AllFreeNovel
Share Us
JACKSON
ONE MONTH AFTER THEY MET…
The bell rings, and all the students jump up from their desks and make a beeline for the door. It’s Friday, and everyone is excited to get a start on their weekend. Not like there’s much to do around here, anyway. When the weather is good, night swimming and drinking at the quarry is always on the schedule. But it’s late spring and the switch for the summer heat has yet to be flipped. So, most likely, there will be another party out by the abandoned mill. Stepping outside, I squint as my eyes adjust to the brightness of the sun. The smell of fresh cut grass is in the air, and I know the groundskeeper is getting the field ready. The new football season is fast approaching, and this is my year to play first-string. I walk down the row of cars and stop when I come to the spot my brother parked in this morning. It’s empty.
My head tilts up to the sky as I scrub my face with my hands. Why couldn’t I have been an only child? I pull my phone out from my front pocket and call him.
“What?” Jameson barks.
“Where the hell are you, dumbass?”
“Becca and I took off after lunch.”
“How the hell am I supposed to get home, dick?”
“I don’t know, take the bus or walk. I don’t give two shits.”
Jameson disconnects the call, and I squeeze my phone in anger. Only a few more months until he moves into the dorms at LSU. You’ve put up with his shit this long, you can last a few more months. I repeat the words over and over in my head as I watch the yellow school bus drive past me. It’s fine, everything is fine. I’d rather walk, anyway.
“I missed the bus again, didn’t I?”
Looking down at my side, I see Rory standing next to me. Her arms are full of library books, and I watch her struggle to balance them all.
“It just left.” Reaching out, I grab the books out of her hands and smile at the confused look on her face. “I’m walking today too, so I can help you carry these.”
“You can’t carry all of them,” she argues, reaching out to steal a couple back. But I turn my body far enough away from her that she can’t reach. “Jackson, I’m being serious.”
The look on her face tells me she is. “Fine.” I give in, handing her the smallest book. “Now you’re helping.”
“Really?”
She has one hand on her hip and her head cocked to the side as she glares at me. Damn, she’s cute when she’s annoyed.
“Why do you have all these books, anyway?” I ask, trying to change the subject. I begin walking, which gives Rory no choice but to follow me.
“Just trying to get through the weekend.”
“You’re planning on reading all these by Monday?” Looking down, I notice how thick some of these books are.
Rory lets out a small laugh and shakes her head. The gesture causes the curls of her ponytail to sway back and forth.
“No, I probably won’t like all of them enough to do that. But I plan on reading most of them.”
“Is this what you do every weekend?”
“I do other stuff too, like help my grandparents around the house.”
Rory has been the new girl for a month now. I’ve never seen her at any of the parties, but I know she eats lunch with a group of girls who are more on the quiet side; I just assumed she was hanging out with them. I definitely didn’t picture her alone with her face in a book every weekend. When I don’t respond, I watch as her body stiffens defensively. She nervously twists the hem of the Maroon 5 concert T-shirt she’s wearing.
“You probably think I’m some nerd.”
“No, I was actually wondering if you wanted to go to the party with me tonight.” Her green eyes look me up and down suspiciously. “As friends,” I quickly add, worrying that she might say no if she thinks I’m asking her out.
“I don’t know.” She chews on her bottom lip.
“It’ll be fun, I swear.” There is no denying the desperate urge in my voice. I sound like some newb who’s never asked a girl out before. But Rory isn’t like other girls, and maybe I don’t know her well enough to say that, but something tells me I’m right.
“Nobody’s going to want me there. They’ll think I’m a nark because of my dad and grandpa.”
