Amanda Hocking: My Blood Approves

“Life is full of surprises.” I had eaten all my cereal, so I started drinking the rainbow colored milk from the bowl and hoped that Milo would let the subject drop. He kept looking at me, though, and I knew that he knew that I left something out. “What are you up to today?”

“This,” he shrugged. “You?”

“Same.” I set my bowl down on the coffee table and settled back on the couch. “There’s a movie about a sex addict on Lifetime. Care to watch?”

“Sure.” Milo got up from the kitchen chair that sat in front of the computer desk and planted himself at the end of the couch. I stretched out, resting my battered feet on his lap. He started to say something about the state of them, but then answered his own question by simply saying Jane. We both agreed that she was the source of all my life’s problems.

We spent the rest of the afternoon camped out on the couch watching a Lifetime movie marathon. Mom got up, showered, and made a few derogatory remarks about how we should be making ourselves useful. Admittedly, I did very little, but Milo kept the house clean, so she didn’t really have anything to complain about. She left for work early, citing overtime, but I was never sure if I believed that or not. Sometimes, I think she just didn’t like being in the apartment. At this point, it had become more like Milo and I lived on our own.

We even did all the grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. (Again, by

“we,” I mostly mean him. But I did help. Sometimes.)

Around nine, I finally decided that I ought to shower. My feet had recuperated enough where they could stand to be submerged in soap and water. When I went into my room to gather my clothes, I noticed my cell phone flashing on the table. I had ignored it all day because I had wanted to ignore Jane, but I knew that eventually I’d have to deal with her. Much to my surprise, buried underneath the mass of texts from her, I found a text message from Jack.

The Matches tomorrow. First Ave. Seven o’clock. I’m buying. You in?

He’d obviously been paying attention last night when I just casually mentioned liking the band The Matches, and he’d inexplicably invited me to a concert at First Ave, which was a rather historic little venue downtown, not that far off from where he found us actually. I couldn’t help but feel incredibly flattered. And I knew that if Milo heard about this, he’d be filled with nothing but an uneasy suspicion and do everything but forbid me from going. Despite all that, I couldn’t feel that way. Sure, he was too old for me, but we weren’t dating, and I didn’t really feel like that would become an issue.

I sighed, then quickly responded with, That’s too much $. I already owe you too much.

I expected a long wait for a response from him. Jack seemed way too fancy to be sitting with his phone doing nothing. He’d probably be busy doing…

I don’t know what. But something far more exciting than sitting on his bed, preparing to shower. Instead, I got a reply within seconds.

Oh be quiet. Money doesn’t matter. Are you in or not?

Of course I was in. It was one of my favorite bands and I had a sinking suspicion that Jack might become one of my favorite people. Why would I say no? Besides that, it was Spring Break, so I didn’t even have school to contend with. Not that that would’ve stopped me even if there was school, but it would’ve caused Milo to give me more than an eyebrow raise.

Yeah. But don’t get in the habit of buying me things. I messaged him back.

Don’t get in the habit of protesting when I buy you things.;) Funny. I replied, hoping it sounded as droll as I wanted it to.

I’ll pick you up at six-thirty. Sound good? That was cutting it awfully close to the time the show started. I knew we’d be able to get in, but I was rather short, and I hated ending up at the back of the crowd. But he was inviting me, so I’d play by his rules, even if that meant that I’d only see the shoulders of the person in front of me.

Yeah. See you then.:) I closed my phone, deciding instantly that I couldn’t tell Jane about this. If hanging out with Jack became a regular thing, I knew I’d have to tell her. And Milo. But for now, I thought it’d be best if I kept it to myself. It was weird because I’m not a secretive person at all. I can’t keep anyone’s secrets, not even my own, so I couldn’t really explain what compelled me to keep this to myself.

I spent the next twenty-four hours avoiding Jane and hedging Milo’s questions. He had a sixth sense when something was up with me, and it was nearly impossible to keep anything hidden from him. When I was getting ready to go out, he knew there was a guy involved. I don’t know how. All I had put on was a slim-fitting hoodie and a pair of jeans, so I don’t understand what that would give away.

Every time I left him home alone at night, I felt terrible. Sure, he was fourteen, and at this point, we’d spent most of our lives alone, but it still never felt right to me. I knew he didn’t really want me to go because he didn’t know what I was up to, but he assured me that he’d be fine playing World of Warcraft on the computer and he’d barely even notice I was gone. This was probably true, but I still felt guilty when I stepped outside to wait for Jack.

Jack arrived promptly at six-thirty, washing away any feelings of guilt or trepidation. Normally when I wait for someone to pick me up, I turn into a neurotic mess and I’m positive they’re going to stand me up. For some reason, I didn’t feel that way at all. As soon as I saw him, I just felt at ease and vaguely contented. There was definitely something drawing me towards him, something I couldn’t explain.

“Hey,” Jack smiled broadly at me when I hopped into his car.

“Thanks,” I replied. “For all this.”

“All what?” Jack looked confused as we pulled away from my house, speeding quickly down Washington towards the club that The Matches was playing at.

“The ride, the tickets, saving my life,” I elaborated, and he laughed his amazing laugh again.

“Oh, that,” he teased. “It’s really not a problem. Trust me.”

“Just because it wasn’t a problem for you doesn’t me that I’m not grateful,” I pointed out.

“Fair enough,” Jack allowed. “Well, you’re welcome then.”

Parking downtown should’ve been impossible, but he managed to find a spot half a block away. It was obvious that he could walk much faster than I could, but he kept his pace to match mine, making me feel guilty for holding him up. It was almost seven when we reached the door, and I knew part of the problem was because I was slowing us down. I started to apologize, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

By the time I saw the crowd of kids inside, I had already resigned myself to being unable to catch sight of the band onstage. Girls gaped at him, and the crowd almost seemed to part for Jack. He took my hand to weave us through the people that hadn’t really moved, and there was something very odd about his touch. His skin was neither hot nor cold. It just felt… temperature-less. Although his skin was tremendously soft, it reminded me of a lizard. The way they can’t regulate their temperature at all, so they’re always whatever temperature the room is or whatever’s touching them.

We made our way up pretty close to the stage, but thanks to my height, it did me little good. When the band came out and the crowd rushed forward, I ended up with my head smooshed into the yellow tee shirt of the guy in front of me. Somehow, Jack managed to stand his ground, creating a little pocket of unmashedness. He immediately noticed my predicament, and rather deftly, he scooped me up and put me on his shoulders, so my legs were straddling his neck. Suddenly, I became very conscious of the fact that I weighed something over a hundred pounds (the exact amount is irrelevant) and that had to be heavy. Hell, fifty pounds sounded heavy when its sitting on your shoulders, but Jack had lifted me like I was a small child and dropped me easily onto his shoulders.