The Bad Boy's Redemption

Chapter 3: When things changed

Jason’s POV

*Flashback to 6th grade* 

Zach, Justin, and I have been at Daisy’s party for about 10 minutes now and the two of them immediately went to play ping pong when we arrived. I scanned the basement looking to see if Alexis is here yet, but I didn’t see her. Hopefully, she is still coming. I asked her today during Gym class when we were playing blob tag. It is a version of tag where like 10 people are the starting taggers and there are a set number of blobs. Blobs are two people holding hands, to avoid getting tagged you want to join one of the blobs but then it forces the person you are not holding hands with to be kicked out of the blob. When the game started Alexis was a part of a blob with this guy named Evan. Once the game started I ran to her blob and grabbed her hand so Evan would have to leave and I could be the one holding her hand. 

She didn’t realize I was running towards her because she was too busy talking to Evan. But the moment she noticed me she smiled at me with her blue and purple colored braces. They are different colors now, she must have gone to the orthodontist recently. I return the smile and say, “Your braces are different colors now.” 

She laughed, “Yeah, I had an appointment after school yesterday.”

“I see they are your favorite colors.”

“Yeah, I had the option to do clear but if I am stuck wearing them I can at least make them fun colors.” 

“When do you get them off?”

“Sometime in 8th grade. So like 2 more years of being brace-face.” 

I laugh at her comment not to make fun of her in any way, “So not too much longer, one of my cousins had her braces for like 5 years.” 

Her eyes go wide, her pretty hazel eyes, “I know that would suck. So um are you going to Daisy’s party?”

Right as she was about to respond Sam grabbed my hand making Lexi detach from the blob. As she was running away from the tagger who was chasing Sam she yelled back, “Yeah, I will see you there!” 

I was a little disappointed that Sam grabbed my hand, I was enjoying holding Lexi’s hand. 

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear someone say my name. I look over and see Sam walking towards me in a short skirt and a shirt where the neckline is a little too low for a 6th grade. She bats her lashes at me, “Hi Jason!” 

“Hi Sam, how are you?” This is awkward, I know she likes me and is so obvious about it that it gets really annoying.” 

“I’m great, maybe we can hang out in a bit.” 

“Um, yeah maybe.” 

She smiles and tells me she is going to go back to friends. Thank God, she is doing that. I really do not want to hang out with her. 

I go back to watching my friends play ping pong. At some time Alexis arrived at the party. I didn’t see her come down the stairs but I saw her walking towards me. She looks really cute today. I like her t-shirt looking dress thing. I think it is very her, she isn’t too dressed up but still looks really cute. I am so glad Lexi is here. If I am being honest with myself I have a crush on Lexi, I have since I met her. 

I remember the day I met Lexi. My family just moved to Virginia the summer before 1st grade. We were invited to a 4th of July party by the Walkers since both of our dads served together a few years ago. I used to be super shy so going to a party with a bunch of people I didn’t know scared me. My mom told me there were going to be a lot of kids there around my age but when we arrived I was clutching my mom’s leg scared to leave her side. I noticed that there were a few girls playing with dolls in the grass and a bunch of boys and 2 girls playing soccer. 

One of the girls noticed me hiding behind my mom and ran in my direction. She was wearing a white t-shirt that has an American Flag in the middle of it, a red skort, and her hair is in pigtails with blue ribbons. She also isn’t wearing any shoes. She is really cute with her big hazel eyes and her black wayfarer framed glasses.

She smiled at me and said, “Hi, I am Alexis, what is your name.” 

Still hiding slightly behind my mom I mumbled, “Jason.” 

“So, Jason, do you want to come play soccer with us.” 

I look up at my mom and she nods. I move from hiding behind my mom and move towards Alexis. I give a small smile and say, “okay.” 

She grabs my hand, I blush slightly with her holding my hand. As we are walking towards the other kids I see a woman who looks a little like Alexis yell towards her, “Alexis Walker, where are your shoes?” 

She laughs, “I don’t know, mommy, somewhere not on my feet.” 

I watch the woman roll her eyes and return to her conversation with other adults. We make it over to the other kids and they all stop and look at us. 

Alexis smiles and says to them, “Guys, this is my new friend Jason. He is going to be on my team.” 

She then looks at me and starts pointing to people with the hand that I am not holding, “Jason that is my big brother Phil, then there is Justin, Zach, Connor, Tyler, Mitch, Peter, his parents aren't in the military but we invite him anyway and the other girl is Maddy.” 

I give a slight wave and walk with Alexis to join her team. She smiles at me and says, “Jacey, I mean Jason, you gotta let go of my hand so we can run around.” 

I smile at the nickname she gave me and drop her hand, “You can call me Jacey.” 

Ever since that day I have had a crush on her. She is funny, smart, super fun to be around, and really cute. 

The two of us begin our intense game of ping pong. I always find it funny playing a game against Lex because she is super competitive. When she gets really into a game she scrunches her eyebrows together and plays with her lips. Truth be told, I didn’t let her win, she beat me fair square but she doesn’t need to know that. 

****

After I finally beat Lex in ping pong we all went over to the couch to hang out. But then Caleb suggested we should play truth or dare. I was a little nervous to play, one I was really worried one of Sam’s friends was going to dare me to kiss Sam. I really don’t want my first kiss to happen because of a game like truth or dare in front of everyone. I mean everyone already thinks I had my first kiss but that is a lie. I don’t know why I made that lie, I just wanted to sound cool. 

I am also super thankful that Justin also spoke up about not being able to ask questions about the people we like. I know he was doing it to hide the fact he likes Maddy. But I really didn’t want to say anything about Lexi in front of everyone. One, I haven’t even told my friends I like her. They see Lexi as one of the guys since she doesn’t act like the other girls in our class. And two, I doubt Lexi would like me back. She and I have been friends for so long that I doubt she will ever see me as anything other than a friend. 

I look over to Alexis who is playing with her hair as the game goes on. Sam then says my name, well actually she calls me Jacey which annoyed me. I have told her before not to call me that but she still does. That nickname is reserved only for Lexi. I tell her dare after correcting her about my name and I notice her glare at Lexi. I don’t get why she hates Lexi so much. Lexi is one of the most caring and nicest people I have ever met so it isn’t fair for her to be treated like that. 

She then says for Lexi and me to play 7 Minutes in Heaven. My cousin told me about this game. You and a girl get locked in a closet for 7 minutes and usually, the two of you end up kissing. Is that going to happen with the two of us? I kinda hope so, since I would really like to kiss Lexi. I wonder if she has had her first kiss yet. If she has she hasn’t told me. 

The two of us enter the closet and it is a little awkward. I don’t really know what to do, I mean what if she wouldn’t want to kiss me. Luckily, Lexi started asking me about baseball to ease some of the tension. However, I started getting a little nervous because I still really wanted to kiss her. But she knows me so well and knew something was bothering me. So, I just told her. And when she said that she hasn’t had her first kiss yet I couldn’t hide my excitement. We can share this together. 

I was confused when she said that I didn’t have to tell anyone she was my first kiss. But I get her reasoning that she is looking out for me because it would be a little embarrassing if people found out that I lied. But I am not ashamed that she will be my first kiss. Frankly, I want to tell people she is my first girlfriend, but we have to get there first. 

We both stand up and I look down at her. Looking into her pretty eyes before looking at her lips. I wrap my arms around her and she wraps her arms around me, and I am super nervous. What if when I close my eyes and I miss her lips? Don’t we have to angle our heads to make sure we don’t pump noses? Will I cut my lip on her braces? Does my breath smell? What if I am bad at this? What actually qualifies as a good kisser? However, every single question I had completely vanished when I felt her lips against my own. Her lips were so soft. She pulled away first and smiled and I just had to kiss her again. I am so glad she was my first kiss instead of some random girl in Florida or you know Sam during truth or dare. I could keep kissing her so I did. My cousin told me about making out and how it is kissing someone and you use your tongue. I kind of freaked her out when I kissed her and she felt my tongue, but she was willing to try it. 

But then I had to get a boner. I just started getting them randomly a couple of months ago but I know this one was not random. Does she think I am some perv now? Did I just scare her away? What is she going to think about me now? 

I try to hide my embarrassment but Alexis comes over to me and tells me it is okay. How can she be this amazing? I wanted to kiss her again but Justin had to ruin that when he started knocking. Well, I guess it is time to leave heaven. 

The two of us walk out of the closet and everyone is staring at us like they are waiting to hear what we did in there. I am glad the door is really thick and there was music playing so no one could hear what was happening in there. 

We walked back to the couch and played a few more rounds of truth or dare, and Justin and Zach kept elbowing me to know what happened. I just ignore them and focus on the game. But after a few more rounds we all decide to stop playing. Some people decided to play dance dance revolution, ping pong, other games, or just sat and talked. 

I was with Zach, Justin, some other guys like Caleb, Zeke, and Connor. Alexis went upstairs to go to the bathroom while her friends were playing Dance Dance revolution. Sam, Sage, and Heather came over to see what us guys were doing. Well ever since Zach and Heather kissed, Heather has been constantly around him. Zeke looked over to me and asked, “So what happened between you and Lexi.” 

I shrugged, “We just talked.” 

Justin, “You sure that is all that happened.” 

I nodded and Zach looked at me and grinned, “You are lying.” 

I shake my head, “No, I am not.” 

Zach laughs, “Yes, you are. You blinked faster, that is your tell.” 

I roll my eyes, Zach dad always plays poker with his friends and Zach tries to be his dad. 

I groan, “Fine we kissed.” 

I watch them all go wide-eyed at my confession, while Sam just looks pissed. 

Justin asks confused, “You guys seriously kissed? Why?” The way he said that confused me like me kissing Lexi is a weird idea. I don’t know what to say to that, why would Lexi and I be weird.

I shrug, “I don’t know it just happened.” 

Zeke, “I get that. I heard it was normal to kiss someone when playing 7 minutes in heaven. But really you kissed Lexi?” 

“What does that mean.” 

Sage laughs, “It means she is ugly” 

Everyone in our circle laughs and nods their head and Sam smirks. I shake my head, “No, she isn’t.” 

Heather rolls her eyes, “Just because you are friends with her doesn’t mean you need to lie, Jace.” 

At that moment I should have defended Lexi but I didn’t. All of my friends were laughing and agreeing with the girls and I fell under peer pressure. I look around to make sure that Lexi wasn’t around and I say, “I mean she doesn’t look like other girls.” 

Sam smirks, “That’s just a nice way of saying you think she is ugly.” 

I shrug not denying what Sam is saying even though I don’t agree with her. But it is easier to be a follower and agree with my friends instead of being the only one defending her. “And she kissed me.” Which is a lie.

Connor laughs, “Oh that makes way more sense now.” 

I laugh and agree with him. Zeke asks, “So how was brace-face? Did it feel weird kissing metal mouth?” 

“Yeah, I was worried she was going to cut my lip the whole time.” Part of me feels really bad saying all of this behind her back because I don’t mean any of it. But I am still saying it to sound cool in front of my friends. 

Justin then asked, “So was she good? I bet she wasn't. I don’t know who wants to be kissing her.” 

Everyone laughs and I do it along with them. Slowly the forced laugh is becoming less forced as I am telling myself these lies to look cool in front of everyone. I shake my head no, “No, not at all…And her breath smelled.” At that point, everyone bursts out laughing a little too loud so it caught the attention of Lexi's friends. 

Zach, “Oh my God. That is hilarious, I feel bad that you had to kiss Lexi.” 

Peter walks over to us with Maddy behind him and he says to Zach and glares at me, “Don’t you dare say stuff like that about my best friend.” 

Zach laughs, “Shut up you queer.” 

I watch Peter’s face drop at that comment because Zach was saying it to offend Peter. I mean we don’t know if Peter is gay, but some of us suspect it because he only hangs out with girls and kind of acts like he is.

Alexis runs around the corner towards us and I see tears in her eyes and I realize she heard the whole thing. I avoid eye contact with her and I feel a pit in my stomach from how guilty I feel. 

Alexis refuses to look at me and walks up to Zach saying, “Zach, don’t be mean to him. Also, get over yourself it is the 21st century you can love whoever you want. What you can’t do is be a jerk.”

Zach laughs, “Whatever, at least I am a good kisser and my breath doesn’t smell.” All of the guys and Sam’s friends laugh at that comment. I see Alexis look at me and shake her head before grabbing Maddy and Peter’s hand and saying let’s go. They say goodbye to Daisy and leave. 

Sam laughs “It is about time that ugly beast left.” She laughs to herself as she thought of something, “Oh my gosh, I thought of the perfect name for her, Lex-Rex, you get it because she is ugly like a T-Rex.” Everyone laughs at the new nickname while I sadly look at the stairs where the girl I liked just left in tears because of me.