Catching Up

Jackson stepped out of the classroom and into the hallway, the lunch bell still ringing in his ears. Students streamed through the wide corridors on their way to the cafeteria.

Side by side with Sachin, Marcus, and Eddie, Jackson followed the crowd. But even amongst that sea of people, one person stood out clearly: Jasmine.

It was like she had a spotlight following her. It'd been too long since they'd last talked, so Jackson turned to his friends and said: 'I'll catch up with you guys.'

The three watched him cut across the hall and dart through the crowds towards Jasmine. Sachin scoffed. 'Bruh. What happened to bros before hoes?' Both Marcus and Eddie punched his shoulder.

Jackson popped up by Jasmine's side. She turned to him, her surprise morphing into a grin. 'Hey,' she said.

He was lost in her eyes for a moment. '… Hey.' He cleared his throat. 'I've, uh, I've been meaning to catch up with you.'

'It's been a minute, huh? I mean … you could've texted me or something.'

Jackson looked away, rubbing his head. 'Yeah, yeah I should've … but you could've too.'

Suddenly, Jasmine's shoes interested her greatly. 'I guess you're right.' They walked on slowly and silently. Jackson panicked internally, but before he could find the right words, Jasmine spoke again. 'Anyway, we're talking now. How's football been going? You know, I've heard some good stuff—you guys won a championship or something?—but, I'm a little upset you haven't invited me to watch any of your games…'

'Uh, well, yeah, but that's the varsity team. I'm not really a part of it. Kenny and I—and all the others—we're trying to earn our way onto the team, but,' he sighed, 'it's a long story.'

She looked around. 'We've got an hour. Why don't you sit with me and tell me about it?'

Blood rushed to his cheeks, but he nodded quickly. She grinned again, leading the way. Once they had their food, they found an empty table. The two of them sitting together didn't go unnoticed by Sachin, Marcus, and Eddie, the former pair fist-bumping. Unfortunately, they weren't close enough to listen.

Jasmine sat sideways in her seat, looking at Jackson. 'So … now I remember you telling me that your JV team was eliminated right? What's happened since then?'

Jackson took a deep breath before explaining what he and the team had been up to. All the exhilarating games, the incredible championship victory, and his and Kenny's plan of making their way onto the varsity team. She listened to him with a smile, her chin resting on one hand, the connected elbow resting on the table.

'Now they've won Regionals, they're onto the State championship,' Jackson said. 'They've got a game this weekend, so we're going to that too. Uh, my brother takes Kenny and I.'

'I met him, didn't I?' Jasmine said. 'That Tommy dude who likes metal?'

Jackson chuckled. 'That's the one.'

She nodded. A bit of silence lingered. 'You know … I wouldn't mind coming along. I'd just need a ride too. Unless, of course, you don't want me to?'

Jackson blushed. He stared down at his tray of food. 'Uh, n-no, of course not. … I mean, of course not to me not wanting you coming, like, of course I DO want you to come … uhh, I mean, I-I don't mind? It's up to you.'

'Pfft, hahaha. Alright, it's a deal. Just send me the details later.'

'O-Okay.'

Soon after, the bell rang again, ending lunch. Jasmine stood. 'It was nice talking with you again, Jackson.'

He rose, staring at her. 'Y-Yeah, I know. I mean, you too. It was nice talking with you, too.'

She matched his blush with a grin. The two parted ways. Jackson sighed, watching her go. His friends soon had him in their clutches, dragging him to the next class, whilst demanding details about what had just happened between him and Jasmine.

The day breezed by after that, and Jackson soon found himself at Eddie's house, in his "pad"—the attic, which they'd turned into a decent enough entertainment space with a mini fridge, games, and a mini projector for movies.

Mortal Kombat was the game of choice that day, though Jackson was distracted, and had yet to win a match.

'Hey, so is this thing with you and your girlfriend a date?' Sachin asked Jackson.

'H-Huh?' Jackson stared at him wide-eyed. Sachin took the momentary distraction to hit Jackson with his Fatal Blow, cackling as the long, cinematic destruction began.

'Man, you're so fucking lame,' Marcus said, kicking Sachin lightly.

'Bruh, don't hate the player, hate the game.'

As the attack resulted in another loss for Jackson, he passed his controller over to Marcus. Though the reason for his sour expression was Sachin's question, as joking as it might've been. 'She's not my girlfriend,' he mumbled.

Marcus winced. 'Ouch. Did she reject you today? I guess that means I'm still the only one with a chick.'

Sachin paid him back for the kick, whacking him over the head. 'You still going on about this imaginary girl no one's ever seen before?'

'Hahah, nah bro, you don't get it, she goes to a different school,' Eddie said.

The friends laughed whilst Marcus scowled. But Eddie turned to Jackson, his expression dropping to one more serious.

'But you do like Jasmine, right?' he asked.

'Of course I do!' The others laughed at Jackson's earnest and honest response. He groaned and hid his face in his hands. 'I mean, yeah, she's cool or whatever.'

'Alright. So why aren't you hanging out with her then, bro? Why are you stuck here with us losers when you should be … I don't know, over at her house?'

'Oh, man, you gotta take her for ice cream. Chicks love that shit,' Marcus said.

'So now we know your girl is not only imaginary but fat, too,' Sachin said.

'You're one to talk about being fat, you big back motherfucker.' Marcus gave Sachin another arm punch, and the two devolved into their own fight … though what they did was a lot closer to a cuddle-off than anything remotely resembling a proper fight let alone any of the flashy, superhuman shit that happened in Mortal Kombat.

Eddie laughed his ass off, egging them both on, cheering for whoever was losing. Jackson barely paid attention. Eddie's comment had struck close to his heart. As fun as it was hanging with the boys, and as much as he'd missed that during the tumultuous year, he could've been with Jasmine again.

He stared at his phone, her number on the screen. Now he just had to figure out what to send to her. His brow furrowed. It was going to be a harder task than any exam.

He carefully tapped away at his phone, writing out the first draft of his message, then he tapped Eddie on the shoulder. 'Hey, bro, is this good?' he asked, showing Eddie the screen.

The message read: 'Hey, how are you? If you're not busy, would you wanna hang out?'

As Eddie was reading it and thinking about what he'd change, Jackson looked towards Sachin and Marcus. Their wrestling/cuddle match was still ongoing—Sachin's size was giving him the advantage—whilst Scorpion and Noob Saibot stood idly on screen.

Jackson contemplated letting them proof read the message and hearing their opinion too, but he decided against it. He could probably predict what they'd say, anyway.

Marcus would write something like: 'Sup girl'

Whereas Sachin would go for something like: 'hey mama how u doin?' Jackson snickered.

'I think it's good, bro,' Eddie said, drawing Jackson's attention back to the draft. 'I mean, if that's what YOU would send, then go for it. The best advice I can give is to stop worrying and just act like you would with one of us …'

They both glanced at Sachin and Marcus.

'Except not like that,' Eddie added. 'But girls like it when you just treat them like people.'

Jackson nodded. 'Yeah. You're right. Thanks, bro.'

'Anytime, bro.'

Jackson took his phone, steeled himself with a breath, then hit send. The minutes afterwards, waiting for a response—though only few in number—were long and agonising.

Eddie watched, hovering over Jackson's shoulder. The other boys' "fight" finished with Sachin proclaiming himself the victor, whilst Marcus argued it was a draw.

Jackson perked up when those three little dots appeared that signalled Jasmine was writing her answer. They didn't last long, and the first message left him deflated.

'Sorry. I can't,' she wrote.

Eddie winced and gave Jackson a pat on the back. Jackson flopped down, staring up at the ceiling with a sigh.

The ding of another message came through and he looked at it. 'I'm practicing with my band right now. Maybe another time.'

He shot up, fumbling a bit as he texted back. 'That's so cool! I didn't know you were with one. Sorry for interrupting.'

'You'd know if you messaged me now and then.'

Jackson thought about how the same could be said for her, but Jasmine said it for him in her next message.

'But it's not like I've been messaging you.'

He chuckled, grinning at his phone like an idiot. Thankfully, the others were too caught up in their own argument to take much notice of him.

'I promise I'll do that,' Jackson wrote.

'I'll hold you to that,' she responded. 'Breaks over. Gotta go.'

Jackson fell back again, phone laying over his heart. But now he was content as he looked up at the ceiling. He glanced over at the others.

'Bruh! I won. Who cares if we didn't have our match in game, I won the IRL fight. I should stay on,' Sachin complained.

'No way, you didn't win shit, man. Just cause this dumbass dragged me into a fight doesn't mean I miss my turn. We should just have a rematch, me and him,' Marcus said.

'BRO!' Eddie exclaimed. 'You both wasted your turn, so you both gotta give it up. It's mine and Jackson's turn now. Jackson, back me up.'

All attention turned to him. He sat up, laughing. 'This is why I like Smash. We can ALL play that.'

All the others groaned at that. 'Bruh. You only like that 'cause you're the best at it, but you're the worst at MK,' Sachin said.

'Yeah? Then why don't you give me that controller and find out? I'll beat your ass right now in any game you want.'

'Hey! It ain't your turn. I still need my go,' Marcus said, refusing to budge from his position, and the argument began anew.

As nice as it would've been hanging out with Jasmine, Jackson couldn't complain about time with the boys, even if they were just beefing over Mortal Kombat.

Yet saying that, he almost pounced on his phone when it dinged again, thinking it was another message from Jasmine; maybe she changed her mind.

'See! He doesn't get a turn, he's not even paying attention,' Marcus said.

'Then it's my turn. Just give it up, bro,' Eddie insisted.

Jackson ignored them, but the notification wasn't from Jasmine but Kenny. He'd invited Jackson out to another extra training session. The grind never stopped with Kenny.

Jackson thought about it. It could bring them one step closer to varsity. He looked across at the others. Now they were all tussling. Marcus was fighting nearly two-on-one, with both Sachin and Eddie trying to pry a controller from his hands. His only saving grace was that Eddie was also trying to get ANY controller, so he went after Sachin too.

Jackson laughed, taking the time to capture the moment in a quick video, and send the snap to Kenny, answering the invite with one of his own. Maybe the grind should take a break today, and Kenny could come hang with them instead.

Kenny's answer came a moment later. 'Nah. You have fun. See you tomorrow.'

Jackson was a little disappointed by the answer, but understood the choice. He looked towards tomorrow—the Titans' next game. He still had to check with Tommy if he could pick up Jasmine on the way. Thinking about Jasmine made him smile. He was sure tomorrow would be a good day.