Odd One Out | Jacob Black

6.

I ended up scrambling through my closet and finally settled on jeans and just a plain black v-neck long sleeve shirt. It was a little tight, but maybe that's what I was going for?

Because I still didn't know if this was a date or not.

I grabbed my purse and the little car and quietly as I could slid down the stairs. I could hear the tv on in the living room and the kitchen lights were off. Otherwise, everything was quiet. I crept towards the front door and opened and closed that as quietly as I could.

Is this what teenagers who sneak out a lot feel like? Because what a rush. No wonder Brady does it all the time. I ran down the driveway to the truck sitting idle behind my car. Jake was leaning against the drivers side waiting for me.

"Hey!" I whisper yelled.

"Hi. Why are we whispering?" He followed me to the passenger side and held the door open for me.

"Because I think I'm sneaking out. But I don't really know." I'm sure he was confused but it made sense to me.

He raised an eyebrow but closed my door maybe a little quieter than normal with I appreciated.

"So you're sneaking out to go to dinner?" He asked pulling a u-turn in the driveway before heading out through the dark trees.

"Well I don't really know if it counts as sneaking out. I just didn't tell anyone where I was going." I explained. "But I guess I don't have to anymore?"

"Why's that?"

"I'm 18 now."

"Since when?" He looked startled and took his eyes off the road to look at me.

"Since this morning." I said nonchalantly, regretting making a comment about it.

"It's your birthday today?" I couldn't read his emotion. He almost seemed mad.

"Yeah. It's not a big deal though." I hoped he actually listened to me.

"18 is a big birthday! It should be a big deal!" He said.

"It's okay. I told you I went to lunch with Jeremy and it was good."

His eyebrows stayed pinched together. "Didn't you also get pizza with him?"

"Do you think it's weird I want to go back? We can go somewhere else." I suggested. It was a silly idea.

"It's your birthday. If you want pizza twice in one day then no one is stopping you." He chuckled. 

Soon we were pulling up the the cute little pizza joint in town. He once again got the door for me and that feels a little dare like, right?

But if it was a date he would have said so right? And I don't think he'd ask me on a date on my birthday.

And then I remembered that this wasn't Jeremy who was willing to split things with me or give me one bite of whatever he was eating or eat my leftovers or knew just because I was eating slow doesn't mean I don't like it. And just like that the anxiety is back.

Jake and I sat at a table up against the wall. "What did you eat for lunch?"

I knew he was making small talk but I didn't like the question. "Uh, Jeremy and I split some things."

"Will you judge me if I eat a whole pizza by myself?" He asked with a laugh and I blinked.

"Will you judge me if I don't eat at all?" I tried to joke back but it's not very funny.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you not hungry? We could have done something else. Whatever the birthday girl wants."

"No, it was just a joke." I looked down at the car in my lap. "By the way, I made this for you." I set the little car in front of him. "It's what I was doing while we were on the phone before. I wanted to finish it."