❝ 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 ❞ ✓

future dates.

A week and a half passed by like a flash. It was the same routine of Jackson dropping off Carlie in the morning, having small talk with Monica-- he discretely slipped in a bit of flirting, leaving for seven hours, then coming back to pick up Carlie-- late, having more small talk with Monica, and then repeat.

It was safe to say Jackson was taking a good liking to Monica. Today, was the first time they'd talk outside of school. Well-- not really since the meetings are being held in the multipurpose room but that's beside the point.

Jackson had Jinyoung babysit Carlie tonight for him. Jackson didn't want to get too ahead of himself but this felt like he was getting ready for a date. Despite the fact it was in a public place with no seclusive space for them, it still gave him a rush. Jinyoung continued to tease him about him having a crush on Monica and for the amount of cologne he was putting on.

Jackson didn't see the harm in enjoying time with her. It was completely normal in his book. And besides, they just met three weeks ago.

Walking into the multipurpose room Jackson already felt his interest level go down ten notches. It was just a bunch of parents in black fold-out chairs with a microphone stand propped in front of the stage. It was safe to say he was already regretting going out tonight.

"I see you made it."

Jackson smiled and turned around to face the familiar voice. It belonged to the, hopefully, highlight of his night. "Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world." He joked sarcastically.

"Come on. I'll help you find a seat."

Surprisingly, there was a hefty amount of parents attending to this pta meeting. Only a couple of chairs were left unoccupied. Jackson noticed the chairs lining up the walls and assumed they were meant for the teachers. Judging by the bored and spaced out expressions that rested on most of their faces, those seats were definitely for the teachers.

"There's a close seat next to me right there." Monica pointed to an empty chair at an end of the third row. Where she, coincidentally, was seated far off to the wall. "Well, how lucky am I?" Jackson asked rhetorically. Monica snorted and followed him to make sure he was situated.

Jackson sat in the cold metallic chair and glanced up at the female who was all too nice to even make sure he was okay getting to his seat. "Thank you, Monica. I think I'll be fine for the next- what? Hour?"

Monica slipped out a giggle. "These meetings are longer than that, sadly. The school wants to make sure they've listened to everybody. And if you can't tell by the amount of parents are here- it's going to take a while." She sighed and patted his shoulder. preparing to walk to her seat.

"Wait- I can leave right?"

Monica whipped around with a snarky smile. "Yea. Of course, anytime. You'll just get a lot of judgmental looks from the rest of the committee." She shrugged. Jackson scrunched his nose up in displeasure. He didn't want to face the walk of shame; opinionated parents version.

"I'll try my best to withstand the amount of time." He gripped the packet of paper that was handed to him when he first walked into the school. Monica spared him one last smile before descending to her seat that was about ten feet away.

As the meeting went on Jackson felt like each and every one of his braincells were leaving one by one. He tried his best to focus, he really did, but it was very boring. Occasionally between statements he would glance at Monica with distress and she would just laugh at him in response. It's been two hours of this.