π°πππ·πΎπ'π π½πΎππ΄
Hii, enjoy
π²ππππππ πΏ
Jake woke up out of his sleep Sunday morning. Light from his window blinded him. He tried to keep his eyes closed but the sunshine dove its way through. He sat up in defeat, slouching while squinting open his eyes.
He didn't remember much last night except going to bed. He looked at the time. It was 7:21, which sucked for him since Jake loves sleeping in on a weekend. He shuffled his feet to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His eyes were slightly puffy and his face was still flushed. Jake couldn't remember the last time he cried since last night.
He desperately wanted to sleep in but he knew he couldn't fall back asleep that easily. What was there to do to get his mind off things? Everyone was definitely sleeping. Still, he left the house and skateboarded around. He decided to go through Alicia's neighborhood since it was the quietest.
He sat on the sidewalk, surrounded by silence. Birds chirping was the only thing he heard. The cold, fresh air entered his lungs. Across from him was Alicia's house. He felt a bit weird just sitting there, staring at the modern home. But it got him thinking. Maybe there's a love potion to get Rose to like him again? Maybe there was a potion to make him happy at least.
Everything felt like it wasn't real. Almost like a dream. He figured it was his mind adjusting to this shift. Jake sighed, standing up without thinking and walking to Alicia's doorstep. He could hear laughter from the other side. That got him smiling. That meant someone was awake.
Before he could knock the door swung open. It was Trixie. "What're you doing here?" Jake asked.
She told him, "I should be asking you that. I slept over."
Alicia peeked from behind Trixie. "Oh, Jake! Wasn't expecting you."
"Yeah, it's pretty early," Jake admitted, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Exactly," Trixie agreed, "I don't know why you can't wake up early for school, though."
Jake rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised you two are awake. I thought girls don't wake up early on sleepovers since you usually stay up all night."
"Oh no, we do," Alicia corrected. "We just haven't went to bed yet."
"You didn't sleep?!"
Alicia and Trixie laughed. Jake didn't see what was so funny but he shrugged it off. When they finished laughing Trixie asked, "Aren't you supposed to be with Rose? Or are you here for another potion?"
When she said her name he felt like he had a tight knot in replacement for a heart. He couldn't help but fail to hide his sad expression. "She left early last night. Family issues," was all he said.
Trixie's expression soften. "Jakey, I'm sorry to hear that."
Alicia felt bad, too. Still, she sensed that wasn't all that happened. "You can hang out with us!"
Jake plastered a fake smile. "No, I don't wanna interrupt your girl time-"
Trixie grabbed his wrist. "We've had a whole night and morning of that." She pulled him in the house and shut the door.
Alicia beamed, "Let's give him a makeover!" She zoomed up the stairs and shortly returned with many floating objects surrounding her. Makeup brushes, blush, highlight, eyeliner, and more. Trixie and Jake stood in astonishment, staring at the items flying in the air from their friend's magic.
"You have it so easy," Trixie grinned, "your magic is something else."
"Please, I wish I was normal." A brush dipped into some blush then darted for Jake's face.
He backed up against a wall. "Wait, you're serious about this makeup thing?"
"Of course, why else would I bring all this down?"
Jake ducked under the brushes and ran around the kitchen. "I'm a guy!" He hid behind the counter. "Tell these things to stop chasing me!" He hopped over the table but the brush and blush palette were too quick.
Powder covered his face, causing him to fall. The girls walked up to him menacingly. "This won't take long at all," Alicia told him.
Soon after, the girls put a mirror in front of Jake. He looked at his reflection, not recognizing himself. He looked like those gamer girls on tiktok.
"So dod we do good or what?" Trixie gloated. "I think we could be makeup artists."
He looked away, annoyed. Thankful that his fake blush was covering his actual blushing. "It's okay," he muttered.
Carol came strolling down the stairs. "What's all this noise?" she yawned, shortly pausing after, squinting at Jake. "Is that . . . the American Dragon?" She tried to hold in her laugh.
He groaned, "It's Jake."
"You're not Jakie anymore," Trixie began, "you're Jackie!"
All three women found it hilarious. Jake stood up. "Whatever. Can you wash this off my face now?"
"Not wash, it's a wipe," Trixie corrected.
Alicia suggested, "We should paint his nails!"
Carol walked up to the three. "Okay, okay, leave the poor boy alone." She took his face in her hands, examining him. "You'd make a pretty girl," she said in a voice that Jake wasn't so sure about. "Did you three eat, yet?"
They all shook their heads no.
"Great, I'll make pancakes." Carol raised her hands, making the ingredients and utensils fly her way, doing the work for her.
"Technically, that's not making the pancakes yourself," Alicia huffed.
"Yes it is. It's my magic, isn't it?"
Trixie put an arm on Alicia's shoulder. "Calm down, she was nice enough to make us food. Why you gotta give her a hard time for?"
"Thank you,Trixie-baby." Carol set down three plates. "Done."
"Already?" Jake asked.
"That's magic for you," Alicia said.
"Dig in," she told them. Trixie took the middle plate. Carol slowly pulled it away from her. "That one's made especially for the American Dragon." The teens looked at each other then looked back at the witch suspiciously. She smiled sweetly. "It's for all his hospitality, of course."
Nine o'clock rolled around pretty quickly. Jake was full of pancakes and laughter. Rose still lingered in his mind but he shoved it down, forcing the sad thoughts beneath him.
All of them were watching an early 2000s cartoon on Disney in the living room, eating chips as if they didn't just eat pancakes.
"I use to love this show," Alicia said with a mouthful of Takis.
"Same. But it kind of fucked with me when they changed the art style-" Trixie covered her mouth and looked at Carol, who was in the kitchen. Carol looked back at her. "Sorry for cursing!" she apologized.
Carol surprisingly laughed. "Please, I don't mind."
Trixie lit up like the Fourth of July. "You have the best mom," she told Alicia. She didn't reply.
Jake's phone rang. He smiled, hoping it was Rose. Hoping she would call and tell him how stupid the argument was and they should get back together. To his disappointment, it was Spud trying to FaceTime. He almost didn't answer. Not that he didn't love his friend, he just wished it was someone else.
"Who's that?" Trixie snatched the phone and read the name. "Spudinski?"
Alicia's face flushed from hearing his name. Trixie picked up. It showed Spud with his camera facing him. He was outside. "Hey, man. I know you're with Rose, but- Trixie?"
His screen showed Trixie laughing loudly, Taki dust on her cheek. She mocked, "hEy, mAn."
"Ha ha. Hilarious. What'd you do with Jake?"
"He's in my basement," Trixie joked.
"Yeah, right. That's not even your house."
"Duh, it's sarcasm," Trixie took another chip, "we're at your favorite place in the world: Alicia's house." Spud rolled his eyes. Alicia shushed her since her mom was in the other room. She continued, "You should come over. I know you want to, anyway."
"Well, yeah. You're all together without me, the glue in this group."
"You're the glue?" she laughed even louder. "Okay, Spudinski. See you soon." She hung up.
Jake snatched his phone back. "You can't be stealing my stuff, Trix!" he scowled.
"Chill out, Jackie. I'm just playin'."
"It's Jakey- I mean Jake!"
The two girls laughed. Even Carol laughed in the background, coming in with a drink. "Who's that you were calling?"
"Spud. Can he come over?" Alicia asked without looking at her mother.
"Ohh, Alicia!" Her mom bent over and pinched her cheeks. "You have a boyfriend, don't you?" Trixie and Jake found it hilarious.
"He's not my boyfriend!" she objected.
Jake teased, "Yeah, only something like that." Trixie shushed him but still laughed.
"I can't wait to meet him," Carol gushed.
Her daughter rubbed the spots her mom pinched. "Seriously, we're not dating. It's nothing like that."
"Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you say." She sat on the couch.
Ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Jake and Trixie opened it, Alicia stayed in the living room. As expected, it was Spud still in his pajama pants and a red hoodie twice his size. He walked in with a smile. "Where's the bathroom?" he asked.
"Well, hello to you, too," Trixie sassed.
Jake cackled, "You shouldn't need help finding the bathroom. You've been in here before- Ow!" Trixie elbowed him, gesturing to Alicia's mom walking in the room.
"So you're Spud!" She hugged him cheerfully.
Spud was confused. "Who are you?"
"Alicia didn't tell you about me?"
"She mentioned she had a mom, not a sister."
Carol gasped in delight. "You're a charmer! Definitely a keeper."
He wasn't trying to be charming. He was genuinely confused. "So you're not her sister?"
"That's my mom," Alicia said, standing between the boarder of the living room and kitchen.
Spud looked at her the second he spoke. Her pajamas looked so cute to him and he noticed she wasn't wearing a bra. He shook his thoughts out of his head. "Hey, Cia. Long time no see."
"It's only been two days."
Spud wondered why she was being so blunt. "Um, yeah. It has been."
Truth is, the girl didn't know how to be "normal" with Spud. How was she supposed to treat him now that she's established she just wants to be friends for now? "So . . . What do you guys wanna do?"
"Let's teach Ci Ci how to skate," Trixie suggested.
Spud agreed, "Yeah, we can take Rose, too."
Everyone was silent. Carol didn't know why, but she backed away back into the living room just in case.
Spud looked at his friends. "Did I miss something?"
"Rose had to leave early," Jake said, looking away.
"Sorry to hear that," Spud put an arm on his friend's shoulder comfortingly. "She'll be back another time."
"Maybe we can save money to get her another ticket," Alicia mentioned.
"Sounds good," Trixie replied with a smile.
Jake shook his head no.
"Why?" Alicia asked him. "I thought you'd be happy."
"It's nothing," Jake told her while still looking away.
Alicia walked closer to him, reaching out her hand. "We can try something else if you want-"
Jake slapped her hand away. "Drop it, okay?"
Alicia stepped back in shock and held her hand. It stung, turning a bit red. No normal human could slap so hard. "I'm sorry, Jake . . ." Alicia trailed off.
Spud ran up to her and held her stinging hand gently. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled.
Trixie put her hands on her hips. "Seriously, Jake? I know you would never put your hands on a girl!"
He didn't answer. He didn't know what to do, actually. He just stood there in shock, staring at his hands in disbelief. He finally looked up at his three good friends. Spud and Trixie scowled at him. Alicia still looked at him in genuine worry, despite him hitting her hard.
All I do is think about myself. That thought continued to swarm his head, not leaving him alone. First he hurt Rose, now Alicia? What was with him? Jake tried to speak but nothing came out. All he could do was run.
Jake ran out the door as fast as he could, not looking wear he was going; only staring at the hand that hit Alicia. Running into the main rode, cars swerved, avoiding hitting the kid. He still ran, ignoring the beeps and the people yelling from their cars.
Trixie ran after him, taking Spud's skateboard he left outside. Spud was too upset to chase him and Alicia was still overall confused, thinking she did or said something wrong. Trixie didn't care. She knew something was up. This wasn't her friend. This definitely was not who Jake was as a person.
She saw the reckless boy run through the streets, almost causing multiple accidents. She went around the cars on a crosswalk, gaining speed, closing the gap between them.
"Jake!" she called out. "Jake, stop!"
Jake didn't even look back. He ran all the way to the skatepark. Out of breath, he finally sat down against a big rock, leaning back.
When Trixie made it to the park, she got off the board and walked over to him. "Jake, what is with you?"
He still wouldn't answer. This whole silence thing agitated Trixie.
She crouched in front of him, in his view. "Boy, I don't know what ya problem is, but you do not ignore me. I'm tryna help."
Jake sighed and looked at her.
Trixie calmed down. "You look like a sad puppy in the rain." That made Jake smile a bit. Trixie smiled, too. "You're finally respondin'. Can you tell me what's going on now?"
Jake's smile faded. "I don't feel like talking about it."
She sat in front of him and groaned. "Ugh, boys. Never talk about your feelings so you turn it into aggression." He gave her a weird look. "What? I'm taking AP Psychology this year."
Jake nodded. "I guess you're right. I didn't mean to hit Cia, honest! I don't know what came over me."
"I know you didn't, Jakey. You're not some woman beater."
He shook his head. "God, no . . . Unless they're villains."
"So what's wrong? Can you tell me?"
Jake stayed silent.
Trixie stood up. "I can't help you 'til you tell me, Jake."
He blurted his words, like ripping off a bandaid, "Rose broke up with me."
"What?"
He began to explain really quickly, "When I was getting medicine for my sister I saw the oracle twins and one told me Rose was gonna break up with me then when Rose was leaving I thought she was lying about her dad so she actually broke up with me-"
"Jake! Slow down."
"Sorry," he buried his face in his hands, "it's all my fault. I was being selfish and made everything about me."
Trixie didn't exactly know what to say. Partly because she didn't understand anything he just said. She figured he'd tell her at a better time but right now his mental state wasn't the best. She crouched down again. "It's gonna be okay. I mean it. Maybe it wasn't meant to be."
He looked up at her. "But what if it was?"
"Like you always tell me whenever an asshole breaks my heart: if it was meant to be, they would've tried harder."
Jake sighed, "That is what I say, isn't it?"
"Yeah, and you're right!" She shook him by the shoulders a bit. That made him laugh. "Also, Jake."
"Hm?"
"You don't have to act like everything's okay around us. We're here. Your friends. You can be sad, y'know that?"
He nodded. Trixie flicked the center of his forehead. He held the spot. "What was that for?"
"For bein' an idiot and not telling me sooner."
"Okay, I deserved that."
"We found you, finally!" Alicia said. Jake and Trixie looked to their left. It was Spud and Alicia. "Took us forever to find you."
Jake stood in front of her. "Cia, I'm so sorry I hit you."
"You just slapped my hand away, everyone's acting like you punched me." She simpered. "I'm just glad you're okay. And I should be apologizing for overstepping boundaries. You clearly didn't want to talk about it."
"He didn't want to," Trixie replied, "but he needed to. It's hard to get this dumbass to talk about his feelings."
"I'll admit, I can be a dumbass sometimes."
Trixie sassed, "Hm. 'Sometimes'."
Spud stood by Alicia closely, not saying a word. It was unlike Spud to be so quiet and serious.
"Rose and I broke up," Jake explained. "I was upset and took it out on all of you. I'm sorry. I should've said something."
Spud finally spoke, "You tell me everything, Jake. That hurt." He crossed his arms.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I would never actually meant to hurt you, Spud. You're my best friend."
The thing about Spud is, he could never stay mad for long. A smile stretched across his face and embraced Jake. Due to Spud always being significantly taller than him, Jake was swallowed into this hug, face smooshed against Spud's chest. "You're my best friend, too," he exclaimed, ruffling up Jake's hair.
"What about us?" Trixie asked, jokingly. "We're your besties, too." She joined the hug. Alicia stood in the background, not knowing if she could join the hug or not. Trixie gestured for her to join. Alicia smiled and hugged them, really feeling a part of the group.
"Can't . . . breathe . . ." Jake muffled in the middle of his friends.
The rest of the day consisted of teaching Alicia how to skate, bringing Alicia to Jake's because she scraped her leg, eating at Jake's with his family for dinner, embarrassing Jake by looking at his naked baby pictures with his parents and friends, playing old board games from Jake's basement, then leaving at 9PM because it was a school night.
Jake laid in his bed that night, not falling asleep just yet. He did think about Rose for a bit and her hurt expression before she left his house. It did bother him. The pit in his stomach was not filled. But his friends and family entered his mind. His family knew about the break up, Rose told Jake's dad in the car. His friends now knew, too. Everyone he cared about knew yet all they did was make him feel better. Not even Haley made fun of him. They cared.
After receiving so much love and acceptance, he couldn't think of why he was afraid to talk about it in the first place. Jake figured he was afraid of rejection. Afraid of his feelings being invalidated or being vulnerable. Most boys his age feared this.
Jake realized he's lucky. Many people would kill for the relationships he had in his life, even though he wasn't in a relationship anymore. Sure, life wasn't easy. No one's is. Nevertheless, he was grateful.
Alicia texted the group chat. Had fun today! she sent with a smiley face.
Same and I totally beat all of you in Uno Spud sent.
LMAO you won once Trixie replied with the skull emoji.
Jake was in the middle of typing when his stomach turned. It's been bothering him all day in a weird way. Cia I think your moms pancakes are bugging me
You betta not be sick. Ion wanna be alone tomorrow for gym class Trixie typed.
I'm in your gym class Spud reminded
Like I said ion wanna be alone Trixie said. That made Jake laugh out loud.
Alicia sent I told her not to use her magic. I think youll be fine tho jake
Maybe she cursed you Trixie joked She did say that pancake was specifically made for you
Shut up he typed im gonna gts gn
But there's a 2 hr delay Spud mentioned.
True but today's been a long day
Everyone else typed their goodnights and Jake went to bed still feeling a bit wonky.
What do you think Carol put in Jake's pancakes? :)