“Yeah, it kind of is,” Jack said when his laughter died down. He leaned back and spread out his arms on the back of the chairs, so one of his arms was behind me. “The truth is, though, that I know exactly what kind of girl you are.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, intrigued. “And what kind of girl is that?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Jack smiled at his cryptic answer.

“You say stuff like that just to drive me nuts, don’t you?” I shot him a look, and he just laughed, confirming my suspicions.

Jack waited with me until all the laundry finished. To pass the time, we did a few Cosmo quizzes (although I refused to answer any about sex) and a crossword puzzle in the newspaper, which he was amazing at. He had to be the smartest person I had ever met, but he did a pretty good job of keeping it secret.

When the laundry was done, he carried all three massive bags out to his Jeep. He offered to take them up to my apartment, but I thought it would be better for Milo if he didn’t see him. Jack’s effect on people tended to wear off the longer they went without contact.

Before I went into the building, he reminded me that he was picking me up tomorrow at six, and whether I liked it or not, I was spending the evening with his family.

- 9 -

Jane had always been much more clothes obsessed, but suddenly, there were not enough clothes in my closet. It actually wasn’t the amount of clothes so much as the fact that they were all terrible. I’d even done laundry, so everything I owned was clean and neatly folded or hanging up, but none of it was good enough. I must’ve changed my outfit like fifty times before my phone rang.

“I know, I know,” I answered the phone breathlessly.

“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t chicken out,” Jack said. Fortunately, he sounded more bemused than he did angry. “I’m outside waiting.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” I flipped my phone shut and rushed over to the mirror to inspect myself. Milo, who had been my wardrobe supervisor, sat on my bed amidst discarded outfits.

“Jack?” Milo asked, trying to sound offhand.

“Uh huh,” I mumbled absently and tried to smooth out the hem.

I wore a dark blue tunic dress that fell just above my knees. I’d gone with opaque tights underneath and a pair of skimmers. I wasn’t sure if I’d gone casual enough or too casual or what, but either way, I felt stupid and I wanted to change again.

“This is horrible!”

“You look great,” Milo admonished me. I’m sure he’d grown tired of listening to me whine and change for the past three hours, but I really wanted to make a good impression. “And Jack is waiting. You don’t really have a choice anymore.”

“Promise?” I asked, looking over at him.

“Yes. They’ll love you. And even if they don’t, I will. Now go!” Milo stood up and started shooing me out of my room.

“Okay, okay.” I groaned, but Milo just kept pushing until I was out the front door.

I ran out to Jack’s car before I could change my mind. He had taken the Jeep again, and I was glad for a slower ride.

“You look great,” Jack grinned when I hopped in.

“Whatever.” I flipped down the visor so I could investigate myself in the mirror. My eyeliner was thicker than I ordinarily wore it, but it made me look more dramatic and mature so I liked it.

“Fine, you look terrible,” Jack laughed and sped off down the road.

“Can you slow down?” My nerves made my stomach flip out, and I knew I could feign carsickness since it would almost be the truth. I just didn’t like the idea of us getting there in like ten seconds.

“You’re really that nervous?” Jack was growing concerned, and he slowed down a little.

“No,” I lied.

I flipped back up the visor and sunk in the seat. I was completely dreading meeting Ezra, and seeing Peter again, while simultaneously being really excited to see him. I hated my body for its ability to have contradictory emotions.

“It’s really not that bad. Ezra will like you.”

“Will you stop trying to convince me that everyone likes me?” I snapped. “You’re making me paranoid.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Jack looked over at me, sitting next to him being petrified, and he sighed. “You know, Peter really didn’t mean anything.”

“I don’t wanna talk about Peter,” I replied through gritted teeth, but that wasn’t it exactly. I couldn’t talk about him. Just thinking about him made my heart race out of control. There didn’t seem to be enough oxygen in the Jeep.

He knew that was I inclined to silence, so he turned up the stereo. Today it was the Smashing Pumpkins, singing about a bullet with butterfly wings.

Even though he had slowed down, the drive to his house still went by much too fast. By the time we had pulled into the garage, my heart was beating so fast that I was sure I was going to die. I thought about telling Jack this, but by the grim look on his face, he already knew.

“You’ve got to calm down, Alice.” He touched my hand to reassure me, and amazingly, it worked.

“Is that another one of your superpowers?” I asked when my heart stopped feeling like it would explode

“What?” Jack kept his tone sober, but I could see the corners of his mouth creeping up at my use of the word “superpowers.”

“Calming me down or making me feel whatever it is you feel.” I had expected him to avoid the question or shrug me off, but instead he got serious and his forehead creased.

“You feel what I feel?” He cocked his head to the side a little bit, looking at me curiously.

There was a good chance that I was blowing everything out of proportion. He was charismatic and excitable, so his emotions had a way of dominating situations. That didn’t mean that I actually felt what he felt.

“Not literally, I’m sure. It’s just like when you want me to calm down, I usually do. Or when you were nervous about the dog, I felt you tense up so I got freaked. But it’s probably nothing more than what normal people feel.”

“Hmm.” He didn’t look convinced, but he pulled his hand back from mine and opened the door to the Jeep. “You must be feeling pretty calm and happy right about now, so let’s go inside before it wears off.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” I agreed and got out of the Jeep.