Sally & Jackson

CHAPTER 1

Back in middle school, I used to imagine what high school would be like. How I'd go to parties, be popular, and all that stuff. They said, "High school is the best year of your life," but by junior year, I hadn't experienced anything. I wasn't complaining though; I wasn't an A+ student, but I also wasn't failing any of my classes. I was somewhere in between all of it, and there was a little balance to it. It's not like I hadn't tried to find my place in all this, but it just didn't feel right. I had no best friend like the ones you see in the cheesy high school movies on the streaming services, and I was okay with it until I wasn't.

I stared outside the window with a book in my hand, completely lost in my head.

There was a knock on the door; it was my mom. "You busy?" She asked with her body against the doorpost.

"Not really," I replied as I closed the book. She walked over and sat by me.

"What're you doing tonight?" She asked.

"Nothing really," I replied.

"Why don't you go out with the other kids?"

This again? She's trying to get me to go out and be a teenager, but what she doesn't understand is that I don't feel like I have found my people or if I even fit in.

"Sure, I'll go out." I only gave in because the only way this conversation ends is with one of us yelling at each other. Her face seemed to have somehow brightened up after hearing me.

I got up and threw on my black hoodie with the hood over my head and picked up my earphones, which I never leave home without. They say it'll probably disturb my eardrums, but how can you experience life without music? I walked down the street to my favorite coffee shop and ordered my usual cappuccino with croissants. I sat in the corner of the room and just observed everyone. It's quite comforting when you can notice the smallest change in body language. I would've been there for a longer period of time if I had brought a book along, but sadly, I didn't. I'd read on my phone, but I'm not a fan of electronic copies.

I was on my way back home when I noticed the sun was setting, casting a shade of pale yellow across the sky. I was so mesmerized by it until someone bumped into me and fell.

"I'm so sorry." I tried to help them up.

"Watch where you're going next time!" She looked up at me with a frown on her face. She swatted my hand away, got up, dusted herself off, and left. I was too busy looking into her eyes to even register the rest of her face; there was just something about the way she looked at me that captivated me. The rest of the walk home was boring because all I could think about was how I felt when her hazel eyes looked up at me and how the sun brought out the golden specks within them. By the time I was in bed, the only thing on my mind was tomorrow, the first day back to school. People will definitely be sharing stories of how they lost their virginity in the back of an abandoned truck in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock blaring in my ears. I sat on the bed for a couple of minutes, questioning my very existence. I managed to get to my feet and get into the bathroom for my morning ritual.

"Mom! I'm leaving," I called as I packed my lunch and grabbed an apple for the road. I got on the school bus, and as I walked to take a seat, I noticed these two people getting all chummy with each other, which means that they recently got together. It's only a matter of time until the honeymoon phase ends and real life smacks them hard. The thought of that made me chuckle.

"This year has to be good," I muttered to myself as the bus moved.

I saw a bunch of students making their way through the gate as I got off the bus. There were the people who were just reuniting with their best friends and those who are currently off the market. I was on my way towards the building when these two white butterflies flew up to my face and over my head. My eyes followed them and I watched as they fluttered off into the day. It was quite pretty.

I opened my locker, grabbed my books, and went to class. The teacher came in and began teaching, but I looked out the window, and I was no longer on earth but in an abstract reality created by my mind. I was so engrossed in it that I didn't hear the teacher calling me until he slammed his hand on the table.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, and the class chuckled at my expense. The teacher glared down at me with anger in his eyes.

"Detention," he said before going back to the front of the class. I had been invisible for over two years now, and on my first day back, people seemed to have noticed me, and now I also have detention for the first time. The rest of the class went by quickly. I held onto my tray tightly as I walked to find an empty place to sit, but there was none available inside, so I went outside and still found nothing. I heaved a sigh as I was mentally preparing myself to ask someone if the seat was taken. I looked up, and something caught my eye.

There was a dark figure on the roof; based on the little outline I got, I could tell it was a person.

Suddenly, every bone in my body wanted to run up the stairs and stop them from doing something they couldn't take back. I pushed open the roof door, and I was right. It was a girl who was seated there with her arms stretched out by her side and the wind in her hair.

"You okay?" I asked as I moved closer to her, still clutching the tray in my hand.

"Yes. I'm not going to jump," she replied. I could feel her rolling her eyes.

"Then why don't you move away?" I asked

"Why don't you move closer?"

"Because I'm afraid of heights," I gulped.

That seemed to have done the trick because she placed her hands down and turned to me. I froze in my place as her eyes met mine; it was the same pair of hazel brown with the golden flecks. I know people could have the same color of eyes, and I could be wrong about it, but I just couldn't fail to see it any other way because I knew not of her face but of her eyes and how she looked at me, with shock and a little bit of anger. It was her, the girl from the sidewalk.