Latter Days

Chapter 10

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's been a million years, but I haven't forgotten about this story! I was just reading it over again and I realized how much I truly loved this story. You can expect updates a little more frequently now, and if I'm not doing it fast enough, feel free to comment or message me, or whatever, and I'll try to get it updated as soon as possible!

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Chapter 10

     After school, Jack met me upstairs at my locker. He had finally gotten familiar with the layout of the school and could remember where the locker actually was. “Hey, girlfriend,” he said, walking up to me. I couldn’t help but smile at him when he said that. He seemed so utterly proud to be able to say it out loud.

     “Hey, boyfriend,” I replied, smiling up at him. Without another word, he pulled my backpack out of my locker, slung it over his shoulder, and laced his fingers through mine. I barely had time to close my locker door before he was pulling me down the hallway and downstairs out to the parking lot. “Woah, you in a hurry to get somewhere?” I asked, from behind him.

     “Nope,” he called back to me. “I just want to get out of the crowded hallway. It’s a beautiful day out, and we’re going to enjoy it.” I was confused by what he meant, but followed him anyway.

     As we exited the building, I was just about to tell him goodbye and head over to my car, but he stopped me and pulled me back to him. “Oh no, you don’t. We’re taking Sandra today.”

     “What? Where are we going?”

     “You’ll see,” he smiled. “Do you need to call your mom or anything? Let her know you won’t be coming home right away?”

     “Ha, no. She won’t even notice I’m gone.” I hadn’t meant for it to come out so harshly, but it was the honest truth, and it wiped the smile right off Jack’s face.

     “Annalie, I’m so sorry about your mom. I meant what I said when I told you that you don’t deserve that.”

     “I know you did, and I’m starting to believe I don’t deserve it, either. Thank you.”

     That got him smiling again, and he pulled me over to Sandra. He opened the passenger door for me and helped me inside, even though the Mazda was very low to the ground and I didn’t particularly need help. He shut the door for me and went over to his own side. When he got in, he waited a few seconds before starting the truck. When it started on the first try, he seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief, which made me chuckle. I quickly put a hand to my mouth to stifle it, though. I didn’t want him to think I was making fun of his truck. Honestly, though, I was.

     “Alright, Tucker, you ready?”

     “Well that depends. For what?”

     “We’re about to finish off our first real day together as a couple, in the only fashion I know how.” He pulled out of the student parking lot and onto the road.

     “And how’s that?”

     “We. Are going. Cloud watching.”

     I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at how serious his face was when he said it. “Cloud watching? Seriously?”

     “Yeah, seriously. Look up, Annalie. Look up at the clouds. They’re gorgeous today. They deserve to be looked at, and I have a feeling that not many people in this town do it very often.” He had a point there. Most kids in this town spent their afternoons getting drunk or sleeping. I couldn’t say I had ever been cloud watching before, and I have to say, I was excited for it.