JEALOUSY.

* ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ Chapter 6˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

About an hour later I stepped out of the shower and walked back into Jackson's room to find him sleeping soundly on the bed. I blinked rapidly before making sure my towel is secure as I quietly walked over to the bed to get my outfit. My bra and shirt were in my hand, but Jackson was laying on my shorts. I tried pulling them from under him as quietly as possible, but Jackson shifted in his sleep and soon sat up. As he rubbed his eyes and looked over at me, I stood there frozen.

"Tiana?" I closed my eyes in embarrassment, hoping I could disappear right here and now.

"You do realize I can see you right?" he said in a groggy voice.

"I was hoping you couldn't." I tightened my grip on the towel and my clothes. "Do you mind?" I avoided eye contact with him.

"Huh-" His eyes finally focused on me and his face turned red. He grabbed a pillow and turned his body to the wall. "I'm sorry... I.. didn't know." He shoved his face into the pillow muttering apologies. I awkwardly picked up my clothes and escaped to the bathroom.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and let out a big sigh. My heart was racing and I couldn't focus on anything besides what had just happened. The way his sleepy eyes tried to adjust and they fell onto me. The way he got flustered almost made me melt on the spot. I shook my head and moved any thoughts about Jackson to the back of my mind and got dressed.

20 minutes later

"Ti, are you dressed yet?" He quietly asked.

"Yeah— well no. I can't tie these straps." I huffed in defeat.

"Do you want me to help?" he said so soft I almost didn't hear him. I took a moment to think about what I was going to say, before just giving in and turning the door knob. As I pulled the door in my direction I saw Jackson's back instead of his face.

"Jackson I'm not naked you know." I giggled a little bit and watched as he turned around slowly.

While he followed behind me we walked over to the mirror and Jackson took his spot behind me. He took the two straps and tied them together into a bow faster than I could.

"Now how did you manage to do that faster than me?" I asked while he went to work on the other side.

"I live with my mom," He didn't move his eyes from my shoulders while he spoke. "You ready now?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded my head. We made our way to the car and I decided to ask who Brian was again. No one seemed to want to answer that question and it was starting to annoy me.

"So.. who's Brian?" I buckled my seatbelt and looked directly at Jackson who was searching for a song to play on the bluetooth.

"Oh he's one of my friends from school." He didn't look up when he answered. "Something wrong with him?" His eyes met mine. "No, its just that Aaliyah said he invited her and I never knew who he was." I shrugged. Jackson's eyebrow raised for half a second, as if he was confused, but he just turned his head before I could read more into his expression.

About 20 minutes 2 arguments over songs, 5 car concerts and 3 wrong turns we finally made it to the party. We parked about 2 blocks away and began walking towards the loud music and discarded cup trail. I texted Aaliyah that I was almost there and she sent back a thumbs up emoji along with 'Im in the kitchen, we're about to do shots.'

I locked my phone and slid it into my back pocket. Jackson and I had a comfortable silence, but I felt like something was going to eat away at me until I knew. What was going on between him and Aaliyah?

I mustered up the courage to ask, so I did what the girls in movies did in a time like this and stopped in the middle of the road.

"Can I ask you something?" I almost had to raise my voice because he didn't stop walking.

He stopped walking and turned to face me. His face look confused but he just nodded his head silently.

"What was going on with you and Aaliyah?" I stared directly into his eyes waiting for his response.

He opened his mouth then closed it without saying anything. He looked like he was looking for the right words or a believable lie. I started getting nervous as seconds felt like years.

"She said she liked me and asked me to give her a chance. I gave her a chance and out of nowhere she said she wasn't interested anymore." He didn't look sad or bothered, just slightly annoyed.

"It wasn't anything serious if that's what you're wondering. We never did anything either." He assured me.

I felt more at ease and still had questions but they were for Aaliyah, not Jackson.

"Okay. Thank you for telling me. I didn't want to be one of those girls who goes after a boy my friend dated." I caught up to where he was. Jackson just looked off into the distance for the rest of the walk and I began to feel bad for even asking.

A couple of minutes later we arrived in front of a big blue house with greek letters on the door. The music was so loud we heard it down the street and standing infront of the door made it even louder. I was about to open the door when Jackson finally broke his silence,

"Stay close to me and don't drink anything anyone gives you." He said in a stern tone. I agreed and he opened the door. As soon as the door swung open I saw people mushed together dancing, laughing and drinking. There were cups everywhere, girls crying and others laughing, guys cheating on the girls who were crying, random couples kissing in odd places, and so much more.

Jackson grabbed my hand and led the way to the kitchen to find our friends. I tried to be polite and say excuse me, but with all the drunk bodies and loud music I just stopped and followed behind Jackson.

Surprisingly enough the kitchen was a lot more chill compared to the rest of the house. Some people were gathered at the center counter taking shots while others were having their own conversations amongst themselves. I finally saw Aaliyah talking to a guy with his back turned to me and Jackson so I waved to catch her attention. She smiled at me, but as we approached she started kissing the guy she was talking to.

At first I had no real reaction, but when he turned around Jackson and the mystery man's faces both dropped.

"Brian?" Jackson made a hand motion between him and Aaliyah with a puzzled face.

"Jackson.." Brian trailed off.

I set my eyes on Aaliyah and she was just smirking like a devilish child.

'Is that..?' I mouthed to her, referring to the guy she slept with.

She shook her head yes and continued to smile.