Clueless and In Love

Chapter 18

(Jackson)

Not there.

Not here.

Not up there, either.

Where could she be?

I continued to run around the school, searching for her. I wanted to believe it was all a rumor, just a lie, but I needed to hear it from her.

I rounded a corner and met up with two guys.

“Have either of you seen Anna?” I asked, panting.

They both shook their heads.

I cursed and ran past them.

I continued to search the school, searching every possible spot where she could be.

I was about to return to the classroom, when I saw her near the canteen.

It was dark secluded place where students would usually eat or hangout during lunch or recess, but during dismissal or early in the morning, it was mostly deserted.

She sat there on the bench, lying down on the table with her arms covering her face.

She sniffled and shivered, crying her eyes out.

I slowly walked up to her and sat down next to her.

I placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Hey what’s wrong?”

She shook her head.

“Ann, come on,” I said, giving her a dry smile.

She shook her head.

I sighed and sat there, waiting for her to tell me.

She raised her head and wiped her tears away. She grabbed a book from her bag and started to read it, not even looking at me.

“Hey, c’mon,” I said.

She shook her head.

I stayed quiet and decided to just wait for her.

After flipping through some pages of her book, though I doubt she read anything, she closed it and started to cry in her hands.

“He’s such a jerk, you know,” she said sniffling.

I placed a hand around her and consoled her.

“Lucas?” I asked.

She nodded.

“What happened?”

“I was just buying some pens from the store when he just came up started acting like an ass. First, he apologized for being late to my piano recital last Tuesday. Then, he started to say it was just a recital, why should he care? Then I said that you came to watch me perform. If my best friend can do it, why couldn’t my boyfriend do it?

“He started to yell at me, saying I should date you instead of him. He just went and started calling me names and insulted you, saying you were nothing more than an ass who begged for attention.”

I couldn’t help but imagine socking that guy right in his face, for calling me an ass, and for making Anna cry.

That thought made me smile a bit.

“I couldn’t take him anymore,” she continued. “So, we broke up.”

Tears flood her eyes again and she leaned in and cried on my chest.

I hugged her as she shook and cried, remembering the multiple times this had happened.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” she said, pulling away and sniffling. “I know I’m a mess.”