Shattered

Chapter 16

The tests had gone surprisingly well. I actually studied for these and my scores weren't half bad. I was impressed with how much I remembered. During the last day of exams, I go to lunch pretty excited about what I hold in my hand. I sit down, waving the small piece of paper around. Tom raises his eyebrows.

"Why are you so happy?"

"I got my test scores!" I say.

"Let me see this." Jack says and grabs the papers from me. He smiles. "Wow, these are really amazing."

"Thanks! Let me see yours." I say, putting my hand out.

He chuckles and puts my scores down. "No, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Oh, come on! They can't be that bad!"

Fletch sneaks around behind Jack and slowly grabs the papers from his bag. My quick look grabs Jack's attention and he spins around. But Fletch is already walking away with the papers.

"Give them back!" Jack yells. Fletch runs around the table and pushes the papers into my hands.

I manage to get a quick look before Jack snatches them away. I can see why he didn't want to show me. He barely passed except English; he did really well on that.

"Jack these scores are totally fine! You could care less about school. You passed, that's better than nothing." I say trying to encourage him.

"Yeah, but you got nerd scores. You're turning into Rob." Jack nods to Rob.

Rob rolls his eyes and hands me his scores. They're all A's. "Wow. How come you never told me about this? You're insanely smart." I say. I hand the papers back to him, my eyes wide.

"It's not something I like to boast about." He shrugs.

I smile and eat my lunch, proud of what I managed to do.

◊

Tonight is my date with Jack. I stand in front of my closet, looking at everything I own. All of these clothes are good for sulking, crying, or trying to be invisible. Now that I want to go on a date, I see I have nothing suitable for it. Nothing in my closet is cute or feminine, or even, what I assume, would be appealing to a boy.

"What's going on?" Sandy comes into my room and looks around at the pile of clothes on my bed.

"I have a date with Jack tonight." I'm hesitant to say it, but she was going to find out no matter how hard I would try to hide it.

"What?" She smiles and turns to me. "Really?"

My face turns a bright red. "Yeah."

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" She claps her hands together. "He is so cute."

"Sandy!"

She puts her hands up. "What?"

I look back at my closet and continue to stare in despair.

"Having trouble finding an outfit?"

"Yes." I mutter.

"No problem." She reaches into my closet and pulls out a few pieces. It fits together really well and doesn't look half bad.

"How did you do that? I've been staring at that for ages."

"Years of practice. Come on, I'll do your hair." When she sits me down and begins to brush, she asks, "So, how do you feel?"

I take a deep breath. "Well...I'm nervous and...I've never been on a date before...and I really like him. Also, he won't tell me where we are going and what do I say-" I start rambling, my internal freak out finally coming out.

Sandy laughs. "What?" I ask. "Is this not normal?"

"No, it's completely normal. But it's...strange..." She means it's strange to see me worrying about normal things. She stops herself and focuses on my hair, but the comment hangs there, the big elephant in the room.

The doorbell rings and Sandy smiles. "Ready?"

"Kinda." I say trying to smile. My palms feel sweaty and my mind is screaming at me to cancel this whole thing as I walk to the door.

"Hi Jack!" Sandy says.

"Hi, Mrs. Hutchings. How are you?" He asks politely.

"Very good, you?" I know Sandy well enough at this point to know she wants to say more. She rings her hands and beams up at him, like he's doing her a favor by taking me out.

"Good."

"Great. Well have fun! Be home by midnight." She says as I scoot around her to leave.

"Yes ma'am." Jack answers like a gentleman.

I smile at him and we walk to his car. Thankfully Sandy closes the door and doesn't watch us leave. We get into the car and I guess he is pretty nervous too, because he doesn't really say anything. He takes a deep breath and gives me a nervous smile.

"So, I thought we would go to Starbucks first? And then we'll go to the main event." He has a mischievous grin on his face.

"Do I finally get to know what the main event is?"

"Not yet." He shakes his head.

I sigh and settle into the seat. We both become quiet. I start to sweat from the nerves. Thankfully Jack puts on Peirce the Veil, and we focus on the music.

We make it to the Starbucks, 40 minutes outside of town and stop to see that the place is packed.

"I see they have the same idea as we do." He comments.

"They? Who are they?" I ask a few seconds later.

He just smirks and walks inside. We order two coffees and a few scones. We sit by a window and eat in silence.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"About what?"

"Things have changed. You seem better. How are you?"

I play with my last scone. "I don't know. I feel...light. But I know it's the pills. I can't figure out if I am moving on or if it's fake."

Jack nods. "I think you are. You are the one who's been pushing yourself to move forward."

"Yeah. It's strange, but nice? I don't know."

"Okay, lighter subject. How do you feel about You Me at Six?"

"I love that band; they have such a great sound. I love his voice; he's so passionate and the lyrics are so relevant. I feel like I can relate to them, you know? They understand what people are really dealing with." I catch myself smiling as I finish. I slump in my seat and put my hands in my lap. I watch him smile at me, his gray eyes fixed on my own. I look away, suddenly self-aware. "What?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing...You're just really cute."

I clear my throat and look down, hoping to hide my red cheeks. I try to change the subject. "So...why did you want to know if I liked the band?"

He shrugs. "Oh nothing, we just have front row seats to see them perform tonight."

My jaw drops. "You're kidding." I whisper.

He laughs. "Nope. My dad knows a guy and he was able to pick them up."

"I can't believe it." I shake my head.

"Come on, we should get going, it's going to start soon."

I nod quickly and very happily head to the concert. The band comes out five minutes after we get to our seats. I go crazy. I have all the albums and I know every word to every song. It is a dream come true and we are close enough that I feel like I could touch them. I close my eyes and listen to the voices and the instruments. I opened my eyes a little while later and look over at Jack to find him smiling at me yet again.

"What-" I begin, but he stops me before I can finish. He grabs my hips and pulls me in. When we pull away, gasping for air, out foreheads stay knit together. The music comes back into focus and I smile, laughing. We sway to the music; the heavy guitar and drum beat.