Sally & Jackson

Chapter 5

She operated like a professional in stealth mode, making sure we were in the clear, and I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed it. We pushed the doors open and ran to the parking lot, laughing at the top of our lungs.

"Where's our getaway car?" I asked as I rested my hands on my knee. I wasn't made for running or anything relating to athletics.

"Right there." She pointed at the bicycle rack.

"You're joking right?" This was supposed to be the part where she laughed and told me she's just kidding.

"You can wait here to be found." She made her way to the rack, and I followed behind her.

"Hey!!" The sound of that voice hitting my ears sent a wave of panic through me.

I turned to where the voice came from, and I saw a teacher standing by the doors.

"Go! Go!! Go!!!" I yelled as I sat behind her and wrapped my arms around her.

"Alright! Alright!!" She laughed as she stepped on the pedal and set the bicycle in motion. We rode away from school, and I took one last look at it before it was out of sight. I was sure that there were two versions of me, and I think I like this one best. Strands of her golden blond brushed against my face and got in my mouth; I blew them away.

"Sorry," she chuckled. It took me a while before realizing that I still had my hand around her waist and I would take it off, but that would mean I could fall off, or that was what I told myself.

"Where are we going?" I asked, looking back. "We just missed our turn."

"My God! Jack!!" She laughed, "Who skips school and goes straight home?"

"Considering I have never skipped school before, I don't know how the whole situation works," I replied.

The wind ran through my hair, and my nose picked up something else—it was her scent. She smelt like daisies and lavender; there was a hint of strawberry. I wanted to press my ears against her back and listen to her heartbeat to check if it was racing just like mine, but that would be creepy.

The bicycle slowed down, and I tilted my head to check where we were; I didn't know exactly where we were.

"We have arrived," she announced.

"Arrived?" I reluctantly unwrapped my hands from her waist. "Where exactly are we?" I got off the bike.

"We're at the park," she answered with excitement in her voice. I turned to her, and her eyes were lit up. Personally, I hadn't been to the park in years, and even if I had, I probably wouldn't remember what it looked like because I was probably too busy keeping my social anxiety in check to take in anything, but this time, it was different. I didn't want to just do a full one-eighty and go home, but instead, I wanted to explore with her.

"Care for a walk?" I asked as I offered my hand, and she smiled.

"Why thank you, my good sir?" she replied in a British accent as she took my hand.

We walked side by side, and there was this woman I saw that looked like Mrs. Shelding, this lady who lives down the street. It's a miracle I remembered her name, assuming that is her name. She shot me a questioning glance, and I knew she was definitely going to snitch on me, and I didn't give two shits.

"So, what actually happened to our getaway vehicle?" I asked

"Is that what we're calling it now?"

"Think of a better name. I'll wait." I stood rooted at the spot with my arms crossed. She stopped and pondered it for a while before sighing in defeat.

"Fine. You win." She groaned, and I laughed. "Can we continue?"

"By all means," I replied.

"My dad had to take the car on his business trip," she answered. Her eyes fell to the floor as she began to pick her nails, and her shoulders fell. There was probably more to that story, but by the looks of things, she didn't even want to think about it. Is that why we're here? Is that why I'm here with her? To be a distraction? Well, I guess I'll definitely have to do a damn good job.

"C'mon. Let's go feed the duckies," I suggested, and she looked up at me as a smile appeared on her face and the butterflies in my stomach seemed to have been awoken. "We have to get something to feed them first."

She took off her backpack and rummaged through it with a look of determination on her face and returned back with a sandwich in a Ziploc bag. She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"Nope," I snickered.

"Ugh..." She groaned as she walked over to the nearest dustbin, took out her sandwich, and cleared everything out, leaving two slices of bread in her hand. "This should work."

"Yep. They should," I replied.

"Come on then," she said as she skipped forward. Watching her was just refreshing. She had such pure energy, and I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

We sat down on the bare grass by the lake in hopes that the ducks would finally arrive, but there weren't any in sight.

"Guess the ducks decided to move," she chuckled.

"I'm sure they'll be back here," I replied as I lay on my back with my head to the sky.

"What do you see?" She asked as she laid beside me.

The clouds didn't seem to be forming anything; they just floated in an irregular shape.

"Nothing"

"That's sad." She pointed to the sky. "I see a dragon or something of that sort."

"I don't see it," I replied.

"Well, the sight isn't for everyone," she responded. I stared at her and watched her eyes dance from one cloud to the other. She looked so different, like she had stripped herself of all the walls she had, and, in that moment, I could actually see her. I finally looked away.

"Have you ever kissed someone before?" she muttered.

"Alas! The million-dollar question," I chuckled. "Well, it depends who you ask."

"What?" She turned to me with an eyebrow raised. "Elaborate"

If there was a way for me to tell her without the cringe memory returning to the surface, I'd use that road, but the memory was already back on the surface.

"Well...uhh...we were actually in class and someone called me, so I turned, and by the looks of things, she was looking over my shoulder trying to get a peek at something, so when I turned, our lips met. Since then, I haven't kissed anyone."

She burst into laughter, and I pushed her playfully.

"It still counts," she snickered.

"Nope. Is that a deal breaker?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"What about you?"

"Yes, I've had my first, and I've kissed a few people too," she answered. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Nope"

She looked shocked. "Boyfriend?"

I looked over at her and rolled my eyes. "Nope."

"I've never dated," I added. "What about you?"

"I've had a boyfriend before, but as of now, I'm single." She looked at me, and I could've sworn I saw a longing desire in her eyes.

"Single to the fucking world," she chuckled as she placed her hand on mine. I stared down at it for a while, and I could see the sparks emitting from her touch. I looked up and met her gaze. My eyes traveled from her eyes to her red lips, then back to her eyes again. I've never seen a mouth that I would kill to kiss, but I can resist, and I was terrified. I knew that this was definitely something else, because friends don't look at friends the way I'm looking at her.