call it what you want

Chapter 16

Jackson

It's a Wednesday night and I just got back from the dining hall and when I walk into the apartment I see Wes standing in the kitchen.

"Oh hey, the girls are gonna stay the night. There was a small gas leak in the dorms and just to be safe they're evacuating them to these group rooms with like 20 other people and that would suck so they're just gonna come stay here."

The girls?
"Adare and Amee—" I start to question.

"And Ameeriah yeah," he says nonchalantly.
"Oh ok," I say back as I set my stuff down.

"Oh my gosh I'm so fucking sore," I say as I slouch down in the chairs.
Actually I don't even know if it's hockey or if I'm just that fucking stressed.
My neck has been bothering me so much and I can't stop thinking about my parents.

There's fucking so much going on and I can't talk about it with anyone because no one even knows.
But fuck I don't know how much more of this I can take.

Every other day there's a call from either my mom or my dad and telling me about another set of problems. My sisters aren't doing well either. And there's absolutely nothing I can say to make anything better.

Our world was completely dragged and flipped upside down and I can't even talk about it with anyone.
All thanks to my fucking dad.

"You good?" I hear Wes' voice and suddenly dragged away from the spiral of my thoughts.
"Huh?" I look up and realize that I must have laid my head down on the table.

"Oh yeah, I mumble. "I'm fine. Just tired."
"Well they're gonna be here in just a little bit so if you're gonna pout, go to your room," Wes jokes.

"Fuck off," I say as I stand up and grab a water before slowly walking over to my room and gently push the door to shut a little.
I'm just fucking exhausted. This is all just so much.

I hear Adare and Ameeriah come in and I know I should probably go out to say hi but I look like shit and I feel like shit and I just can't tonight.

I stare at the ceiling for just thinking about everything that's on my mind, and I must have been there for a while because whenever I snap back to reality I can see through my door that's not fully shut that the lights are off and I think everyone went to bed.

The only thing I can see is the soft glow of the tv that's lighting up the room ever so slightly as it plays.

I get up to start a shower and go over to my bed to wait for it to heat up.
As soon as I lay back on the bed, I see the phone beside me light up and it's one of my sisters.

I sigh before answering to prepare myself to pep up a little more before I talk to her.
"Hey Lizzy, what's up?" I say softly into the phone and as soon as she speaks, I can hear through her stuffed voice that she's been crying.

˖ ࣪✦

Ameeriah

I turn off the tv, trying to get comfortable on the couch and pull the blanket up closer to my face before I hear Jackson say something from his room.

"Huh?" I say back, thinking that he's talking to me.
He says something else, but I still can't quite hear what he's trying to say so I get up and walk over to his door that's opened slightly.

"What'd you say Jackso—" I drift off as I realize that he's talking on the phone and not me.

"I don't know what to do, I can't control what he does Lizzy," he says softly into the phone. "He called me the other day and said that it was all gonna be taken care of I don't know," he sighs.

I wonder who he's talking to?
I realize that I definitely shouldn't be listening to his conversation but in my defense I didn't know he was on the phone when I walked up.

"Well what did mom say?" He says and I quickly realize that he must be talking to one of his sisters.
He sighs deeply in the phone and drags the hand that's not holding the phone through his hair.

He's listening to whatever the person on the phone is saying before he starts talking again.
"Lizzy please don't cry," he says as it comes out almost like a plea.

He looks distraught and in his brief silence I can hear water running in the shower.
"This is all just so fucking much I— sorry, this is all just so much and I don't know how much more mom's gonna be able to handle," he says lowly and my heart breaks for him.

I don't even know what he's talking about but just his body language is saying that something is seriously not okay.

"I love you too, please just get some sleep," he says quickly before he hangs up the phone and tosses it beside him.

He's sitting on the edge of his bed and places his elbows on his knees and then runs his hands over his face. I've never seen Jackson like this.

He quickly stands up and before I can realize what he's doing, he's got his back faced towards the door and he pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to the ground beside him.

Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh.

I know that I need to turn around and go back to the couch and stop spying on him like a fucking stalker but I can't look away.
Even through the dimness of the room I can see the tan and muscles on his back.
Good grief. Why is he so perfect?

I swallow and feel myself heating before I quickly tiptoe back to the couch because I'm not about to fucking be a peeping tom, my gosh.

I sit back at the couch and try to close my eyes but when I do I just see his body again.
Oh for the love of God Ameeriah stop it.
It's just late so I really just need to go to sleep and forget about all of this.

✧∘* ೃ ⋆｡˚.
Thanks for reading!
What's the best pizza topping? I love pineapple and spinach omg

This was one of my fav chapters to write!! ..the next one too🤭
-m