A Little bit of Shade

T W E N T Y - F I V E

The ride to the park was long, hot, and boring. We were all squished in a car. Sydney was driving, Ava in passenger, Jack, Isla and I were squeezed in the back seats. Kristen had a work thing come up and Jack's dad was always busy with work.

"Are we there yet?" Isla asks, for the hundredth time. "Almost, 10 more minuets" Sydney answers. I play on my phone while leaning my head on the window.

Dani:) : how's Jack's?

I open the message.

Me: on our way to an amusement park right now, so pretty good

Dani:) : I wish I was there. Right now I'm sitting with my grandparents as they knit and watch chess on the tv

Me: haha cute

Dani:) : I can't wait till we both get back home. I wanna lay in bed all day with you watching movies :)

Me: oooo! We need to watch to all the boys I've loved before. I read the book and now the movie came out!

"Ky, we're here" Jack says. I climb out the car and follow them all to the entrance.

Dani:) : teen romance?

Me: yesssss, it's the cutest! And Noah Centineo plays Peter

Dani:) : I don't know who that is but as long as I'm with you, I don't care what we watch

Me: aweeee, we just got to the park so I'll ttyl or tomorrow

Dani:) : ok, bye <3

Me: <3

I notice Jack beside me. "If I send him a heart, is that sending mixed signals?" I ask, handing him the phone. He reads the conversation and hands it back. "In this case no, but him being him, he could take it the wrong way" he explains.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I'm trying this go with the flow thing... I just-" "Kylie!" I hear someone yell. I turn and see Taylor, my childhood friend.

We grew up together, but once we were 8, she moved away. Since we were so young we couldn't keep in contact. "Taylor!" I yell back. She runs at me. We hug and laugh a little.

"Omg I missed you!" She squeals. "It's been too long" I agree. "You're so old!" She laughs, looking me up and down. "So are you!" I laugh.

"How have you been and what are you doing out here?" She asks. "I moved out to L.A last year and I'm here visiting my friends family with him" I explain. "Friend?" She raises her brows. I chuckle and nod. "Yes my friend"

I turn and wave Jack over. "Jack, this is my friend Taylor, Taylor this is my friend Jack" I say. They shake hands. "Nice to meet you" Jack smiles. "You look familiar" Taylor squints at him. He shrugs and chuckles. "Well, his sisters are waiting for us. Good to see you again Taylor" I smile. "Yeah, it was good seeing you Kyles" she smiles and walks away.

"Kyles?" Jack asks as we walk back to the girls. "That's what everyone called me when I was younger" I sigh. He laughs. "Kyles. I like it"

"Oooo! We're going on this!" Isla leads us to the closest ride. "Oh I don't do good with laying down rides" I say, looking up at the huge ride. "Since when?" Jack asks. "Since now" I glare at him.

"Fine, Kylie and I are going to walk around, text me if you need anything" Jack says, walking away. I rush to catch up to him. "Let's go on a sitting down ride" he smiles at me. "That's better" I smile back. We go onto one of the wooden roller coasters.

"These always hurt" I say, standing beside Jack in the line. "Then why do you want to go on it?" He asks. I shrug. "I don't know, I just do it every time then complain about the pain after" he laughs at me. "You're a little insane, you know that right?" He smirks. "Of course I do, I'm friends with you" I smirk back.

***

"That hurts so frickin bad" I squeeze my arms. Jack laughs. "What do you want to do next?" He asks. I look at my phone to check the time. "Eat" I turn and start walking. "You don't even know where you're going!" He says, running towards me. "I would have found something" I say, letting him lead me.

"Anyways, how much longer till you leave?" He asks. "1 month and 5 days" I pull out my phone. "It's coming so quickly" he whines. "I know" I groan. I start playing with Snapchat filters. "Take a picture of me" Jack says, striking a pose in the middle of the pathway. People stare, but I take it anyways. "That's going on my story" I laugh, showing him the picture. "Okay" he laughs.

"Why didn't you ask Gabbie to come visit you this week?" I ask. He shrugs. "I'd rather be with you" he smiles. "Really?" I ask, raising one eyebrow. "Well yeah, I'll have her for longer than I'll have you. You leave in a month and she's staying" he explains. "I guess that makes sense" I nod.

We get to a small restaurant and head inside, finding a table. "What are you having?" I ask. He looks at the menu. "Probably chicken fingers and fries" he sets the menu down and looks at me. "I think I'm going to have that too" I set my menu down too. He smiles.

"Have you though about Daniel yet?" He asks. "I think about Daniel all the time" I answer. "I mean your- um... situation" he looks confused. "Trust me, it's always on my mind. I still haven't figured out what I want to do. I do want to be with him, but I also don't because of the pain it will cause" I explain.

Everything is so complicated. I do think I love Daniel. I just can't deal with the pain that we will both feel when I leave and we slowly drift apart. I also want to be with him every second and just constantly be in his arms. I want to let him love me and allow myself to truly love him back. UGH!

"You love him don't you?" Jack smirks at me, almost as if he can read my mind. "Yeah-" I sigh. "I do love him" Jack jumps up and starts dancing around. "Jack!" I laugh, feeling my face heat up. "Everyone's looking!" I whine. He sits back down and let's out a deep breath. "Finally" he smirks.

"You're so embarrassing" I groan. He chuckles. "Yeah but you're in love so I don't care" he says. "So now what?" I ask. "You tell him" he leans back in his seat. "Oh god, how do I even do that?" I ask. "Well first you tell him in person, no text or phone, not even FaceTime" he starts. "You don't have to make it too special, you just tell him when the time is right" he explains. "Why is this so complicated?" I ask. "Relationships always are" he groans.

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Sis I don't know where I'm going with this story anymore, she'll be ending soon :|

-Kenzie :)