Clueless and In Love

Chapter 8

 (Jackson)

The first thing I did when I got home was tell the twins and my dad.

“So, you’re over her,” dad said, smiling at me as he brought us some hot chocolate with little marshmallows in it, a classic treat he did whenever we did something worth congratulating.

I sipped from my mug, nodding.

“Aw, its sweet you found someone like her,” Jen said, tilting her head. “Smart, funny, sweet, weird. Almost like you.”

James patted my back. “Well, I for one am proud of you. You moped, you cried, you ate all the ice cream and watched How I Met Your Mother for three straight days while yelling, ‘Lies!’ every time something romantic happened, but you finally sucked it up and moved on.”

I nudged him as Jen and dad laughed.

“Alright,” dad continued. “The important thing now is Jack’s found someone who can make him forget about Anna. Let’s all toast to that.”

“Here here,” James cheered.

“Amen,” cried Jenny.

I just smiled, thankful to belong to such an amazing family as we toasted to my new beginning.

That night, I laid awake, thinking of yesterday.

I picked up my phone.

I opened the photos and saw Chloe’s smiling face. She and I swore to each other that we wouldn’t show the pictures to anyone, since they were probably the most successful shots ever taken of me by someone besides a family member or a relative.

I scanned through them. Most of them were of her since I was taking them, but a few were ones she took of me.  Some were okay, others were accidental, and the rest were perfect. But I found three pictures that made me smile like a doof.

One was of her smiling at the camera as she ate her ice cream. She had flecks of sand in her hair and her hands had ice cream on them. Oddly enough, she was beautiful.

The second was her sitting on a chair as she turned and laughed. It was a perfect picture, even though I took it by accident.

But the last made my face burn. She had asked someone to take a picture of the two of us.

We were sitting down on a blanket. She held her legs close to her body as she tilted her head and smiled at the camera.

I sat next to her, smiling like she was the one taking my pic. I had my legs crossed and my hair was a mess, but I still looked pretty good.

I saved that pic and used it as my wall paper before locking my phone.

I had decided. Chloe Young, I will make you the happiest girl alive as long as I live.

As I stepped in the class room, I felt drained and out of energy. I was up all night, thinking of-

“Hi,” Chloe said, greeting me with smiles. Wow, she was cute.

“Mornin’,” I said casually.

She walked over to a seat next to Mara and started talking to her.

I sighed. As I kept staring at her, I didn’t notice that the teacher, Mrs. Walks, stepped inside the classroom.

Everyone scrambled to their seats. I didn’t know how long I stood there, but as soon as everyone was settled, there was only one seat left, and it was next to Chloe.