My Best Friend, Jack ✓

5. Halloween

I wandered through the front door without knocking, just as Jack did when he came over to my house. My parents saw Jack almost as much as they saw me and vice versa. I wandered in to the living room to see his mother curled up on the couch with a book, a blanket over her legs. She was always cold, even in Summer. Crazy. 

"Hey Eleanor," I smiled. "How's it going?"

"Hi Ava, good to see you. And for the last time, please just call me Ellie."

"I'm sorry, force of habit."

Even after all these years, I still felt slightly awkward calling Jack's mum, Ellie. I felt like it was reserved for family and her friends, so I felt like a bit of a fraud whenever I said it. Probably stupid, but it was a hard habit to break. 

Eleanor was a tall woman, five foot ten with a killer hourglass figure. She had sandy brown hair, the exact same shade as Jack's, but hers fell right down to the bottom of her back. She was a complete knock out and most of the single bachelor's in town would saw off their left arm to date her.  Jack had only been five when his dad died in a car crash and ever since she had never really dated anybody else. Jack said they were high school sweethearts so she found it very hard to get over him. I think she would rather curl up with a good book than go out on any dates. I definitely understood the feeling most days. 

"Let me guess, movie night?"

"What gave it away?" I smiled, gesturing to the massive bag of popcorn I was holding. 

"You two remind me of Mark and I when we were young. So inseparable, couldn't bare to be apart for more than a few hours."

I laughed awkwardly. She barely mentioned Jack's dad but when she did, it was always comparing them to Jack and I. I mean, they were soulmates, destined to be together. Jack and me were just, well, Jack and me. Best friends. But not soulmates. I scoffed at the very idea. 

"Anyway, I better head upstairs if that's alright?"

"Of course," she said absent-mindedly, her head already buried in her book once more. 

I ran up the stairs and towards the door at the far end of the hall. Luckily, his mum's bedroom was at the other end so we could make some noise and still not wake her up. I swung the door open with one hand and launched the bag of popcorn at Jack's bed. A startled cry filled the room and I laughed as he dive-bombed off the bed to catch it. He landed on the wooden floor with a dull thud and stayed down momentarily, holding the bag in the air like a trophy. 

"Did you see those reflexes?" He exclaimed proudly. 

"Not bad," I nodded appreciatively, shrugging my bag to the floor and shutting the door behind me. 

I bounded over to the bed in the far corner and bounced on to it, the springs squeaking under my weight. Any other bed, I would've been a bit worried but Jack had had this bed since he was ten years old. It was a bit old but very reliable. I glanced around the all familiar room where I spent almost half of my time. There were action movie posters littering his dark grey walls. There was a gaming console and a TV in the corner of the room and clothes strewn haphazardly on a chair at the opposite side. A typical guy's room, of course. 

"So what movie do you want to watch?" I asked, reaching down for the bag of popcorn. 

Jack stood up and wandered over to his chest of drawers in the corner of the room. He pulled out a pizza menu and launched it at me. I caught it and began to peruse as he came and sat next to me, his knee touching mine. 

"Let me guess, you want a meat feast pizza with extra peppers?"

"How did you know?" I asked suspiciously. "Have you been stalking me?"