Peppermint

Chapter 4 - A Rush Of Blood To The Head

***ALEX***

In the morning, the sun doesn't wake me up. It's too busy hiding behind steely gray clouds from the storm that passed over us last night, leaving behind gurgling gutters echoing throughout my room. I sit up in bed, stretching, then my phone buzzes - I completely forgot to turn it off last night. Guess I had a little too much post-orgasmic brain fuzz going on. At least I kept it silent, though.

I check the message - it's Kelly giving me a kissyface emoji. Way to wake me up there, huh? I rub the corner of my mouth with my thumb as I respond with a green heart. Her favorite. Then I head to Instagram to send Gideon a private message or two or three: "Yo." "Guess what I just found out?" "Your pizza buddy is my cousin!"

And so I wait for him to come back to me. I'm not sure he will anytime soon. When does he wake up in the morning? I can't say for sure, and I think he was up late last night because of all the work he would've had to do with those double-XL Joey's pizzas. At least there's no way he didn't get a good workout.

Then I get a message back from Kelly. "Oh God I'm sorry!" she says.

Huh? "What for?"

"Ty took my phone and sent that kiss"

I stare at my phone, sticking my knuckles into my mouth to keep myself from waking Mom up from laughing.

"I ain't playin!" she adds. "He took my phone this morning"

"I believe you, Kel."

"Oh. Okay." She pauses a moment before adding, "Uh, just pretend I didn't send that kiss, and you didn't send that heart, huh? He thinks it's all for him."

"No, it's all for you, but you can share, right?" Add a wink emoji too.

"Aww, why are you so sweet to us?"

"It's just how I am." I blow a kiss, imagining that she's seeing it through the camera at the front of my phone. Or that Ty could've hacked it to get a glimpse of it too. As far as I know, neither Jackson sibling really has much in the way of hacking skills, but they could have some real surprises in store on that front someday.

But as I leave my messages and head back to Instagram (no reply from Gideon yet), I start to wonder about Ty. I haven't talked too much with him since September, with the whole Black Mirror thing. And him casually mentioning his crush on me. I think he's been working to get over it, but to be honest, I think it sucks that we've been on the outs with each other. And I think it's interfered a bit with my relationship with Kelly too. I've come to her place a few times since we started dating, but I feel like Ty and I are trying to avoid each other, and it's all kinds of awkward. If she feels it too, she hasn't said anything.

But hey, at least I can visit Ty's profile and give him a like on his latest pic - yesterday's hashtag #FlashbackFriday from when he was twelve and he wore his hair in cornrows, looking a hell of a lot like Jaden Smith.

We may not talk as much, but we can still be counted on to notice each other's posts. Like when I check my notifications and see that he liked the picture I took of the Double XL plate, and my caption: "Good luck eating just one slice of this monstrosity." At least we're not entirely avoiding each other, so I'm glad for that.

And speaking of entire avoidance, it looks like Juliet's decided it's time to ease out of that policy with me. She and I stopped following each other on social media after our breakup, but also in my notifications is a message that she's started following me again for the first time in three months. I hesitate for a moment before thumbing the screen, getting to her profile, and giving her a follow back. From the looks of the posts near the top of her profile, she, like me, has found someone else to love. Not her old girlfriend Mia McIver, to my surprise, but a guy named Jeremy Tan, whose grinning face, along with hers, is framed with hearts in the very first selfie on the list. Sweet, I think to myself as my thumb hovers over the like button - but I don't press it just yet. I'll let her start liking my pics again first, just like how she was the first to reach out to me.