Promises (Jack Gilinsky)

Chapter 1

"Class, please take your seats," said my third period history teacher. I slowly made my way to my seat as slowly as possible, trying to see how long it would take for my teacher, Mr. Porter, to get mad at me. It didn't take long.

"Mr. Gilinsky, would you please sit down before the class is over?" he said impatiently. My best friend Jack Johnson, smirked at me, amused at Mr. Porter getting mad at me. We've been best friends since kindergarten, mainly because we have the same first name. I swear, that kid seems to know everything about me.

Third period is my least favorite part of the day. Everyday, our teacher will give us lectures and we get a quiz a couple days later.

As Mr. Porter got into the lecture, the door opened, and in walked a girl that I had never seen before. This got my attention instantly. Any distraction from class does.

"May I help you?" Mr. Porter asked

"Umm yeah, I'm new here and I think I have this class now." The girl said shyly.

"Ah yes, Ms. Williamson, you may have a seat anywhere that's open." She took a seat across the room from me, near the back.

Mr. Porter got started on the lecture again, but I didn't hear a word he was saying. All I could do was stare at the new girl. There was something... strange about her. I didn't like her or anything, she was just different from the other girls in our school, but I didn't know how. As far as I could tell she was pretty, but then again I couldn't get a good look at her face. She seemed nice, but pretty and nice describes half the girls at my school. She was definitely shy, but there was a good number of shy kids at school. Maybe it was-

"Mr. Gilinsky!"

"Yeah?"I said, completely unfazed.

"I would appreciate it if you could pay attention to what I am saying instead of daydreaming."

I watched Mr. Porter but still didn't listen. I need to know more about this girl. But first, I need to know her name.

After what seemed like just a couple of minutes, the bell rang and I quickly grabbed my books and headed for the door. Once I was in the hallway, Johnson came up beside me. "Dude, what was that about?" he asked.

"What?"

"You stared at the new girl for the whole class."

"I don't know man, there's just something different about her."

"Do you like her?"

"Dude, I don't even know her name."

"That hasn't stopped you before."

"Yeah but... trust me man, I don't like her," I said. "Besides I'm Jack Gilinsky, I don't get crushes. If I wanted her I would've have done something by now. Remember? I always get the girl, but I just don't like her like that."

We turned into our class for study hall and took a seat by our friends Sam, Nash, Matt, Aaron, and Shawn. If I wanted to know about this girl, I would have to ask Aaron. Aaron might be nice, but he knows everything. Honestly if I asked him a question about anybody in the school, he would have the answer.

"So Aaron," I said, "What do you know about the new girl?"

"Why?" He asked.

"Ooooohhh, does a Jack have a crush on the new girl?" Matt said, teasing me. This made Nash, Sam, and Shawn laugh.

"I don't get crushes, remember?" I said a bit impatiently. "I just wanted to know about her."

"Well," Aaron started, "Her name is Charlotte Williamson and she just moved here from Maryland because her dad got transferred for work. From what I've heard, she had some pretty rough times in Maryland."

I waited a few seconds to see if he would go on, but he didn't.

"That's it?"

"Sorry man, this girl is a closed book. If you wanna know more, then you're gonna have to get to know her yourself."

"Oh please," Nash laughs,"She's not gonna hang out with you. She probably knows by now what that you're one of the biggest players in the school."

"Yeah but he's not a jerk or anything," Shawn says.

"And it's not like he gets a new girlfriend every week, bangs her, and dumps her." Matt adds, actually being serious for once."It's just the reputation that girls give you after you dump them."

"Yeah." I say, "I mean, I've never had more than two girlfriends in a month, and even then I don't think they were actually my girlfriends, we just had a couple dates."

"True." Nash says. "What do you think Johnson?" We all turn to Jack waiting for him to answer.

"I just don't get why you want to be her friend so badly. I mean, you keep saying it's because she's so different, but that doesn't explain it. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. I know you don't usually fall for girls, but are you sure you aren't falling for Charlotte?"

"No," I say defensively, " I am not falling for Charlotte."

"Then why are you so interested in her?" Jack asks, sitting and waiting for an answer. Everybody turns to me, expecting me to have an explanation.

"I don't know," I say with a defeated tone, " I honestly have no freaking clue, but it's driving me crazy. Maybe it's because she's just this shy girl who hides in her shell and refuses to come out. She seems so quiet and complicated and I can't stand seeing her like that. I mean, she's new here and if she keeps acting like this, then are people even going to remember her? Or will they just see her in the yearbook and wonder who she was? I almost felt bad for her when she came into history earlier, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. And maybe if I became friends with her, she would open up more and I think that would help her a lot. I think she needs to come out of her shell and embrace who she is." When I finish, I realize that I'm getting weird looks from everyone at the table.

"Dude," Shawn says, "That was way too deep, especially for you."

We keep talking about Charlotte for most of study hall, despite my requests to let it go. As the bell rings, I stand up, look at the guys and say "One thing is for sure, I, Jack Gilinsky, will not fall for Charlotte Williamson."

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A/n: Hey guys! This is my first story on Wattpad, so sorry if it's not that great. Please leave comments that could help me make the story better. Thanks for reading!