Chapter 37:

Beckinsile's Point of View

It's late March now. Oliver and I have been trading off taking care of Jasper for almost two months. Jasper's gotten a little bigger but not by much thankfully. I like him being little; he's loads of fun to cuddle with. He sits on my lap while I'm doing my homework, while I'm watching TV and even while I'm sleeping.

This week's my week to have Jasper at my house but Oliver can't bear to part with him so soon so now all of us are hanging out on my couch. I stroke Jasper softly while Oliver surfs through the TV channels trying to find something to watch.

"There's nothing on," Oliver groans.

Jasper is startled awake by Oliver's sudden outburst which earns Oliver a pointed look from me.

"Sorry," He rubs Jasper behind the ears until he falls back asleep. "Becks, we should do something tonight..." Oliver whispers.

"What would you like to do?" I gently pet Jasper's head and look into Oliver's eyes.

"Eli said he was having a little get together at his place; we could go over there..." Oliver's eyes wander over to the now muted TV.

"In my experience when a guy says that he's having a 'little' get together it means half the school is going to show up..." I smirk as Oliver's gaze turns back to me.

"Eli hates huge parties unless they happen at his concerts; he'd never host a high school party, but that's mostly because he despises practically everyone at school..." Oliver smiles to himself and waits for my answer.

"I guess but we need to make sure Jasper is okay... My mom said that she wouldn't be able to take care of him..."

"We can take him back over to my place and pick him up before I drive you home. My mom's going to be staying in all night reading over something for work and she'd probably enjoy some company..."

"Okay..." I gently stand up so as not to wake Jasper and walk over to his carrying case.

I slip him and a few of his toys inside. We'd fed him earlier so there's no need to pack up his food. Oliver picks up the case and begins to walk towards the door. I grab my phone and a house key before stepping over the threshold.

By the time I'm out the door Oliver is already putting Jasper in the backseat. I chuckle to myself and slip into shotgun. Oliver puts the key in the ignition and drives the now familiar route to his house.

~~~~~

"Mom, I brought you some company..." Oliver hollers the minute we walk through his front door.

"I'm in the living room, Sweetheart." Marsha calls.

I follow Oliver down a hallway to his enormous living room. She is seated comfortably in an oversized armchair. Marsha sips from a mug while she types away on her computer. She sets her mug on the side table and removes her wire-rimmed glasses from her face.

"Beckinsile," She stands up and wraps me in a hug. "It's so good to see you, Sweetheart."

"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Marshall." I smile as she lets go.

"What can I do for you two?"

"We're going out tonight and we need somebody to watch Jasper..." Oliver says with a little uncertainty as if he expected his mother to say no.

"I'd love to watch that little fur ball..." His mom squeals as Oliver pulls Jasper out of his case.

Jasper is still asleep as Oliver hands him over to his excited mother. She strokes his head gently and sets him on the armrest of her chair.

"You guys have fun; I'll take good care of him..." Marsha runs her thumb over the back of his head as she sits down.

"Thanks a million, Mom..." Oliver smiles as he grabs my hand and we walk towards the door.

"That went well," I say with a little enthusiasm as I slip back into the comfort of Oliver's car.

"I guess; I'm just glad she took him for the night...Taking care of a pet is so much work..." Oliver groans in a teasing way.

"But he's so adorable so it all works out..." I tap Oliver on the nose as he backs out of his driveway.

~~~~~

We arrive at Eli's house, if that's what you want to call it, in about fifteen minutes. The reason I don't consider it a house is because it's so big. It could hold at least two of my house easy.

The house is painted white with black accents and a huge circular driveway. There's a fountain in the middle of the driveway and if I'm not mistaken a valet booth. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if this boy had a valet for his own house.

Oliver and I walk up to the large front door and ring the doorbell. The doorstep has a porch on either side with some furniture and a few potted plants. There are two huge white pillars that hold up the foundation of the large house and also add an air of importance to the outside.

A man in a suit answers the door.

"Evening, I'm Theodore; are you here to see Eli?" The man's voice is toneless but he has a smile on his face nonetheless.

"Yes, Sir...I'm Oliver Marshall, Eli's friend." Theodore lets Oliver and I through before directing us to where Eli and his other guests are.

We walk down the spiraling staircase to Eli's massive basement. Cody, Eli, Xander and Jennifer are seated in the far corner playing video games.

"The king has arrived," Xander shouts when Oliver comes over to them.

"Thank you for using my proper title," Oliver smirks as he plops down into a beanbag.

"Let's see if he can hold onto that title," Eli tosses him a controller and starts the game.

"Beckinsile," Jennifer squeals when she sees me.

I plop down on the beanbag next to her and we embrace.

"I've missed you so much," She gushes.

"Same here, have the boys been boring you to death?"

"You have no idea; every time I try to change the topic they always find a way to incorporate video games or Death by Diamonds into it..." Jennifer rolls her eyes.

"Are you bagging on us again, Babe?" Eli calls with his eyes still glued to the television screen.

"No, I was bagging on the other boring punk band that gets killed by jewelry." Jennifer winks at me.

"Very funny," Eli rolls his eyes and continues on with the game.

Cody and Xander erupt in cheers because thanks to Jennifer's unintentional distraction Oliver was able to kill Eli's character and hang onto his title as king.

"Good game; you've now worked your way up to court jester of my court. Next game maybe you'll become princess..." Oliver chuckles and claps Eli on the back.

"Why can't I be prince?" He whines with a little gleam in his eyes.

"Because Cody's already prince..." Oliver looks like he can barely contain his amusement.

"Then I guess I'll have to go for princess..." Eli picks up his controller and starts the game over again.

~~~~~

It's two hours after Eli said that he'd try to become princess. There are pizza boxes littering the floor and empty cans of soda strewn about the hardwood. Jennifer and I are about to fall asleep as Eli tries one final time to become princess.

"Can't we play a game where we're all involved?" I whine softly and stand up.

"Yeah, I think this has a four player mode..." Xander smirks and I throw and empty soda can at his head.

He rolls back to dodge it and then sticks his tongue out at me.

"Cute," I smirk and walk over to where the remote is lying unattended on the floor.

Oliver and Eli are too wrapped up in their game to notice me picking up their precious window to the video game world. Cody and Xander smirk because they know what I'm about to do. I let my thumb hover dramatically over the power button before finally pressing down.

The entire screen goes black and the two boys look like someone just dumped a bucket of ice water on their heads. Xander and Cody are howling with laughter while Oliver and Eli try to figure out what just happened.

"I said let's play a game where we're all involved..." I cross my arms and smirk because Eli and Oliver are still too dazed to understand what I'm saying.

"What game?" Oliver says, finally coming out of his video game daze.

"I don't care; just no more video games..." I chuckle a little and wait for somebody to suggest something.

"We should play soccer," Eli smirks.

"You're so on," Oliver holds his hand out and Eli shakes it fiercely.

"So, Oliver and I are team captains...Oliver you pick your first team member..." Eli spreads his arms open so everyone can be seen.

"I think you know who I'm going to choose..." Oliver smirks as I walk over to his side.

"I could've seen that coming...Jennifer, get over here..." Eli snaps and Jennifer rolls her eyes.

"I guess but you know soccer isn't really my thing," Jennifer crosses her arms and walks over to Eli who pulls her close.

"Get a room," Xander shouts.

"I'll take Xander," Oliver crosses his arms and gives Eli one of his "I'm going to win" smirks.

"Fine, it's on, Marshall..." Eli leads the way upstairs and out to his front yard.

He walks us out to the private road in front of his house. He whistles to Oliver who helps him haul two goals out to the street.

"You ready for this?" Xander shoots a smirk towards Jennifer who sticks her tongue out at him. "Feisty," He whistles as Eli kicks a soccer ball over to our side.

"Oliver you've got kick-off," Eli says as the pair meet up in the middle.

They shake hands and then Oliver kicks the ball into the air.

~~~~~

It's the last quarter of our little game. The score is tied with my side having possession. Oliver passes the ball to me and I dribble it up the road. Eli is gaining on me and Xander is waiting at the goal for me to pass it to him. I push a little harder and miraculously outrun Eli. I pass it straight to Xander who shoots it into the goal winning us the game.

"Good game, princess..." Oliver smirks as he shakes Eli's hand.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Eli rolls his eyes and shakes mine and Xander's hands before flopping onto the ground.

He's lying down looking up at the stars and soon enough we all join him. His house is far enough from the city that the stars are completely visible. I put my hands behind my head and stare out at the twinkling lights of the stars.

"They're beautiful; aren't they?" Oliver asks in a whisper.

"You can't see stars like this from my backyard." I whisper back and continue staring, completely captivated by the night sky.

The inky black sky is a stark contrast with the perfect white light of the stars. I can feel myself drift off slightly. Oliver grabs my hand but doesn't try to stop me from falling asleep in the middle of the road.

~~~~~

"Beckinsile," Oliver's voice is low and a little raspy.

I rub my eyes and prop myself up on my elbows only to find that there's something soft underneath me. I look around, slightly confused, until I realize that our whole group has moved onto the grass of Eli's front yard. Everyone else is still asleep except for Oliver and me.

"Babe, we have to go so your parents won't kill me..." Oliver stands up and offers me his hand.

I clutch onto it and he easily pulls me up. He wraps me in his hoodie and leads me to his car. I slip into shotgun and drift off to the movements of the car as Oliver drives me back to my house.

"I'll drop off Jasper later," He says as he kisses me gently on the forehead.

I nod slowly while I walk off sleepily to my front door and slip inside.