chapter 2.12
Jackson
I didn’t like Sandra’s one or two word texts. I wondered if something was wrong. I mean, thanks to my parents, I couldn’t talk to anyone for over a week. Luckily, Dad let me out for a minute to give Sandra my gift. But I had to hand back my phone. I was dying without it.
Totally stoked about seeing her, I drove as fast as I could to the park. I hoped she missed me as much as I missed her. I had no idea what was even going on with my friends. Not having my phone has been the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. And over Christmas break. Not cool. My Dad was more chill about what happened than Pops. I’d never seen him so mad at me before. It really hurt. I hoped he’d get over it. He just glares at me when I’m around him. Dad said he takes a little time to forgive people. I just needed to be on my best behavior.
When I arrived, Sandra was waiting for me. She looked so pretty dressed in red which set off her beautiful full lips. I wanted to kiss her. Running over to her, I grabbed her hands. “You look pretty today.”
Totally stoked about seeing her, I drove as fast as I could to the park. I hoped she missed me as much as I missed her. I had no idea what was even going on with my friends. Not having my phone has been the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. And over Christmas break. Not cool. My Dad was more chill about what happened than Pops. I’d never seen him so mad at me before. It really hurt. I hoped he’d get over it. He just glares at me when I’m around him. Dad said he takes a little time to forgive people. I just needed to be on my best behavior.
When I arrived, Sandra was waiting for me. She looked so pretty dressed in red which set off her beautiful full lips. I wanted to kiss her. Running over to her, I grabbed her hands. “You look pretty today.”
“Hey, Jackson,” she said, as if she wanted to talk about something.
But I didn’t want to talk. I needed to hold her.
“It’s been so long. Come here, you,” I said, pulling her close to me.
Suddenly, she pushed me away. “No, Jackson. Don’t do that.”
“What?” I was totally shocked. Why was my girlfriend shoving me away?
I asked, “What’s going on?”
She stammered, “W-We need to talk. I-I can’t see you anymore.”
“What?”
Then I spied Mickey coming up behind her. Anger shot through my veins. I should have known he’d ruin things.
Jerking my hand off Sandra, he said, “It’s time for you to leave. Sandra has made her choice. Or...are you going to break my jaw now?”
“Mickey, stop,” Sandra said. I couldn’t believe she was back with him. What the hell?
Wanting to punch him again, I took a deep breath. No way was I going to get in even more trouble.
“Sandra. Is this true?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, burying her head in that bastard’s chest.
“Sandra was with me while I had plastic surgery on my nose. She’s afraid of you, Jackson. You’re out of control. What if you hit her next?”
“You’re such a friggin’ hypocrite. Sandra, is he serious?”
But she didn’t say anything else. She just stayed in his arms as he gave me a shit-eating grin.
“Come on, Sandra. Let’s get away from this loser.” Mickey turned and Sandra followed like a trained dog.
I watched them run off like two lovers. Thumbing the necklace case I’d bought her for Christmas, I shook my head. It would have looked so pretty around her neck. But she didn’t want me. How could she fall for his act? He cheated on her the whole time she was with him and now, she was just asking for it again. I would have cherished her.
Sitting down, I tried to squelch the rising sadness inside me. I’d blown it. Taking out all of my frustrations against that douche bag was the biggest mistake I’d ever made. Not only did he not get in trouble at all for treating her so badly, but I was still grounded and had to do ISS for five days. It sucked. Why do evil people get everything in this world?
One thing I knew from all of this.
Nice guys finished last.
Alex
Something happened with Jackson’s girlfriend. As he stormed in the door, I tried to talk to him, but he said he didn’t feel well and slammed the door to his room.
I hated how things were going with him. And I didn’t like how Knight was treating him either. We should never hold grudges. I’d tried to tell him that, but he wouldn’t listen to me. And I thought Jackson’s punishment was too much. It was time to talk to our son, but Knight was out of town. He was speaking to investors, trying to save the company.
I decided to lift Jackson’s restrictions. But I knew he probably needed a little space tonight. I decided to talk to him in the morning.
The following day, I knocked on his door.
Jackson moaned, “Go away!”
“Come on, son. We need to talk.”
Opening the door, I found him crumpled on his bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Jackson, you’ve got to talk to me.”
“Why should I? You’ve ruined my life.”
“Jackson, what happened?”
“Nothing. I’m tired. Go away.”
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me, so you might as well get it over with.”
“Fine,” he muttered, rising up.
Looking down, Jackson sighed. “Sandra broke up with me. She’s back with that loser. I’m such a fuck up.”
“Oh, Jackson. I’m sorry.”
Pulling into himself, he said, “Now do you get why I want to be left alone?”
“You need to talk about it, son. You shouldn’t keep things inside. It isn’t healthy.”
“Why would she go back to him? He cheated on her, Dad.”
“I don’t know. Maybe she felt sorry for him. It’s a hard lesson for you to learn, but beating up that guy was probably a big mistake.”
“I know.”
“Listen, I don’t want to be angry with you about this anymore. You’ve suffered enough. I’m lifting your grounding. Here’s your phone back.” I tossed it on his bed. “Go call your friends and have a good time today. All right?”
Head rising, he said, “Really?”
“Yeah.”
Jumping into my arms, he hugged me. “Thanks, Dad. You’re the best.”
“I love you, son.”
“Me, too. And I’m really sorry. I won’t mess up like that again.”
“I know you won’t.”
Jackson
I eyed my phone lovingly. “Where have you been, baby? I’ve missed you.” Kissing it, I texted all my friends, hoping they wanted to go into the city. I wanted to forget all about Sandra. I was going to go big today.
Victoria was the first to call. “Well, it’s the missing link. I told people about you but they didn’t believe me. Said you didn’t exist.”
“I missed you, too. Hey, want to get out of town and go karaoke?”
“Sure. There’s a new place for teens that just opened up. And they’re begging us to paint the place. It’s so cool.”
“Okay. Text me where it is and I’ll get the gang together.”
Jetting there in record time, I walked up to the new building, spying Victoria. She was a welcome sight. Victoria and Ro said they could come now. Everyone else was coming later.
“Oh my God,” she said. “You’ve lost weight. Did they not feed you in that maximum security prison? If I’d have known, I would have brought you some cake with a file in it.”
“You dyed your hair. God. I go away for a few days and everything goes to the crapper.”
“Thanks. So glad you like it.”
“Looks good, Victoria.”
“Oh...you’re being decent to me? What’s the matter?”
I put my hands in my pockets and shrugged. “Sandra broke up with me.”
“Now that’s not surprising news. She never was good enough for you, you know.”
“Victoria...”
“I know...you don’t want to hear the truth. Well, why don’t you drown your sorrows in a plume of toxic vapors? I’ve got the goods in my pockets. Purple is your favorite color.”
“You’re da best.”
“Don’t I know it?”
Just then, Ro joined us. “Wow. This place is a dump. They let just anyone come here.”
“Dude, Victoria’s got the spray paint. Let’s do this.”
Ro gave me a huge bro hug and said, “Glad you broke out. It hasn’t been the same without you.”
I squeezed his shoulders. “Yeah...it’s been hell. Thankfully, my dad took pity on me.”
“Are you guys going to make out or what?” Victoria chimed in. “I’ve got our piece of turf all picked out.”
“Keep your panties on, Victoria,” Ro said. “I’ve already chalked out the design.”
“Really?” I said. “Without my help? Who knew you were that creative?”
“I can be surprising like that.”
Following Ro to the side of the place, the trees limbs clattered in the breeze. It was a gorgeous day.
Hours later, our design started to take shape and I’d almost forgotten about what happened with Sandra. That was until Victoria had to mention it to Ro. “Did you hear our prince had a falling out with Cinderella?”
“Can it, Victoria,” I said. I really wanted to talk to Ro about it in private. Not while I was having fun forgetting about it.
“Dude. What happened?”
I shrugged. “I guess she went all Florence Nightingale on Mickey while I was in jail. She broke up with me last night.”
“That sucks. Sorry, man.”
I sprayed the black paint. “I’ll get over it.”
“You will. If she could go back to that shithead, she deserves him.”
I laughed. Being here with my friends was the best medicine to a broken heart.
Once we finished, Victoria gathered us in a hug and said, “I dedicate this pathetic blob of nothing to the vapid and vacuous Princess Sandra Nunez Brainless. May she ever rue the day she let our hero slip out of her grasp.”
I grinned. Victoria always knew how to make me feel better.
"Now let's go get some coffee. I can't wait to hear your off key voice."
"Hey...I'm a pretty good singer," I defended myself.
"This isn't the shower, flyboy," Victoria retorted. "We shall see if my ears bleed."
Ro leaned over to her and said, "He's actually pretty good, Victoria. You'll be surprised. He doesn't look like he can sing."
"Hey...watch it. I'm right here listening to you."
Victoria laughed. "This I gotta hear."