he asked as I buckled up. “You didn’t text me at all yesterday. You were probably surrounded by books, weren’t you?”
“Actually I was looking at pictures in our photo albums,” I said. “Alex slept over and-”
“What!?” Jack shot me a look, but then focused back on the road. “What do you mean? Did that jerk do anything weird to you?”
“No!” I exclaimed, telling Jack the abridged version of what happened. “So he saw the photos of all of us and left. After that I just kinda took the albums to my room and looked through them.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Jack said. “Alex doesn’t seem to worry about stuff in the past. I bet he’s already forgotten about it.”
“I don’t know.” I stared out the window as we got closer to the mall. As Jack pulled into a empty parking spot, by phone buzzed. It was a group chat with Jack and two of my other closest friends, Mark and Ian.
Mark’s parents were professional pianists from Japan. They came to the United States for a performance and decided to stay. He grew up learning how to play piano as well. His younger sisters didn’t like music as much, but they were dedicated to singing and theater. In middle school he picked up violin and decided to become a musician like his parents. He still went to school with us, but sometimes missed a day or two for competitions around the country.
Ian was a figure skater. He went to elementary school with me, but started getting home schooled after fifth grade. He made it to the junior nationals in his freshmen year, but was disqualified in the first round. He worked harder than anyone I know, even more so than Alex. Ian would spend hours upon hours at the skating rink, practicing his jumps and routines, or just skating in circles to relax. He was an only child, but he told me I was like a brother to him. When I introduced him to Mark and Jack, he fit right in.
The only thing I was regretting at that moment was not telling either of them about Alex.
“Come on,” Jack said, turning the engine off. “They’re waiting inside.”
As I followed Jack inside, we made our way over to the arcade section. Two boys stood near the entrance, both looking around as if trying to find someone. One of them spotted me and Jack, smiling and waving. He had short walnut colored hair with caramel eyes. He had unusually good posture for a teenager, and great style to go with it—a dark jean jacket over a creamy T-shirt with black lines, black jeans, black and white checkered Vans and some loose bracelets.
“Damnit Ian!” Jack exclaimed, going over to that boy and putting his arm around his neck. “You stick out like a sore thumb you stupid figure skater!”
“To be fair I got this jacket at a thrift store yesterday,” he explained.
“No way,” I muttered. “He looks too good in it.”
Ian grinned, striking a pose. “Are you falling for me yet?”
I made a disgusted face and the others smiled at my joke. Mark brushed his bronze bangs out of his face, and I caught a glimpse of his pale amber eyes. He wore an plain white shirt with a red sweatshirt tied around his waist. His ripped jeans were faded, and the end of his belt stuck out a little. His favorite sneakers looked worn out, but well taken care of.
“Let’s go already,” I heard an all too familiar voice behind me say. I tensed, and quickly shuffled behind Mark.
“You ok?” he asked, and I nodded, glancing at Jack who was still laughing with Ian.
“Let’s go in first,” I said, quickly heading into the arcade.
“Hey! Wait for us!” Ian called as the other three followed me. Mark and Ian went over to one of the shooting games, and Jack was going to join them before I grabbed his wrist.
“Alex alert,” I muttered. “I saw Alex and his friends in the mall.”
Jack clicked his tongue. “I wanted you to be able to relax for once, but I guess not. It seems like you and Alex are always in the same place at the same time, even on weekends.”
“You coming or what?” Mark called to us.
“You guys do a round without us,” Jack replied. “I’ve got a classmate to find… and possibly beat up.”
“I feel like you’re hiding something,” Ian said, walking back over to us. “What’s wrong, Paul?”
I glanced at everyone and sighed. “Guess we should go get some lunch.”
And so I told them. About everything. They listened, and tried not to interrupt except to go throw their trash away. It was easy to tell them since they were the ones who helped me through middle school. There were no more secrets between us.
“The way you describe him,” Ian started, “Alex sounds like a ass.”
“He kinda is,” Jack muttered. “But Paul over here is starting to think differently about him.”
“Am not,” I defended. “He’s just pushy, and stubborn and I hate it.” The others still didn’t look like they believed me. We got up from our table and headed away from the food court. The four of us headed back down to the arcade as planned, and I decided to push everything about Alex out of my head and focus on Jack and the others.
I found out long ago how horrible I was at a lot of video games. I would usually end up dying on the second of third level, and kinda gave up. There was one game that I was especially good at, though.
Pac-Man.
I would earn most of my points by playing that game.
Jack and Mark went off to play one of the weird survival games, and Ian stayed with me at the other Pac-Man console. We didn’t need to talk about anything. Knowing one another was there in was enough.
The Pac-Man consoles were right next to the entrance, so I was a little on edge, hoping Alex wouldn’t walk by and see me. There was a sad beep and I looked at the screen to see I died again on level three.
“What’s up?” Ian asked. “You never usually die on round three.” I didn’t say anything and Ian sighed. “Don’t worry about that kid. The mall is big enough so you probably won’t run into each other.
“I hope you’re right,” I said, restarting the game again.
A couple hours later, the four of us left the arcade and went to windowshop a little. Ian was looking for some new winter clothes, Jack needed a Halloween costume, and Mark wanted to get a new pair of sneakers. Since I was the only one who wasn't looking for anything, I helped the others choose between one thing or the other.
We stopped by a bunch of stores for Ian, and he found a few shirts and a pair of pants. Jack didn’t find anything for Halloween that he liked, and I just said we could look online later. Finally, we went into the biggest shoe store to look for some sneakers for Mark.
As we walked down one of the isles, I stopped, hearing Alex’s voice. Jack heard it too, and shot me a look.
“Why don’t you and Ian go and-”
He was too late in finishing his sentence.
Jack and his friends turned down the isle we were standing in and saw us. There was a moment of shocked silence as everyone looked at each other.
“Hey is that you, Jack?” Travis asked. “Yeah! It’s you and Mark! I haven’t seen you guys since freshmen History class!”
“Nice game last Friday,” Jack said, still glaring daggers at Alex. I tugged on Ian’s jacket and motioned my head towards Alex. His mouth opened in an “ohhh,” and then smiled at me. It was a mischievous smile, one that I knew from our youth.
“So you’re Alex?” Ian asked, stepping forward. My eyes widened as I looked at Jack and Mark. They were too busy talking to Travis and Declan.
“I don’t recognize you from school,” Alex said.
“I’m home schooled,” Ian replied. “I’ve known these guys for a while, though. I’ve heard a lot about you from Jack and Paul.”
“Nothing good, I bet.” Alex gave me a quick look, and I turned my head away. I didn’t say anything particularly bad about him. I just complained about him. There’s a difference.
“So what are you doing here?” Jack asked, his attention turned back to Alex.
“Travis needs new sneakers,” Alex responded. “Declan and I are helping him look.”
“Hmmm,” Jack looked Alex up and down, not believing Alex.
“Hey I had no idea you were going to be here,” Alex said. “Paul never said anything to me, and I never said anything to Paul.” I sighed, and grabbed Jack’s wrist to make him stop sizing Alex up. “I can see we’re not wanted, so we’ll leave first. I’ll see you guys at school.”
The three walked away, Travis waving goodbye at Mark and Jack. I let out a sigh once they left the store, shaking my head at Jack.
“You’re not my mom, so don’t worry about me,” I told him. “Let’s just find Mark some sneakers and go out for dinner.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ian said.
As the four of us finished, shopping, I got a text from Alex. I didn’t want to bother with it, so I ignored him. I felt a little bad a first, but after the others started telling funny stories, I completely forgot about it.
Ian drove himself and Mark, so they said they’d meet me and Jack at the restaurant. Jack wanted to go out for Chinese food, and Ian knew a great place near his skating rink. So there we went. Jack and I played some music in the car, singing very badly along with each song. It was great that Jack was enjoying himself.
He pulled into a parking spot in front of the restaurant and we saw Ian and Mark waiting outside. I got out and headed over to join them.
“Sorry,” Jack said, locking the car. “Were you waiting long?”
“Just got here as well,” Ian said. “Come on. Let’s go in already.”
The restaurant wasn’t very crowded so we were able to get a table immediately. I ordered water along with the tea they gave us, and the others ordered their drinks as well. Jack and Mark both went with Coke and Ian got water like me.
“I’d recommend this chicken,” Ian said, leaning to his right so I could see the menu. “It’s not very spicy, and they put plenty of sauce on.”
“I think I’m going with the Chicken Lo Mein,” Mark said.
Ian scoffed. “That’s what you get at any Chinese restaurant. Why don’t you just try something different.”
“Hey you know I don’t eat red meat,” Mark replied, closing his menu and putting it down.
“I’m gonna get the dumplings,” Jack said.
“I think I’ll take Ian’s suggestion and get this chicken,” I decided.
“Then I’ll get the Chicken Fried Rice,” Ian said. “It’s my favorite.”
After we ordered, the waitress took the menus and walked off towards the kitchen. It was quiet in the restaurant, with dim lights and a very calm atmosphere. It was relaxing.
We chatted the entire time, catching up and just talking about random things. We laughed and made fun of each other, and Jack said it was one of his best birthdays yet.
It was the first time since school started that I felt like I could enjoy myself without worrying about any senior drama going on.
And it felt good.
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