Jason Montoya is a 16 year old junior at Allen High School in Allen, Texas. Jason is your regular high school student. Tries to get good grades, hangs out with the boys, struggles to get a girl’s Snap. He’s also got your standard appearance. Average height, wavy brown hair, not bad looking. The usual. For Jason and the rest of his unlucky classmates, the day is August 21st, 2023, or the first day of school for everyone at Allen High. Unfortunately, Jason’s day started with a ton of crap. He’d been having an awesome dream about him finally getting with his crush, Renee Stinson, when his annoying older sister, Madison, woke him up earlier than usual.

“Get up dumbass! I’m supposed to drive you to school!” she barked at him

Jason groaned and opened his eyes. Madison was standing over him wearing a LuluLemon top and jeans. She had curly brown hair, freckles, and was relatively short. In her hands, she held one of those stupid Stanley Cups.

“Dammit Madison, I was having an awesome dream!” he said

“I don’t care. Get dressed and get downstairs or we’re going to be late. The senior sunrise starts soon” she replied

Jason looked at his clock and saw it was 6:15 AM. He moaned and fell back into bed.

“Who cares about some stupid sunrise?” he mumbled

“It’s my senior year. I care! And Will is going!” Will was Madison’s annoying boyfriend.

“But I’m not going to know anyone there. I only know about five seniors” Jason said

“Sucks. Now get dressed and get in the car” Madison left his room

Jason sighed and threw on some jeans and a T-shirt. He grabbed a banana along with his backpack and

got into Madison’s white Jeep Wrangler, which had a whole bunch of Class of 2024 drawings on the

windows. Pretty stupid. Jason couldn’t wait to get his own car. He had a license, but his parents wouldn’t get him a car until his senior year. Madison and Jason left for the field near the school, where the sunrise would be. During the drive, Madison was playing Taylor Swift. Jason thought that listening to his sister sing along to Cruel Summer was the closest you could get to hell on Earth. They stopped to pick up Madison’s friend Hannah and then drove the rest of the way to the field. There were a ton of seniors there. Everyone had their trunks popped open or their tailgates down. People brought snacks and games. Madison parked and she and Hannah met with their other irritating friends. There were a lot of: “Oh my God, I’ve missed you so much!” and “Love you girlie!” and “Slay!!” as the girls took photos for their Snapchats and Instagrams and TikToks. Jason yawned and walked around. Maybe he’d see someone he knew. Nope. Eventually the sun rose and everyone got in their cars and went to school. Jason was quick to get away from his sister. He noticed everyone seeing their friends again and how tiny the freshmen were. Crazy to think that would be his fourteen year old brother, Parker, next year. Jason went to homeroom. He sat at an empty desk and hoped that one of his friends would have the same homeroom. Luckily, his best buddy Lucas Harland walked in and immediately shot Jason a goofy smile. Jason returned the grin and he dapped Lucas up.

“Sup bro, how you doing?” Lucas asked

“Not bad man. Cool summer?” Jason replied

“Yeah I went to the Grand Canyon. Hot as balls but pretty sweet anyway” Lucas said

“Cool dude” Jason sat down and looked around at the kids in his class. He recognized a few. There was Stephanie Jesser, a blonde cheerleader, Andre Hunter, running back for the football team, Pranav Krishna, a DECA captain, and Edgar Hernandez, an annoying Latino kid. His homeroom teacher was Mrs Dalton, who taught English. Jason just talked with Lucas until the bell rang and Mrs Dalton got up. 

“Good morning everyone! I’m Mrs Dalton and I’ll be your homeroom teacher for your junior year. Y’all

have been here for 2 years already so you know what goes on during homeroom. Just get work done if possible and chat quietly!” Mrs Dalton said cheerfully, “For starters, I was thinking we could all introduce ourselves to one another”

Everyone went around the room and said their names and their favorite movie. Jason’s favorite movie was Forrest Gump. Pretty basic first day stuff. The bell soon rang and everyone left homeroom with a slip they needed to get signed (for student fees or something). The rest of the day was pretty regular for Jason. He got syllabus sheets he needed to get signed in English, marine biology, sports marketing, math, and AP Psychology. He ate lunch with Lucas and his other close friends: Damian Robinson and Shawn Mendoza. They caught up on what they did for summer and also talked about the girls everyone liked. Damian and Lucas were trying to get Jason to talk to Renee. She had the same lunch as him. 

“My guy, don’t be such a pussy. Just go over there and talk to her!” Damian said

“Nah bro, I can’t force myself in. She’s with all her friends!” Jason replied

“Dude I heard from Katelyn Newsom that Renee thinks you got a nice ass. She’d love to see it parked next to her at lunch!” Lucas said

Shawn didn’t say much. He was the quietest guy in the group but everyone always listened when he spoke. To everyone’s surprise, he stepped in the conversation.

“Lucas isn’t lying. I’ve heard Renee mention your name a few times over the summer. We were both camp counselors at the Y. She kept bringing you up to the other counselors” 

Jason looked up.

“Wait, actually?”

“Yeah man. I definitely think you should go talk to her” Shawn said

“Ok… Maybe I will” Jason got up. His friends cheered him on as he walked over to Renee’s table. Jason’s heart was pounding. The last time he’d talked to Renee was at the end of last year. She’d occasionally

Snap him too. Jason was almost at Renee's table. She looked up from her sandwich and smiled at him. God she’s hot Jason thought. Renee had short black hair, smooth hips, and beautiful eyes. Jason kept walking, walking until he suddenly stopped. What would he say to her?? He couldn’t walk over for no reason. In a split second move, Jason instead went to the water fountain. He saw his friends throw up their hands and groan. Renee went back to her sandwich. When Jason got back to his table, his friends weren’t happy.

“You sold!!” Lucas yelled

“No rizz!” Damian said

Shawn shook his head, “You had a great chance to talk to her. Can’t believe you passed it up”

Red faced, Jason sat down and quietly ate his gross school food. Jason’s cowardice sat with him for the rest of the day. He had blown it, a perfect chance to talk to a girl he liked. Soon, school ended and Jason went home. He and his sister walked in the door to see their mom cooking dinner.

“Hey guys, how was your first day?” she asked

“Fine” Jason said

“Great!” Madison squealed, “I have class with Hannah and Delaney!”

“Ooh that’s nice!” Mrs Montoya replied, “Any classes with your friends, Jason?”

“I’ve got homeroom with Lucas and AP Psych with the Ben Vanaught guy” Jason had known Ben from one of his classes last year. They weren't super close, but he was still a familiar face.

“Cool, cool. I’m making meatballs for dinner. Should be done in a few hours. And Madison I’m going to need you to drop off Parker at karate at 6” Mrs Montoya said

“Ugh, fine. But he should ride his bike, the dojo is six minutes away” Madison said

“Honey, Parker was almost hit by a car last time he rode his bike. I’d prefer if you drove him” Mrs Montoya replied sternly

“Ok, ok” Madison then went upstairs to FaceTime her boyfriend. Lucas went to the den to watch TV. He

turned on South Park and thought about Renee. He couldn’t chicken out like that again. Next time he had the chance, he’d take it.

A few weeks went by as school started kicking into high gear. Jason was getting more work and never had much time to talk to Renee at school. So far, his grades weren’t bad and he enjoyed most of his classes. Lately, there was also a buildup of excitement, since Homecoming was the upcoming weekend. The student government organized spirit week and there was much talk about the football game and dance. Allen was pretty good and they had one of the best quarterbacks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Desmond Johnson. Jason knew that this week would be the perfect time to talk to Renee and ask her to the dance. All his friends were pestering him to do it. 

“You better ask her. It’s simple” Damian said

“Easy for you to say, you’ve got a date” Jason replied. Damian was going with a girl from his math class named Alyssa. 

“Just try. She’ll probably say yes” Shawn said

“Alright, alright, I’ll do it. But I want to ask in person” Jason said. His friends said it would be easier to text her but Jason was set on his plan. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to ask. Apparently, Renee’s lunch had changed and she didn’t share it with Jason anymore. Time was really running out now, since it was Friday. He was wrong about the perfect time. He should’ve asked her weeks before. Jason prayed that he’d see her at the football game. Allen was playing Walnut Grove, a brand new fancy school in Prosper. Walnut Grove was crappy at football, since their team was new. Everyone was pumped for the game and was wearing pink. At 5:00, Jason was picked up by Lucas for the game, who had a car. His car was a piece of shit ‘01 Civic. The passenger windows didn’t roll down, there was a rip in the seats, the dashboard was covered in weird stains, and there were exposed wires on the rearview mirrors. Still, Lucas loved his car and he had named it Cynthia. On the way, Lucas brought up Renee

again.

“Better hope you see her at the game man” he said

“Yeah, I hope so too” Jason said

“Told you you should’ve asked over Snap. Wouldn’t have to worry about all this crap” Lucas said

“Hey man, this is how I wanna do it” Jason shot back

“You do you buddy” Lucas drove them to the Allen football stadium, which is of course massive. Jason realized he’d have an impossible time finding Renee here. He began to get discouraged. All through the game, he worried that he missed his opportunity. He just tried to focus on the game. Allen was doing great and they crushed Walnut Grove. Desmond Johnson had a crazy Hail Mary pass. A chant of “Daddy’s Money” started in the Allen stands, since Walnut Grove was in a wealthy suburb. Everyone left the game in high spirits. It was a madhouse getting back to the parking lot. Jason was down because he missed his chance. He really didn’t want to ask Renee over Snapchat but he didn’t really have a choice. As he and Lucas walked back to Lucas’s car, his buddy nudged him.

“What?” Jason asked

“Dude, Renee’s over there” Lucas pointed just ahead of them. Sure enough Renee was with her friends, “Better ask now” 

This time, Jason didn’t hesitate. He called out Renee’s name. She stopped and turned around. Jason ran up to her.

“Hey, uh, Renee. I gotta ask you something” Jason asked

Renee’s friends giggled. Jason wanted to die. He should’ve asked over Snap. Renee waved her friends away, “I’ll catch up with you” she then said, “What’s up Jason, I haven’t seen you much this year”

“Yeah, um, sorry. I’ve had a lot going on” he said nervously

“What did you want to ask?” she said

“Well, uh, I was kinda wondering if you, uh, wanted to go to hoco with me?” Jason said

Renee blushed and her face fell, “Oh Jason, that’s so sweet but I was already asked by someone”

This was the worst possible thing Jason could’ve heard. He felt like shriveling up into a ball.

“Oh, uh, yeah it’s cool. Who asked you?” he said, depressed

“Ben Vanaught” she replied

A strange feeling went through Jason. Ben? How did he beat him to the girl of his dreams?? This wasn't fun to hear.

“Uh, nice. Yeah, he’s chill. Have fun” Jason said quickly

“Thanks. Um, maybe I’ll see you there?” Renee said

“I wouldn’t count on it” Jason sadly walked back to Lucas.

“No good?” he asked

“Freaking Ben Vanaught asked her already. I liked Ben, man. Thought he was chill” Jason said 

“Well you know what you’re doing tomorrow, I assume?” Lucas said

“Yeah…”

The next day, Jason spent an hour at Crunch. It was leg day and listened to music the entire time, trying to take his mind off of things. Afterwards, he waddled back to his mom’s car (his mom let him borrow her car occasionally). He wasn’t sure how he would be able to drive since his legs felt like lead. Still, he made it home and collapsed on the couch. Jason wasn’t going to the dance. Lucas offered to skip it and hang out with him instead but Jason said it was ok. Lucas had a date and Jason didn’t want him to ditch her. So while Jason sat home watching TV, all his friends had a blast. He couldn’t stand to look at Ben’s Instagram, where he had posted photos of him and Renee. It was horrible to think about. Ben had struck first. At school on Monday, Jason’s friends were giving him a hard time about not going to the dance.

“We missed you bro” Shawn said

“You could’ve still came with us” Damian said

“Whatever” Jason replied flatly

Jason then went to AP psych afterward. When he walked into class, he saw Ben talking to another dude. Jason sat down next to him.

“What’s up Jason?” Ben said as he sat down

“Oh, uh, hey bro” Jason replied

“Didn’t see you at hoco” Ben said

“Yeah, I didn’t go” Jason said 

“Don’t worry you didn’t miss anything huge. I mean, Michael Belmont threw up on Victoria Nguyen but that was it” Ben said

“Dude, don’t be so humble. Ben went with Renee Stinson” The guy Ben was talking to before jumped in.

“I saw online,” Jason said through gritted teeth.

“Who would think that Ben had that rizz in him?” the guy said

“Nah man it wasn’t rizz, I just asked her and she said yes” Ben said, turning red

“My guy you pulled one of the baddest girls in our grade” the guy said

Ben laughed, “I asked her to hang out at the game on Friday” 

“Better take her home afterwards” the guy said

Jason couldn’t stand it, “I’m sorry, what’s your name?” he blurted out

“Jackson Dunn. You’re Jason Montoya, right?” Jackson said

“Yeah. Hey if you and Ben are gonna keep yapping about Ben’s girlfriend, could you stop announcing it to everyone?” Jason said aggressively

Jackson and Ben were surprised.

“Dude we aren’t announcing anything. Why are you so pissed?” Jackson said

“Forget it” Jason then grabbed his bag and sat on the other side of the room, away from Ben and Jackson. During class, Ben and Jackson kept giving Jason strange looks. While he sat taking notes, Jason

cooled off. He started to feel bad about having an outburst at them. It wasn’t Ben’s fault, remember. After class he went over and apologized. 

“Hey dudes, sorry about getting all annoyed. It’s just been a rough few days” he said

“No worries bro. It’s cool” Ben dapped up Jason. So did Jackson. When the bell rang, Jackson approached Jason.

“Hey dude, I think I know why you got annoyed back there” Jackson said

“I said before I’ve been having a rough few days” Jason replied

“Yeah, because Ben went to hoco with your girl” Jackson said

Jason’s jaw dropped, “Uh, how do you know I like her?”

“My twin sister, Ella, is friends with Renee. She’s been to my house a few times. I’ve overheard them talking about how Renee thinks you like her” Jackson said

“Damn, am I that obvious?” Jason said

“I guess so. I don’t think Renee minded though. You should’ve asked her to hoco” Jackson said. He and Jason left class.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It sucks, but that’s life” Jason said

“Glad to hear you say that. Maybe you should move on. No point trying to pursue it now. I guess she’s Ben’s girl now, as weird as he may be” Jackson said

“I’m trying” This seemed rather blunt coming from Jackson, telling him to just give up. But Jason doubted he had a chance anymore. 

Later, Jackson had cross country practice and then went home. He saw that Renee was at his house. 

“Hi Jackson” Renee said when he walked in.

“What’s up?” Jackson dropped his bag and kicked off his shoes.

“Nothing much. Me and Ella were planning on watching a movie. She’s getting popcorn” Renee said

“Cool, cool” Jackson then went upstairs to shower. After he finished, he got dressed and went to the

den to grab his Airpods. Ella and Renee were watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They were also talking about random stuff, which was pointless since they were watching a movie. As Jackson was leaving he heard Renee mention Jason. He stopped and turned around to listen.

“I wonder how Jason’s doing?” Renee asked

“You regret not asking him to hoco?” Ella said

“Definately. I mean, I liked going with Ben and he seems like a nice person. I’m down to hang out on Friday. But there’s something about Jason I really like. I don’t know what but he’s just amazing” Renee

“Ask him out” 

“He probably thinks I like Ben instead. Also I wouldn’t want to do that to Ben. It would break his heart if I just ditched him so soon. I think I need to let it play out for a few weeks and let Ben know that I'd prefer to be friends after that” Renee said

“Yeah..”

Jackson went to his room, shocked. So Renee actually liked Jason. Jackson debated whether or not to tell Jason. He felt like it was the right thing to do but would Jason believe him? He also didn’t want to do that to Ben. He decided to not tell him.

Meanwhile, Jason shockingly kinda managed to somewhat get over Renee. His friends were impressed.

“Ayyy, you’re doing good man” Damian said at lunch

Jason gave a weak grin. You go to the largest high school in Texas, there were tons of girls just as hot as Renee here, he told himself. But in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure if that was true. On Friday, there was an away game at Denton High School. Jason and Lucas were planning on going, along with Damian and Shawn. He and his buddies got in cowboy gear (that was the theme) and headed over to Denton in Cynthia. Unsurprisingly, there was a smaller turnout for Allen since it was an away game. Still, the Allen students were energized and they made ridiculous chants. Jason had a good time goofing off with his pals. Shawn was asked for his Snap so everyone was happy for him.

“My boy!” Damian exclaimed

“Rizzard of Oz!” Jason said 

“What can I say?” Shawn said with a smile

Jason did see Renee at the game with Ben. She waved at him. Jason waved back, a jolt in his stomach. Soon, the game ended, with Allen pulling out a win with the score being 31-20. Andre Walsh from Jason’s homeroom had two touchdowns. Jason, Shawn, and Damian were all going back to Lucas’s to watch a movie. They headed home, driving through the outskirts of Denton. 

“Yo dude, look at that abandoned building” Jason pointed to a large brick building with boarded up windows. Above the front doors, the words Safe Storage was barely visible.

“Wonder what’s in there?” Shawn said

Suddenly, Cynthia started to make a weird noise. There was a strange revving from the engine, even though Lucas was using the accelerator. 

“Yo Lucas, what’s going on?” Damian asked

“I don’t know man. Cynthia’s been having some engine issues lately” Lucas replied

Just then, the engine shut down completely, “Shit!” Lucas managed to brake and get them to the side of the road, the storage place to their backs. Lucas got out of Cynthia.

“Goddammit!” he yelled. He banged Cynthia’s hood, “Damian, pop it open would you?

Damian opened the hood and a bunch of smoke came from the engine. Lucas coughed and swatted it away.

“I think it’s overheating! Stupid radiator is messed up again!” Lucas yelled

Just then, a middle aged man walked out onto his porch in the house in front of their car.

“Y’all need some help with that?” he called

Jason was reluctant to trust anyone in this part of town but Lucas waved him over. The guy had a short gray beard, a weathered face with a gruff expression, and was somewhat stocky. He wore an old Dallas

Cowboys hat. He didn’t look like a guy to mess around with. 

“Engine issues?” he asked Lucas, in a thick Texas accent.

“Yeah, it overheated again. Radiator must be busted” Lucas said

“Let me grab my tools. I’m pretty good with cars” the man went to his garage. Jason was worried that he’d come back with a shotgun or something but he did actually get some tools. There was a ton in his bag. Jason peeked into his garage and saw even more, including some heavy duty ones. There were buzz saws, blow torches, and a ridiculous amount of drills and sheet metal. He had a bunch of old computers on a table, next to several history books. On the wall, there was a painting of the Battle of San Jacinto. Jason wondered why he had so much random stuff and tools in his garage. He decided not to think too much about it. They were in a weird neighborhood anyway. The man then started inspecting the radiator.

“Yep, one of the pipes is disconnected. I’ll pop it back into place” The man went to work. The boys all watched, stunned at their luck. While working, the man asked some questions.

“Why y’all dressed like cowboys?” 

“It was the theme for the game” Shawn said

“Denton win?” the man asked

“No, Allen did” Shawn said

“Damn! We can never beat them!” the man exclaimed. He went back to work. 

“What’s up with the storage place?” Damian then asked

The man’s head shot up. 

“None of y’all went in there?” he asked nervously

“No… why?” Damian said

“Lots of drug dealers make it their spot. They shoot trespassers” the man said

“Oh” Damian said with a strangled voice. This really was a bad spot to break down.

Luckily, the man finished fixing the radiator. He closed the hood and wiped his hands on a rag. Lucas was ecstatic. 

“Thank you so much!” 

“No worries. Just don’t go near the storage place” the man replied

This guy is so weird, Jason thought.

“What’s your name?” Lucas asked

“Jeff Landers. You?” Jeff said

“Lucas. Anyways thanks for the help but we gotta head home” Lucas said

“Stay safe, y’all” Jeff went back inside and everyone got back into Cynthia. Lucas started her up and thankfully the engine worked. They headed home.

“That guy was strange” Jason said during the ride

“Yeah, but he fixed Cynthia” Lucas replied

“Bro, why did he have so many tools and computers?” Damian asked

“Probably a mechanic or engineer or something” Lucas said

Soon, they made it back to Lucas’s house. His parents were away for the weekend so they had the house to themselves. They watched Superbad and played Monopoly, which resulted in a fight between Damian and Shawn.

“This is bullshit! You can’t buy all the hotels!” Damian yelled at Shawn

“It’s called strategy, dumbass!” Shawn yelled back (Ah Monopoly, ruining relationships one move at a time).

Shawn ended up winning, much to Damian’s displeasure. After that, Lucas grabbed some beers from the garage and they sat on his back porch and talked. They were trying to get Shawn to Snap the girl from the game. 

“Who is she again?” Jason asked

“Victoria Nguyen” Shawn replied

“Yeah, Michael Belmont barfed all over her at hoco. It was pretty funny. She had an expensive dress on and everything” Lucas said, taking a sip of beer.

“Snap her bro, she’s definitely into you. She’s also hella sexy. Those Vietnamese girls are baddies” Damian said

Eventually, Shawn sent a Snap along with a message saying Sup. Everyone was proud of him. Lucas then started complaining about his chemistry test that he had on Monday. 

“Dude, Mr Vickers is a shriveled up foreskin. He made the test all short responses!” Lucas said angrily

“Tough shit. It’s your fault for even taking chem” Damian said

“It’s required, dumbass. I couldn’t take it last year!” Lucas exclaimed

“Yeah, Vickers sucks. He’s probably the most unpopular chem teacher” Shawn added, “At least you’ll have all your science credits”

“Whatever” Lucas said

They kept talking about random crap. Victoria Snapped Shawn back and they went into a conversation. Soon, everyone finished their beers and they all went inside since there were too many mosquitos out. Shockingly, the guys were responsible drinkers tonight and none of them got too drunk. 

“What time is it?” Jason asked

“12:40” Lucas replied, “Should we play Mario Kart?”

“I thought you had an Xbox” Shawn said

“We’ve got a Switch, too” Lucas brought them upstairs to the den and gave them all controllers. Everyone picked their character and played 200 CC. It was very competitive.

“FUCKING BITCH!!” Damian screeched after Shawn hit him with a red shell right before the finish line. Shawn won. He was the best at Mario Kart anyway. 

“Fuck this shit!” Damian tossed his controller on the couch. 

“Dude don’t be a dick” Jason said

“Your ass is mine next round” Damian said to Shawn

Shawn won again.

“FUCK!” Damian screeched again. While Damian ranted about a video game, Jason talked to Shawn and Lucas about a NFL game.

“My sister got tickets to go to the Cowboys-Chiefs game next Sunday. She was gonna go with her friend but my dad said he’d buy us tickets too” 

“When is it?” Lucas asked

“October 22nd” Jason replied

“Aw man dude, I’m supposed to be at my grandma’s in Houston that weekend” Lucas said

“Crap!” 

“I can probably go” Shawn said

“Nice dude, I’ll tell my dad. Yo Damian, my dad’s buying tickets for the Cowboys-Chiefs game and I was wondering if you were in” Jason said

Damian stopped ranting.

“Yeah, I think I can. I’ll have to ask my mom” he said

“Alright just let me know” Jason said

“Bro I’m gonna beg my mom to let me stay to come with y’all” Lucas said

“Cool dude” 

Eventually, after a few more rounds of Mario Kart, the guys passed out. Jason woke up early the next day and left Lucas’s. Lucas had a job interview with the local Chick Fil-A. Jason’s dad picked him up.

“How was the game?” he asked

“Good. Allen won. Also Shawn is in for the Cowboys game and possibly Damian” Jason said

“Great. Confirm with Damian and I’ll buy the tickets. Madison is taking Hannah with her” Mr Montoya

said

“Alright” Jason and his dad returned home to find Madison at the kitchen table sobbing. Mrs Montoya was with her.

“What’s wrong?” Mr Montoya asked as he put his keys away.

“W-Will broke up w-with me!” Madison sobbed

“Oh, I’m so sorry honey. Why did he break up?” Mr Montoya said

“S-s-something about me b-being obsessive!” Madison cried

Jason’s little brother Parker then walked in to grab some pretzels.

“He’s right. All you did was kiss him and look at his pictures” he said

“Shut up!!” Madison yelled

“Parker, just go upstairs” Mrs Montoya said exasperated

“Hey I’m just telling the truth” Parker got his pretzels and went to the den. Jason followed him. He didn’t need to hear his sister sobbing about some annoying baseball kid. He found Parker upstairs playing Fortnite.

“There’s no way you’re playing that” Jason said

“The OG season releases soon. I need to get my skills up to speed” Parker replied

“You better not hog that thing. All my friends will be on” Jason said

“Whatever” 

Jason went to his room and collapsed on his bed, still exhausted. He was pumped for the Cowboys game. Renee did drift across his mind, but he quickly pushed her away. He was over her. At least, he said he was.

Soon, the Cowboys game arrived. Lucas attempted to come but his mom still wouldn’t let him. 

“Dude we can go to a Mavs game sometime instead” Jason said

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But I like football better. Have fun at the game” Lucas sadly said in homeroom

On Sunday, Madison (who was still upset about Will) drove Jason, Damian, Shawn, and her friend Hannah to Arlington. Jason was hoping to tailgate but he didn’t know how to grill and neither did his sister. On the way, Madison played Taylor Swift and she and Hannah sang along the entire way. 

“For fucks sake, imma lose my shit!” Damian hissed

“I know dude but she’ll get all annoyed if I ask her to turn it off” Jason whispered back

“Fine. I’ll ask” Damian then yelled, “Jesus Christ Madison, could you play anything else?!” Madison paused the music. Sweet relief, Jason thought.

“It’s my car. I chose what music gets played!” she snapped at him

“What about Kanye? Or Future? I’d even take Tupac” Damian asked

Madison and Hannah made disgusted sounds as Madison turned the music back on. 
“Worth a shot” Shawn said

“Taylor’s going to be at the game. It’s the spirit of her appearance!” Hannah said

Jason really didn’t want to be reminded of that. The last thing he wanted was for the cameras to pan to an overrated popstar, like they always did. He knew it wasn’t her fault and it was mainly the NFL scrounging for ratings but it still bugged him. The next song to come on was Love Story. Madison stopped singing. 
“What is it?” Hannah asked

“Will… He asked me out during this song” Madison’s voice cracked

“Oh boy” Jason muttered

“Ohhh, really?” Hannah asked

“Yeah…” Madison sniffled. She then started sobbing, losing control of the car.

‘JESUS CHRIST, WATCH THE ROAD!!!” Jason cried as the car swerved. The boys all screamed as an oncoming F-150 laid on the horn and braked. Thankfully, Madison managed to pull over but the boys

were shaken up, their faces white. Madison was now crying harder than ever as Hannah tried to comfort her. Everyone calmed down. 

“Uh, we’re gonna be late for the game” Shawn said as they sat there.

“Shut up!!!” Hannah shouted at him, “It’s ok Maddie, Will’s an idiot”

“I-I don’t c-c-care. I l-love him!!” Madison sobbed

It was insanely awkward as they sat in the car for ten minutes, next to a McDonald’s. Jason was incredibly embarrassed, as Damian and Shawn whispered to one another. Eventually, Madison stopped crying but she was still shaky so Hannah drove them the rest of the way. Finally, they made it to AT&T Stadium. However, the mood in the group was pretty uncomfortable, after Madison’s freakout. Still, Jason was excited for the game and the stadium atmosphere was electric. Everyone got food and went to their seats. Kickoff was in thirty minutes. 

“Hey man, good thing you’re not like your sister” Damian whispered

“What do you mean?” Jason asked, confused

“Look at her, sobbing over her ex like that. I mean, we almost died because of her crying” Damian said

“They broke up a week ago. It’d be pretty outstanding and kind of weird if she had somehow gotten over him that quickly” Jason replied

“Whatever dude. At least you know how to get over people” 

“Uh yeah definitely, haha” Jason chuckled nervously

Shawn gave him a weird look. Jason couldn’t meet his eyes. Eventually, the game started and everyone forgot about relationships (except for Madison and Hannah. Hannah was still trying to console Madison, reminding her that Taylor Swift was at the game). The Cowboys were doing great and the Chiefs were getting crushed.

“How are these shitheads the defending champs?” Damian roared excitedly after Ceedee Lamb scored another touchdown.

“Because Kansas City is usually clutch in the playoffs, unlike us. They’ll probably lock in later on” Shawn said

“Hey man, we’re going all the way this year. Dak’s finally figured it out” Damian said

Shawn shook his head. Jason figured Shawn was right. The Cowboys always choked. Eventually, the game ended and it was a mob scene trying to leave the stadium. Jason had fun, along with Damian and Shawn. Madison and Hannah, not so much. After an hour of waiting in gridlock traffic in the parking lot, they finally made it to the Interstate and drove back to Allen. The boys talked about girls a lot.

“Oh yeah dudes, I forgot to tell you. Victoria asked me out the other day” Shawn said

“There’s no shot” Jason said

“No way this kid is pulling” Damian said astonished

“Yeah. We’re going bowling and getting dinner. She said she doesn’t know how to bowl so I was gonna teach her” Shawn said

“Are you picking her up?” Jason asked

“Yeah. My dad’s letting me borrow his car” Shawn replied

“You better not fuck this up” Damian warned

“Hey man I know what I’m doing” Shawn said

Soon, Damian, Shawn, and Hannah were dropped off and Jason and Madison went home. Madison immediately went upstairs. She hadn’t enjoyed the game. Jason’s parents were asleep but Parker was awake and was in the kitchen. 

“Who won?” he asked as he grabbed some Ritz Crackers.

“Dallas” Jason replied, “I would’ve thought you and dad were watching the game”

“I went laser tagging with Jayden and Alex,” Parker said. Jayden and Alex were Parker’s friends.

“Cool. Well, I’m going to bed” Jason said

“And I’m hitting that midnight grind” Parker ran up to the den with his crackers. Jason shook his head.

Parker was going to be a wreck at school tomorrow. The next day, Jason and Lucas talked about Halloween, which was coming up. 

“This girl I know is having a party. She said I could invite one person so I was wondering if you wanted to come with” Lucas said

“Sure. Who’s throwing the party” Jason asked

“Victoria Nguyen” Lucas said, “Shawn’s girl” 

“Oh yeah Shawn said that they’re going on a date” Jason remembered

“Goddamn that was quick. He’s got that rizz in him” Lucas said

“Is Damian going?” Jason asked

“Nah, I asked him but he was going to his cousin’s in Fort Worth” Lucas replied

“Alright. Send me the address” Jason said

Jason knew that he needed to have a costume. He wasn’t going to go crazy but he wanted to find something cool. Since he liked the movie Forrest Gump, he decided to go as him. He got a short sleeve button down shirt, slacks, very old Nikes, a Bubba Gump hat, and a ping-pong paddle accessory. Finally, Halloween came. Jason wore his costume to school. In math class, one girl asked who he was.

“My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump,” he said in a terrible southern accent.

“Uhm, I don’t know who that is” the girl said

“Uhh, seriously?” Jason said surprised

“Yeah, is he a ping-pong player or something?” the girl asked

“Yes. Watch Forrest Gump, it’s a good movie” Jason said

“Alright maybe” she replied

“What about you, who are you supposed to be?” Jason asked

“Regina George” the girl replied

“I think you mean Regina, Saskatchewan” 

The girl laughed, “No from Mean Girls. I love that movie” (Author’s Note- I’ve never seen Mean Girls. I just figured that someone may go as a character from that movie. I also have no idea who the heck Regina is)

“Oh cool. What’s your name again?” Jason asked

“Ella Dunn. You’re Jason Montoya” Ella said

“Oh yeah you’re Jackson’s sister, cool” Jason said

“Mhm. Hey, do you know Renee Stinson?” Ella then asked

Jason froze and zoned out. He didn’t respond. Ella stared at him.

“Jason?”

He snapped out of it, “Oh, uh, yeah I know her” 

Ella giggled, “I think she likes you”

It took Jason a few seconds to process what she had said. Suddenly the bell rang and Ella dashed out of class

“Wait, what?” 

Soon, the party rolled around. Lucas, who was dressed as a Cowboys player, picked Jason up. He had a Dak Prescott jersey and a helmet. 

“Cool costume dude” Lucas said

“Thanks, you too,” Jason replied. They drove to Victoria’s house, which was pretty large. The driveway and the road in front were packed with cars. Lucas managed to find a spot and he and Jason went inside. While the house was big, it was still crammed to the brim with high schoolers. Kids were drinking and talking in different spots. Pizza, candy, and alcohol were everywhere. Victoria came to greet them. She was dressed like a Greek goddess.

“Hey Lucas, glad you could make it” she said

“No problem. This is Jason Montoya” Lucas said

“Hi Jason! I’m Victoria” Victoria said, shaking his hand. 

“Yeah, I think you know my friend Shawn?” he said

Victoria laughed, “Yeah I know him. He’s great. Anyway, food and drinks are in the kitchen and please don’t break anything” 

“We won't,” Lucas said. Victoria smiled and walked back to the door to say hi to more people. They went to the living room. Jason was very overwhelmed and anxious. He’d never been to a party before. It was super loud and crowded. He mainly stuck with Lucas. Both of them went into the kitchen to grab some food. Lucas got a beer but Jason didn’t feel like drinking so he got a Coke. While in the kitchen, he saw Ben Vanaught.

“Hey dude” Ben said

“What’s up?” Jason replied

“Nothing much” he said

“See Renee recently?” Jason asked

“No, not really. She hasn’t seemed to want to hang out lately” Ben said

 A shiver went through Jason, “Really…”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s up. Hopefully she’s not mad at me” Ben said

“Who knows. Girls are weird” Jason replied 

“Yeah. Anyway, I’ll see you” Ben went to the living room. Jason remembered what Ella had told him. Did Renee not like Ben? He went back to the living room to find Lucas and tell him. Instead, he found Renee herself. She was in a Wonder Woman costume. 

“Hi Jason!” She waved him over to the couch. Jason went to her. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was definitely into Renee again, since she didn’t seem to want to date Ben. 

“How are you?” she asked. It was rather hard to hear her over the blasting music (the song was Starships).

“Good, you?” Jason replied

“Yeah, just some guy issues” Renee said

Another jolt went through Jason. She wanted to talk about her problems with him, probably having to do with Ben. Jason didn’t know much about women but he’d heard that they tell guys they like about their issues. 

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked

“Well, it’s Ben Vanaught. We went to hoco and then to a football game after. I sorta like him, but not romantically. I think of him more as a friend. But I think he got the wrong impression and now I’m pretty sure he wants to date. I don’t know what to do” Renee said

“Just tell him” Jason replied

“Yeah but he’s just so sensitive for a dude. It would make him really upset” Renee said

“I mean, I wouldn’t really know what to do since I’m a guy. But if I had to say, just let him down easy and tell him you’d rather be friends. Friendzones suck but it’s better than nothing. And if he can’t accept that then you shouldn’t be with a guy like him anyway” Jason said

“I guess so..” Just then, Ella Dunn came over. She waved at Jason and took Renee to meet another one of her friends.

“See you later Jason!” Renee called

“See you. Hey, do you know where the bathroom is?” he asked

“It’s upstairs,” Jason could barely hear her, “on the right”

“Wait, where?” Jason called back. But Renee was gone. Jason knew she said upstairs so he went there. However, he couldn’t tell if she said left or right. He decided to try left. He opened the door and flicked on the light. There was a scream.

“Oh shit! Hey I’m so sor-SHAWN???!!!” Jason exclaimed

“JASON?? DUDE, GET OUT!!!” Shawn yelled, shocked. He was in bed, shirtless, along with a topless Victoria. She was trying to cover herself.

“CRAP!!” Jason quickly shut the light and slammed the door closed. He dashed downstairs and ran into Lucas.

“Hey man, you-”

“Nothing” Jason said immediately

“Uhh, ok? What happened?” Lucas asked, confused. Jason wasn’t sure if he should tell him, but he did anyway. Lucas’s eyes widened in shock.

“There’s no way” he said astonished

“Yeah. They must’ve really been into it” Jason replied

“I guess Shawn really can pull” Lucas said

“It’s going to be so damn weird when I see him next,” Jason said. Sure enough, a while later, Shawn came downstairs and grabbed some candy. He passed by Jason and approached him.

“Dude, what the hell were you doing?” he asked

“I was looking for the bathroom,” Jason said. Shawn punched him hard on the shoulder.

“Ow! What was that for??” Jason yelled

“You cockblocker! We were about to do it but then your loud ass burst in the door! Now Victoria is too freaked out!” Shawn shouted

“Shit, sorry man” Jason said, “You’ll probably have another chance later on”

“Whatever!” Shawn stormed back upstairs, a chocolate bar in hand. Jason felt bad that he messed up his friend’s moment, but he didn’t think it was that deep. Hopefully he’d get another shot. The whole thing with Shawn gave Jason a bad taste in his mouth for the rest of the night. He was eager to leave the party. He managed to find Lucas, who was with some random girl. Lucas normally drinks responsibly, but not tonight. 

“Nah, so like, my car was messed up and shit, you know? And this one weird guy was like “oh I’ll fix it” and poof, he fixed it with his magic hands. So funny man, so funny” Lucas slurred

“Uhm, ok. I’ve got to go” the girl said

“So what’s your Snapchat?” Lucas looked up but the girl was gone. Jason tapped him on the shoulder. Goddammit he thought, seeing the drunken state of Lucas.

“Hey bro, what’s good?” Lucas said

“You wanna dip?” Jason asked, “I’ll drive” 

“Eh, maybe. But I needa get that girls Snap first” Lucas replied

“No you don’t. Just give me your keys, we’re leaving” Jason said, irritated

“Noo, I don’t wanna!” Lucas said like a toddler. Some kids started to look over at them.

“Lucas, stop being an idiot. You’re wasted. Let’s go” Jason said louder

“Make me, dumbass,” Lucas replied. Jason stared at him. He then smacked the red solo cup out of Lucas’s hand. The beer inside flew all over Ella Dunn, who happened to be watching. She wasn’t happy.

“Jesus Jason, what the hell??” she yelled

“Oh crap, I’m so sorry Ella!” Jason said exasperated

“This jacket cost $50!” Ella exclaimed. Renee then walked over. Oh hell no Jason thought.

“What’s wrong?” she asked

“Jason got beer all over my jacket!” Ella said angrily

“Jason?” Renee looked at him, surprised, “Why’d you do that??”

“I- I- I didn’t mean-” Jason stammered

“You know, just forget it. Let’s go to the bathroom and try to get it out” Renee guided Ella away. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jason cried. Several kids laughed at him. Jason shot them a dirty look and yanked Lucas by the arm and brought him to Cynthia. He was half asleep anyway. Jason shoved him in the backseat and drove him home. Cynthia drove terribly, but Jason didn’t care. He helped Lucas

inside and then called an Uber. Jason sat outside, pissed off while he waited. Now Renee was mad at him. Finally, his Uber showed up and took Jason home. His family wasn’t there so Jason just went to bed. The next day, Jason didn’t speak to Lucas. Lucas didn’t even remember what had happened anyway.

“Dude, I feel so crappy” he groaned during homeroom. Jason ignored him. He blamed Lucas for getting Ella and Renee mad at him. 

“You gonna speak to me or what?” Lucas asked

“I don’t know” Jason replied firmly

“Dude, stop acting like a bitch. Whatever I did, I’m sorry” Lucas said annoyed

“Renee’s all pissed off at me, thanks to you” Jason said. He then gave Lucas a whole rundown of what happened last night.

“Uh, maybe you shouldn’t have knocked beer out of my hands?” Lucas said

“Whatever” Jason said

“Also I thought you were done with Renee?” Lucas said, “Don’t tell me you’re actually still on her”

“She doesn’t like Ben anymore. And Ella said that she apparently likes me” Jason replied

“Huh, interesting. You sure she’s for real?” Lucas asked

“I think so” Jason said

“Well then you’ve got this man” Lucas was trying to be nice to Jason now after learning about the whole situation.

“Thanks” Jason said

“Hey, why don’t you come over to my place tonight? The Rangers are about to win the World Series. Finally Dallas recognition!” Lucas said

“Maybe”

“I’ll invite Shawn and Damian” Lucas said

“Shawn’s probably still mad at me” Jason replied

“Dude, it’s not that deep. Stop being a pussy. Guys get over stuff quickly, except for you” Lucas said irritated

Jason sighed. The bell then rang and Jason left class. In math, Ella came up to him. Oh man. Jason thought. He braced himself to get yelled at.

“Hey Jason, sorry I got so pissed at you yesterday” she said

Jason was very surprised, “Oh, uh, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have knocked a beer out of Lucas’s hand”

“No, he was being stupid. And you didn’t mean it. I was just worried because it was an expensive jacket but the beer came right out” Ella said

“Good to hear. Is Renee mad at me?” Jason asked

“No, I don’t think so” Ella replied

Jason grinned, “Thank God”

Jason got back to doing his worksheet. It was trigonometry and Jason was struggling.

“You should totally ask her out” Ella said randomly

“Huh?”

“Renee. You should ask her on a date”

“What about Ben?” 

“She doesn’t like him. She likes you instead” 

“You sure?” 

“Yes! She told me!” 

“I don’t know…” 

“Come on! She was so disappointed when you didn’t ask her to hoco. Don’t disappoint her again!”

Jason thought about it for a while. Maybe Ella was right...

“Alright fine, I’ll do it”

“Yay! But you should ask her in person” Ella said

“But I never see her at school” 

“Give me your number”

Jason stared at her, “What?” 

“Give it to me. I have an idea” 

Jason gave her his phone number, confused. Ella did some tapping on her phone.

“There. I just made a group chat with me, you, and Renee in it. Hope you like bowling!” Ella said happily

“Wait what?” Jason said

Ella sighed, “We’re all going bowling on Saturday. You’ll pick us up. Afterwards, drop me off at home and take Renee to get ice cream at The Cone. That’s her favorite ice cream place. Ask her out there”

“But I’ve got a job interview at Whataburger on Saturday” Jason replied

“Well then we go after. Sounds good?” Ella asked

“Fine. Y’all are gonna get smoked in bowling” Jason said

Jason, in a good mood, then texted Lucas saying he’d be over to watch the World Series. While he wasn’t a huge Rangers fan, he was definitely rooting for them. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about it. After school, Jason went home, did his homework, watched TV, ate a snack, and then went over to Lucas’s. He brought a box of Oreos with him. Lucas was glad to see Jason had forgave him. Jason went downstairs to Lucas’s basement to watch the game. Damian was there, along with one of Lucas’s other friends, some dude named Aidan. Everyone was on the edge of their seat for the game. The last time a Dallas team had won a championship was in 2011 with the Mavericks. Jason knew it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon with the Cowboys. While watching, Jason told Lucas and Damian about how he would finally ask Renee out this Saturday. 

“I thought you had a job interview” Lucas said

“I’m hanging out with them after” Jason replied

“You better not sell” Damian said

“Don’t worry I won’t” Jason said

“Shut up, it’s the bottom of the ninth” Aidan said, “I think the Rangers are gonna win it!”

Sure enough, they did. Jason and his friends went nuts, cheering and shouting. Outside, cars passing by honked their horns in celebration.

“Rangers fans, you are not dreaming! The Rangers are World Series champions!” the announcer said

Damian was throwing stuff, Lucas had taken off his shirt and was swinging it around, and Aidan did a cartwheel. They all grabbed Jason and went into a circle, jumping up and down, cheering. “The celebration has begun!!”

Everyone seemed to be a baseball fan the next day. Kids and teachers had found their old Rangers gear from years ago. To the dismay of true fans, half the school was now a bandwagon. Jason was too freaked out to even notice it. He anxiously waited in anticipation for Saturday. Despite his nerves, he was strangely confident. Something inside him told him that he wouldn’t mess up this time. He was surprised by this unexpected confidence. Hopefully she’d say yes. Finally it was Saturday. Jason was shaking from his anxiety. It definitely wouldn’t look good for his job interview but he didn’t care. He put on a golf shirt and slacks and headed out for the nearby Whataburger. He met with one of the managers and sat at a table next to the kitchen.

“Hi, I’m Jessie! I’m so glad you reached out!” the manager said

“Oh yeah thanks for organizing this meeting” Jason replied

“Let’s get started” Jessie said

She asked him questions about school, his hobbies, and his strengths and weaknesses. She asked about previous job experience. Thankfully, everything went smoothly and Jason’s nerves didn’t interfere. After a bit, the interview ended.

“Alright, thanks Jason, we’ll reach out to you in a week!” Jessie said standing up

“No problem, I hope to see you soon!” Jason got up and left. He took a deep breath upon getting into his mom’s car. The interview went well. Now he just needed to ask our Renee. He drove over to the bowling alley. He found Ella and Renee inside. They were already booking a lane. 

“Heyyy Jason!” Ella said

“I made it” Jason replied, “You get a lane?” 

“Mhm, she just needs your shoe size and for you to pay” Ella said

Jason gave the worker his size and paid. They all received their bowling shoes and walked over to the ball rack.

“Ella told me you had a job interview at Whataburger. How’d it go?” Renee asked

“Oh, uh, well it went pretty good I think. They said they’ll get back to me in a week” Jason said nervously

“Good luck! If you get the job I’ll make sure to visit you” Renee replied

Ella was giggling like crazy. Jason turned red.

“Shall we golf- I mean, bowl now?” he stuttered

Jason was so nervous, that he bowled a gutter ball on his first frame. 

“Jason, the point of the game is to hit the pins” Ella said

“Uh, yeah haha” he stammered

Renee had much more success than Jason, who couldn’t stop thinking of what was coming. He ended up getting a 78, not very good. It was at least better than Ella’s 63. Every time she’d bowl a crappy shot, she and Renee would burst into giggles. Guys started giving Jason weird looks. 

“Aw crap they probably think I’m gay” he thought to himself, “One dude and two giggly girls” Anyway, Renee won the first game with a 95.

“Like Lightning McQueen” Ella said

“Exactly” Renee replied

They played a few more times and did some arcade games. Jason was especially good at the basketball shooter, impressing both Ella and Renee. He used the tickets he won to buy Renee a bag of gummy bears.

“Aw, thanks Jason!” she said

“No problem,” he replied

Ella shot him a thumbs up. Eventually, they all left. Ella said goodbye to them both. She nodded her head towards Renee. Jason understood. After she left, Jason asked Renee if she wanted to get ice cream.

“Sure!” she said

“Awesome. There’s this cool spot called The Cone” Jason said

“Oh that’s my favorite place! Yes, let’s definitely go there” Renee replied

They drove over. Jason was shaking badly.

“Hey, you good?” Renee asked him at a traffic light.

“Oh y-yeah, I’m f-fine” he spluttered

“You’re shaking like crazy” she pointed out

“I’m j-just c-c-cold” he replied quickly

The temperature inside the car was 74 degrees.

“Um, alright” Renee wasn’t sure what was up. They made it to the ice cream place and got their ice cream. Jason couldn’t stop trembling. His ice cream was about to fall out of his cone.

“Jason seriously, are you good? You’re freaking me out with how much you’re shaking” Renee asked

“S-sorry. I can’t help it” he said

“What’s wrong?” Renee said

Do it now, Jason thought. He knew this had to be it. He couldn’t mess up again. He took several deep breaths and managed to not shake so much.

“Jason?” Renee said

“I’ve gotta ask you something” he asked

Renee gave a slight smile, “Sure, go ahead”

Jason took one last deep breath, “I was wondering if you want to go out on a date... or something? I’ve wanted to ask for a while. I think you’re super cool and, uh, pretty and stuff” 

“So that’s why you’ve been shivering, huh?” Renee asked

“Yeah, I’m hella nervous about asking” he said

“I get it, I knew it wasn’t that cold in the car” she replied

“Uh yeah. But, uh, do you want to go out though?” Jason asked again, feeling dumb. He braced himself. 

“Um, of course! I’ve wanted you to ask me that for months” Renee replied happily

“Wait actually??”

“Yes!”
“No shot, that’s awesome” 

“I was so disappointed when you didn’t ask me to hoco sooner” Renee said

“I know, I definitely waited too long. Why didn’t you ever ask me instead?” Jason said

“The guy should always do it” she replied

“That seems kinda unfair”

“Well get used to it because that’s my philosophy”

“So what should we do then?” Jason asked

“You can come up with a plan this week” Renee said

“I guess so” Jason replied

Renee gave him a true smile, “I can’t wait!” 

She hugged him. It was one of the best feelings ever. Jason wasn’t dreaming anymore. This is reality. He

had done it.

“My son”

“No shot”

“About damn time”

“How the hell did you pull her??”

“No idea” Jason was on Discord with his friends, playing OG Fortnite. 

“You really goofed up not asking her to hoco” Shawn said

“Who cares? There’s still prom. And I heard a kid on SGA say something about a Sadie Hawkins dance. But that sorta goes against her weird philosophy of guys should always ask” Jason said

“Man, everyone’s getting bitches except me and you, Lucas” Damian said

“We’ll lock in, trust. Those girls will swarm us for Sadie’s. Worst case scenario we get no one. Then we pull up in the Dumb and Dumber suits” Lucas said

Everyone laughed.

“Lucas you could ask her friend Ella out” Jason said

“I mean if you’re willing to set me up then that would be fire” Lucas replied

“Hey, what about me? Don’t leave your boy hanging” Damian interjected

“Dude, what about Alyssa Whitaker? Didn’t you literally take her to hoco?” Shawn asked

“She was hella weird. I only asked her because she helped me on a math test. Turns out she’s fucking transgender and shit” Damian said

“I’m pretty sure she’s bi, not trans” Jason said

“Who the fuck cares, she likes to have sex with women. I swear to God there’s not a single hot girl who’s straight anymore. Even if they’re bi I have to deal with sidemen along with sidechicks” Damian said, annoyed

“How much was she into you?” Lucas asked

“I mean, she had a good time. Who wouldn’t? I just eventually ghosted her and shit” Damian said

“You dumbass. She was a total baddie. You got on me for selling but you sold harder” Jason said

“Man, shut yo’ bitch ass up! I get way more bitches than you Jason!” Damian shot back, which was a very dumb thing to say.

“Who’s got a date Friday?” Jason asked, tauntingly

Damian couldn’t stay mad at him. He was too proud of his boy.

“Damian, you still have a while to find a girl. Sadies and Prom are months away” Shawn said

“Y’all better be looking out” Damian said

“Hey what’s everyone doing for Thanksgiving?” Jason asked

“Hosting at home” Lucas said

“Going to my cousin's in Fort Worth” Damian said

“Driving down to San Antonio to see my grandparents” Shawn said

“Nice. We’re going to Phoenix to visit my cousins” Jason said

“Driving or flying?” Shawn asked

“Flying. Driving is way too long for the amount of time we’ve actually got” Jason replied

“Cool. Anyways boys, I gotta log off. See y’all on Monday” Shawn said

“Yeah, my mom’s calling me for dinner. See y’all” Damian logged off. Shawn followed suit.

“See you Monday Jason. Don’t fumble with Renee” Lucas told him

“I won’t” They logged off.

Jason was anxious for Thanksgiving. It was his favorite holiday and he couldn’t wait to see his cousins. His uncle had a big house and half of Jason’s family would always be there. They’d even do activities on the days after. He just couldn’t wait. Meanwhile, he struggled to balance hanging out with the boys and

his butt load of homework. He also hadn’t planned a date with Renee yet. Instead, he was thinking about his Psych test. Before the exam, Jackson approached him. He was relieved that he didn’t have to inform Jason about Renee and it all played out.

“Yoooo, dude congrats on Renee. Ella told me” he said

“Thanks man. She wants me to come up with a date idea” Jason replied

“Get to it” Jackson said

“After the fucking test” Jason said. He glanced over at Ben, who was staring at them. Jason and Jackson quickly looked away.

“Ben won’t be so happy” Jackson said

“Yeah, but that’s a him problem” Jason said

“You do you” Jackson sat down and got out a pen for the MCQ. The test sucked. The MCQ was tough and the FRQ was even worse. Jason knew that he flunked it.

“Dude, I’m cooked. That test was impossible” Jason told Jackson after they finished.

“I know dude. My mom’s going to kill me when we get the scores back” Jackson replied

“Hey guys what’s up?” Ben sat down at a desk next to Jason and Jackson.

“Oh, uh, hey Ben” Jason said

“Y’all know Renee Stinson right?” Ben asked

“You’ve literally mentioned her to us before” Jackson said

“Well, y’all know I like her and I’ve been wondering about doing this. But should I ask her out?” he asked

Aw crap, Jason thought. He and Jackson tensed as they looked at each other. They didn’t want to answer Ben. Eventually however, Jackson did. 

“Hey man, I’m super sorry but she’s dating someone else. Don’t do it” he said

Ben’s face fell, “Wait what? Who?” he said

Jason frantically shook his head at Jackson, who nodded.

“You don’t know him. He goes to McKinney” Jackson said

“What’s his name?” Ben asked

“Uhhh, Hayden Christensen or something” Jackson quickly replied. He then grimaced.

Oh no, Jason thought. He held his breath.

“Oh, well good for her I guess” Ben said sadly

“Sorry man,” Jackson said. Jason let out a huge sigh of relief.

“It’s fine” Ben sat on his phone until the bell rang. Jason and Jackson were quick to get away from Ben when class ended.

“Thanks for helping out” Jason said

“No problem. It would’ve been so weird telling him the true situation” Jackson replied

“You almost blew it with Hayden Christensen” Jason told him

“I just watched Revenge of the Sith. It was the only name that came to mind” Jackson said

“Thank God he didn’t know who he is” Jason said

“Not a true Star Wars fan” Jackson shook his head. Next period, Jason saw that his Psych test score was put into Powerschool. He got an 84, which he was honestly happy about. His class grade stayed the same. His next period, English, had a sub. The assignment his teacher gave him was light so he breezed through it and then watched Cobra Kai on his phone for the rest of class. While watching, he tried to brainstorm date ideas. He thought of using ChatGPT but that seemed pretty lame. Surprisingly, he took inspiration from the show for his date. He happened to be watching an episode where two of the characters go on a date at a mini golf course. Jason knew that there was a brand new fun center over in Plano that had an arcade, mini golf, and go-karts. He let out a sigh knowing that he finally planned his date. 

Jason told Renee his idea and she liked it. They decided to go out on Friday night. Jason would pick her up. He told Lucas all about it and asked for some advice the next morning during homeroom. 

“I mean, I’ve been on one date and my mom made me do this but go to her front door and pick her up there instead of you sitting in the car. Also wear deodorant and brush your teeth and whatnot. And listen to what she says and don’t be on your phone a lot” Lucas told him

“Thanks man, I’ll make sure to do all that stuff” Jason replied

“Oh yeah one more thing and it’s the hardest one. You can’t act like a guy” he said

“What do you mean” Jason asked

“Like, don’t act like how you would around me, Damian, and Shawn with her. It sucks but girls will think you’re a jerk. They don’t understand the bro code” Lucas explained

“Well, I’ll try”

“But don’t dumb yourself down. Try to be yourself still but don’t say messed up shit and stuff or tell dirty jokes” 

“Ok”

“And speaking of the bro code, you better not ditch us” 

“I won’t” 

“Good” 

It was a lot to take in. He wasn’t sure whether to trust Lucas completely because this first date that he went on was a disaster. However, Jason knew that all the advice he gave him must’ve been what Lucas had learned after his date. He went along with it. The rest of the school day went by fast. Jason had a blast in gym class, where they went outside. Jason convinced the other guys in his class to play four square with him. People were reluctant because it was on the track field but the lines made great boxes. Soon, half the class was playing. There were many arguments and lots of intense matches. Jason was excellent and he easily got newcomers out. He was disappointed when they had to go back inside.

In his last period, English, Jason had to write an essay about Catcher in the Rye. He was supposed to write an analysis on one of the characters. The essay was easy and he managed to finish it quickly. Finally, school ended and Jason went home. He walked in his house and found Madison at the kitchen table, working on her college applications. 

“Why’d you go home early?” Jason asked

“Mom’s making me finish my applications” Madison replied

“Which schools are you doing?” 

“Well I already submitted one to Colorado since that’s my main choice. I also submitted apps to Texas and Houston. I’m now submitting Oklahoma, OSU, and North Texas” she told him

“Why would you even apply to North Texas? It’s practically going to community college” Jason said (North Texas is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area).

“It’s a safety school” she said

“Yeah but you’re pretty much guaranteed to get into Colorado, too. I wouldn’t even worry” Jason said

“I don’t know, mom told me to” Madison said

“Well good luck” Jason left her to work and went to the den to play some OG Fortnite before Parker got home and hogged the Xbox. After playing a few rounds, Madison came upstairs. She had a smirk on her face. She then stood in front of the TV.

“Madison, move! I’m fighting some kid right now!” Jason yelled. He tried to look around her but it was too late. He died. Jason was pretty annoyed.

“What the fuck Madison, I was in the top ten!” he shouted

“Are you going on a date with Renee Stinson?” Madison asked

Jason was surprised, “How the hell did you know that?”

“Because I know Renee Stinson too. She’s in my Marketing class. I overheard her talking about the date” Madison said

“What did she say?” Jason asked eagerly

“She was shockingly excited. She couldn’t stop talking about you. Not sure what the hell she sees in you” Madison said

“Hey, shut up” Jason threw a pillow at her. Madison knocked it aside.

“Don’t be an idiot tonight, Jason. She doesn’t put up with guy bullshit” she said

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Lucas told me” Jason replied

“Mhm. Have fun!” Madison threw the pillow back at him and left the den.  Jason was pretty nervous for his date. He made sure to shower and brush his teeth beforehand. He also put on extra deodorant and wore respectable clothes. Before leaving he went to Madison’s room to ask more questions. 
“Uh Madison?” he said walking in

She looked up from her book. There was Morgan Wallen playing from her mini Alexa.

“Do you ever knock?” she said annoyed

“Sorry. But I was kinda wondering what I should do on the date” Jason said

“What do you mean?” Madison turned the music off.

“Like should I hold her hand or something. Is it too early for that?” he asked

“That’s honestly up to her. Girls usually see how they’re feeling about the guy at the time. She may if she’s comfortable” Madison said

“Alright thanks” Jason started to leave.

“Is that seriously it?” Madison asked

“Huh?”

“You came into my room to ask if you should hold hands with a girl?” 

“Uh, yeah?”

“Jesus Jason. Thanks for interrupting my reading” Madison said

“Hey it was an important question” he protested

“Hmph” Madison turned the music back on. Jason started to leave when she paused it again. 

“One more thing: make sure to take photos. Girls like that” Madison told him

“I will, thanks a lot” Jason left her room. He then left for Renee’s house. After he arrived, he sat in his car for a minute taking some deep breaths. After calming down, he got out of the car and walked to her front door. He rang the bell and Renee’s dad answered. 

“Hi Mr Stinson, I’m Jason Montoya. I’m here to pick up Renee” Jason noticed that her dad was wearing a State Trooper uniform, which fired his nerves up again. He was very buff and had a stone-like face, with an almost buzz cut. 

“Hey Jason, come on in! Renee’s just getting ready” Mr Stinson said

They went inside and sat in Renee’s living room. It was extremely awkward. Jason’s palms were sweaty (knees weak, arms are heavy). 

“I figure you know my daughter from school?” Mr Stinson asked

“Yeah, I’ve known her since freshman year. We’ve been friends for a bit” Jason replied

“Mmm. You always lived here in Allen?” Mr Stinson asked

“My parents are from Arizona but me and all my siblings were born here” Jason said, “How long have you been a State Trooper?” 

Mr Stinson laughed, “Almost 25 years. I was originally on the police force down in Waco. I always heard stories about David Koresh while I worked there. You probably know about what happened back in ‘93. I joined in ‘02. Eventually, I met my wife and we moved up here. I took a job as a State Trooper and I usually patrol I-35” 

“Wow, that’s cool” Just then, Renee came downstairs.

“Hi Jason! Ready to go?” she asked. She had a Baylor University sweater and jeans on. Jason looked at his collared shirt and wondered if he overdressed. 

“Yeah, let’s hit the road” Jason stood up

“Bye dad, see you in a bit” Renee said

“Have fun, honey! Nice meeting you Jason” Mr Stinson said

“You too” Jason and Renee got in the car and headed to Plano FunSpot. 

“Sorry about my dad” Renee said on the way

“He didn’t do anything” Jason said

“Yeah, but he likes to wear his State Trooper uniform whenever a guy will be over” Renee said

“Oh, uh, you have guys over often?” Jason asked, nervously

Renee laughed, “Don’t worry, it would be for school projects or family parties” 

Jason took a sigh of relief, “Oh ok, cool”

“You ever been to this place?” Renee asked him

“No, I think it’s brand new. But it’s got mini golf and an arcade and stuff” Jason said

“Sounds fun! We can get dinner after too, if you want” she said

“Whatever you want” After sitting in rush hour traffic for a while, they arrived in Plano. Unfortunately, Jason didn’t anticipate the massive crowds at the FunSpot. There was a ridiculous amount of families and teens hanging out. 
“Jesus, this place is jammed” Jason said

“We can still play games,” Renee said. They went and paid for mini golf. They waited a while before they were able to go. A bunch of stupid frat bros were in front of them, talking about the girls they banged recently. It was really obnoxious. Still, Jason and Renee ignored them and they had fun playing mini golf. Renee was pretty good and she even got a hole in one. Jason looked ahead at the frat bros and they were staring at Renee. Jason locked eye contact with one of them. He was pretty tall and had curly brown hair. His muscles were pretty big and he had a smug look to him. He wore a University of Texas shirt. 
“What you looking at, buddy?” the guy called to him

Jason quickly looked away, “Uh, nothing”

The guy and his friends laughed.

“That your girl?” the guy asked, pointing at Renee.

“Uhhhh” 

The frat bros laughed again.

“Hey babe, why don’t you come over and play with us instead?” the frat bro yelled

“I’m good thanks” Renee called back

“Come onnnn” the guy walked over to her, “You know you want to” The rest of his friends came too, leaving their clubs at the green.

“Actually, I know that I would rather not like to be banged in the back of a shitty Nissan Altima behind a Chili’s later tonight, only to be forgot about the next day as you go back to your dorm and get an STD from some hooker you found at a stripclub” Renee said savagely

The guy stood shocked along with Jason. He had no idea Renee could come up with something like that. All of the guy's friends were amazed.

“Shit Cam, she exposed your ass” one said

“I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t take that” another said

Things then turned nasty.

“What the hell do you know about me, bitch? I wouldn’t fuck you anyway” he spat. That was enough for Jason.

“Hey fuck you man!” He shoved the frat bro into his buddies.

“You wanna go, shithead??” the frat bro yelled

Aw crap, Jason thought as the frat bro swung at him. Jason stumbled backwards and tripped over a rock. That probably saved him from getting his teeth knocked out. Jason then remembered that he was holding a golf club. The dude was about to kick Jason in the ribs but Jason then swung his putter into

the guy’s shins. 
“OW, FUCK!!!” He fell to his knees in pain. 

“Run!” Jason shouted to Renee. They took off back to the main building.

“Kick his ass!” one of the frat bros yelled. They chased after Jason and Renee.

Jason and Renee hid among the mass of kids in the arcade, hiding in the play structure. The frat bros ran past their hiding spot.

“I think we lost them,” Jason said after a few minutes.

“Thank God. Thanks for sticking up for me” Renee said

“No problem, that comeback was sick as hell” Jason told her

She laughed, “The look on his face!”

Jason chuckled too. After a while, they left the play structure and went back to Jason’s car. They were nervous that they’d run into the frat bros again.

“Where now?” Jason asked

“We could catch a movie” Renee suggested

“Sounds good to me”

They went to the nearby movie theater and saw Five Nights at Freddie’s. During the movie, Jason thought about holding Renee’s hand but he decided not to. After the movie, they got pizza. Jason paid for Renee.

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you!” Renee said

Jason turned red. They eventually got their food and ate. Renee told him about other kids at school she didn’t like.

“And Nicole Jarvis called Ella a bitch to her face. Like girl, you literally stole her man” Renee went on about. Jason listened as best as he could.

“So yeah, that’s all my drama lately” Renee finished

“Wait, so does Ella have a boyfriend?” Jason then asked

“She literally did last week but they broke up. I just explained why” Renee said

“My bad. It’s just my friend Lucas Harland is kinda into her. I was wondering if you could mention him to her” Jason said

“Show me a photo of him again. I forgot what he looks like” 

Jason pulled up the best photo he had of Lucas.

“He’s not so bad looking” he told her

“He’s the guy you knocked the beer out of onto Ella, right?” Renee asked

Jason had forgotten about that, “Oh, uh, yeah he is. But he’s really sorry”

“Does he drink a lot? Ella’s not into that kind of thing” Renee said

“No, no, he just got out of hand that one time. He’s usually responsible. Could you please just tell her about him?” Jason pleaded

Renee thought about it, “Alright fine. Send the pic to me and I’ll give it to her. She’s already looking for a new man, mostly for prom” 

“That’s in six months”

“Might as well get a head start. Maybe find a Sadie’s date too” Renee said

“Yeah, I’ll probably go to that if I get asked” Jason said

Renee giggled, “Ok then, would you like to go to Sadie Hawkins with me?” 

Jason was surprised that had worked, “Yeah definitely” 

Renee smiled, “I still need to find a dress” 

“But the dance is in February”

“Takes a while to pick one and then get it shipped. Girls shop ahead for this stuff anyway”

“Glad I’m not a girl. Y’all have to sit when you pee and you have to deal with getting pregnant and stuff. Also it takes y’all like 5 hours when getting a haircut” Jason said, “And, uh, there’s also…”

Renee laughed, “I know what you mean. You get used to it. Except for the pregnancy thing. I’ve never been pregnant” Renee said

“I’d hope not” Jason replied

They finished their pizza and Jason took Renee home. As Jason walked her to the door, he remembered something.

“Shoot, we never took any photos. You want to take one right now?” he asked

“Sure!” 

They took a few quick selfies.

“Thank you so much for dinner and the movie Jason! I had a great time” Renee said

“No problem. If we go on another date, hopefully we won’t run into any frat bros” Jason said

She laughed and gave him a hug. She then waved goodbye and went inside. 

“Well Jason, you did it” he said to himself, a grin on his face.

When Jason got home, he hopped on Fortnite and joined the Discord call with his friends. 
“Where we droppin’ boys?” he said

“Yooooo Jason how’d it go?” Lucas asked

“Listen to this: I almost got beat up by a college guy” he told them

“Bro, what??” Shawn said

“Yeah these random dudes were treating Renee like shit at mini golf. She dissed the main guy and he called her a bitch. So I shoved him. He tried to punch me but I accidentally fell down. I then hit him in the shins with my putter. They chased us for a bit but we lost them and saw FNAF instead. It was a good time” Jason said

“Goddamn, you got that big man energy” Damian said

“Yeah she wants to go on another date” Jason said

“Yes bro, she’s hella into you now” Lucas said

“Oh yeah Lucas, Renee said she’d mention you to Ella” 

“No shot, thanks dude!” Lucas said

“Wait so where are we dropping?” Shawn asked

“I don’t know about you but I’m heading to Flush Factory” Jason said as they rode the Battle Bus.

“Hell nah, we’re going Tilted” Damian said. Everyone except Jason dropped Tilted. They all got wiped immediately by a squad of 11 year olds. 

“BRO, THESE FUCKING KIDS. THEY WERE LITERALLY BORN AFTER 2011!!” Damian yelled, as he got one-pumped. 

“Shoulda dropped Flush” Jason said as he collected loot. However, he went back to the Lobby since they all wanted to play together. 

After several rounds everyone logged off and went to bed. The next morning, Jason woke up and saw that he had received an email from Whataburger. He anxiously opened it and was thrilled to see that he had gotten the job. He would report to job training on Sunday and start as a counter worker. He went downstairs to tell his parents.

“Mom, dad I got the job!” he said excitedly

“Great job honey! When do you start working?” Mrs Montoya asked

“I have job training tomorrow at 11 AM” Jason said, “I’ll probably have to borrow your car”

“About that son. I know we said that you’d get a car your senior year, like Madison. However, we’re proud of your grades at school and we also don’t want you to take the car all the time. I was going to take you car shopping today if you got the job” Mr Montoya said

Jason’s week was getting better and better.

“No way dad! That’s awesome, thank you!” Jason said

“We’ll probably have to try several used dealerships. And the car has to be under $15,000” Mr Montoya

said

“Yeah that’s completely fine!” Jason said

“Alright we can go in an hour” Mr Montoya said

Jason then had breakfast and got dressed. A while later, they left for the nearest used dealership, which was Carmax. They met with the salesman and he told them that if they saw anything they liked to let him know. They browsed the German section first. However, they were all pretty expensive. They then moved onto the American ones, and then Korean. 

“How about this one? It’s only $13,000” Mr Montoya said

Jason looked at it and wrinkled his nose. It was a 2009 Kia Soul, in white. 

“I don’t know dad. Kids will make fun of me for it” Jason said

“You’re right. It’s a wuss’s car” 

They kept looking. It was tedious as there were lots of cars. Some of the ones Jason liked were over the price limit. Then the ones that were a decent price reeked of cigarettes and had dirty interiors. Jason and his dad then left and tried a different place down the street. It was called Fairview Used Autos. The selection was even smaller but most of the cars were cheap. Unfortunately, they also weren’t in great shape and a lot of them smelled.

“Cars aren’t great here either, Jason. Let’s try another place” They started to leave but one car caught Jason’s eye. In the back of the lot, there was a black 2004 Chevrolet Impala.

“Hey dad, can I check that out real quick?” Jason asked

“That one? The taillights on those old Impalas are super strange” Mr Montoya said

Jason didn’t care and he walked over to it. The price on the window read $11,000 so it was within range. He got in. The car was surprisingly clean and it didn’t smell so bad. The mileage was around 110,000 and there was no history of accidents. His dad came over to look at it.

“This one’s pretty good” Jason said

“Yeah... clean at least, no accidents. Let me look up the safety rating” Mr Montoya looked it up,

“Huh, it’s pretty good. Lot of miles though” 

“That’s the only thing. Could we get this one?” Jason asked

Mr Montoya thought about it.

“If you really want it then I guess so” he said

“Awesome!” They then met with the salesman and bought the car. Jason’s dad had just gotten a bonus at work so the price wasn’t a big deal. Jason gave his dad a hug and proceeded to drive to Lucas’s house to show him the car. Lucas came outside and snorted.

“What do you think?” Jason asked

“I thought you couldn’t get a car yet” Lucas said

“My parents decided to get me one for work. Pretty cool, huh?” Jason said

“You really going for that 2000s nostalgia. I wonder what Renee will think when her man pulls up in an ‘04 Impala” Lucas laughed

“She’ll love it. Now I gotta think of a name” Jason said

He ended up naming it Cheryl. (Not sure what’s up with these characters naming their cars C names from the 60’s). Jason then spent the rest of the day joyriding around the highway. The car could go moderately fast. Thankfully, Jason didn’t get pulled over. Afterward, he dropped Lucas off and went home. The next day, Jason had his job training. He learned how to use the computer and he took a menu test, where he had to memorize the menu items. They put him through several scenarios on how to interact with customers. It was fairly simple stuff. After a few hours he went home. His parents were talking about Thanksgiving. 

“What’s up?” Jason asked as he sat at the kitchen table with his family.

“Just discussing Thanksgiving. Our flight to Phoenix is on Tuesday. You and Madison are going to leave school early and come home. From there, we’ll head to the airport” Mrs Montoya said

“Sounds good. What are we doing on Wednesday?’ Jason said

“Going bowling. That’s what Uncle Anthony said” Anthony was Jason’s dad’s brother.

“Yeah, Christie and Ian will be with us, along with Owen and Paul,” Mr Montoya said. Christie, Ian, Owen, and Paul were Jason’s cousins. To make things easier, here’s a handy Montoya family tree:

“Awesome. Will we see everyone else on Thanksgiving?” Jason asked

“Yep. And on Friday we’re going to Aunt Angela’s place” Mr Montoya said

Jason couldn’t wait. Still, he had to get through two more school days. They crawled by. English was the slowest. The content was incredibly boring. Jason was no Shakespeare fan and they were in the middle of reading Macbeth. What made things worse was that there were several irritating girls that sat next to him. They were your typical teenage white girls, all on the lacrosse team, wore Shein and Lululemon, and they had ridiculously high Snapscores. On Tuesday, Jason was trying to concentrate on his reading but it was impossible due to the constant yapping by the lacrosse girls. They were talking about the dumbest shit too, stuff that you shouldn’t brag about.

“So like, I was pulling out of Target but there was a guy in a Ford going by. And I was like, “Oh shit!” but I ended up accidentally hitting him. I didn’t know what to do so I drove away” one said. Jason was pretty sure that her name was Riley. 

“Oh my Goddddd, were you ok?” one of her friends asked. Her name was Caroline.

“Yeah my car wasn’t that damaged. My dad didn’t even notice” Riley said

“At least you didn’t get caught,” another one, Peyton, said. 

Jason snorted. The girls all looked at him.

“Excuse you” Riley said, “You have a problem?”

Jason didn’t feel like getting yelled at but he wanted them to shut up, “Could y’all be quiet or something? I wanna finish this chapter”

The girls laughed and went back to talking about how many hits and runs they’ve committed. Luckily,

Jason then went home early to catch his flight. He grabbed his bag and the Montoyas left for the airport. Unfortunately, the weather was really crappy. Jason hoped that they wouldn’t have a flight delay. The airport was a mob scene. DFW airport is usually crowded, but this was lunacy. Jason and his family waited forever at security and his dad was randomly selected for an extra check. They had to wait even more. Parker then held them up by trying to buy a whole bunch of snacks at the newspaper store. 

“Parker, you only need Doritos! Put the Cheez-Its and the gummy worms away!” Mrs Montoya yelled

“Come one mom! You never buy me Cheez-Its! And these are premium gummy worms!” Parker protested

“Put them back now or you get nothing!” Mrs Montoya said

Parker groaned and he put the snacks away. Jason waited for his mom and brother to leave before buying the gummy worms himself. He eventually caught up to his family looking at the flight board. Thankfully, his flight was not delayed. Most others were, however.

Paris, France American Airlines- Gate E22- Now 7:45

Philadelphia, PA American Airlines- Gate C14- Now 6:00

Philadelphia, PA American Airlines- Gate A3- Now 6:20

Phoenix, AZ American Airlines- Gate D19- On time: 4:30

Phoenix, AZ American Airlines- Gate A30- On time: 5:00

Pittsburgh, PA Delta- Gate B37- Now 5:15

Portland, OR Southwest- Gate C5- On time: 5:00

Providence, RI American Airlines- Gate B11- Now 5:45

The Montoyas waited at the gate until their boarding group was called. Mr Montoya was praying the entire time on the plane that they wouldn’t get delayed.

“Tristan, calm down. We’re literally on the plane. It’s very unlikely that we’d be delayed now” Mrs

Montoya said

“They could still hold us, Sandra! You haven’t flown enough to know that half the time we end up waiting on the plane!” Mr Montoya exclaimed

“I swear to God if that happens” Madison said

Incredibly, they weren’t delayed and the plane took off. Mr Montoya relaxed. This was ironic because the takeoff was extremely bumpy. The rest of the ride however wasn’t so bad. Jason snuck Parker some gummy worms. Parker then thought it’d be funny to kick Madison’s seat, to piss her off. Eventually, Madison snapped.

“Goddammit Parker, if you don’t stop, I’ll kick your ass!” she yelled

“Come and get me!” Parker taunted

“Knock it off Parker” Mr Montoya said, “Or no Xbox for three days” 

That got him to stop. After a little bit, the plane landed. Everyone collected their bags and went outside the airport. Jason immediately noticed how much drier the air was. Honestly, it was better than the Texas humidity. Just then, Jason’s uncle and Ian walked over to them. “You made it!” Anthony said

“Thought we’d be delayed for sure,” Mr Montoya said. They embraced. 

“Yoooo, whaddup Jason?” Ian said. They dapped up.

“So happy y’all are here!” Anthony said

“Excited for the week!” Mrs Montoya said

Everyone then loaded their bags in Anthony’s car and they drove to his house. Jason kept his eyes glued out of the window. He loved Phoenix. It was where his parents grew up and he had always been coming here since he was a baby. The sunset over the valley was beautiful. They drove by the Arizona State campus and downtown and merged onto the Interstate, towards Scottsdale. 

“Yo Ian, I got a car” Jason said

“No shot bro. What is it?” Ian asked

Jason showed him a picture of his Impala. Ian laughed.

“What, are you going to drive around and sell meth in that thing?” he said

“Hey! It looks cool!” 

“Whatever you say” 

Finally, they arrived at Ian's. The house was pretty big, adobe like most others in the Phoenix metro. They all excitedly embraced Jason’s aunt Michelle and younger cousin, Christie. After the hellos, Jason’s family dropped off their stuff and spent the rest of the evening talking with their family. The next day, they hung out with Jason’s other cousins, Owen and Paul. Paul was a freshman at the University of Utah and Owen was a freshman in high school. They all went bowling together and eventually all went to dinner with the last of Jason’s family at his grandparents. There, Jason saw his family from Yuma and Denver. They had just arrived today. It was a blast, playing pool in his grandparent’s basement. Jason’s oldest cousin, Christopher, was the best at it. He was a junior at San Diego State. In his fraternity, pool was apparently a big deal. Jason and his older cousin Danielle didn’t stand a chance. Just then, Jason’s grandpa called him. He ran upstairs.

“Hey Jason, I’m going to head over to Pizza Hut to get the pizzas. I need some help” he asked

“Sure thing Grandpa” Jason said

He smiled. Doug Montoya was a retired auto mechanic. He lived in the Phoenix area his whole life, which is pretty rare, as most people from Arizona moved from somewhere else. His father, Angelo Montoya, immigrated from Spain to New Jersey in the early 1900s. Later, he moved west to Arizona to take a job as a copper mine foreman. Phoenix was only a large town at the time. Still, the Montoyas remained there ever since. In fact, Jason’s parents were the only ones in his direct family to leave Arizona (apart from the family in Colorado), due to the fact that Jason’s dad got a job with AT&T right before he was born. Anyway, Jason and his grandpa hopped in his old Buick LeSabre and headed off. Jason’s grandpa asked about school and his friends and girls. He laughed upon hearing about Renee.

“She’s lucky to have you” he said

“Yeah, haha” Jason laughed

His grandpa then went on about the time he and his friends ran out of gas on their way to Los Angeles and how they were stranded along a lone desert road. He’d told this story a lot before but Jason didn’t mind. It was a good one. Eventually, they picked up the pizzas and brought them back. Everyone dug in. It was pretty similar to Home Alone, except this family wasn’t dysfunctional. At least, it wasn’t most of the time. 

The next day, there was a lot of work to be done in Anthony’s house. Jason and Ian setup chairs and tables while his mom helped Michelle in the kitchen. Anthony and Mr Montoya were trying to set up the deep fryer for the turkey out in the driveway. Jason and Ian were then tasked with setting the table, one so tedious it could drive a man insane. Thankfully, napkin folding duty went to Madison and Christie. Parker just sat around and watched.

“Shouldn’t you be helping?” Madison asked him, annoyed

“Uncle Anthony didn’t tell me to do anything” Parker said

“Go get out the coolers from the garage or something” Christie said

“Alright then” Parker left the dining room.

“He’s so damn lazy” Madison complained, “Mom lets him get away with everything”

“Probably cause he’s the youngest” Christie said

“Aren’t y’all around the same age?” Jason asked

“Yeah but usually the youngest of three gets whatever they want” Christie said

Eventually, most of the work was done and the family started showing up. Anthony, Tristan, and their brother in-law Daniel deep fried the turkey. It was pretty chaotic in the house as everyone greeted one another. Most of the third generation went to the basement to play air hockey and ping pong. One interesting thing about Jason’s cousins was that they weren’t all too old or young. His oldest cousin

was 20 and his youngest was 12. I guess a thing in his family was to have kids around the same time. 

“Yo Jason, you get laid yet?” Christopher said while playing air hockey.

“Nah dude, not yet” Jason said

“At least get laid by the end of the school year” Christopher said

“I mean, there is this one girl...” Jason proceeded to explain about him and Renee.

“NO WAY. Y’ALL, JASON’S GOT A GIRL!!” Christopher shouted. Everyone rushed over. Most of Jason’s cousins were no-hitters (aside from Madison, Brynn, and Christopher). They all proceeded to ask questions. Madison addressed most of them.

“She’s white. She’s not rich. Chris, she’s 16!” 

“What does she look like?” Owen asked. Jason pulled up a picture of him and her. All the guys went crazy. 

“HOW!? HOW!!??” Ian yelled

“Damn Jason, respect” Paul said

“She’s so pretty!” Jason’s youngest cousin, Alexa, said.

“Oh my God, she’s gorgeous. Congrats Jason!” Brynn said

Jason grinned. He couldn’t help it. 

“I guess she’s into nerds” Christopher said

“Shut up Chris” Jason replied

Just then, Jason’s Aunt Mary called for dinner. Everyone dashed upstairs and into the dining room. A whole feast was laid before them. You had your standard Thanksgiving foods, such as turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing, but you also had some Spanish items, like paella. Jason’s grandpa led the prayer and the 3rd generation got their food first. At dinner, Jason and Madison got bombarded with more questions about Renee. He managed to put up with them. He wasn’t used to having this much attention. Dinner was delicious and Jason could barely eat dessert afterward, which included pumpkin

pie, cake, and other items. After dessert, the entire family gathered together to play Family Feud, although it had been dubbed “Family and the Feud” by Jason’s grandpa. Jason’s team, which included him, his mom, Owen, Danielle, his dad’s sister Kim, (mom cousin reference) and his Uncle Vincent. The game was led by his grandpa and Uncle Anthony. Jason’s team was pretty bad and his dad’s team, dubbed “Team Go Cardinals”, had won. The prize included several $15 Starbucks gift cards supplied by Aunt Michelle. After Family Feud, everyone watched the Cowboys game. Only Jason’s family wanted them to win. Unfortunately, they did. Eventually, the gathering came to an end and everyone went home or to their hotel, ready for the final few days of good old fashioned family funtime.

Sadly, they sped by and before you knew it, Thanksgiving week was over. It was pretty crushing knowing that you were leaving your cousins to go back to school. On Sunday, Jason’s family said goodbye to everyone and flew home. Luckily, Uncle Anthony would be flying out for Christmas, which was the one thing to look forward to. And Jason was glad to see Renee again and all his friends. They all talked about their Thanksgiving weeks. And the Christmas season had certainly begun. Jason’s family went tree shopping and Jason and his dad put up the lights outside. Teachers at school weren’t feeling the Christmas spirit, as they piled on the homework. Jason found out that he had two tests on the last day before break. At least his work came relatively easy to him. One day, at lunch, Lucas ran to them with exciting news.

“Dudes! You know Ella Dunn? She’s into me!” he exclaimed

“Your welcome” Jason said

“Are you going on a date or something?” Shawn asked

“I think so! She added me on Snap and we talked for a while. She asked if I wanted to go to a Christmas market with her!” Lucas said

“Did she mention the Halloween incident?” Jason asked

“No she didn’t, thank God. I don’t think she cares or even remembers” Lucas said

“Shit! Now it’s just me!” Damian cried

“I’m telling you, Alyssa Whitaker!” Shawn said

“I just might have to. I’ll think of an explanation” Damian said

Lucas spent the rest of the lunch period talking about Ella. His date inspired Jason. He knew that Texas Motor Speedway did some cool light show. It was the perfect spot. After school, he told her about it and she loved the idea. It turned out to be another smooth date. Still, no big moves had happened yet. Should they be holding hands by now? That was what went through Jason’s head. It also went through Renee’s. She had long conversations about this with her friends. One day, they were all watching a movie at her house when Jason was brought up.

“How are y’all doing?” her friend Avery asked

“Good, I think. Our two dates have been nice. We call each other a lot” Renee said

“Have y’all held hands or kissed yet?” her other friend Ally asked

“No, I was thinking about that. I mean, I really, really like him and I’ve wanted to advance things in our relationship. But I’m worried I’ll come off too strong and freak him out” Renee said

“Girl, don’t worry about that. He clearly likes you a lot too. He won’t be freaked out by you trying to hold his hand” Ella said

“I think after your next date, you should make it official. You both are obsessed with each other” Ally said

“Yeah, I want to. I’ll ask him on another date and see what he wants. Hopefully, he’ll want to officially be a couple too” Renee said

“What happened to your “guy should always do it” philosophy?” Avery asked, “Seems like you’ve ditched that”

“I honestly have forgotten about it. I guess being in a relationship changed my mind” Renee said

“As long as he still puts in effort and makes you a priority. I know he’s pretty tight with his buddies” Ally

said

“Didn’t you ask one of them out?” Avery asked Ella

“Yeah, Lucas Harland. I know he got drunk at that party and was kinda stupid but he’s pretty cute and charming when sober” Ella said

“He’s literally got the same name as Colonel Sanders” Renee said

“Uhm, no he doesn’t” Avery said

“He does. Harland Sanders” Renee said

“Of course you know his first name, Renee” Ally said

“My family just likes KFC” Renee replied, “I could go for some right now”

That was what they ordered for dinner. They ate to Mean Girls.

“Is it everything you hoped for?” Ally asked

“Yup. It's finger licking good!” Renee said

“Jason should take you to KFC for your next date” Ella said

“Maybe if we were boyfriend and girlfriend. But definitely not now” Renee said

“KFC is so mid anyway” Avery said

“No it’s not!” Renee exclaimed

“Ella, are you excited for your date?” Ally asked

“Yes definitely. Hopefully he’ll be a change from Jack. Stupid Nicole, she deserves an asshole like him” Ella said

“I mean, she’s the biggest slut in our grade. Do you know her body count?” Ally asked

“She made out with my brother in a Chick Fil-A parking lot. Disgusting” Ella said

“She dated Jackson?” Renee said

“Not really. She thought he was hot and I helped set them up. All they did was go see a movie and then

do it. She left him after that” Ella said

“Jeez, was he pissed?” Avery asked

“Of course. He’s got trust issues with girls now. Scared to ask anyone out” Ella said

“That’s so sad! Have you tried setting him up with anyone else?” Avery said

“He doesn’t trust me either. He partially blames me for the whole thing” Ella said

“Shocked that he wasn’t satisfied with making out” Renee said

“He wants an actual relationship. Sure, he probably got off to that and told all his friends, but he wants a real girlfriend” Ella said

“I mean, I’ll take his Snap” Ally said

“Oh my God Ally” Ella sighed

“What? He’s looking for a cute girlfriend. I’m looking for a cute boyfriend. We’re perfect for each other!” Ally said

Ella shook her head and finished her chicken. The girls went back to their movie. 

Jason was kind of screwed the next week. He had an English exam on Macbeth and he hadn’t even finished the book. The Sparknotes just weren’t doing it for him. He begged Madison to help him but she said that she forgot what even happened. 
“How do you not know, this was last year!” Jason exclaimed

“I was just as checked out as you are. Just know that everyone probably dies. It’s Shakespeare” she told him

He decided to ask his friends during lunch.
“Guys, I need to know what happens at the end of Macbeth! I didn’t read it and now I’m cooked!” he cried

“Look it up online” Lucas said

“I tried but the Sparknotes told me nothing! Don’t y’all take standard English??” he asked

“I’m in AP lang” Shawn said

“I’m in Honors” Lucas said

“Didn’t read the book either” Damian said, “I’ll just take the fail”

“Crap!!” 

“Dude, how have you not found out the ending? We live in an age of Google” Lucas said

“You sound like a 47 year old dad” Shawn said

“Whatever. Anyway, I think Jason should just look again” Lucas said, “We’ll help you study”

Jason was reluctant that he’d find anything but he got out his computer. He and his friends spent the lunch period researching the end of the book. They managed to find some info that wasn’t from Sparknotes. At least Jason calmed down a bit. He was a little more confident for the test. His friends wished him luck as he went to English. His teacher gave them the test and they began. Thankfully, it wasn’t so hard. Most of the questions were simple. Midway through, Jason felt that someone was watching him. He turned to the side and saw the lacrosse girl Riley whip her head away. 

Of course she’s trying to copy off me, Jason thought. He covered his test and continued. Suddenly, he got a mean idea. His teacher had accidentally given him two answer sheets but Jason never gave her back the second. So he pulled it out and started marking wrong answers. This time, he didn’t cover his paper. In the corner of his eye, he saw Riley looking down at him. Jason smirked. Soon, he turned in his paper, although he made sure to shove the false one in his pocket first. Jason hoped he did well on the actual thing. The next day, they got the tests back. Jason got a 90. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. He noticed that Riley got a 72. She definitely wasn’t happy, especially after she saw Jason’s grade. 

“Yeah?” he asked after he caught her staring.

“Um, nothing” Riley looked away. 

That night, Jason went to a basketball game with Damian. Allen was playing Duncanville. The game was

a blowout. It was Allen’s worst performance yet. Nobody from Allen was even watching anymore. Jason happened to notice Riley and her friends in the row in front of them. During halftime, Jason was able to hear what they were saying.

“How’d y’all do on the Macbeth test?” Peyton asked

“I got a fucking 72 after copying off the Jason kid” she said annoyed. The girls laughed at her. 

“That’s why you shouldn’t copy off of randos in class. He’s probably a dumbass” Peyton said

Jason clenched his jaw in anger.

“You good bro?” Damian asked

“These girls are talking about me,” Jason whispered, pointing at them. He kept listening.

“Yeah, but I looked at his paper and he got a 90. How?? I wrote down the same answers as him! Now my grade in English dropped three points!” Riley exclaimed

“Maybe the answers were switched around, depending on the test?” Caroline suggested

“I don’t think so! All I know is that my mom will kill me!” Riley said

“Chill out. Here, take this,” Caroline gave Riley her vape. Riley took a few puffs of it and blew the smoke toward Jason and Damian. They swatted it away.

“What a bunch of bitches” Damian said

“I know, right?” Jason replied

“God, I wish I could see his answer sheet” Riley said

Jason figured that this was the perfect time to jump in. 

“Here you go!” Jason whipped out his fake sheet and shoved it in Riley’s face. Their reactions were priceless. Caroline and Peyton covered their mouths. Riley went white. 

“You wanted this?” Jason said

“Uhhhh. Um, did you hear what I said?” Riley asked nervously

“Yeah, and you wanted to see my answer sheet. Here it is” Jason said

She took it and scanned it, “Um, where’s the grade?” she asked

“It’s not graded” Jason said

“But I saw your paper in class and it had a grade on it” Riley said

“Oh yeah. Turns out this actually isn’t my test. You’re not slick, I knew you were copying and I wrote the wrong answers down on purpose. Keep your eyes to yourself next time” Jason spat

The girls were shocked.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, psycho!” Caroline yelled

“You’re such a dick!” Riley shoved him into Damian. Jason didn’t care. He was laughing his ass off with Damian. 

“Fuck you! Get out of here!” Riley shouted

Damian and Jason walked away, still laughing. 

“Losers!”

“Dirtbags!”
“Bitches”

The girls all screamed at them. Jason and Damian didn’t care. They decided to leave the game and go to Applebee’s.

“All that because of an English test” Jason said in the car

“Typical hoes. Overreacting to minor shit like that” Damian said

Jason and Damian ate, talked more about the crazy girls, and went home.

“How the hell has this thing not broken down yet?” Damian asked Jason during the ride home.

“No idea” Jason replied

“Why’d you even get this thing?” Damian said

“I liked the look of it. And it was super cheap” Jason said

“No wonder” Damian muttered

Jason dropped Damian off at his house and went home. The next day, he got a text from Renee asking him on another date to the Dallas Museum of Art. Jason wasn’t very interested in going to an art museum but he hastily said yes anyway. The date was for Saturday the 16th. During school, Jason was wondering what would happen when he would see Riley and her friends during English. Hopefully they’d ignore him. During gym, Jason’s class didn’t go outside as it was relatively cold. North Texas did get pretty chilly during the winter. Jason still remembered that freeze during the Pandemic in 2021. The pipes in Jason’s house had frozen and they had to rely on water in jugs. They “showered” using baby wipes. One of Jason’s neighbors down the street, an elderly man, had died after the lost power cut off his life support. It was a horrible situation overall, especially after learning about their senator going down to Mexico on vacation. Thankfully, Jason’s family made it through fine, although his mom got the flu. Anyway, Jason was playing basketball when Ben Vanaught approached him. Jason hadn’t really talked to Ben much. Ever since he’d started going out with Renee, Ben was sulky and kind of an asshole to be around. Jason would’ve thought that he’d move on but I guess not. And Jason knew that if Ben found out that he was dating Renee, it would spell disaster. 

“Hey, uh, Jason,” Ben said, interrupting Jason’s game.

“Uh, hi Ben” Jason replied. He then joined in the game again.

“Can we talk?” Ben asked

“I’m in the middle of a game right now, dude” Jason said

“Just for a bit” Ben said

Jason gave an irritated sigh, “Fine”

Ben took him to the side. 

“So” 

Jason stared at him, “So what?” 

“How’s Renee?” Ben asked coldly

Jason was hoping he wouldn’t mention her, but there he was. 

“She’s fine” Jason said looking down

“Still dating Hayden?” Ben asked

“Uh, yeah” Jason said awkwardly

“That’s bullshit! You’re the one going out with her! I saw her Instagram story. You and her went to a Christmas light show last week!” Ben said angrily

Oh man, Jason thought.

“Alright, fine. Yes, we are dating. You have a problem with that?” Jason shot back

Ben didn’t really have an answer to this. What could he even say?

“Uh, well, uh, why did you lie to me?!” he decided

“Because me and Jackson knew that you’d be all upset if you found out it was me. And we were right” Jason said

“Do you even know her well??” Ben demanded

Jason was getting pissed off, “Who asks something like that? Of course I do!” 

“Alright, what’s her middle name?” Ben asked

“What? I don’t know that!” Jason said

Ben scoffed, “How about this: What does her dad do?”

If he can’t get her middle name he definitely doesn’t know her dad’s job!, Ben thought.

Jason smirked, “Her dad's a State Trooper. Used to work down in Waco and then he moved here. Is that good enough for you? Have I passed your stupid-ass test?” Jason said

Ben stood shocked, “Um, uh..”

“Yeah, why don’t you get over it and leave me and Renee alone?” Jason spat as he ran back to his game. Ben stood there fuming. But he then developed a nasty idea. He decided to go to Renee instead. Lucky for him, they shared the same lunch period. When lunch rolled around, he approached her. She was

sitting with Ella, Ally, and Avery. 

“Hey Renee” he said

“Oh, um, hi Ben” Renee said, surprised

He sat down next to her.

“So I heard you’re dating Jason Montoya” he said

“Yeah, I am” 

“I’ve got some bad news about him. I overheard his friend Jackson Dunn saying it in class. He claimed that Jason said that he’s only with you to have sex. I’m not sure if he’s telling the truth but I figured that you should know” Ben said

Renee narrowed her eyes, “Did he really say that?” 

“Yeah, that’s what Jackson said” Ben insisted

“Hold on” Ella interjected, “I’m Jackson’s sister. I’ve never heard him say something like that once. I know him and if Jason told him something like that, he would tell me. He tells me everything”

Ben dropped his Sprite in horror. He had no idea Ella was Jackson’s twin.

“Uh, well maybe he decided not to tell you because you’re Renee’s friend” Ben said desperately

“I don’t think so. Besides, I remember you. You asked Renee out back in October. I think you’re just salty she rejected you and you’re trying to get Renee to dump him so she can go out with you. You’re not slick. You’re just a jerk” Ella said angrily

Renee was disgusted, “Ben, are you kidding me?? I honestly thought you were better than that. I’d never go out with someone who pulls that crap. Get out of here, I don’t want to even see you!” she shouted

Ben, on the verge of tears and humiliated, scurried away.

“Wow, what a psychopath. That’s unreal” Avery said

“Thank God you rejected him” Ally said

“I really thought he was a good guy. I can’t believe he’d try and do that” Renee said

“Thank God he used Jackson as part of his lie. I might’ve actually believed him” Ella said

Meanwhile, Jason told his friends what happened. 

“Damn, Jason’s opps list has grown to four in three days” Damian said. He then told everyone about the basketball situation.

“So you’ve got that idiot Ben and some lacrosse girls all pissed at you now?” Lucas asked

“Pretty much” Jason said 

“Jeez. But that lacrosse girl deserved it. And Ben’s known for being a dumbass” Lucas said

“For sure” 

“Hey boys, why don’t we go fishing on Saturday. The weather’s supposed to be nice” Shawn said

“I’m down” Damian said

“Me too” Lucas added

“Could we do Sunday instead? I’ve got a date with Renee” Jason said. It hurt to say this, as he really wanted to go fishing over going to an art museum.

“The weather’s bad for the rest of the week. And I’ve got work Sunday” Shawn said

“Just tell Renee to reschedule to Sunday” Damian said

“I don’t think she’ll like that” Jason replied

“Worth a try” Damian said

“I don’t know man…” Jason replied

“Dude, come on it’s been a while since we’ve all hung out. You see Renee all the time. Besides, my date is Sunday” Lucas said

Jason thought hard about it. He didn’t really want to go to the museum. Fishing with his pals sounded awesome.

“Alright I’ll tell her that I can’t go out that day” Jason said

“Great. You still gotta be one of the boys” Lucas said

After lunch, Jason found Renee in the hall and told her.

“Hey, uh, Renee” he said

“Hey Jason, what’s up?” she said

“Um, I can’t go out on Saturday,” Jason said. He felt terrible telling her he couldn’t go out.

Renee’s face fell, “Oh, um, why not?” 

“I’ve got something going on” Jason told her. He immediately knew how stupid he sounded the second the words left his mouth. What kind of crappy excuse was that?

“Um, yeah I guess that’s ok…” Renee mumbled

“Awesome. Maybe we could go on Sunday?” Jason suggested

“But the exhibit I wanted to see won’t be there then” Renee said

Well this screwed Jason’s plan up. He quickly thought of another idea.

“What if you go with your friends on Saturday and me and you do something else Sunday? That way, you can still see the exhibit” Jason said

“Sure, if you want” Renee said

“Cool, thanks. I’ll think of something for us” Jason said. He then went to class, leaving her alone.

English class was Jason’s next period. He had no idea how it was going to go. He walked in and sat in his usual seat. The lacrosse girls weren’t there yet. Jason took out his computer so he wouldn’t have to see them when they walked in. Eventually, they did. They all sat next to him but none of them said anything. That was a relief. To Jason's surprise, they didn’t speak to him or even look at him all class. Still, Jason left class quickly. He hoped the girls wouldn’t bother him for the rest of the year. Jason then got a text from Shawn in the group chat, saying that Victoria was coming fishing with them. It was irritating having a girl there but Victoria seemed cool so Jason went along with it. After a few more hours, school ended and Jason went home. Meanwhile, Renee called up Ella.

“Hey girl” Ella answered

“Hey. Well, Jason bailed on me for the museum and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me instead” Renee said

“Did he really? Why?” Ella asked

“He didn’t say. He suggested that we do something on Sunday instead” Renee said

“You know what it is? His friends definitely wanted to hang out. Knowing guys, he most likely didn’t feel like going to an art museum anyway so he figured that it was the perfect opportunity to get out of it” Ella said

“You think?” Renee asked

“I live with a 16 year old guy. He’d do the exact same thing” Ella stated

Renee didn’t know how to feel. Part of her was mad at Jason for ditching her to hang out with his buddies. But another part was forgiving because she knew that he still cared about her and wanted to be with her. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have suggested doing something on Sunday.

“Well, I guess I’ll still do something with him this weekend. Maybe I can still make a move then” Renee said

“Sounds good, babe. I’d still talk to him about the relationships and priorities and whatnot” Ella replied

“Of course. So do you want to go to the museum with me?” 

“Sure, I’m not doing anything Saturday”

“Great”

Renee hung up and then proceeded to call Jason. However, he had gone from school to work and he couldn’t talk. Jason liked his job. He always had something to do and he got to smell hamburgers and fries all day. His coworkers were cool too. Unfortunately, he had his first big test today. Jason had just finished taking some guy’s order when a middle aged blonde woman came next in line.

“Welcome to Whataburger, my name’s Jason. May I take your order?” he said

“I’ll take a Double Whataburger with medium fries and a small Coke” the woman said quickly

Jason entered all of it into the computer, “That’ll be $8.40 ma’am” he said

The woman paid.

“Here’s your order ticket” Jason handed her a piece of paper with her number on it. He then got her Coke.

“How long does it take for the food to come out?” she suddenly asked

Jason had never been asked this. He didn’t really know what to say.

“Um, usually not that long” he said

“Can you tell them to go fast? I’m late for an appointment” she ordered

“It should be done soon. And if you could move to the side ma’am, that’d be great” Jason said. There was a line growing behind the woman.

“Don’t use that tone with me, kid!” she snapped out of nowhere

Jason was taken back. What a bitch, he thought.

“Sorry ma’am. You’re just blocking the register” he said

“You better watch it!” she barked, escalating the situation even more.

“Ma’am, could you, uh, calm down or something?” Jason said awkwardly

“Hey lady, lay off the kid” this one guy in line said

The lady turned around and started arguing with the guy. Just then, one of the workers in the kitchen brought out the woman’s food. 

“Dude, this lady’s being a total bitch” Jason whispered to him

“Should I get Jessie?” his coworker asked

“Probably” 

Jason’s coworker went to the back office and got the manager, Jessie. She came quickly and tried to calm down the woman. There was a bunch more shouting and the woman got louder.

“Ma’am, if you don’t calm down, I’ll have to ask you to leave” Jessie said

“Not without my food! I already paid!” she screeched

Jason wanted this lady out, so he ran forward and shoved the food into her hands.

“Have a nice day!” he said cheerfully

The woman gave him a nasty look and flipped off Jessie. She then stormed outside.

“Sorry you had to deal with that Jason” Jessie said

“It was kinda funny,” Jason admitted. He then got back to work. After he got off his shift, he saw Renee’s missed call so he called her back. She picked up.

“Hey, what’s up?” he said, “Sorry, I was at work”

“It’s ok. I was just wondering what you wanted to do on Sunday” she said

“I was thinking the mall. We can get lunch and go to stores and stuff” Jason said

“Sounds good. I also do want to talk to you for a bit” Renee said

Uh oh, Jason thought.

“Sure. About what?” he asked

“Well, I just want to know that I’m a priority to you” 

“Huh?” 

“I mean, I know that you can’t go to the museum because you’re with your friends. And I want you to still be able to see them. But part of being with someone is going out of your way for them. I know I sound a little selfish but that's how girls work. They don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t make them a priority. That’s all I wanted to say” Renee told him

“Wow. Can’t believe you figured that out. Hey, I’m sorry if I haven’t made you important. I’m just really close with my buddies. If you really want to go to the museum with me, I’ll cancel” Jason said

“No it’s ok. I’m going with Ella. We can go to the mall instead” Renee said

“Cool. I’ll pick you up at 12” 

“Sounds good!”

“Cya”

“Bye!”

They hung up.

Soon, the weekend came and Jason went fishing. They all drove up to a lake west of Allen. They set up on the dock. Lucas and Shawn brought fishing gear while Damian and Jason brought snacks. Victoria brought a speaker.

“Awesome, a speaker!” Lucas said. He immediately took it and put on Kendrick Lamar. They listened to it for a while.

“Couldn’t we listen to Christmas music or something?” Shawn asked

“Yeah, might as well get in the spirit” Victoria added

“If you want” Lucas gave Victoria the speaker. She put on All I Want For Christmas Is You. Everyone except Shawn and Victoria groaned.

“Can we change the song? This is the most overplayed shit” Damian said

“All Christmas music is overplayed” Shawn replied

“This one especially, though” Jason said

“Come on, I like this one!” Victoria said

None of them wanted to argue with Shawn’s girl so they let it play. A while went by and nobody caught anything. Damian had gotten a nibble but he wasn’t able to reel it in. They decided to rent a rowboat and go out on the lake. Victoria opted to stay on land and watch the gear. Lucas named the boat the S.S. Maverickboys and they went on the lake. Shawn still had his rod and he was trying to catch one from the boat. As long as no one got a hook in their neck, it was cool. There wasn’t anything on the lake, such as an island or rock outcropping so they paddled to the middle and went back. Suddenly,

Shawn got a bite.

“OOH, OOH! CHAT, I THINK I GOT ONE!!” he yelled

“Reel it in!” Jason shouted

Shawn reeled as fast as possible and pulled out a black bass.

“YOOOO” Shawn went as he held up the fish. Lucas took a picture and Shawn released it back into the lake. 

“Let me try” Jason took the rod from Shawn. They sat there for 15 minutes and Jason caught nothing. Dejected, he gave the rod back to Shawn.

“Can we go back to shore now?” he asked

“Sure, I think Victoria’s probably pretty lonely too” Shawn said

He and Damian paddled back to shore.

“Finally. Did y’all catch anything?” Victoria asked when they came ashore.

“Yeah, I caught a black bass about this big!” Shawn said. He showed her the photo. It was the most excited the boys had seen him in a while.

“Aw, amazing babe!” Victoria kissed him. Damian snorted.

“What?” 

“Nothing” 

They fished for a little while longer until they packed up their gear and went home. 

“Ready for your date tomorrow?” Jason asked Lucas in the car ride home.

“I think so” Lucas said

“Don’t do what you did last time” Damian said

Lucas didn’t respond. 

“What happened last time?” Victoria asked

“Lucas took her to McDonald’s and Walmart” Damian said

“Damn Lucas, how did she agree to that??” Victoria said

“Look, this was freshman year and I loved McDonald’s. I told her I wanted to surprise her” Lucas said embarrassed

“Negative aura” Jason said

“Jason, shut the fuck up” Damian went

Jason just laughed, “Knew you’d like that”

“Well, anyway, I have some advice for Lucas” Victoria said

She proceeded to give him tips for the rest of the car ride. At the same time, Renee and Ella were at the museum. The exhibit Renee had wanted to see was some Spanish art one. 

“Who’s this by?” Ella asked as she pointed at this one painting.

“Read the plaque” Renee replied dully

“Pablo Picasso” Ella read, “Weird” The painting was a self portrait but the face was made of shapes and the eyes were different sizes.

“Yeah, that’s his art style” Renee explained

“Never knew you were into art like this” Ella said as she moved on to the next painting.

“My mom majored in art history so I grew up seeing this stuff. Also, I thought that Jason would find Spanish art cool since he’s Spanish” Renee said

“Really?” 

“Yeah, Montoya's a Spanish last name” 

“He’s a jerk for bailing” 

“Well, we’re still going on a date tomorrow”

“Yeah but I know you wanted him to be here. How do you actually feel?” 

Renee sighed, “I’m honestly super disappointed that he didn’t come. I thought that this would’ve been a special date. I thought that he would enjoy seeing art from his country. I’m still glad that we’re going

out, but it won’t be as nice as this” 

“Mhm, I knew you’d say something like that. While I agree with you, still make a move on him if you want to tomorrow” Ella said

“Yeah, I probably will. But I think I’ve got a way of getting back at him…”

Jason picked Renee up at 12 PM the next day. 

“Hey Jason, thanks for the ride” Renee said getting in Cheryl.

“No problem. Sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday” Jason said

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll still bore you at the mall” Renee said. Jason gulped.

And bore him she did. Jason was dragged to about twenty stores. They went to Macy’s, Lululemon, Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie and Fitch, Sephora, and Neiman Marcus. Unfortunately, Renee bought stuff at almost every store and Jason ended up carrying a lot of it.

Why did I choose the mall?? He thought. Renee smirked, knowing that she got him back. Eventually, they got lunch and Jason got to go to some shops that he wanted to go to, like the LEGO Store. He didn’t buy anything, though. 

“Don’t want a set?” Renee asked 

“I do, but it’s too expensive and I don’t wanna carry it around right now” he replied. He was staring at his favorite, Rivendell from Lord of the Rings. Once he made enough money, that was the first set he’d buy. 

“It’s beautiful” Renee said looking at it

“I know. But I gotta wait till I get paid” Jason said sadly

Remember to make a move!! Renee thought. But he’s carrying so many bags! How can I hold his hand? 

Take some from him.

“Oh Jason, I’ll take some of those. Thanks for holding onto them” Renee said as she took the Victoria’s

Secret and Lululemon bags.

“No problem” Jason was still looking at Rivendell.

Do it now! His hand is empty! Renee thought. She took a deep breath.

Jason was looking at some Ninjago sets when Renee suddenly took his hand. He looked down and gaped. He stopped thinking about LEGOs completely. He had no idea what to say. Renee was blushing.

“Um, you ready to leave… babe?” she asked 

“Yeah…” Jason said, dazed. They slowly left the store and walked around the mall. Jason’s brain was fuzzy. He could barely focus on anything going on around him. He didn’t know if what was happening was real or not.

SHE’S HOLDING MY HAND, SHE’S HOLDING MY HAND!!! His brain screamed. He looked at Renee. She blushed again.

“What do you want to do now?” she asked

“Uh…. I don’t know” Jason mumbled. He couldn’t describe how he was feeling. He was amazed at the fact that he was holding hands with the girl of his dreams. Yet at the same time, he felt slightly embarrassed. He didn’t know why. Maybe because they were in such a public place?

“Well, we can go back to the car unless there’s other stores you want to go to” Renee said

“Sure…”

In the parking lot, Renee finally let go of his hand. Jason sort of came back to Earth.

Oh God, I hope he’s not freaked out, Renee thought. He’s not! Make it official! Her brain responded. She ended up waiting till they got back to her house.

Now!

“Jason?” she asked quietly

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” 

“Um, actually?” 

“Yes. I’ve thought a lot about it and I really like you. Like really like you. Just your whole personality is something that I am comfortable around. I feel like I can truly be myself when I’m with you. We understand each other and I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. You’re super cute and very funny. You also care about me and protect me, like from the college guys. I hope you want to be together” she said (bet you didn’t think this would be a romance novel, huh). Jason was amazed. He never knew Renee felt that way about him. Heck, he never knew any girl would ever feel that way about himThe feeling was mutual.

“Wow, that’s the nicest thing someone’s ever said to me. I’ve wanted to ask you the same thing. So yes, let’s make it official” he replied

Renee smiled, “Amazing!”

“And I’ll always make you a priority” he added

Renee leaned over and hugged him (again. This moment has happened twice already). She then waved goodbye and went inside. Jason drove home, unsure of what to think. He finally had a girlfriend. And she happened to be one of the hottest and sweetest girls in the grade. Jason always thought that he had bad luck with girls. 

Not anymore. 

The next day, Jason told Lucas what happened during homeroom.

“Unreal, I cannot believe she’s that crazy about you” he said

“Neither can I. I’ve just got that aura” Jason replied

“Oh yeah, my date went well. Ella seemed to have a good time. She mentioned going out again!” Lucas said excitedly

“Let’s go, boy!” Jason clapped him on the back. Upon hearing the news at lunch, Damian finally caved.

“Fuck it, I’m texting Alyssa right now, apologizing” he declared

“Good luck” Shawn said, “Anyway, good for y’all. I bet Victoria will want triple dates or something” 

“What the sigma is a triple date?” Lucas asked goofily

Damian suddenly put down his phone and punched Lucas.

“Ow!!”

“Bitch, shut yo’ brainrot Gen Alpha ass up!” he barked

“We’re all Gen Z, dumbass!” 

“You actin’ like a Gen Alpha!” 

It was always funny watching Damian get pressed about brainrot terms.

“Hey Damian” Jason said

“What?”

“Fanum Tax!” Jason grabbed some of his chips.

“BOY!!” Damian punched Jason. Shawn just sat laughing. 

“Let us know what she says” he said

After school, Jason had work, where he found that he had a new coworker. She was a very pretty blonde girl, probably around 19. She had curly hair, very sharp eyes, and perfect teeth. That day, she worked the front counter with Jason and had lots of questions.

“What do I press to get a receipt?” she randomly asked

“When you put the order in, it automatically comes out” Jason answered

“Ohhh ok. Thanks!” 

While she seemed like a dumb blonde, she turned out to be pretty nice and gave good service to customers. When break time came, they both sat together. (don’t worry, Jason felt no romantic connection with her) 

“What’s your name?” she asked

“Jason Montoya. You?” 

“Danica Carver”

“Nice to meet you. You like it here so far?” he asked

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I go to North Texas and my parents wanted me to get a job. They were sooo pushy about it. The only issue is that I live in Denton and this isn’t close” Danica said

“Seriously?? Why’d you choose this Whataburger then?” Jason asked, bewildered

“Well, there’s a really good Sephora nearby that I like going to. Also my boyfriend moved to Plano and this is nearby his house”  Danica said

“Bruh” Jason said

Eventually, they got back to work. Jason then received a happy surprise.

“Hey Jason!” 

He looked up. It was Renee.

“Oh hey Renee! May I take your order?” he asked

“Please! I’d like a Diet Coke” she said

“That it?” 

“Mhm!”

Jason gave it to her and she paid.

“Told you I’d visit you! Bye babe!” Renee said

“See you!”

“Awww, is she your girlfriend?” Danica asked

“Yeah, we’ve been dating for a few weeks” Jason said

“She’s gorgeous” 

“I know” 

“I hope my boyfriend will visit me”

“What does he look like?” Jason asked

“Here’s a photo of him” Danica showed Jason a picture. He was a skinny Latino dude with short black hair. He wasn’t bad looking.

“Seems like a cool guy. What’s his name?”

“Luis. Been on some crazy dates with him!” 

Soon, Jason and Danica’s shift ended. They both went to the parking lot.

“Damn, you got a sweet car!” Jason exclaimed as Danica unlocked her white Mercedes GT 43. 

“Thanks! You, um, also have a nice car” Danica replied

Jason suddenly felt sort of embarrassed by his car. It paled in comparison to Danica’s.

“Oh, uh, yeah. See you later” he said

“Bye!” She drove off. Red in the face, Jason went home. He hopped on Xbox and joined the Discord call with his friends.

“Whaddup” 

“Yo, Jason. I just told Shawn and Lucas but Alyssa texted me back and she forgives me! We’re texting again!” Damian said

“Nice, dude. You think she’s into you?” Jason asked

“Maybe. She was pretty happy to get a message from me. She talked about how fun hoco was with me. I kinda felt bad for ditching her” Damian said

“Well that’s a good sign” Jason said

“Yeah” 

The next day, Jason got exposed during math. They were learning trigonometry, which was very hard and boring. Jason was playing games on his computer. He had completely toned out his irritating teacher, Ms Russo. She was a fairly young woman. Usually, younger teachers are pretty chill but not Ms Russo. She had a massive stick up her ass. She took away phones and Airpods every chance she got

and always monitored the computers. She also liked to call on students randomly, and give tests after breaks. Jason was playing the Snake game when out of nowhere, his teacher said:

“Alright Jason, what did you get for number 6?” 

Jason’s head shot up. What is she talking about? 

“Uh, what?” he said stupidly

“Question 6 on the worksheet. What did you answer” she said again, sternly

“Uhhh” Jason looked at his sheet, which was blank.

“I, uh, couldn’t figure that one out” he said

“What about question 7?” Ms Russo asked

Come on, that’s so cheap. Jason thought.

“Uh, I didn’t get that one either” he tried

“Bring your sheet up here” Ms Russo said

Oh hell no. 

He awkwardly got up and walked to the front of the class. Kids were giggling as he went by them. He shoved the paper into her hand. She looked over it.

“Playing computer games, I suppose?” she asked nastily

“Uh, maybe” Jason replied quietly

“That’s a zero for this assignment. You see this? Don’t be like Jason everybody” Ms Russo announced with a smug look. Jason wanted to smack it right off her. He did say something else, however.

“Why you gotta do me like that?” he muttered. The kids in the front snorted and held in laughs.

“Excuse me?”

“I said why do you gotta embarrass me in front of everyone?” he said louder. There was much anger in his voice. Everyone went quiet. One kid started recording.

“Don't take that tone with me! I’m making an example of you!” she shot back

“Well maybe if you made our lectures interesting, I would actually care enough to do the stupid sheet!” Jason went, a little too loud.

“Ooooooooh!!” 

“Damnnnn” several kids went

Ms Russo stared daggers into him. She looked at the class and took a deep breath.

“After school detention tomorrow and Wednesday. And a write-up to your parents. If you ever speak to me that way again, you’ll be seeing the principal. Sit down now” 

Fuming, Jason stomped back to his seat. Ms Russo went on with the boring lesson.

“She deserved that” Ella Dunn whispered to him

Jason was in no mood to talk.

“Whatever”

“No seriously, that was so funny. Sorry about your punishment though” she said

“Alright”

“Hmph, be salty. Anyway, Renee told me what happened! Ohmigosh, congratulations! We need a couple name for you two now!” she said excitedly

“Ella, not now!” he said angrily. Unfortunately, Ms Russo heard him.

“Be quiet Jason or it’s another day of detention!” she barked

Jason gave her a dirty look and went back to doing his dumb sheet. Ella decided to leave him alone. Jason told his friends about what happened.

“Russo’s a bitch. Good for you dude!” Lucas said

“I already saw. John Laskey posted the vid on his Snapchat'' Shawn said

“You think your parents will be pressed?” Damian asked

“Probably”

However, Jason realized it would be smarter to tell his parents what happened before they got the

email, so they could hear his side. When he got home, he told his mom what happened. Her eyebrows continued to rise as Jason went on.

“Are you mad at me?” Jason asked when he finished

His mom said nothing. She went and got a ginger ale from the fridge.

“Uh mom? Did you hear me?” Jason said

“Hmm? Oh right. Well, I guess not. Madison had Ms Russo last year and she said that she was a jerk. Still, you shouldn’t have been playing games in class” Mrs Montoya said

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But she went too far” Jason said

“Well, just do your punishment and then forget it ever happened. The semester’s almost over anyway and you won’t have to see her anymore” 

“I will”

After school the next day, Jason reported to detention. It was in some random English classroom. There were six other kids in there. Jason recognized a few. These weren’t the most pleasant students at Allen High. There was Isaiah Jones, a buff black Senior who had been in 5 fights in the hallways. There was Marcus Wiseman, a tall white Junior who shoplifts frequently at the 7/11. And then there was Juan Cortez, probably the nastiest guy at the school. He beat up anybody who looked at him funny. Once, Damian called his cousin a bitch so Juan went and planted Damian’s face into the lockers. There were rumors that his dad was part of the cartels. If Juan heard anyone saying that, they’d be in for a rough day. Jason made sure to sit as far away from him. The teacher running detention wasn’t actually a teacher, but one of the janitors, Mr Ruiz. 

“Name?” Mr Ruiz asked, looking at his list.

“Jason Montoya” Jason responded

“Alright, find a seat. You’re the last one here so I’ll go over the rules. You are all here for an hour. At

4:00, you may be dismissed. There will be no talking and no use of cellphones, so bring them up to me” Mr Ruiz held out a paper basket, “If you try to leave, you will get two more detentions so don’t even think about it. The timer starts now” Mr Ruiz then got out some book in Spanish and started reading. Jason and everyone else put their phone in the basket. He then sat down and put his head in his arms. The time was unbelievably slow. When Jason looked up to check the clock, he saw Juan staring at him. Jason looked away, not wanting to make eye contact. The detention went on. Finally, 4:00 came. 

“You’re free to leave. Come get your phones” Mr Ruiz held out the basket. Jason grabbed his phone and quickly left. However, in the hall, Juan called out his name. Jason froze and turned, terrified. Juan lumbered over to him. Oh God, I hope I haven’t pissed him off somehow, Jason thought. 

“Hey Montoya!”

“Uh, y-yeah?” Jason stuttered

Juan stopped. He had curly black hair, a scar going through his eyebrow, and a face like rock. His hands could crush bricks. 

“Your sister is Madison right?” Juan asked

Jason didn’t expect this, “Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, bye!” Jason turned to speed walk away when Juan yanked him by the backpack.

“I’m not done. Madison fucked me during history today. She refused to let me cheat off her and I flunked the test. Since I can’t hit a girl, tell her this is from me” Juan then punched Jason in the gut and whacked him across face, leaving a bright red mark. Jason fell over, completely winded, his face stinging. Suddenly, Juan gave him a colossal wedgie and lifted him back to his feet. Jason cried out in pain. 

“You tell her. Now get the fuck outta here” Juan shoved Jason down the hall. Jason ran off stiffly to the bathroom. He pulled his underwear out from his butt. The mark of where Juan hit him was pretty much pink. Jason groaned and stumbled outside, where Madison was waiting to pick him up. 

“Jeez Jason, what happened to your face?” she asked

“Juan Cortez beat me up. He said it was because you didn’t let him cheat off you” Jason mumbled

“WHAT??!!” Madison then pulled over and turned off the car, “Are you serious??” 

“Yeah, why would I lie?” Jason said

“Oh my God, that fucking psycho! Tell the principal!” Madison exclaimed

“He’ll just beat me up again! Detentions and even suspensions don’t do shit!” Jason replied

“If you won’t tell, I will” Madison said firmly

“No! He may go after you then! I know he said he wouldn’t hit a girl but he’s also crazy! What if he really does hurt you for snitching??” Jason cried

Madison stared off in the distance, “I should’ve just let him cheat”

“No, you shouldn’t have given that shithead a free pass. He deserved to fail” Jason said

“I know but look what happened to you!” Madison said, her voice cracking.

“Who cares? It’ll toughen me up” Jason said

“Even though you lost?” 

“Hey! But the point is, don’t tell on him” Jason pleaded

Madison sighed, “Fine. But if he does anything to you again, I will tell someone” 

“Ok”

Madison turned the car back on and took them home. 

The second Jason’s detention ended, he booked it for the exit. As long as he avoided Juan, he’d be fine. He was doing that anyway. When he got in the car, Madison was all nervous.

“What’s up?” Jason asked

“Colorado should tell me if I got in or not today at 4:30” she said jittery

“You’ll be fine, the acceptance rate is super high. Also, you got into all of the others except Texas” Jason

said

“Texas deferred me” 

“I know but the point is that you at least get to go to college” Jason stated

“I guess so. But I want to go to Colorado so badly. That’s where Danielle goes and the campus is just so beautiful” she said

“I wouldn’t worry. You’ll get in”

When they made it home, it was 4:28. Madison was constantly checking her email. Mr and Mrs Montoya were at the kitchen table with her, trying to calm her nerves. They told her all of the same stuff Jason said. Eventually, she got an email. Trembling, she opened it and went to the Colorado admissions site. She took a deep breath and checked the page. She immediately let out a gasp and started squealing with joy.

“YAAAASSSSS, I GOT IN, OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!” 

“Told you you’d do it!” Mrs Montoya said

“Congrats, honey!” Mr Montoya said

“Nice job Madison,” Jason said. Even Parker congratulated her and gave her a hug. In celebration, they all went to a nice steakhouse in downtown Dallas. Madison was texting her friends where she learned that her friend Hannah got in too. She started freaking out again, right in the middle of the restaurant. It was pretty embarrassing but Jason was happy for her anyway. The next day, Madison’s friends came over and they decorated her room with Colorado stuff and then took a bunch of photos for Instagram. Unfortunately, Madison made Jason take the photos. 

“Ok I got it” he said

“No, no. We didn’t even get to pose” Hannah said

“What? But I already got some good ones” Jason protested

“Just hold down on the button” Hannah told him

They then started doing all these cringy teenage girl poses while Jason repeatedly took pictures. At the end, he took some of himself, annoying Madison.

“What are you majoring in again?” he asked

“Nursing” Madison said

“Me too!” Hannah added

“What a surprise,” Jason muttered. Nursing is a very common major among white girls. Anyway, the Colorado party ended and everyone went home. Madison stopped talking about Colorado constantly over the next couple days too. School had ended anyway and Christmas break began. Jason, Lucas, and Shawn took Renee, Ella, and Victoria on a triple date to a nice restaurant on the 22nd. Damian was still working it out with Alyssa. Jason was surprised with how Lucas and Ella got along. They pretty much clicked perfectly. The boys all paid for dinner and gave their girls presents. Jason got Renee a cool necklace that he found at the mall.

“It’s beautiful! Thanks, babe!” Renee hugged him. Renee got Jason a pack of Dallas Mavericks trading cards. It came with a special edition Luka Doncic card. 

“Wow, this is sick! Thanks so much!” Jason went. A day later, Uncle Anthony and his family flew in and they spent the next ten days with them. They all went to church on Christmas Eve and Jason’s dad cooked up some steaks. They all watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and played Clue. Aunt Michelle won every game. After that, everyone went to bed, sick of losing. On Christmas Day, Jason got a new LEGO set, a Troy Aikman jersey, a Texas Rangers 2023 Champions hat, a book on the Civil War, a new fishing rod, and an electric razor. His dad surprised his mom with a new car. His dad taking off his mom’s blindfold to see a new GMC Sierra reminded him of those car commercials. She was all excited and she kissed his dad and they all got in and drove around. The usual stuff. When they got home, the adults spent most of the day cooking a large ham for dinner. Jason hated ham. 

“Dude I hope there’s gonna be other stuff for dinner, cause I ain’t eating ham” Ian told Jason

“I know bro. I don’t even think my dad likes it that much” Jason said

“It’s mainly for my mom and sister. They love that crap” Ian replied

“Maybe we can have those steaks from yesterday” Jason suggested

They ended up eating them for lunch. When dinner rolled around, Jason, Ian, and Mr Montoya grimaced when Aunt Michelle served them ham. They still ate it. Thankfully, there was mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and rice. Jason took only a few bites of ham, much to the dismay of his aunt, and went all in on the sides. For dessert, Mrs Montoya made gingerbread cookies and a cake. Thankfully, it wasn’t that fruitcake nonsense seen in TV shows. After dessert, Mr Montoya made a fire and everyone watched A Christmas Story. The movie is played nonstop on Christmas anyway. Overall, it was an epic Christmas. Uncle Anthony stayed for New Years. They didn’t do much for it; everyone just watched the ball drop on TV. Still, it was hard to believe that it was now 2024. The election and the Summer Olympics were coming up, along with Madison’s graduation. Unfortunately, it was now time for Uncle Anthony and his family to go back to Phoenix. Mr Montoya drove them to the airport and had them on their way. Even more unfortunate, school started up again. The next break would be MLK Day, three weeks away. To add onto the disappointment, Jason had multiple Midterms and Finals coming up. At least he got to see his friends and Renee again. She had been spending Christmas with her grandma in Lubbock. 

“How was y’all’s breaks?” Jason asked his friends during lunch.

“It was cool. I got a new Xbox for Christmas” Lucas said

“Went to my cousin’s again” Damian said

“Stayed at home” Shawn said

“Ready for Midterms?” Jason asked

“Hell no! I’m cooked for this Chemistry one” Lucas exclaimed

“Hopefully I’ll take my gym Midterm before Midterms week. I could get a half day” Shawn said

“Oh yeah Damian, what happened with Alyssa?” Lucas asked

Damian grinned, “Bro she asked me to Sadie’s already!” 

“No way! Dudes, we gotta plan some dinner with our girls!” Jason said

“Where at?” Shawn asked

“There’s this cool sports bar my parents like” Jason suggested

“You think they’ll like that?” Lucas asked

“I mean, it’s Sadie’s. It’s not that deep” Jason said

“Alright but we still got several weeks” Shawn pointed out

“To them, us figuring out a restaurant now is late. They probably all have dresses” Jason said

“It really isn’t a big deal. It’s only Sadie’s” Lucas said

“We still should give them a nice night” Shawn said

“I guess” 

Just then, Ben Vanaught sat at their table. Jason had been avoiding him for a while and he wasn’t thrilled to see him sit next to them. The boys immediately stopped talking about the dance.

“Hey guys” Ben said

“Uh, hey” Lucas said

“Going to Sadie’s?” he asked

“Planning on it” Shawn replied

“Nice. I’ll see y’all there!” Ben said

Jason couldn’t take it, “Alright man, what do you want? You gonna get all pissy because I’m with Renee?” he said angrily. Ben frowned.

“You don’t know anything about her!” he spat

“Here we go with this bullshit again” Jason face palmed.

“Yo dude, are you retarded? Renee’s his girl, of course he knows her. You’re just a salty asshole who’s

jealous. Why don’t you leave us and Renee alone?” Damian shot back

Ben went white faced, “This isn’t over”

“It better be, or we’ll report you for harassment” Damian said

Ben stormed off.

“Nice work, bro” Shawn said

“That guy is a total creep” Jason said

“We just gotta ignore him,” Damian told them. Luckily, Jason didn’t see Ben for a decent bit. He was much more focused on preparing for his exams and work. Renee would help him study, especially for math. It was his worst subject and it was made worse since his teacher still had it out for him. Luckily, Renee was a good tutor and she helped him make trigonometry flashcards. 

“Alright, if you get two more correct, we can stop for tonight” she said one late evening, the day before the test. Jason had gone over to her house and he was eager to leave.

“Aw man” he groaned

“You got this, babe. Here it is…” Renee read him the question and showed it to him. Jason went through his notes and did a bunch of random calculations.

“Is this it?” he said sleepily

Renee looked it over, “Yes! Nice work. Here’s the last one” She read him the final card. Jason worked on it for a minute and got it right as well.

“Awesome! I know you’ll do great tomorrow” she said enthusiastically

“I hope so. Thanks a lot for the help” he said

“Of course!” 

“On a side note, has Ben said anything to you lately?” Jason asked

Renee’s smile faded, “He’s texted me a couple times, mostly about you. I just blocked him. He’s a pretty huge jerk” she said

“Yeah, he confronted me and my friends last week. Said the same bullshit. Damian chased him off” Jason told her

“He definitely needs help. He has no idea how to cope with things” Renee said

“I know. Hopefully we won’t see much of him again” Jason said

“Isn’t he in your psych class?” Renee pointed out

“We don’t sit near each other, thank God” Jason said

“Good. Well babe, good luck tomorrow. You’ve totally got this!” Renee said

“Thanks so much for the help” Jason grabbed his things, gave her a hug, and went home. (I’ve lost count for the amount of chapters that end with Jason going home)

The next day, Jason went to his Sports Marketing midterm. It was incredibly easy and he got a 96. He was way more worried about math, but he at least felt more confident than he had before. Entering class, he saw that Ms Russo had changed the seating arrangement. 

“Right here, Jason” Ms Russo said, pointing at a desk fright in front of hers. 

“Seriously?” Jason muttered, “Bitch”

Jason took his seat and Ms Russo passed out the tests. She always gave paper ones. 

“Alright, you all have two hours to complete the exam. Once the two hours are over, you may leave. Any cheating will result in an automatic fail and ISS. I will be collecting your phones right now” Ms Russo went around and took all their phones.

“Well then, you may begin” She started the timer. The test had 50 questions, five of them open response. Those were the worst kinds. The multiple choice was fairly easy. Jason would get caught up on one or two but that was it. While seeming tedious at first, the open response questions were even easier. Jason was sure that he got those right. As it turned out, he was one of the first ones done. He placed the test on Ms Russo’s desk. She seemed very surprised.

“Done already?” she asked

“Yeah” Jason sat back down. 

“You didn’t rush through it?” 

“Uh, no. It was pretty easy” Jason said

“Ok then” Ms Russo went back to her online sex doll, I mean, shoe shopping. Finally relaxed, Jason sat back down. His anxiety evaporated. No more math and no more Ms Russo. He cruised through the rest of his midterms. However, the NFL Wild Card round was on Sunday and the Cowboys were up against the Packers. Damian invited everyone (and their girlfriends) over to his house for a watch party. Renee, as it turned out, happened to be a huge Cowboys fan. 

“Sounds fun! Green Bay’s pretty mid so it should be easy” she said

“Yeah, but Jordan Love is decent” Jason replied

“Not as good as Dak” 

“I hope you’re right…”

Soon, it was Sunday. Jason and Renee arrived at Damian’s with a bag of Doritos. 

“What’s up, y’all” Damian said, answering the door. He was decked out in his Ceedee Lamb jersey and Roger Staubach hat.

“Hey man, got some chips” Jason held them out.

“Sick. Everyone else is downstairs” Damian said

Jason and Renee went to the basement. Jason knew most of the people there. There was Lucas, Shawn, Ella, Victoria, and Jackson. Some other random kids from school were there too, along with Damian’s cousins. To Jason’s surprise, Alyssa Whitaker was there. She was quite the interesting girl. She had very curly brown hair, a nose piercing, and had a pale complexion. She wore homemade pants, a Linkin Park tank top, and a blue bandana. She also had these long, dangly earrings. It was hard to believe that she would be attracted to Damian, or that Damian would somewhat like her. Renee immediately went

over to Ella and they started chatting. Jason sat with Lucas, Shawn, and Jackson. 

“Y’all ready?” he asked

“For sure” Jackson said

“In the bag” Lucas added

“Hopefully” Shawn said

Damian soon came down with more snacks and made a pregame announcement. 

“Alright y’all. It’s been a good season. Who cares about the regular season, what matters is now. This is our year. LET'S GO COWBOYS!” Damian cheered

Everyone repeated the chant and the game began. Jason had a great feeling about the game. Dallas was gonna win it for sure!

So what happened? They got crapped on. Green Bay scored touchdown after touchdown. Dallas tried to keep up but it wasn’t enough. There was a lot of screaming, cursing, yelling, crying, throwing things, and racial slurs. Jason held his head in his hands as Green Bay scored again. Jackson was yelling obscenities not appropriate for this book. Several of the guys, including Lucas, just left. Shawn kept depressingly saying, “I knew it”, which pissed off one of Damian’s cousins. Renee and Ella clung to each other, sobbing. Victoria furiously walked out with Lucas and took an Uber home. Damian himself had flipped the table, chucked his hat at the TV, and yelled the N word a bunch. It probably wasn’t a good look in front of Alyssa but she didn’t seem to mind. She was the only person not freaking out anyway. Damian, in tears and rage, barked at everyone else to go home. The final score was 48-32. Jason had to practically drag Renee to the car. She was a complete mess. He’d never seen her cry before. He didn’t blame her. He felt like breaking down, too. Jason just couldn’t believe how the Cowboys had pulled the same shit again. Everyone else was right. The Cowboys always choked. As Jason was getting in the car, Alyssa approached him.

“Hey! Can I get a ride? I don’t think Damian will be able to take me home” she said

“Whatever” Jason grunted

“Thanks!” she said enthusiastically. She sat next to a miserable Renee. Jason angrily pulled out of the driveway. 
“Where do you live?” he grunted to Alyssa

“I’ll direct you. Make a left here” she said

They drove in silence. 

“Sorry about the Cowboys” Alyssa said

“Whatever. They always choke” Jason mumbled. Renee was still crying.

“I don’t watch sports much. I’m into alternative rock and art instead” she said

“Ok” 

“But I get why Damian’s upset. He always talks about the Cowboys. I don’t mind. Maybe he’ll make me a fan!” she said

“You don’t want that” Jason muttered

“Anyway, I was so glad when he texted me last month. He kinda disappeared for a bit. I get it though, some people need mental health breaks. After I broke up with my girlfriend last year-”

“Girlfriend?” Jason interjected. Even Renee started listening.

“I’m bisexual. Anyhow, I didn’t talk to people much for a while. We were super close you see, and I got depressed after we broke up. But I got into art and sewing and it helped take my mind off of it. I even started making my own clothes!” Alyssa said

“Cool” 

“I know! Also, make a right here” Jason pulled up to Alyssa’s house. 
“Thanks for the ride!” Alyssa got out and went inside. Jason headed towards Renee’s.

“Can’t believe Damian’s dating a bisexual girl” Jason said

“Yeah, v-very unlike him” Renee sniffled

“She’s, uh, an interesting character” Jason said

“Mhm” 

Soon, Jason dropped Renee off. They didn’t say much to each other. Jason’s parents didn’t say much either when he came home. They were Cardinals fans anyway. His dad decided to not raise them as Arizona fans, which was good because most Arizona teams are even bigger disappointments than Dallas ones. Jason shuffled up to bed. School was pretty grim the next week. Juan Cortez beat up some sophomore who was from Wisconsin. In Juan's defense, it was pretty stupid to wear a Packers hat in Dallas after what had happened. The kid got a black eye, a broken nose, and a bad Indian Sunburn. At least the Mavericks and Stars were doing good. Jason took Renee to a Mavs game against the Hornets that Sunday. She didn’t care for basketball as much as football, but she still somewhat enjoyed her time. 

“Hope the Packers lose” she said at the game.

“Who knows” Jason replied

“I mean, if they had just tightened up their defense-”

“Renee, no offense, but I really don’t want to talk about football right now” Jason cut in

Renee was surprised, “Oh, um, ok”

The Mavericks ended up winning, which managed to lift up their spirits. The next few weeks were uneventful leading up to February. Jason had school, work, went to the gym, etc. On the first day of February, Renee brought up Sadie’s plans to Jason. 

“So I’ve been talking with Ella, and me, her, Ally, and Avery were gonna go in a group. You and Lucas can come, too” she said

“What about Damian and Shawn?” Jason asked

“Well, I’m not really that close with Victoria or Alyssa, but if you want to invite them all, you can” she said

Jason ended up doing so and Renee made a big group chat with all of them. The girls were planning everything, from the photos to dinner. As it turned out, Ally had asked Jackson to be her date. The dance was on the 17th, just over two weeks. It was going to be quite an eventful month. Jason was actually hosting a Super Bowl party. He pretty much invited everyone in the group chat. Only Shawn and Ally couldn’t go. Jason didn’t care about either team, but he definitely wanted the 49ers to win over the Chiefs. Shawn had been right about them. They were clutch in the playoffs. It was a pretty divided scene at Jason’s house on Super Bowl Sunday. Victoria, Avery, and Ella were all Swifties, so they automatically rooted for the Chiefs. Jason and his friends all hated Pat Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Taylor Swift. Alyssa wasn’t a football fan. Renee just didn’t care anymore. 

“Where’s the beer at Jason?” Lucas asked during the game.

“Dude, shut up. My parents are literally downstairs” Jason hissed

“Lame!” Lucas shouted

Jason kicked him.

“I’ll go look for myself” Lucas started to leave but Jason grabbed him and shoved him back on the couch.

“Just watch the damn game” he grumbled

Madison eventually came up with Parker to watch. Parker kept making fun of Jason for having a girlfriend.

“What are you, five?” Jason asked

“Have you had sex yet?” 

“Shut up!” 

“Virgin!” Parker then ran to the other end of the couch. Jason shook his head while Renee giggled. Jason hadn’t noticed this before at Damian’s but Alyssa was sort of irritating to watch with. She kept asking dumb questions.

“What’s a field goal?” she said to Damian

“It’s when you try to kick it past the goalposts” he replied

“The yellow stick things?” she asked

Lucas and Jackson snorted. Damian shot them a dirty look. Every time San Francisco would score, the boys would all go nuts. Every time Kansas City scored, some of the girls would go even crazier. The game turned out to be a thriller. Even Renee got into it. Soon, the game was tied and it headed into overtime. 

“Come on assholes, win this thing!” Damian yelled

“Um, where’s Taylor at?” Avery asked

Just then, she appeared on screen (for the millionth time). The boys all booed and threw chips at the TV. San Francisco ended up kicking a field goal, putting them up by three. Now they needed to stop the Chiefs from advancing the ball. Unfortunately, Pat Mahomes was quite the thrower and they got closer and closer to the endzone. Everyone was standing up at this point, yelling and cheering. The Chiefs now had ten seconds. The ball was snapped, Mahomes quickly scanned the field.

“SACK HIM, SACK HIM!!!!” the boys screamed

“GO TRAVIS!!!!” squealed the girls

Suddenly, Mahomes tossed it to a wide open receiver who easily scored. The game was over. The Chiefs had won.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”
“FUCK!!!!!”
“YOU LET AMERICA DOWN!!!”

“YAYYYY, GO TAYLOR!!!!”

The boys were all cursing and kicking stuff while the Swifties danced around. Renee and Alyssa just watched.

“Y’all aren’t even Niners fans, though” Renee said

“Where do the Chiefs play again?” asked Alyssa, inquisitively 

Renee’s comment got the boys to calm down. Sure, it sucked having Kansas City win again, especially since Pat Mahomes and Travis Kelce were annoying. It was even worse to watch him kiss Taylor on the field. But in the end, Jason didn’t care for the Niners anyway. He relaxed and sat down next to her. The others were still grumbling but they kept it to themselves. 

“So is football over?” Alyssa asked Damian

“Yeah, it is” he grunted

“Great. Now we can talk about things I like!” she said

Renee gave Damian a disappointed look, as he clearly never cared about any of her interests. Damian looked down shamefully. 

“Well, uh, I think we gotta go” he said standing up again quickly

“Bye dude, thanks for coming” Jason said

“Yeah. See y’all” Damian and Alyssa left. On the way home, he listened to her talk about punk rock the entire way. After the last of Jason’s guests left, he cleaned up and went to bed. To be honest, Jason was sorta glad football season was over. It was just another layer of stress. He went to sleep, very relaxed and drama free. Unfortunately, there would be much more to come. 

People were talking about how great the game was at school the next day. Even Damian admitted it. It was back and forth, went into overtime, and even the refs were fair. Throughout the week, however, the student council started putting up posters and banners for Sadie’s. It was this weekend, afterall. Shawn booked the restaurant and Jason bought a new dress shirt. On Valentine’s Day, Jason and Renee got dinner and saw a movie. He gave her some flowers and she gave him chocolate, etc. 

“Ready for the dance?” she asked

“Yeah, I guess” he replied

“It’s more of a mosh pit. Nothing too crazy” she told him

“I figured. Prom is where it’s at” Jason said

“Mhm. Anyway, thanks for paying! That was so sweet of you” Renee said

“Of course. Happy Valentine’s” Jason said

After dropping her off at her house, Jason got back home. He was then confronted by Madison.

“How was your date?” she asked

“Cool. we saw a movie and stuff” he said

“Nice. So, have y’all done anything else yet?” Madison asked

Jason’s smile faded a bit, “What do you mean?”

“Come on. I mean have y’all had sex” she said

“Uh no” Jason said

“Have you seen her, you know…” 

“Nope” 

“Have y’all even kissed??” 

This one really got Jason to think, “Um, no not yet” he said

“Jesus, y’all have been together for like two months” Madison joked

“That’s not that long” Jason pointed out

“I dunno. You need to advance things or she’ll get bored” Madison said

“What do you know??” Jason shot

“Uhm, I dated a man for 17 months. I think I know what I’m talking about” Madison said

To be honest, the thought of kissing a girl terrified Jason. Why couldn’t she kiss him instead?

“We haven’t really had a time to, uh, do it” Jason said

“Well, remember her boy philosophy” Madison mentioned

“She’s sorta dropped that” Jason muttered

Madison let out a short and mean laugh. She then went upstairs to bed. Jason didn’t really know what to do. He decided to wait and see how things played out. Eventually, it was Saturday and Jason had work in the morning. Unfortunately, it was an earlier shift and he had to be there by eight. But it couldn’t have been as bad as Danica’s situation, since she lived 30 minutes away. She was thoroughly exhausted.

“Why don’t you have a Red Bull or something?” Jason suggested

“I hate energy drinks. Coffee’s way better” she said sleepily

“Ask Jessie if you can have some” Jason told her

Danica went to the back office and pleaded with the manager. Reluctantly, Jessie said yes.

“Just don’t drink it in front of the customers” she ordered

The coffee seemed to wake her up a bit. At least she could have a bit more of a conversation during breaks. 

“Any plans this weekend?” Jason asked

“Not really. Well, my boyfriend is in town. He had a two day break” Danica said

“Where does he go to college?” 

“Oklahoma. Him and his best friend are roommates” Danica told him

“Oh cool. Hey, what’s your major?” he suddenly asked

“Fashion design. I’m kinda into that stuff” 

“Nice. What do you want to do with it?” 

“Probably open a trendy clothing store. My daddy gave me $4000 as a start” 

Jason whistled, “Damn, are you rich or something?” 

Danica giggled, “What do you think?”

“Uhm… yes…?” Jason asked nervously

Danica giggled again.

“What are you doing working at Whataburger then?” Jason said bewildered

“I already told you, it’s near a Sephora I like and my boyfriend’s house” she said

“Yeah, but, why not just work at a Sephora then?” 

Danica’s smile faded a bit. She leaned in closer. 

“Uhm, don’t tell anyone, but this was the only place that accepted my job application” she whispered

“Oh crap. That sucks” Jason said sympathetically

“Yeah. They all seemed to think that I’m just some spoiled dumb blonde. I mean, they aren’t wrong…” she said, her voice cracking.

“Well, uh, Whataburger’s still cool” Jason quickly said, trying to lift her spirits

“I guess. My boyfriend loves it. That’s why I applied here over other fast food restaurants” 

“Do you only ever talk about your boyfriend?” Jason said before he could stop himself. He immediately felt kind of mean for saying that.

Danica wasn’t offended however, “Well, I usually talk about him, makeup, work, my sorority, my car, country music, and homework” she listed off, “How’s that?”

Even Jason laughed at this, “Alright, alright, I get it” They got back to work. At 1:00, Jason’s shift ended and he met up with Lucas and Damian at Lucas’s house. Shawn was with Victoria. 

“So where are we taking the photos?” Jason asked

“Shouldn’t you know? Renee’s the one who planned everything” Lucas said

“Dudes, she literally texted in the group chat that we were taking them at school” Damian stated

“Do they have a photo booth or something?” Jason wondered

“Probably. It makes sense. It would be weird to take formal photos for Sadie Hawkins” Damian said. Jason and Lucas just nodded. They then all played video games for a while until Lucas and Damian went home to get dressed. Jason then showered and brushed his teeth. For the “dance”, he wore navy

slacks, a white button shirt, and his dad’s suit jacket. Soon he was ready to go. His mom took some pictures of him in the front yard (much to his dismay) and then he was off to Renee’s house. Walking up her front path and ringing the doorbell gave him deja vu to his first date. He was a little intimidated by the Dodge Charger patrol car in her driveway. He hoped her dad wouldn’t be in uniform. However, her mom opened the door instead. Jason had only seen Mrs Stinson once. Like Renee, she had short black hair and a positive vibe to her. 

“Hi Jason, come on in!” she beamed, “Renee’s almost done getting ready” 

“Great!” Jason took a seat in the living room.

“Want anything to drink?” Mrs Stinson asked as she entered the kitchen.

“I’m cool, thanks” he said

Mrs Stinson then came back and started asking Jason all sorts of questions about school and work and his family. He didn’t mind, she was very nice to talk to. Soon, Renee came downstairs and gave Jason a hug.

“Wow, you look beautiful,” he said. She wore a blue skirt and blue heels. Her makeup was simple but looked great. She just showed how you didn’t need to go crazy to look hot.

“Thanks! Ready?” she asked him

“Yeah, let’s go” Jason started to leave but Mrs Stinson stopped him. She wanted one photo of them on the front lawn. 

“Mom, we’re going to be late!” Renee protested

“I’ll be fast, calm down” she replied

Renee sighed but she got in position. Jason put his arm around her as Mrs Stinson took some photos. Thankfully, she was fast.

“Have fun!” she called to them as they got in Cheryl. Jason and Renee went on their way. The restaurant, a sports bar, was in between the school and Renee’s house. They talked about friends and

dates and stuff in the news. Eventually, they arrived and got to their table. Lucas, Ella, Ally, Jackson, and Avery were already there. They all complimented each other and took some more pictures. Jason dapped up his friends. Right after they sat down, Shawn and Victoria showed up. Jason, Lucas, Shawn, and Jackson then got into a very serious conversation about who they thought was going to win the NBA Finals.

“Probably Boston” Jason said, “They’re way ahead of everyone else”

“Yeah, but they always choke in the playoffs. I think Miami could make a run again” Shawn said

“If everyone stays healthy, then it’ll be Milwaukee. And where’s Damian at?” Lucas added. But nobody really listened. 

“Alright well, who do you think the Celtics will beat?” Jackson asked Jason

“So the best Western team. Well, it’s gonna be the Nuggets. I hate Boston, but they’ve just been dominant” Jason explained

“I really hope not. Maybe the Warriors will make a run?” Jackson suggested. 

“You only think that cause you’re a fan,” Lucas laughed. Jackson and Ella’s dad was originally from San Francisco. This was pretty private information to him as Texans aren’t so fond of Californians, especially from San Francisco.

“Hey, Curry’s got it in him!” Jackson exclaimed

“Yeah, but Klay’s washed and Draymond’s always getting suspended” Jason said

Jackson was going to argue further but Damian and Alyssa then showed up. Jason looked over at them and gaped, mostly at Alyssa. Her hair was literally purple and it matched this crazy skirt and weird heels. The skirt was frilly and had a giant bow on the back. To be honest, Jason thought it was pretty cool. However, Damian didn’t seem to think so. He was muttering angrily and trying to distance himself from Alyssa. She didn’t look very happy either.

“Hey dude, it’s about time!” Lucas called

“Shut up” Damian grumbled

Alyssa sat next to Victoria and Ally. She immediately went on her phone.

“Uh, everything alright?” Jackson asked

“Pfft! Is everything alright?? Look at my date!” he exclaimed, pointing at Alyssa

“What’s wrong with her?” Lucas asked

“Are you blind?? Look at her hair and dress!” Damian shot

“I think she looks cool,” Lucas replied with a shrug. Damian made an angry noise and leaned back. 

“Dude, calm down” Jason told him

“I bet you wouldn’t be so calm if Renee looked like that!” 

“Uh, I would be. Alyssa looks great. What the hell is your problem??” Jason said angrily

“It’s embarrassing!” Damian whined

This seriously pissed Shawn off, “Dude, you’re such a dick! How could you even say stuff like that about her? She’s literally your girl. And if you’re really embarrassed by her, then you should just go home!” he spat

Damian didn’t reply. He just grumbled to himself. Alyssa must’ve then told the girls about Damian because they all shot revolted looks at him, especially Renee. This kind of set the mood for the rest of the dinner. Jason was quite glad when he paid for him and Renee and they all left for the school. Renee, however, was even unhappier than Jason.

“I can’t believe him! How could he treat her like that?? What kind of-” Renee proceeded to say a bunch of insults that even made Jason wince.

“Look, I know it was crappy of him to say stuff like that to Alyssa. But let’s just forget about it and try to have a good time” Jason said

“She’s gorgeous! Who cares about her hair color? That’s her choice. And it’s amazing how she sewed that dress herself! How can you be friends with him??” Renee went on, ignoring Jason. 

“I mean, he can be a nice guy sometimes” Jason said meekly

Renee scoffed at this and continued to rant about Damian. The ride from the restaurant to the school was ten minutes but it felt like half an hour. Jason couldn’t wait to get out of the car and join his friends, well, his friends except Damian. Lucas, Shawn, and Jackson had no interest in hanging out with Damian either. He was sitting sulkily in the corner with one of his other friends. Alyssa was in the mosh pit with her friends from theater. 

“You think they’ll still be together after tonight?” Jason asked

“Who knows? Not unless he apologizes” Jackson said

Jason didn’t know what to think of this situation. Damian was one of Jason’s closest friends, but he really felt distasteful of him at the moment. Jason and his friends mostly skirted outside of the mosh pit. They weren’t really with their girls that much. Jason looked back over to where Damian was and he saw that he was gone. Surely he wouldn’t drive home without Alyssa? But seeing how he treated her tonight, he wouldn’t have been surprised. He knew Damian could be a little abrasive sometimes, but this was way out of hand. Eventually, Renee came back to Jason from the mosh pit and hung out with him for a bit. 

“Want to dance?” she asked him

“Like a slow dance?” Jason said in a high pitched voice

Renee giggled, “No for fun” she said

The song was a vibe anyway and most of the kids were going nuts, as the song was Party in the USA. Jason didn’t dance that much but he did that frat flick thing and swayed around. Renee, as it turned out, was a great dancer. For the first time tonight, Jason was actually enjoying himself. He noticed his friends had found their dates too. The bops kept on coming as Beat It came next. It was odd to hear an 80’s song at a school function in 2024. Jason figured the DJ must like Michael Jackson. 

“How’s Alyssa?” Jason asked

“Having a blast as far as I can tell” Renee said, still moving around

“What about Damian?” Jason said

“Who knows? Alyssa should honestly break up with him. He treats her like garbage” Renee said shortly

Jason didn’t respond to this. He decided to think about Damian later and to just be in the moment with his girlfriend. They stuck together for most of the night and got photos taken in front of one of those balloon backdrops. Eventually, the dance winded down and Jason and Renee headed out, after saying goodbye to their friends. While exiting the school, Jason noticed Damian and Alyssa in the lobby area. They were having a serious conversation. Alyssa was nodding her head while Damian explained something. He didn’t look repulsed or embarrassed, more ashamed. However, Alyssa wasn’t looking at him and seemed pretty unhappy. Jason pointed this out to Renee.

“He better be apologizing” she said crossly. Jason didn’t reply, he just took her home, walked her to the door, gave her a hug, and headed back. He’d rate the whole night a 6/10. The whole Damian and Alyssa drama dampered the mood. Still, he had a fun time with Renee. When he got home, his parents pestered him with questions about the dance and asked for photos. Jason gave them the run down but left out the whole Damian issue. He then wished them good night and went upstairs. Madison, however, was waiting for him.

“Why weren’t you at the dance?” Jason asked her

“Pfft, please. It’s Sadie Hawkins” she told him

“Was it cause nobody asked you?” Jason taunted

“Oh shut up!” Madison said, irritated, “Prom is what matters”

“I thought that you’d take advantage of every school event because it’s your Senior year?” Jason said

“Whatever. I was going to ask you about your night with Renee but I guess not” Madison stormed into her room. Jason scoffed and got undressed. He lay awake for a long time that night, thinking about Damian. What would he say to him tomorrow? Are he and Alyssa still going to be dating? Little did he

know that several neighborhoods away, someone also lay awake, having the same exact thoughts…

Similar to how his previous English class had been, with Jason bracing to see the lacrosse girls, he braced himself to see Damian at lunch. He was the first one in the cafeteria, along with Lucas. 

“You talk to Damian at all?” Jason asked him

“Nah. Wonder what's been going on with him since, you know…” Lucas said

However, Shawn was the last to show up for lunch. Damian was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Damian at?” he asked sitting down

“Was he not on the lunch line?” Lucas said

“I don’t think so” Shawn then got out his phone and texted him. He was left on read. The rest of the day went on and there were no Damian sightings. He didn’t join them on Xbox, either. 

“You think he’s too ashamed to see us?” Jason wondered

“I’m wondering if he’s even ashamed at all” Shawn said firmly, “The way he treated her”

“I was always pushing for him to get with Alyssa. Well, that was a mistake. They are not fit for each other whatsoever” Lucas stated

Jason agreed with Lucas. He’d always wondered how Damian was attracted to someone like Alyssa. 

“He’s not” Shawn thought out loud

“What?” Jason asked, not paying attention

“I know we’ve wondered why Damian got with Alyssa and what he saw in her, because of how different they are. But looking back, I don’t think he ever really liked her” Shawn said

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked

“Well, he only asked her to Homecoming because she helped him with homework. This was before he knew her well. He then saw her true personality and was turned off. So he then ghosted her” Shawn told them

“But why would he get back with her?”

“Look at it from his point of view. Imagine, Jason, that you didn’t have a girlfriend and the rest of us did. How would you feel?” Shawn said inquisitively

“I guess a bit jealous. I’d probably try and find a girl too” he admitted

“That’s exactly what happened. He doesn’t know many girls so he got desperate and turned to the only one he ever sort of bonded with. But then he remembered why he ghosted her. I assume that he tried to be the one in control and he tried to ignore her actual personality. That would explain why he always talked over her, until Renee got pressed at him. He’s already a bit weirded out by her and then the dance rolls around and he freaks out because her quirks are on full display. He goes off, acts like a prick, and finally realizes that he truly doesn’t like her” Shawn finished

“Dude that was the most I’ve ever heard you speak at one time” Lucas said, awestruck

“To be fair, we also sorta pressured him into talking to Alyssa again” Jason said

“Yeah, but most of what he did were on his own accords” Shawn explained

They all spent the rest of the gaming session discussing Damian, until Lucas had to go study for his Biology test. After getting off, Jason texted Damian again, asking why he isn’t responding to them. He hoped to get a response soon. However, two days went by and they still hadn’t seen him. They tried looking for him in the lunchroom, but they had no luck. They also didn’t have any classes with him so that ruled one option of finding him out. 

“Do you think he’s even at school?” Lucas asked them at lunch

“Probably. His parents would’ve came to us if he wasn’t here” Shawn said

“Where the hell is he, though?” Lucas said, frustrated

“Maybe we should ask Alyssa” Jason suggested

“You think she’s still talking to him?” 

“Who knows, but it’s worth a shot”

They all got up and headed over to the table that the theater kids sat at. It was easy to find: everyone sitting there either wore weird clothes or had dyed hair. Sure enough, Alyssa was sitting amongst them. She was laughing at some weird joke some gay kid just told. 

“Um, Alyssa?” Shawn called over the laughter. Her smile wavered a bit when she saw them.

“Yeah?” 

“Uh, can we talk to you real quick?” Shawn asked

“Alright then” she said

Shawn sat down, “Do you know where Damian’s at?” he asked her

Alyssa definitely frowned now. 

“No idea. You’re his friend, shouldn’t you know?” she said sharply

“Yeah, uh, but we haven’t seen him since Saturday” 

“He’s probably off being horrible to some other poor girl” she spat

Shawn stared blankly, “Wait, so did y’all break up?” 

“Duh!” 

“Uh, sorry to hear that but-”

“Don’t be. He’s a jerk. How can you be friends with him?” Alyssa shot

“Didn’t you used to like him, though?” Lucas suddenly intervened

Shawn face palmed and Alyssa shot him a nasty look.

“Um, yeah until he started treating me like crap!” she said, voice cracking

“Yeah, but-”

“Dude, just shut up” Jason said, elbowing him

“Ow!”

“It’s whatever. He tried making some apology at the dance but I don’t care. He doesn’t give a crap about me!” she said in a higher pitched voice

“Wait, Damian apologized to you?” Shawn said

“Yes. It was a very bad one” Alyssa said, tears coming to her eyes

“What did he actually say?” Shawn persisted. He didn’t seem to notice Alyssa’s state.

“Uh dude, I think we should leave her be” Jason muttered to him

“Hold on. What did he say?” Shawn said urgently

“He... he...” Alyssa then broke down sobbing. Her friends immediately swarmed over to her and tried comforting her. They shot Shawn, Lucas, and Jason horrible looks. 

“Can’t you leave her alone?? She’s been in a rough state!” this one girl yelled

“Sorry! We didn’t mean to-” Shawn said alarmed, backing away

“Yeah, whatever asshole. Get out of here!” another girl shouted

The boys quickly got back to their table. Their inquiry hadn’t gone so well. 

“Nice job Shawn!” Jason said angrily

“What did I do?? I had no idea she’d break down like that!” he said indignantly

“You kept pestering her!” Jason yelled, “She clearly didn’t want to talk about Damian!”

Shawn didn’t reply. He just pulled out his phone and muttered angrily to himself.

“We still have no idea where Damian’s at” Lucas pointed out

“Why don’t we swing by his house after school?” Jason suggested

“Sure, if that’s good with Shawn” Lucas said

“Whatever” Shawn mumbled

When school ended, Lucas drove them over to Damian’s house. Jason knocked on the door.

“Hope he’s there” Lucas said

They waited for a little bit until there was a rustling at the blinds. The door then unlocked and there Damian stood. He looked pretty miserable.

“Hey” he muttered

“What’s up dude. Where you been at?” Jason asked

“School” he mumbled

“Well, I'd hope so but why don’t you answer our texts or sit with us at lunch anymore?” Jason asked

“Y’all probably hate me” he said glumly

“We don’t hate you dude” Lucas interjected

“Well, most people that know Alyssa hate me” he said louder

“Come on man. Yeah, it wasn’t cool how you treated her but you’re still our bro. We’re not ditching you for something like this. We got too much history” Jason said

“Yeah, but I don’t think i’ll be able to be with y’all when you’re with your girlfriends” Damian told him

“Who cares? We don’t always got to hang out together with them. Just get over it and get back to life” Jason insisted

Damian stood there thinking for a bit. Finally, he said:

“Alright. Sorry I acted that way”

“It’s alright man. Just watch how you treat girls in the future and you’ll be fine” Shawn said, dapping him up

“And sorry I disappeared for a bit” he added

“No worries” They all embraced each other. 

“So, why don’t y’all come inside now and play some Madden?” 

Several weeks went by and now they were in the middle of March. The weather was decently warm again and the boys spent a lot of time on that lake fishing. Damian hadn’t seen any of their girlfriends since Sadie’s. And since he and Alyssa had broken up, they didn’t see much of her at all either. Damian didn’t seem to care though. He claimed that he was talking to some girl in his computer science class. Anyway, they spent the weekend making their March Madness brackets at Shawn’s house. They each

made several, with Lucas having six.

“Who’d you pick for the Final Four, Jason?” Shawn asked

“Well, I got UConn, North Carolina, Marquette, and Tennessee” he told him, “That’s for my main one. And out of all those I think UConn will win”

“Not bad. I picked Duke for the championship on one and Alabama on another” Shawn replied, “What about you, Lucas?” 

Lucas was pretty frazzled as he got all his brackets in order. 

“I got UConn for two of them, one win against Marquette and the other against Tennessee. Then I have Auburn for one and Duke for two more. But my most confident pick is my Purdue one. I think they’ll beat UConn in that one”

“UConn all around,” Damian said as he finished his third. It was a vibe filling out college basketball brackets on a Sunday, listening to 80's rock. Eventually, Jason had to go home to do American history homework. By homework, he meant that he was watching a movie. They were learning about the Civil War and his super chill teacher, Mr Scosia, gave them a list of Civil War movies and told them to watch one. Then, he wanted them to list how the movie was accurate and inaccurate to real life. Jason chose Glory. He’d seen it before but he had thoroughly enjoyed it so why not watch it again. He watched it with his dad and Parker, who, being a 14 year old with the attention span of a fly, was bored. 

“This is so lame. They keep talking about shoes!” he whined

“Parker, shut up!” Jason hissed

“If you’re going to complain the entire time then leave” his dad went

Parker quickly left the room to go play Fortnite. When the movie finished, Jason knocked out his questions and went to dinner with his friends. They talked about their brackets mostly and some of the annoying kids at school. Ben Vanaught came up a lot. At school the next week, they had a tornado drill,

as it was tornado season. The Dallas area had been hit many times over the past by tornadoes, so the district took them seriously. Jason always wanted to drive north towards Oklahoma to go on a storm chase with his friends but he knew his mom would never allow it. The only time he’d ever seen a tornado was when he was four. They were driving to Phoenix when a thin rope tornado briefly touched down. Jason vaguely remembered his mom freaking out at his dad, saying they needed to take shelter while his sister cried. Young Jason, however, thought it was fantastic. The tornado lasted about ten seconds anyway and didn’t do any damage. Anyhow, the drill consisted of him and his friends messing around while crouched against the wall, much to their teachers' annoyance. 

“Quiet!” one of them hissed

“Yeah, we gotta make sure the tornado can’t hear us,” Damian muttered, causing some girl next to him to start giggling. Damian gave her a goofy smile while Shawn sighed. After the drill, Jason went to history. Mr Scosia was giving them back their movie assignment. 

“Good work Jason. Glory is one of my favorites, too” he told him, handing him his paper

Jason grinned and took it from him. Jason had work again after school. It was pretty uneventful; most people weren’t coming in to have fast food on a Tuesday afternoon. While Jason was cleaning the soda machines, Danica started squealing. He figured that she found a pair of shoes she liked online but was surprised to see her hug this one random guy over the counter. He recognized him to be her boyfriend, Lewis or Louie or whatever his name was. Danica happily chatted with him before getting his order. Suddenly, Danica tapped him on the back.

“Come meet my boyfriend!” she said ecstatically

Jason indifferently walked over.

“Hey dude, I’m Jason. I work with Danica” he said, sticking out his hand

“Yeah Danica’s mentioned you to me. I’m Luis” He shook Jason’s hand. Luis was a friendly enough looking guy. 

“Cool. Well, I better get back to work” Jason said. He went back to cleaning the machine. Luis and Danica went back to talking. Jason hoped Jessie wouldn’t come out or Danica would get in trouble for not working. When he looked over, Luis happened to stretch his arms. Jason noticed a pretty long and wicked looking scar that cut across his chest. Luis caught him staring and quickly yanked his shirt down. Jason gave a confused look and got back to work. After a while, Luis left and Danica finally got back to work. 

“Lucky Jessie didn’t come out” Jason muttered to her

“I wouldn’t have cared. I’m just so glad he visited!” she beamed. Danica spoke nonstop of Luis for the rest of the shift. Jason couldn’t wait to clock out at 6 PM. Also, it was payday. As the shifts went on, Jason was getting a little worn out by Danica. Sure, she was friendly, and could be funny at times, but she sometimes just wouldn’t shut up about boys, or makeup, or country music, or her stupid sorority. If he heard the words “Alpha Delta Pi” again, he’d explode. He was relieved whenever he had a shift without her. As March ended, Easter rolled around. Jason’s family didn’t do much for it. They went to church, painted some eggs, and received gift baskets. It was still fun, and this was the time to receive one of those delicious Palmer chocolate bunnies. Jason’s dad read from the Bible that night and then they all went to sleep. The next day, Jason’s family flew down to Orlando for vacation. He’d only just remembered when Parker woke him up.

“Hey Jason, wake up!” Parker shouted while throwing a football at him. Jason shot up.

“OW! What the hell??” he said, rubbing his shoulder

“We’re going to Disney today. Dad said we’re leaving in thirty minutes. And mom said make sure you have all your stuff” Parker told him

“Wait… we’re going to Disney today??” Jason said, shocked

“Yeah, hope you’re packed!” Parker said nastily

“But I completely forgot! Parker, can you help me?? Mom’ll kill me if she finds out I didn’t even start!”

Jason pleaded

“Tough shit” Parker left Jason’s room, laughing. Cursing, Jason leaped up and started stuffing clothes into his suitcase. He grabbed a couple books and a baseball hat and shoved them into his old backpack. He then took a five second shower and brushed his teeth. He took his toiletries and chucked them on top of his bathing suit and then slammed his suitcase shut. As he was walking out the door, he grabbed some Easter candy and shoved it in his backpack. Now he was ready to go. Just in time, as Jason’s dad was calling them to the car. He was the last one in.

“About time” his dad went

“I- I forgot we were leaving tuh- today” Jason panted

“Just hurry up and get your bag in or we’ll be late” his dad said, annoyed

Jason loaded his bag into the car, they pulled out into the back street alleyway, and headed to the airport. The weather was clear and warm, with no clouds in the sky. 

“Are we going to Disney World or Disneyland?” Jason asked Madison

She scoffed, “God, you’re retarded. How have you not known about this trip?”

“I’ve had a lot going on!” he snapped

Madison sighed, “Disney World”

“Oh sweet. What’s the plan there?” Jason said

“Ask mom. She’s got it all down”

“Mom, what are we doing in Disney?” Jason asked

“So we land today at 4 PM and head to Disney Springs for dinner and to check out the stores. Then tomorrow, we go to Magic Kingdom for the day. I have Genie Plus for Big Thunder and Seven Dwarves. And I have to book the virtual queue for Tron. Then on Wednesday, we spend half the day in Animal Kingdom and then take the shuttle to Hollywood Studios. I also have Genie Plus for the Avatar ride and Rise of the Resistance. Then we go to one of the waterparks on Thursday, up to you on which one.

And finally, we end the trip in Epcot on your birthday of course!” she said

Jason had only been to Disney once when he was eleven. He didn’t know much about the parks or the rides. His mom might as well have been speaking Chinese.

“Uh, ok, cool. What are we gonna do on my birthday?” he said unsurely

“Whatever you want! I made a reservation for a nice Italian restaurant in the World Showcase” Mrs Montoya said

“Oh nice, thanks” Jason said

After twenty more minutes, they made it to the airport. Jason’s dad, who usually got anxiety at airports, was all edgy and freaking out again.  

“These lines are huge!” he exclaimed at security

His anxiety kept up the entire way as their gate was switched to across the terminal (author’s note: the terminals at DFW are gigantic) because the delayed flight from Atlanta needed a spot. After much grumbling, cursing, and getting sniped at by Mr Montoya, they made it to the gate. Jason prayed they wouldn’t change it again or his dad would explode. After waiting thirty minutes, they got the boarding announcement.

“American Flight 3872 to Orlando will begin boarding. Priority passengers and active military personnel may board the aircraft” the gate lady said

Upon this announcement, everyone instantly crowded the boarding zone. Jason’s family was one of the last ones on since they were boarding group 8. Once seated, the flight attendants went over all of the usual safety stuff. Then they were off. Jason slept most of the flight as he was relatively tired. Parker woke him up when they landed.

“Get up dude. We’re here” he said, poking him

“Ow! Ok, ok” 

They got off, got their luggage, called an Uber, and made it to their hotel. It was called the All-Stars