My Best Friend, Jack ✓

14. Olivia, who?

I spent the rest of the weekend holed up in my room watching re-runs of Friends. There was something comforting about the the familiar jokes and sense of camaraderie between the six of them on screen. As I watched an episode I had probably seen about a hundred thousand times, I couldn't help but think about Jack. We always used to watch Friends together and it just reminded me of him. 

We hadn't spoken for the rest of the weekend. It was now Sunday night and I wandered down in to the kitchen to search for the last tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Caleb hadn't texted me since our date and Jack hadn't texted me back to the one text I had sent him. He was probably too busy with Olivia to care. Olivia. I kept thinking about Saturday night when I saw her with Jack. I didn't know why she was there. Jack had always said it was just a fling and that he didn't really have any proper feelings for her. But if that was true, why was she with him last night?

"Ugh, forget about it," I muttered to myself, yanking open the drawer and pulling out a spoon. 

I was just about to walk out of the kitchen when my dad wandered in from the garden, a beer in his hand. I heard him and mum laughing from my bedroom window, they had been out there most of the evening. I didn't know where Ethan was, probably on his Playstation. 

"You okay, honey?" He asked, looking at the tub of ice-cream in my hand. 

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well what's up?"

"Caleb hasn't texted me after our date," I mumbled, digging in the spoon and taking a big bite as I leant against the door frame. "And when I did get home from our date, Jack was outside with Olivia."

"Hmm," he nodded thoughtfully, walking over to me. "And which one is bothering you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, both."

"It's only been one day, honey. I'm sure Caleb will call you or approach you at school," he smiled gently. "And as for Jack, doesn't he deserve to be happy too?"

I sighed loudly and marched forward, waving my spoon around. "But does he have to be happy with her, dad? I mean, she is so not right for him. She doesn't even like popcorn!"

"I don't think that's really your call, do you?"

I blew my cheeks out and stared at my dad. "I suppose not."

"I mean, you've met this great new guy so just focus on that. He better be a nice guy though, or I'll have to have a word with him. I've got my shotgun ready out the back."

I rolled my eyes and took a step forward, wrapping my arms around him and giving him a quick hug. He squeezed me hard and kissed the top of my head. "I'm going upstairs to finish the ice-cream now."

"Okay," he mumbled in to my hair. "But you have to buy the next tub."

"Fine," I mumbled in to his shirt, before wandering back upstairs. 

I climbed in bed and flicked the TV on again, settling on the next episode of Friends. I settled down and began eating the ice-cream. I finished the whole tub and felt not the least bit satisfied. It was unusual, food was usually the answer to everything, but in this case it didn't stop me from feeling out of sorts. I thought about Caleb, then Jack, then Caleb, then Jack again as I drifted off in to a deep sleep. 

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The next morning at school felt like any other day. I went in for registration then met Nick outside of Math class. He told me he'd played basketball with Jack on Sunday afternoon but he seemed really distracted.