Chapter 2

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"I'm really stupid," I mutter.
"No you're not. We all thought it would be better to tell him today," Mom says.
"I'm sorry if I made it worse. I thought it'd be easier than having to tell him dramatically," Maggie says.
I shake my head.
"You didn't. I've been dreading it so I prefer that you broke it to him easily," I say.
After a few more minutes of us sitting around discussing it, Jaiden returns to the table. I look at him.
"JJ, I'm so sorry that I waited until today to tell you," I say.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you had your reasons," he says dismissively.
"I'm actually the one who suggested it. If you want to get upset with someone, it should be with me," Mom says.
"I'm not upset anymore. I was only upset because I didn't know but I know now."
We stare at him, making it clear that we aren't fully convinced. He lifts his glass of strawberry lemonade.
"Really. Here's to the next six years of college," he says.
We go along with it and clink our glasses together.
"Thank you, JJ," I say.
"No problem."
We manage to enjoy our food and order a slice of cheesecake for each of us. We head straight home afterwards. Before bed, I knock on Jaiden's door to see if he's really okay.
"Come in," he calls.
I open the door and stand in the entryway hesitantly. He looks at me from his place on the bed.
"I said come in for a reason, Amy," he jokes.
I laugh nervously and approach him. I sit down near the edge of the bed.
"I just wanted to see if you're really okay with me going to college for six years instead of four," I say.
"I'm okay. I was pretty hurt that you didn't just tell me but I'm over it."
I sigh.
"I would've but Mom thought it would be better if I waited. I'm sorry, JJ."
"It's cool. I'm really going to miss you though."
"I'm going to miss you too."
We lean forward and wrap our arms around each other. I fight the urge to cry.
"I'm still going to visit, you know," I remind him.
"I know but even that gets me. You never had to visit because you were always there," he says sadly.
"I know. It's going to be weird for me too. I'll call all the time so you don't have to wait for me to visit."
"Every day."
"You got it," I say sincerely.
We pull away. I smooth out his hair gently.
"I love you, JJ."
"I love you too, Amy. That's part of the problem."
I smile in a bittersweet way. In some ways, this feels harder than having to be far away from Keri.
"It'll be okay," I try to assure him even though I barely believe it.
He smiles a little.
"Yeah."
I kiss his cheek and scoot off the bed.
"Can you stay?" He asks.
"I'm sorry. I'm still going to college."
"No, I meant here with me. I want to spend as much time with you as possible."
"Oh. Okay yeah. I'll stay a little longer."
He nods. I crawl over to the right side of the bed and get under the covers. We lie down close to each other. Even after he falls asleep, I don't have the heart to leave. I make myself comfortable and fall asleep. It's definitely the right choice; his smile when he sees that I stayed is priceless. I smile back at him.
"What do you want to do today?" I ask.
"I don't know. I just hope that ice cream is included in the general plan."
"We can ask."
"No offense to them but I want to just spend the day with you. You're the one that's leaving me."
"I'm not leaving you. And also, I don't have a car."
"Ask Mom if you can take the car then," he says nonchalantly.
"That car is her baby. There's no way that she'll let me drive it."
"That's because you haven't asked. I'm sure she'll let you if she knows that you're a good driver. Dad knows it."
"That's Dad."
"Come on. I'll back you up."
"Fine."
We get out of bed and leave the room. We find the moms drinking coffee at the dining table. They smile at us. We say good morning and I lean against an empty chair.
"I wanted to ask you something," I begin.
"Both of us or just me?" Mom asks.
"I guess both of you. I want to ask if I can take JJ out for the day."
Maggie shrugs and makes a face as if to say 'yeah why not'.
"It's okay with me," she says.
"And you're asking because you want to use the car," Mom says slowly.
I don't like her tone when she says it. It makes it sound like I'm planning to wreck it.
"Yes," I says.
She shakes her head.
"I don't know."
"Mom, Amy's a good driver. Dad lets her drive the truck sometimes for practice," Jaiden says.
"I didn't know that," she says.
"Babe, we can trust her. She's responsible and wouldn't do anything reckless," Maggie says.
"I swear that I won't," I add.
Mom shakes her head again.
"It's not that I don't trust you. I don't trust some of the other drivers. I don't want to lose you because someone else is being careless," she explains.
"You won't. I'll do what I can to prevent it," I assure her.
She takes a deep breath. Maggie takes her hand gently to encourage her.
"Okay. You can take the car and spend the day together. Just let us know where you are and everything like that," she says.
I grin.
"We will. Thank you."
"Yeah. Thanks, Mom," Jaiden says.
"You're welcome."
"Let's have some breakfast before you go. We're just drinking coffee because we wanted to wait for you," Maggie says.
"Sure," I say.
Mom makes an omelet for each of us. We get ready afterwards and come out to say goodbye. I grab the keys from the small box that's mounted on the wall in the living room and leave the house. Jaiden follows me out. I'm about to lock up but Maggie beats me to it. As soon as we're in the car, I adjust the seat and rear view mirror. I look at Jaiden.
"Are you ready?" I ask eagerly.
"Yeah," he says, matching my enthusiasm.
I turn the key in the ignition and carefully back out of the driveway. Although I've done it with Dad's truck, I still feel pressured to do it perfectly with Mom's car. We make it out of the neighborhood.
"Do you want to go see a movie or something?" I ask.
"Not really because we can't talk. What if we go to a trampoline park?"
"Yeah. We'll do that then get something to eat and stop for ice cream."
"Cool. There's our day," he says happily.
"Great."
I drive to the only trampoline park that I know of which is relatively far. I pay for the tickets. I claim that Jaiden is twelve since it's cheaper for kids that are twelve and under. He hides his smile as he goes along with it. We walk down the long path that leads to the trampolines.
"You stole that move from Mom, didn't you?" He asks with a grin.
"I didn't steal it from anybody. I just think that the regular price is insane."
"Fair enough."
We take off our shoes and leave them in a small cubby near the front. We practically run to the left side of the large room and start jumping on the trampolines. We each alternate between jumping normally and jumping across the row of trampolines. Afterwards, we jump into the large ball pit as we call it except it's filled with plastic balls. Instead, it's filled with soft foam pieces but we think ball pit sounds cooler.
After we get out, I send pictures to the moms and update them about our plan to get lunch. We put our shoes back on and leave. We stop at a small deli for lunch. I want something heavier but Jaiden really wants soup and a sandwich. That sounds good to me so I roll with it. I head to the salad bar and make a nice salad. We enjoy our lunch and go to Dairy Queen for ice cream a little later.
"I know this might sound weird but this is nicer than the dates that Jessica and I go on," he says.
"Is it?"
"Yeah. Like I said, we have to be careful around her parents. Even when we do go out, we never usually make a whole day out of it. We might do one of the things that you and I did."
"That doesn't seem fair."
"I don't think it is but we don't have any choice. Her parents would treat any guy like this which makes me feel a little better."
"I feel bad. You shouldn't have to put up with that."
"I know. At the same time, I don't want to break up with her. It sounds stupid to dump her because of her parents."
"Maybe," I simply say and lick my ice cream.
"But?"
"I still think that you deserve to go on dates like this without any problems."
"Thank you."
"Of course."
We finish our ice cream. Since we're right across from a park, we take a walk afterwards. He sighs.
"You're right," he says.
"About what?"
"I should rethink our relationship. If it's easier to go on a 'date' with you than my girlfriend, I think that says something," he says, using air quotes around the word date.
"Are you going to break up with her then?"
"I think I am. I just know that she's going to take it badly."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I should be with someone who makes it as easy as you do."
"That's not exactly what I said but sure."
"It sounds the same to me."
"Okay."
We come across an empty bench that's further down the path and sit down. We rest for a while until we decide to leave.
We stand up and walk towards the exit. He falls asleep during the car ride. I chuckle to myself. He wasn't kidding about wanting to lie down. I smile, happy that we had a good day together. It makes me really dread having to leave tomorrow.

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