This is not a Romcom

A Rude Awakening

I was shaken awake roughly by hands on my shoulders. I could see that it was still dark, so obviously I hadn't been asleep too long, the problem was that I also saw Jackson. And he was furious.

"June, what the hell are you doing here?" He yelled, hurting my eardrums. I groaned, covering my sensitive ears.

"I should be asking you that," I quipped, crossing my arms. "I was invited, so I came, I saw, I conquered. Well, I'm still working on the whole conquering part."

Jackson ran his fingers though his unruly hair. He was obviously not entertained by my witty comeback. He began pacing back and forth before continuing his lecture.

"So I'm sitting at home, about to go to bed, when I see you on Brennan's Snapchat story," he says, pointing to the boy with the green eyes. I hadn't even realized he was still here.

"Snitch," I mumbled as Brennan waved innocently. Jackson snapped his fingers to regain my attention.

"I had to have Brennan stay here and watch you until I got here. Do you know how dangerous it is to fall asleep at a party? And please tell me you haven't been drinking." He got up close to my face and sniffed for the stench of alcohol.He didn't seem to smell anything, but still had a look of disapproval on his face.

"Relax, I haven't been drinking. I've never been to a party. Thought I would try it. So far, not really impressed. 3/10, would not party again. Obviously. I kinda fell asleep. Also learned I'm a terrible dancer." I responded in a stream of consciousness, my filter nowhere to be found. I heard Brennan chuckle, but Jackson merely sighed, rubbing his temples.

I found the action kind of attractive, but I was also the cause of it, which made me feel bad. On the other hand, I knew he was completely overreacting. Even my mom was fine with me coming as long as I didn't drink or run off with any strange men.

It wasn't fair. He's the one who disappeared off the face of the earth, but I try to do one thing without him and he comes running. My heart suddenly started racing. I scowled at my unpleasant thoughts. I felt guilty because deep down I was happy that he had come running to me.

I felt even worse when I realized that I didn't want him to leave. I wanted him to stay with me, to stay away from Courtney. Despite what I felt, I fought him when he started dragging me away by the wrist.

"I'm taking you home," he spat out through clenched teeth. "Honestly, June what's gotten into you? You've never done anything so stupid." I beg to differ, I've done much worse in my life, but that's not the point. I tore my wrist out of his grasp.

"Jackson, you have no right. Do you expect me to just sit at home all day, waiting for you to text me? Or do you expect me to just third wheel with you and Courtney? I don't Know what you want, but I can't do either!" I yelled. Especially not the last one.

I turned away when I felt tears well up in my eyes. I wiped them with my sleeve and turned back around. Jackson looked so confused. I had brought up a topic I had been avoiding, but it was easy to see that I had hit the nail on the head. For an instant I saw remorse flicker on his face and then it was gone.

"June, this has nothing to do with Courtney, don't bring her into this," he said, rubbing his neck as he avoided eye contact. Oh, but it did. Of course, I couldn't tell him I was jealous of his girlfriend. Nor could I tell him that I was slowly coming to the realization that I like him as more than a friend.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked up to him and rested my forehead on his shoulder. He went rigid and I could have sworn I heard his heart racing. Or maybe it was mine. Hard to tell.

"Okay, you win. Take me home, please." I felt him relax as he reached around to embrace me. He rubbed my back in an attempt to comfort me, but I was too emotionally drained. That and I knew he would rather be holding the girl he likes at that moment.