Confessions of a Teenage Caffeine Addict

16 // Property of Jake Roswell

Sometimes good people make bad choices.

It doesn't mean they are bad people.

It means they're human

That's the thing about human life—there's no control group, no way to ever know how any of us would have turned out if any variables had been changed. —Elizabeth Gilbert

____________________________________

JAKE 

JANUARY // WEEK 6

After practice, I waited for Jules inside the gym and watched her practice. Then her and I took our sweet ass time driving home because it was the last time we were going to be normal teenagers. I pulled into my driveway and shut the truck off, but made no attempt to get out. Jules and I sat there, not moving, not touching, not breathing. We stared straight ahead at the white garage doors, which were still illuminated by my headlights.

"Why can't we tell them after dinner tonight?" Jules pouted, crossing her arms. I was taking her to this wicked nice restaurant across town at The Castleton , just because I was the best boyfriend ever.

"Because we're gonna tell them now," I said. I didn't really know why I was so insistent on telling my parents before dinner, but I was... so that's what was going to happen. "Besides, dinner will be so much better after we just tell them and get it off our chests." I said, only half-convinced by my words.

"Whatever you say, Jakey," she mumbled looking out the window.

I took a deep breath and turned towards her. "Ready?" I asked her, exhaling all my nerves, just like I did before a hockey game or a big test.

"Ready," Jules answered me in a somewhat calm tone, but inside, I knew she was panicking.

I got out of the truck and walked around to her side, helping her out and not letting go of her hand. The walk up the brick pathway felt like it took forever, almost as if it was growing longer and longer, taunting us. I willed myself to walk through the front door and into the battle zone, where my mother was making dinner and my father was in his man cave reading over hockey plays and watching film.

"Hi, guys!" My mother said to us, in a somewhat stressed tone. She was angrily preparing a salad. If salad was making her angry, I couldn't imagine what her reaction would when she found out she was going to be a grandmother...

"Hey, mom," I said, trying to give her a warm, sympathetic smile.

"Hi, Michelle," Jules said in a cheery voice, like she normally did.

"How was hockey, Jake?" My father asked me, making an appearance. "Did you work on your transitions?"

"Yeah, we did. They're looking a lot better after today," I nodded. I could talk for hours about hockey if it meant avoiding the baby topic. I wanted to ask where he and Coach Hawthorne went today, but held my tongue.

Dad stole a mini tomato off of my mother's cutting board. "Good, you're gonna need solid transitions if you want any chance at beating the Lancers on Friday," Dad leaned against the counter, popping the tomato into his mouth.

I was about to reply and continue down the hockey path when Jules nudged me. I waited for Dad to swallow before I continued, not wanting to have to cut this conversation short because he choked. "Hey, Mom... Dad... Can, mhm, Jules and I talk to you in the living room? We have something to tell you," I shot my mother a look of utter regret before walking off towards the living room.

△

Jules and I sat on one couch and my parents sat on the couch opposite of us.