Chapter 7: ...And We're Squeezing Them Into Our Cups...

Autumn's POV

"So if I called you 'Fall', would that piss you off?"

"Clever, Gaskarth. Never heard that one before," I replied to Alex, rolling my eyes, but smiling at him.

"Sassy," Zack said. He was standing behind the bench Alex and I were sitting on at the bowling alley. Cosmic bowling!

I rolled my eyes again and this is when Jack came up and sat on my lap. He wrapped his arms around me and cuddled into me. "Uh, hey there. Comfy?"

"Mmhmm." He nodded and closed his eyes as his head went to my shoulder.

Alex pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. He smiled and said, "That's going online."

I narrowed my eyes for a second, but relaxed. I looked at Alex, then Zack. "Can you guys help?" I tried to shift a little. "Jack has a really bony butt."

Zack laughed, but Alex mumbled, "Tell me about it," making me give him a weird look. "Don't ask." He shook his head.

"I was afraid to," I replied. I started to tickle Jack so he kept flinching and eventually gave up.

"FINE. I'll get off you," he said and moved so he was sitting in between me and Alex.

"So my Mom tried to give me a sex talk before the show," I said after a moment of silence.

"Why? You're seventeen. You don't get it yet?" Zack asked.

I shrugged. "Apparently to her, I don't." I moved my bangs out of my eyes. "It was all because I came home late Thursday."

"Ah, so she thinks your dating Alex now?" Jack asked.

"I don't know if she still does, but she did at first." I looked around Jack at Alex. "Sorry."

Alex shrugged. "Honestly, that's not the first time that's happened."

"Oh, that's nice." Please take note of my sarcasm.

"Hey, Autumn?" I looked over at Kara, who was sitting with Rian on a bench in front of us.

"Yeah, what's up?" I said.

"It's your turn."

"Oh. Shit, okay." I got up and walked up to the lane, grabbing a ball on the way. It wasn't until I was at the lane that I noticed Alex followed me. "Creeper," I said. He held his hands up in defense and I rolled the ball, getting a perfect gutter shot. "Ugh," I put my face in my hands, but turned and looked at him. "I fail at this."

"No, you don't." He grabbed a ball, then turned back to me. "Here." I took it from him and faced the lane. Then, I felt his arms go around me from behind.

So, you know that cliché thing in movies when the guy teaches the girl how to play the sport? That's what Alex was doing.

I felt myself get goose bumps on my arms and his breath on my neck made me want to kiss him, I'll admit. My heart started beating faster and all I wanted was for him to kiss me all over. Ah, fuck.

He made me walk forward and kept his arm with mine, his hand on my wrist, as I threw the ball out. It got a strike.

"Wow," I said as Alex stepped back, more than just because we got a strike. I turned to face him and smiled. "Thanks."

He smiled and nodded. "You're welcome."

It was Alex's turn after me, so I walked back to the bench, grabbing Kara's arm and pulling her to the bathroom with me. As soon as I walked into the bathroom door, I dropped Kara's arm and checked to make sure no one else was in the bathroom. It was all clear, so I turned to her and she said, "What the fuck was that?"

Alex's POV

"Dude, you are so lucky Zack was in the bathroom," Jack said as I sat next to him.

"Why else do you think I did that?" I said.

Rian, who was sitting on the other side of Jack, looked over his shoulder and then back at us. "What do girls do in the bathroom that requires them to go together?"

Jack and I shrugged. "Knowing Autumn, she's probably talking to Kara about what you did," Jack said, seeming only half interested since he was wiping his eye.

"You guys know each other too well," Rian said.

"My bad. I'll try not to be friends with her," he said, sarcastically, as he got up. It's been his turn for about ten minutes.

"Hey," Zack came up and sat next to me. He looked around a second, but looked back at me and said, "Where's Autumn and Kara?"

"Bathroom," Rian answered. Zack gave Rian a weird look, but shook his head and we watched Jack make a fool of himself. He's not the best bowler.

Autumn's POV

"I don't know!" I threw my hands down at my sides, sighed, ran a hand threw my hair, and sat down on the sink that contained the counter. "Kara, I'm fucked."

"So you like Alex?" she asked, moving so she was standing next to me.

"Yes," I admitted.

"What about Zack?"

"I like him, too." I put my face in my hands. "What am I going to do?" I looked up as I finished.

"Go to the dance with Zack, have a great time, and not let Alex 'show you how to bowl' again." She put air quotes around, 'show you how to bowl'.

I waited a second before saying, "Kara, I wanted to kiss him so bad."

She shrugged. "I, honestly, don't know what to tell you." She hugged me.

I hugged her back. "I'm going with Zack," I decided. She nods, pulls back, and we both walk out of the bathroom.

Kara and I went to the concession stand because she was hungry and I wanted a Red Bull. I got mine drink and Kara got her food, so we walked back and it was Kara's turn. I sat next to Zack. "Hey." I smiled.

"Hey." He smiled, too. "Where'd you go?"

"Bathroom."

"Oh. Cool."

We kinda just got to know each other for a while and bowled when it was our turn. By then end of the night, Rian and Alex tied for first and Jack was last with me second to last.

"If it wasn't for Alex, I would've beat you," Jack said, pouting at me. He, Rian, and Alex were back at my house. Kara had to go home and so did Zack, but not before he kissed me first. Alex was currently in the bathroom.

"Hey, it's not like I asked him to help me," I said, collapsing between him and Rian on my couch, a bowl of popcorn in my hand that I handed to Rian.

"It's not like you didn't want him to help you, either," Rian said, tossing a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

"I didn't. He just kind of did," I said. Rian rolled his eyes. He saw right through me.

"Sure, Autumn. Sure."

The Next Day

So, Alex, Jack, and Rian dragged me to the mall. I dragged them to Hot Topic, where we ended up not buying anything, but then Jack was complaining about being hungry. This was when we decided to go to the food court.

"Rian, I'm gonna jump on your back," I said.

"Wh-" he started, but it was cut off because I jumped on his back and he caught my thighs so I wouldn't fall. "That's okay, I guess. But why me?"

"Because Jack's so lanky, I didn't think he could hold me up, and, nothing personal or anything, but I just don't trust you yet, Alex." That was a lie, though. I just didn't want people to think I like him. Shh...

"Not nice, Autumn," Jack said at the same time Alex said, "That's completely personal."

I half smiled at both of them since they were standing next to each other and shrugged. "Sorry."

"Autumn, you're slipping," Rian said.

"Fine." Rian dropped me to the ground, but I landed on my feet. I started walking in between him and Jack.

"Hey, Autumn..." I looked at Alex to see him grinning like he was up to something.

"I don't like where this is going," I said, shaking my head.

"Did you want to go to Victoria's Secret?"

I blinked at him a few times before saying, "Why? Wanna get some sexy underwear for yourself, Alex?" I smirked. Jack and Rian laughed, but Alex just shook his head.

"Didn't you buy a dress yesterday?" Rian asked.

I looked at him, kind of uneasy. "Maybe. Why?"

"We wanna see it!" Jack said. "So we should go to the store you went to and you should try it on again and then show us."

I shook my head. "You can wait."

"But we don't want to," Alex threw in.

"Kara took a picture. Bug her," I said, which wasn't a lie. She took a picture after we got back from the mall at my house.

"It's not the same, Autumn," Rian said.

I sighed. "Fine."

"Really?" Jack asked.

I nodded. "But I want food first. And you can't take pictures."

"Don't want us to show Zack?" Rian teases.

I slapped his arm lightly, but said, "Yes."

"We'll keep it a secret, Autumn," Jack said, placing an arm around my shoulders.

"You better," I mumbled.

About an hour later I was walking through the dress department in JC Penny's. Alex, Jack, and Rian, were following me and you could tell they felt awkward. Hell, I felt awkward myself. I'm not girlie. But they wanted to see it and, I'll be honest, I kinda wanted to show them.

I walked over to the right dress, pulled one off the rack that was my size and looked up at the guys. "Don't do anything stupid." With that, I turned around and walked into the dressing rooms.

Alex's POV

"What could we do that's stupid in a dress department at a JC Penny's?" I asked Jack and Rian as Autumn walked off.

"I kinda wanted to try one on..." Jack said, playing with a hanger. Rian and I both raised an eyebrow at him. "What? I'm curious. Leave me alone!"

"Hey, I mean, if you want to try one on, we won't stop you, but I'm not helping you," Rian said.

"Neither am I. Mainly because I know nothing about dresses," I said.

"Fine. I won't try one on," Jack said, defeated. I shook my head at him and this is when Autumn came back.

"Whoa," I said. I couldn't keep my eyes from widening.

"Damn, Autumn," Jack said.

"Jeez," Rian said.

"That's good, right?" she said, looking slightly worried. All three of us nodded.

"You have boobs!" Jack said.

"Hey, eyes up here, asshole," she said and moved his chin up with her hand.

"Sorry, but you always cover them with t-shirts!"

"Jack, stop!" she said, but blushed. "I'm a girl. I have boobs, okay?"

Rian was laughing. "Jack, you're such a creep."

But Jack was right.

"Hey, I'm a guy. It's part of my nature," Jack defended.

Autumn glanced at me and I looked down since I was still staring at her. I felt a slight blush creep on my face and I heard her giggle and I knew it was at me. I looked back up to her slowly walking backwards towards the dressing rooms again and I chuckled.

What is she doing to me?