Legs Closed [BWWM]

chapter 1.3 - jarad johnson

for reference, I was imagining Keiynan Lonsdale when I was describing Jarad

you don't have to see my characters the same way I do... you guys can imagine them as whoever you want

imagine Mackenzie as Big Bird if you want to lol

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"Three, two, one."

I pressed the shutter button on the small, expensive polaroid camera and captured the picture of Brooke and the guy she was kissing. I waited for the camera to print the photo, grabbed it and handed it to the boy.

"Thanks," He said excitedly as he scurried off.

Brooke applied lip gloss for the thousandth time tonight as I replaced the cartridge in the camera for what seemed like the hundredth time.

At first, I was counting how many guys Brooke had kissed, but I'd given up on counting after she hit 55. Tucker had given up too when he realized no girls were coming up to kiss him and went to go get funnel cake.

"Next," I called over my shoulder to the line of people waiting behind me.

"Hey Mackenzie," The deep voice sounded from beside me.

I turned to my right and my eyes met a broad chest covered in a black skater t-shirt. When they traveled up and met the face of the person who called my name, it took everything in me to not drop the camera and take off running in the opposite direction.

"J-Jarad Johnson," I stuttered out.

He smiled. "Mackenzie Graham."

Jarad Johnson was that guy in our school district. The one that everybody knew even if you didn't go to school with him or had never even met him.

He went to our rival school, Mizner Academy Preparatory High School, which was the only other upscale private school in our county.

He was one of the most well-rounded students at his school, being an A-student, excelling at football and baseball, and making a name for himself on his school's debate team.

Not only was he wicked smart, he was almost ridiculously beautiful. Standing at six-foot-four, he naturally towered over most, including my five-foot-eight height. He had this wide smile that gave your heart the same warm feeling as your dog running toward you after not seeing you the whole day.

And it wasn't just physical attributes that made him attractive, it was also his personality. He was a very humble, well-mannered person. The respect he had for elders, teachers, and especially women was unlike any seen in most teenagers our age.

All in all, he was a living dream.

"How are you? How's your mom?" He asked as he pulled me into a side hug.

I leaned into him lightly. "Good. We're both good. How about you and yours?"

"We're all good. You know how life is when you're our age - stressing, studying, getting ready to apply for college. And you know my parents and their constant need to be working."

"Yeah, I remember. What have they been up to lately?"

"Well, right now my mom's in like Cleveland or something assisting on some big surgery. And my dad's been working non-stop at the hospital on some important research project. The work never stops in the Johnson household," He laughed.

I smiled. "It's been like that though since we were kids."

Fun fact: Jarad and I knew each other before everybody knew who he was. We went to elementary school together and were pretty close. I doubt he remembers, but he and I had one of those short kiddy relationships at the end of the fifth grade. Our whole three-month relationship consisted of holding hands under the lunch table and brief kisses behind the oak tree during recess when our teacher wasn't looking.