Changes

19

When we get to the house, I go to look for Lio.

I find him in the sunroom, on the couch, pressed to DJ's side. He sits up as soon as he sees me, accidentally elbowing DJ in his side.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

DJ and I both say, "Yes," at the same time.

Lio waves a dismissive hand at DJ, who rolls his eyes, and stands and comes over to me. "What happened?"

I tell him what George and Fred told me, and about Aaron, but not about the kiss. He definitely looks worried, but he doesn't do anything, except ask, "Are you okay?"

I nod. "I'm fine. I'm gonna go check on Finn."

He nods, and settles back down beside DJ. I go into the living room, where I see Finn talking to Micah. I start to leave, but Finn holds up a finger.

He tells Micah something, then shoos him away, and waves me over.

"How's your leg?" I ask.

"It's fine," He says. "It's supposed to come off soon."

I frown. "Your leg?"

"No, the cast," He laughs. "Anyway, did Ryder really punch that guy?"

I smile, and nod. "Yeah. He was mad."

He sighs, leaning back into the pillows. "Micah says he wants us to talk to you later."

"What is it about?" I ask.

He bites his lip. "It's complicated."

"You guys keep saying that," I grumble as my phone buzzes. I pull it out.

?: It's Tim.

If you want to talk, I'm free right now.

I forgot I gave him my number. A lot has happened today.

"I'm going to go outside," I tell Finn.

"You're not mad at me, right?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Oh, okay."

I go to the back door, past where Lio and DJ are making out on the couch, and go to the swing in the garden.

I call Timothy, and he answers after a couple of seconds.

"Hello?" He says.

"Hi, it's Jake."

"Oh, good. What's up?"

"You texted me?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, I just wanted to talk to someone."

"Okay."

For the next hour, we just talk. He tells me about how him, Chad and Adam got together, and how much he hates his parents. I tell him about Carlos, Jackson, my siblings, and even about Micah, Zac, Finn, and Ryder, and how I feel.

For some reason, it's easy to talk to him. He's funny, and blunt, and speaks his mind.

"I've been wondering something," I tell him. "That one time at the Corner, when you guys started ripping up napkins, what was that about?"

He sighs. "So, I had just gone to see my parents, and it didn't go well. Chad's got serious anger issues, so we went to the coffee shop to get cookies, since it usually calms us all down. I was still freaking out, so Adam was helping me calm down."

"But why were you ripping napkins?"

"Snow calms me down, and ripped up napkins are close enough. We didn't mean to make a mess, but Chad was still mad, and Adam was focused on calming us both. So, sorry."

"It's fine, but you probably should've just cleaned it."

"Yeah, well."

The backdoor opens, and Zac looks out. "Jake? Dinner's ready."

"Oh, okay. I'll be there in a minute."

He nods, and closes the door.

"I've got to go," I tell Tim.

"Alright. If you want to call me again, I'm alway open to talk."

"Thanks," I say.

He hangs up, and I go inside. Ryder and Finn are on the couch in the living room, talking quietly. Finn's on a rolling chair, so he can get to the kitchen easier.

Micah is setting plates down on the table, and I raise an eyebrow. "You cooked?"

He huffs. "I can cook, you know."

"But you never cook."

"Well, yeah, because I'm not that good. But Zac helped me, so you guys will probably be fine."

"That's reassuring," Lio mutters as he comes in, with DJ behind him.

Dinner goes well, though something seems off with Micah, Finn, Zac and Ryder. I wonder if it has to do with whatever they're planning on telling me later. So it's mostly pretty quiet.

Lio and DJ see this, too, and excuse themselves as soon as they're done.

I pick at my food-it's not that good, but I don't want to tell Micah that. I can feel eyes on me, but I don't look up until Zac says something.

"So, um." He says. "We've been talking."

I bite my lip nervously. I don't know what to expect.

"So, first, I kind of, well...I had a crush on you. When you still went to school."

"You...what?"

He nods, and his fingers tap on the table. "Yeah. It wasn't a huge crush, or anything, but I did like you."

"Me? Why me?"

He shrugs. "You were always nice to everyone. You were quiet in class, but all the teachers liked you. I talked to you a couple times, but not often."

"...That's why you kissed me?"

"Well, not exactly. It was mostly because you were panicking. I told them," He gestures at the other three, "But we all agreed not to do anything, since you still have Jackson, and they didn't like you yet."

"Yet?"

Micah nods. "We all eventually ended up liking you, but we couldn't do anything, because..."

"Jackson." I say quietly. He nods.

I don't know what to do. I like them, too, I know that, but I'm not going to date them when Jackson's in the hospital.

"I don't..." I fidget nervously. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Ryder says gently. "It's alright if you don't like us, we just wanted to tell you."

I nod, looking down at the table. "Okay."

I don't want to tell them how I feel yet. Then I feel like I'll be tempted to be with them, and I don't want to lead them on.

This is going to be awkward later.