Falling for Jackson Wang | MARKSON

Chapter 1| Eastwood High

"Mark," my father yelled from the downstairs kitchen, "I'm leaving for work now!"
"Have fun!" I screeched from my room, hearing the front door slam moments after. The rest of my family were back in America, I had to come back with dad for half a year, mostly because mum didn't want him to feel lonely.

Today was my first day back at Eastwood High, after 3 long years of living away from this nightmare, I am once again, face-to-face with the enemy.
The school enterance.
Eastwood high is your typical highschool, one big enterance, a huge football field, hallways filled with lockers, hormonal teenagers sucking each others face off against the lockers and the typical cliques. I happened to fall under the 'nerd' category and last time I checked, Jackson fell under the 'popular hottie' category.

A lot has changed in 3 years, stepping through the school doors, I noticed they painted the walls from a gross green to a bright blue. The lockers were upgraded from small, rusty scraps of metal to new, clean-cut and re-painted. I also noticed they have a school cork board, made for all the important announcements in the middle of the wall, next to the office. The library was bigger and better, finally, a better place to study!

A high pitch ringing interrupted me from my thoughts, followed by a rush of students and lots of lockers slamming shut.

"Darn it! I'll be late!" I thought out loud, before quickly rushing into the office for my timetable.
As I entered the office, I approached my old admin friend, Susan, who I should call Ms.Green, but Susan and I are on a first name basis.
"Hey Susan, I've come to pick up my timetable." I casually spoke, eyeing the grey haired lady sitting at the desk in front of me. Susan was around 50 years old, her age starting to show through her skin. She had young green eyes though, they were genuine and warm, she had a beautiful heart, she even let me eat lunch in the office when the bullying was to the point where I couldn't stay in the same room as Jackson.
"It's Miss Green to you, young ma-" she started, but as soon as she looked up from the computer and her green eyes met mine, she gasped, "Mark? Mark Tuan?!".
She was in a state of disbelief.
"That's me." I smiled at her as she engulfed me in a hug across the desk.
"You've turned into a very handsome young man!" she uttered, letting me go and examining my features.
Puberty had hit me like a truck, my hair was no longer brown, I dyed it blonde. I wasn't weak anymore, my time in America gave me an oppurtunity to lose the 'nerd look' (don't get me wrong, I'm still a straight A student) and gain some muscle mass. I got rid of my 'brace-face' (braces) and now have a perfect set of teeth.
I laughed at her remark, "You used to call me handsome even when I was ugly".
"That's because you were, sweetheart." She flashed me a smile before rushing back to the computer muttering something about my timetable.
"I'll give you a late pass because I kept you for so long," she said as she handed me my timetable and late pass, flashing me a wink, "I hope to see you soon. Good luck Mark."
I smiled once more and nodded, taking my timetable and reading my first class. Chemistry.
"Hopefully I won't be bothering you at lunch like I used to!" I joked before stepping into the hallway, not before I heard her say the words:
"I'll always be here if you have no one."
-
The rooms hadn't changed much, the only thing that had really changed was the fact they were bigger.
I still know my way around the school with my eyes closed, in exception to the route to the gym, I never used to go there anyway.
Realisation struck me as I wandered to my next class. Am I in the same class as Jackson? The very thought of him caused me to shudder, creating goosebumps.
I couldn't get it out of my head, causing a wave of anxiety to flow through me. Does he remember me? Will he recognise me? Is he still going to bully me?
My mind ran wild and I felt a lump in the back of my throat as I approached the door to the science lab. I stared at the door for what seemed like hours, but was only a few seconds, before my fumbling feet and trembling hands urged me towards it. Twisting the knob, I stepped into the classroom.
"Sorry I'm late." I spoke, making my way to the desk to place the late slip down.
"You must be Mark!" a young blonde lady greeted me, with way too much enthusiasm for chemistry. "I'm Miss Jung, I'm your chemistry teacher."
I simply nodded before flashing her a nervous smile. Looking around the classroom to see a sea of eyes, all on me. My hand twitched as I called to mind the memories.