in time // j.g

the player

•Ava's POV•

Since the incident, I haven't seen Jack. Well, let's rephrase that. I haven't seen him in person. He's always in my mind, though. He left an impression on me, and I wasn't about to forget him that easily.

One night, I was walking with my neighbor Lacey. We had become friends since we were both rising seniors. Omaha had a nice little city with cute shops, so we decided to take a look around. After oohing and ahhhing at the overpriced scarves and jewelry, we decided to grab a bite to eat. We went and sat down, and that's when I saw him.

Jack.

I smiled uncontrollably. Lacey looked at me funny.

"Uhhh what's up with you?" she said glaring at me.

"You see that guy over there?" I whispered.

"Who? Jack Gilinsky?" she said questioningly.

"You know him?"

"Of course," she said. "Everyone does. He's a huge player. He gets girls in bed, then pushes 'em to the curb."

My heart dropped at these words. I had spent my time obsessing over this guy who was a total ass? Fantastic.

"Why?" Lacey asked me. "Do you like him?"

I told her about the other night and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry sweetie pie, but he's not the boy to be interested in. He's just gonna hurt you." she said in a caring tone.

"I know," I said. "Thanks for telling me."

Right as I said that I heard a voice from behind me.

"Ava!"

It was Jack.

"Hi," I said very blandly.

"How's your stain coming along?" he said with a wink.

"I bleached my shirt and it came out right away." I said looking down.

"Ahh, well that's cool. Hey, my friends and I are going down to my pool if you wanna come?" he said kneeling down so that he could look into my eyes.

"I don't think that's a good idea." I said.

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm not some item that you can pick up off the shelf, and I'm most definitely not going to hop right in bed with you, so you're honestly just wasting your time." I said this, stood up, grabbed my bag, and walked out the door. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Rejecting a guy that I liked? Who does that?

"Woohoo! You go girl!" said Lacey giving me a hug. I was sitting on the sidewalk.

"That was so hard." I said quietly.

"I know, I know it was. But trust me, you did the right thing."