How it goes

Round 16: November 2015

Patrick Marlowe is 78, Alexandra Hayes is 51, Quinn is 49, Aaron is 17 and Jeremy is 14.

(Amabelle is 70 and Ross is 14.)

Narrated by Jeremy.

Ross came out to Maddy and his parents in January. It didn't take long for him to tell me either although I had kind of figured out that he liked boys. I've had a huge crush on him for about two years so when he told me that he's gay I felt like my chance had finally come.

We've only been dating for a couple of months though because it took a lot of convincing to get a permission from our parents. My parents were saying that I'm too young to date but they finally just gave in. It's not like we're getting engaged or something, we just like to hang out together as much as possible. Dad's always yelling to keep my bedroom door open when Ross is over - which is often. While his parents were really supportive when he came out, it's quite obvious that his dad is really uncomfortable about seeing us together, even if all we do is sit in their living room playing video games. Like we haven't been doing that for years already!

That's one thing I love about my family. They don't care if I date a boy or a girl. They're just happy to see me happy. We were all so sad after Ethan died that for a long time it felt like nothing could make any of us smile again. All those clichés about how life will go on have turned out to be true. Not a day goes by that I don't miss Ethan but now I concentrate on the good memories instead of the sad ones.

Speaking of moving on, grandpa's got a girlfriend! If you can call a 70-year-old grandma someone's girlfriend... She's actually Todd's grandma. Her husband died about a year ago and grandpa's been comforting her and then they just fell in love.

Aaron and I first saw them together when we were coming home from school one day. We didn't know what to tell mom because we thought she might get upset but she was just really happy for both grandpa and Amabelle. Our grandma died 5 years ago and we thought grandpa would never find a new love but we were wrong.

I got the awesomest birthday gift last month. Mom and dad bought me my own TV, grandpa bought a game console and then I got a bunch of games from Aaron and my friends. Aaron and I have been playing a lot and it's so much fun. It kind of sucks that he's going to college next year.

Dad found Aaron this wreck of a car that they intended to fix together. Somehow Aaron got me roped into helping him and even though I'm not very interested in that kind of stuff it's still cool to work together with him. There's no way we'll be able to finish it before he goes off to college so that'll mean that he'll come home every now and then to continue fixing it. He's already talking about buying another wreck and fixing it up for me after we're done with this one. I won't say no to getting a car even though I can't get a driving license for another two years.

I'm not too bothered about going to college but mom and dad would kill me if I didn't at least try. My grades aren't brilliant but they're not terrible either. I'd much rather just play a video game but even though I have the TV and the game console in my own room I'm still not allowed to play until after I've done my homework.

Aaron on the other hand is a total studying machine. He works on the car, he plays video games with me and somehow he still finds time to have his nose buried in books. He's decided to go to university with the ROTC program which means the army will pay for his tuitions but he'll have to serve at least four years after he graduates. Mom's pretty terrified about it because she's afraid he'll get shipped to some war zone. Aaron's still planning to join the police force at some point but he says that serving in the army will look really good in his resume when he applies for a job as a police officer. Joining the army was always Ethan's dream so I think that plays a big part in his decision as well.

I'm so glad I don't have to think about careers and majors and any of that stuff yet. I'm allowed to get a part-time job next year and that's something that I'm considering. Obviously it would cut back the time I can spend with Ross but it would be nice to be able to go to the movies or just anywhere else than Generation X on our dates for once.

We usually grab a quick bite of something and then head over to the arcade games. Ross is a bit more serious type of guy than I am but he seems to have fun playing too.

We usually end up making out a little but then the staff always breaks us apart. There's quite a strict rule about PDA because it's a government-funded place. Sometimes I wish they'd just give us a little break.


Notes:

• Title reference: How it goes by A Nighthawk.
• Aaron's last update as a teen! He didn't qualify for any scholarships but when it comes to WAS points he did really good. So he's definitely going to college and we'll see him soon in the January birthdays. I'm so excited to get a new batch of students!
• I figured that Jeremy's parents would be totally ok with him being bisexual as long as he's alive and happy. I also imagine he would've told them the moment he realized that he likes both girls and boys so they've had plenty of time to get used to the idea that he might have a boyfriend someday.
• Patrick and Amabelle are now in a committed relationship because judging by their wants they're obviously quite serious about each other.