Jackson & Ford

Chapter Two

Tuesday, March 15. There was a track meet the next day, and the head coach, Coach Pittman, was going over what events everyone was competing in. I was sitting with Augustine and her friend group, while the entire team huddled around Coach Pittman. I wasn't really paying attention, mostly because I was too busy staring at Augustine. She was just that beautiful.

As Coach Pittman kept talking, I found myself zoning out. It felt like he was just talking for hours. He very well may have been, and I wasn't realizing it.

"Ugh, I don't want to take the bus."

That brought me back to reality. Augustine had started talking, and I wasn't paying attention. Then I realized she was talking to me.

"Mason?"

"Huh, what? You said something?"

"Yeah, just that taking the bus sucks, it's always overpacked."

"Oh, that sucks. I'm sorry."

"Eh, it's alright."

Augustine simply shrugged. "Anyways, are you coming to the meet tomorrow? I know you can't compete, but I don't think it's that far."

"Yeah, I was planning to. Why?"

"I was just curious, is all."

"Wait, that actually made me think of something. If I'm going to the meet, do you want to ride with me? That way you don't have to take the bus. We can swing by RaceTrac or something too, if you want. I don't know how your parents would feel about me driving you, since I've never met them, but I figured I may as well throw it out there anyways."

"Really? That'd be great. My parents are chill, I'll ask, but I'm pretty sure they'll say yes. Thanks, Mason!"

"Yeah, no problem. It'll be fun, you can have aux too, if you want."

"REALLY?!?!"

"Yeah, of course. Otherwise, it's just going to be Taylor Swift and Conan Gray the whole time."

"You're kidding. Taylor is like my favorite thing ever."

"See, then you're already going to be a good DJ."

Augustine smiled, and though I had seen it before, I had never really been the cause of her smile before, and even though I was smiling already just from talking to her, my smile grew just a bit bigger.

"Let me just check with my parents first, before we get too excited, in case it doesn't end up being able to happen." Augustine grabbed her iPhone and typed away a quick "Can I ride to the meet tomorrow with my friend Mason?" to the contact 'Dad'. Almost immediately, dots showed up and a message was delivered. "Is this a guy or a girl?" "Ugh, my dad, I swear." I quickly diverted my eyes off of Augustine's phone and to her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just my dad being annoying. He asked if you were a guy or a girl."

"Oh," I laughed, "I get that a lot, it's no big deal."

"If you say so, anyways, he said that was fine, that I rode with you."

I tried my best to hide my enthusiasm, but I felt a smile rise to my face.

"Okay, awesome. So we can just meet at the locker room or something after school ends and then walk to my car...?"

"Yeah, that works. And RaceTrac is still on the table?"

"Haha, yeah of course. My treat."

"I can't ask you to do that, you're already driving me."

"Augustine, chill. I really don't mind."

"Nope, you're driving, I'm paying."

"Fine."

I only agreed simply because I didn't want to keep arguing with her. I knew that I'd end up doing no matter what it took to pay, so I was okay with letting her win this round.

As Coach Pittman wrapped up his announcements for the team, everyone started to stand up and go their separate ways based on each of the events they were going to be doing. Augustine and her friends all ran distance, so they all went to the track starting line, while I hung back.

As the rest of practice dragged on, I found myself anxiously awaiting tomorrow. I had so much to do, I had to make sure everything was perfect. I wanted my car to be clean, I wanted to look good, all of the above.

When I got home from practice, the first thing I did was wash my car. I didn't wash it as thoroughly as I would have liked to, but I made sure that it was neat on the inside and not super dirty.

I drove a 2013 Jeep Wrangler, so it wasn't a BMW or Range Rover like most of the cars at Mountain Ridge High School, but it wasn't bad, either. It had an all black leather interior, and a black-on-black exterior, with my Harry Styles "we'll be alright" sticker on the back. It's not that I was a messy person, but the Jeep definitely wasn't clean, and I wanted it to be perfect for when I drove Augustine.

Later that night, after finding that my car was satisfactory, it was time to figure out what I was going to wear tomorrow for the meet. It didn't need to be too nice, but it had to be at least put together enough for me to look good. I went through my closet countless times, trying to decide if I wanted to dress more masculine or more feminine. I ultimately decided to go more masculine, wearing my letter jacket, a hoodie underneath, loose jeans, and black Nike Dunks.

Afterwards, I took a quick shower and knocked out some homework for my AP classes, AP US History, AP Environmental Science, and AP English, and went to bed, over the moon excited for the next day.