Second Chance | ✓

❆Second Chance (01)

~J A C K S O N~

HIGH SCHOOL HAD ALWAYS BEEN A VERY TOLERANT PLACE. I was popular, smart, and got all the girls. I was quarterback and captain; I had everything and cared for that kind of lifestyle. I really did but who knew adult life brings way more stories?

In high school, I always acted out as a player, the guy who just drank, smoked, and slept with erratic girls. That was how my high school livelihood went out.

I got everything, except one.

I never got to be with the girl I loved. Lily, that attractive girl who never spared me a glance when we crossed paths. The girl wasn't interested in football and never had a fondness for the players.

Never admired me.

I tried to get her hundreds of times but never comprehended why she would say no. She wouldn't tell me why she would always reject me but on the last day of high school, the very last day, she clarified to me why she would never go out with me.

"You aren't exactly someone I'd go for. You are someone who practically breaths on girls; you live for them, so where would I fit in?"

Her saying has always been clasped in the back of my mind, never once leaving. I was tormented by it, to say the least, but I read up on my lesson. I can get terrific girls, precious ones even if I just stop breathing on girls.

"Jack, are you sure you want to do this? This could change everything!" My best friend Austin howls over the loud music puttering through the speakers.

"Just restart the damn game!" I howl right back, rolling my eyes.

We are currently in our living room playing video games. The game is freezing, and if we restart, we lose all the points we just achieved, but I couldn't care less.

I have to be back at the bookstore in an hour and luckily, I'm dressed finely and warm enough. I won't have to leave the game now and do my routines because come on, it is a waste of time.

I watch as Austin restarts the set, my fingers itching to play a good game. Just then, my phone starts ringing. I fish my phone out, ushering Austin to put the music softer.

When it is, I check the caller ID and raise my brow as Linda's name appears on my screen. Linda is the supervisor of my bookstore and helps with mostly everything. She has been a family friend for eight years, going for nine. She said she would take care of most things and right now, we are short on staff.

We need at least two more hires and then we are decent. Linda and I are close through my dad. I answer the phone and when I do, I don't get a chance to greet before Linda starts talking.

"Hey Jackson, we have a few people who are wanting to be hired. The problem is, they don't want me, they want you." Linda says, her usual businesslike voice attacking me with a visible groan.

I sigh with a nod, "I'll be there in twenty."

After a few more instructions and explanations of how the store is running without me there, I apologize to Austin before grabbing my keys, wallet, and phone and heading for the door.

When I get out, it's freezing and I shudder.

I swab the little snow off my car and get into my Ford Mustang. I sigh in contentment with a grin. This 1964 classic has been my baby for one and a half years and I love it.

Driving out of the driveway, I make my way to the bookstore which is only a maximum amount of fifteen minutes away. When I got there, the bookstore stood straight and tall, just like my dad did when he welcomed his very first thirteen customers.