Back downstairs I could hear Jay's shower running. I sat down on the couch and flipped through the television. I laughed as I flipped past a channel showing "The Breakfast Club" then quickly flipped back to it.
"Our movie's on," I said as Jay walked out of his room.
"Oh, yeah." He replied, drawing my attention away from the television.
He was cleaned up and fully dressed with tennis shoes and a hat. I looked at him in confusion, "Are you going out?"
"Yeah, don't wait up." He answered, ruffling my hair as he walked past me and out the door.
I was completely confused. Jay and I seemed to go from hot to cold in less than seconds. It was strange to want to kiss someone so badly one minute and the next to want to strangle them. Granted, Craig and I fought but this thing with Jay was different. I finally understood that old saying about there being a thin line between love and hate.
"Hey," Alex said when she came in about an hour later.
"Hey," I replied with a sigh as I turned the television off. I'd been aimlessly flipping through the channels since Jay had left.
She shot me a curious look before asking, "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," I replied, tossing the remote to the other end of the couch so I wouldn't be tempted to turn the television back on.
My cell phone began to ring beside me. I picked it up and read Craig's name on the caller ID. I really didn't feel like talking to him so I silenced it and sat it back down.
"Fighting with the rock star?" Alex asked, sitting down next to me on the couch and motioning towards the cell phone with the remote.
"No, it was the wrong number." I lied.
"Right," She mumbled before adding, "I'm going to bed and if you're still interested in going sailing Brie said she'd take us out. If you see Jay let him know."
"Okay, night." I replied, keeping my attention on the television so she wouldn't notice my cheeks turning pink.
"You know he could be out all night," Alex added, as if she were reading my thoughts. "I wouldn't bother waiting up for him if I were you."
I looked up at her in denial before replying, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Just be careful, El, I don't want to see you get hurt." She said before taking the stairs two at a time and disappearing.
I was a little surprised when Jay came in a little later. "You're home awful early," I said keeping my attention on the television instead of looking at him.
"Yeah," He replied as he walked right past me and disappeared into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
I felt the urge to scream, to throw something at the wooden door standing between us. He was beyond aggravating. I stood up and grabbed my cell phone before making my way out the back door. I sat down on the back porch with every intention on calling Craig back, but it wasn't Craig's voice that answered. It was Marco's.
"How's New York?" I asked in an unenthusiastic voice.
"El, what's wrong?" Marco replied, his voice dripping with concern.
I took a breath of the salty ocean air before speaking, "I don't know, nothing, everything. I'm just….Ugggh."
"Is it Craig?" Marco asked.
"No, it's Jay. He's driving me completely insane. One minute he's completely cool and the next he's the same old Jay, a complete jackass." I ranted into the phone only stopping long enough to breath. "It's infuriating."
"El, are you crushing on Jay?" Marco asked, a little edge in his voice.
I could picture the look of shock or confusion on Marco's face like I was looking right at him. He was my best friend and knew me better than I even knew myself. I couldn't lie to Marco even if I was trying to lie to myself.
"I don't know," I answered honestly, my voice sinking low in confusion.
The line was dead for a minute as Marco tried to find something encouraging to say, "Give it time. You never know. It could turn out to be something really great."
"Right, like Sean turned out to be?" I replied sarcastically.
"It's not Sean's fault Rick brought a gun to school. It's not Sean's fault that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just because things didn't work out with Sean doesn't mean they can't with Jay." Marco added.
"Why are you being so supportive?" I asked. "You don't even like Jay."
"I want to see you happy and I don't think pining after Craig is going to get you there. I don't exactly think Jay's the guy for you but if you're happy…." he said, trailing off.
"Thanks, Marco." I said, with a small smile on my face.
"What are friends for?" He replied. before we both said our goodbyes and hung up.
Saturday rolled around and Brie took us sailing. The day started out great despite Jay's bad attitude. He finally agreed to go after Alex and I had begged and pleaded. Okay, maybe I had been the one begging and pleading but it was another new experience and for some strange reason I just wanted him to be there.
"You owe me, Red." He grumbled for the fifth time that morning.
I planned on having a good time despite his attitude and I planned on doing my best to make sure he did too. The shore had completely disappeared when I realized that wasn't going to happen. The waves picked up, rocking the boat and causing my stomach to flip and churn. I suddenly tasted the pancakes I'd had for breakfast over three hours earlier.
"Are you okay, Red?" Jay asked, sitting down beside me. "You're looking a little green."
"I'm fine." I started, but before I could continue I felt the burn at the back of my throat telling me those pancakes were about to come back out. I lurched for the side of the boat and threw up in the ocean.
I felt Jay's hand on my lower back as he yelled to Brie, "Turn the boat back."
"She'll be fine." Alex shot back.
I felt bad that I was ruining her big adventure with a girl she was obviously into, but I wasn't doing it on purpose and at that moment all I wanted was dry land and a nice comfy bed. I took a deep breath of ocean air trying to fight the urge to throw up again.
"Are you kidding me?" Jay asked, his voice rising in anger. "She just launched her entire breakfast into the ocean! You either turn this boat around now or I'll do it my damn self!"
I felt the boat turn and tried to muster up enough energy to smile but I couldn't. Another round of nausea ripped through me. Jay pulled the loose strands of my hair back so they weren't in the line of fire.
I could tell Jay was irritated when Alex decided to stay behind. He mumbled curses all the way to the car. By the time we got back to the house he'd calmed down, giving his full attention to me. He helped me inside and upstairs and even tucked me into bed. It seemed very out of character for him but I appreciated the gesture.
"Sorry." I said barely above a whisper. "You don't have to baby-sit me."
"Don't worry about it." I heard him reply before I drifted off to sleep.
I woke up a couple of hours later to find Jay sitting on the floor beside the bed. His head was hanging down as he drifted in and out of sleep. It looked really uncomfortable and slightly comical.
"Jay," I said, reaching out and touching his shoulder slightly.
He looked over at me through half opened eyes and mumbled, "What?"
I scooted back and patted the empty bed beside me, "That can't be comfortable. If you insist on baby-sitting me why don't you lay down up here?"
He c0cked his eyebrow at me questioningly so I jokingly added, "If you can stand my puke breath."
He laughed as he climbed into bed beside me, "I take it you're feeling better?"
I scooted closer to him and laid my head on his chest, "I am now."
I felt him stiffen up slightly as he tried to figure out what was going on between us. After a few seconds his arm came down around me. I smiled into his tee shirt before adding, "Thank you."
"Just don't get use to it. This knight in shinning armor thing isn't my gig." He replied.
"That's too bad." I began, "Because you're getting pretty good at it."
I felt him place a small kiss on top of my head before he added, "Get some sleep, Red."
I drifted back to sleep feeling completely comfortable in Jay's arms. They felt warm and inviting and safe. There was absolutely no where else I wanted to be at that moment.
