Crash (PTB Writing Challenge #1)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Entering my fifth period, I felt anxious that I would see Jackson. I still wasn't sure if I did or didn't want to see him. He still hadn't answered my text from yesterday.

I scanned my geography class but only saw the usual faces. To my dismay Bianca was glaring at me from the back of the classroom, but she quickly turned back to her group of beautiful and popular friends. I recognized one of the guys, Tyler, since he had the same name as my eldest brother, and the Kelsey girl from yesterday morning.

Basically, all the usual people. By the time the bell rang there was still no sign of Jackson. Maybe I won't see him today.

But I was wrong.

Even with all the anticipation of seeing him while walking into every classroom, I almost fainted when I walked into Chemistry and saw him lounging in my regular seat, trying to balance a pencil on his nose.

A girl I didn't know was leaning towards him, laughing at his trick and flirtatiously playing with her hair, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention to her.

I felt my insides boiling and I sat as far away from him as possible. That jerk. I kept glaring at him, watching to see if he put the moves on this girl.

Suddenly he put the pencil down and looked around, and his face immediately brightened when he found mine. He made a hand gesture for me to come over, but I steeled my jaw and turned away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him get confused and then make more indecipherable hand gestures.

Finally he got up since he saw I wasn't budging. I wanted to keep my gaze locked on the tile on the floor, but I was more curious about the expression on the girl's face. I looked over at her behind a now approaching Jackson and she looked dumbfounded, with her upper lip was pulled up into a sneer as if to say what the fuck?

That expression was totally worth peeking for. I looked back to the front of the classroom, past Jackson, with a smug look on my face.

"Amy..." Jackson whined. I continued to ignore him. "Amy." This time, he moved straight into my line of sight, and his belt buckle was all I could see. I became hot all over and gulped. His closeness was dizzying.

He bent his head down and pressed his forehead to the top of my head. Now I could feel his breath on my nose. My heart was beating so hard I thought it would pound out of my ribcage. My mouth went dry and... and I couldn't form a single cohesive thought.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he asked in a low, sexy tone. I couldn't take this anymore. Even if I tried to explain, or yell at him, nothing could come out of my mouth but a shaky sigh.

I could hear him smile and let out a breath at my reaction, but just before he could say anything the bell rang and me teacher called us to attention.

Undisturbed, Jackson sat in the empty seat next to me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His expression was neutral, and if anything his small smirk was what revealed his true feelings.

I breathed out and attempted to make myself solid again. My cheeks slowly cooled and I lifted my chin, still staring straight ahead.

I tried to focus on Dr. Richardson, especially since today was an important lecture, but Jackson was so distracting.

He placed his hand on my chair and my skin buzzed where he had grazed it on the back of my neck. I blushed and I forgot the train of thought I was on in writing my notes. Damn this kid, he was toying with me.

"Stop it," I hissed. In response he placed a finger to his lips and shushed me silently. Then his hand began to play with my hair and my hackles rose, goosebumps sprouting all over my torso. I was frozen. I couldn't pull away, and I couldn't breathe a word.

He leaned in a little more, a cheshire grin spreading on his face. He knew the effect he was having on me.

"So, Amy," he whispered and his breath tickled my ear even though he was still a distance away, "you wanna tell me why you're ignoring me?"

"You're a jerk." I could barely get the words out, but it was good enough. His expression changed and he backed away a little. The hand that was driving me crazy went back to his lap, and part of me didn't want him to stop. His eyebrows came together in confusion. "What did I do?"

He almost seemed innocent, the way he asked the question. His eyes flashed something like hurt and part of me twinged for being the cause of it, but I maintained my resolve.

"You ignored me first. Then I come in here and you've stolen my seat to chat up some girl. So yeah, you're a jerk." the words flowed easier now and I was satisfied with how venomous my words sounded.

He sighed and looked down. he whispered back, "I don't even know that girl, she came and talked to me. And I stole your seat because I wanted an excuse for you to... I don't know, get mad at me again? It's a good excuse to talk to you."

"If you want to talk to me so bad, why haven't I gotten a message from you since yesterday and you're nowhere to be seen except for the places you're required to be, like here?" I shot back.

"Oh. Yesterday... you were waiting on me?" He got quiet. I guess he had forgotten about me after all.

"I'm sorry, Amy-girl. I just got busy and I didn't think it was a big deal. I would've texted you this morning but I wanted to speak to you face to beautiful face." His flirty smile was back and I had the impression that he was deflecting my question.

I sighed and just decided to let it go. "Okay, whatever."

"What if I make it up to you?" he asked hopefully.

"How?"

"Well first-off..." he paused and put his right hand to his heart and his left in the air, "I, Jackson, swear to text Amy Hayes every day until she forgives me." He puts his hands down, a boyish grin on his face. "And second, I will take you out on a date this weekend."

I perked up and a smile threatened to break my resolve. I felt the corner of my lip lift slightly and I cursed myself. "Oh you will? Don't you have to ask for that kind of thing, not demand it?"

"I'm not demanding. This is just how I'm making it up to you. If you refuse then you might as well be crushing my whole honor as a man after swearing that I'd make it up to you. But if it makes you feel better, I'll ask."

My eyebrow rose in anticipation. He cleared his throat loudly and I knew what he was about to do even before he loudly said the first syllable of my name to the class. I jabbed his leg with mine and he shut up, but an amused expression played on his face.

A few people were looking at us, but Dr. Richardson hadn't noticed the outburst since we were in the back of the class.

"You're terrible" I sighed.

He winked. "I'll take that as a yes."