by Sienna Grant
I realise it must be him from last week – I say him because I don’t even know his name. Stopping dead in my tracks, the girls stop at the same time. I stand and wait to see if he leaves.
“Shelb, you okay?” One of the girls turns to me and asks.
“Ah shoot. I’ve forgotten something. I’ll have to go back.” I make an excuse to not carry on out of the gate. “Carry on without me.” I walk back to the building and wait where I can’t be seen. He must be waiting for Harry. Once I see him leave, I walk straight to Addison’s house.
Reaching Addy’s door, I knock loudly, until she answers.
The door opens wide as Addison stands in front of me with a frown. “Is there a reason you’re banging down my door?”
“Yes, now let me in.” I head straight for the kitchen and grab snacks while she grabs the Pepsi and some glasses. This is a ritual we’ve done for over a year now. Running up the stairs, I jump on the bed and get comfy, opening the crisps out while she pours the Pepsi.
“So, what’s up?”
I get myself comfy on the bed before I start. “Do you remember the other day when Harry and his friends were at the top gates when we left?”
“Yeah. How could I forget?” She nods.
“Well, did you see the dark-haired one, he was hella sexy.”
“I don’t remember…”
“He was standing behind Harry, he was smoking. You have to have seen him, surely?”
“Nope, are you sure it was that day?”
“I’m telling you, Addy, it was one of the guys with Harry,” I tell her.
“Why didn’t I see him then?”
“Because you were too busy swooning over Harry.”
“I told you they were the hottie squad,” she adds smirking.
Addison grabs her phone from the middle of our picnic we are having, wipes her hands and opens Harry’s profile on Facebook.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking through his photos. Here check, you may see his picture.”
She throws the phone into my lap. I look through but can’t see him, so I go through his family photos. After scrolling through a few, I see him. He’s a little younger and standing with a boy of around thirteen who is obviously Harry and has his arm around him. I look further to see if there’s an up to date one, but there isn’t one. Darn it.
“I can’t find one.” I start again at the beginning, in case I’ve missed one, but I don’t find any. “There isn’t one, but I’m telling you he was there.”
“Okay, so what was the point of the story again that you so desperately wanted to tell me?”
“Oh yeah. I came out of dance tonight, and he was there again. He was standing at the gates, he must’ve been waiting for Harry.”
“I don’t think so, he went early today, had an appointment or something.” She shrugs.
“How do you know?” I frown.
“I was in Maths with him today, he’s been moved to my class.”
“Who was he waiting for then?”
“Well, I don’t know,” her mouth pulls up one side into a smirk, I know this smile. “We could ask Harry?”
My eyes widen. “No way.”
“Well, unless you ask, we aren’t going to know.”
“Don’t you dare Addison. If he’s there again, I’ll make sure to point him out.”
“You do that.”
Grabbing her phone, I see her typing; I narrow my eyes suspiciously. She opens the rest of the snacks then lies back on her double bed ready to watch a movie, a horror. We’re watching the classics - A Nightmare on Elm Street. I love the older films, but Addison likes the new ones, so we’re alternating them. Her phone dings with a message, she picks it up and smirks.
“Who’s that?” I ask trying to peek to see if I can catch a name.
“Just a friend.”
“But I’m here.” I shrug playfully.
“Bitch. I have friends, I choose to hang out with you though.” Her mouth pulls into a smirk as she shoves my shoulder, joking. “If you must know it’s Harry and his name's Jaxon.”
“You asked him?” I screech wide-eyed.
“Yeah, how else were you going to find out?”
I like that name, it suits him.
“So what else do you want me to ask?
“Nothing,” I tell her. Her phone pings again, she opens it up and laughs. “What’s that?”
“He wants to know who’s asking and whether it’s for you or me.” I ignore Addison’s antics and turn back to the film. “He wants us to meet them after school next week, what you think?”
“Whatever,” I reply absently.
Rolling her eyes at me, I smile as she shakes her head, she puts her phone on silent and throws her phone onto the bed. She picks up a cushion, holding it against her chest, she uses it as protection from the scary movie we’re watching. Once I’ve scared the crap out of her with Freddie Krueger, I gather my things and tell her I’ll see her in the morning, heading home.
A few days pass, and I haven’t seen Jaxon at the school since. I’m a little disappointed if I’m truly honest but never mind. It’s my own fault for not being brave enough to face him the other day, and anyway, I’m not supposed to be letting myself get distracted with boys. The bell rings for the end of the last lesson, so I put my books away. I start walking towards the gates by myself as Addison has Drama after school, I walk with my head down as I hear my name being called. Lifting my head, I look towards the voice; I notice Harry, but I also see him. My step falters for a second, but I regain control, lifting my hand.
“Hi, Harry,” I call out. Looking over to my right shyly, I give Jaxon a small smile. I carry on walking, but he calls me again.
“Hey, Shelb.”
Turning around to face him, Jaxon and Harry start walking towards me. A flush covers my whole body as my body begins to heat up.
“Hi.” I stand still and let them catch up. I try not to look at the handsome looking boy at his side and look past them casually.
“No Addison today?” Harry asks.
“No, she has Drama.”
Pretty much all of the girls in our year do one or the other, dance or drama, with the small percentage doing sport; personally, I hate P.E, so I chose Dance instead.
“I thought you girls did everything together?”
“Oh no. She doesn’t like Dance.” I look in Harry's direction and see his intense eyes burning holes into me. “And if you know Addison, you’ll know she’s very much a drama queen.” Smiling nervously, I see him nudge Harry with his elbow.
“Oh sorry. Shelby, this is my cousin Jaxon.”
“Hi.” Reaching out my hand to him, he takes it and shakes.
“Hey.” His voice is deep but smooth.
“So you’re cousins.” I grin. “I can see the resemblance.” Jaxon watches me closely and winks.
“Yep,” Harry answers smiling. “We’re walking this way if you want some company.”
“Yeah okay.” I nod. We start down the street with Harry in the middle of us as we make small talk.
Addison is gonna freak.
Jaxon
Looking across at her, she’s just as pretty as what I remember, but that was at a distance. Up close; she’s gorgeous. Her hair’s the colour of milk chocolate, and she has warm hazel eyes. She must feel me looking at her, as her eyes meet mine. She smiles again, but she seems kind of nervous, shy. She looks down at the floor as Harry looks at me. I motion with my head to get rid of him. He winks and grins.
“Ah man, you know what I forgot I’ve got to go to the shop for Mum.” His hands lift to rest on his head, and he closes his eyes, maybe he should do drama…
“Oh well, don’t worry, it’s okay. I can walk the rest of the way.” Shelby says in a small voice.
“I’ll walk you if that’s alright with you that is?” I say quickly, not wanting her to leave just yet. She bites down on the corner of her l
ip and bows her head. Lifting her head slightly to look up at me, she smiles…
“Yeah okay,” she answers shyly nodding.
“Right, I’ll see you later then,” Harry says as he walks away from us. I smirk. “Have fun.” I shake my head. We both turn back and head up the street.
“You don’t mind me walking you back, do you?” I ask her.
“No. Not at all.” She smiles again.
Shelby has a pretty smile. Her hair falls into her face, and I get the sudden urge to move it out of the way. I lift my hand, but she beats me to it and tucks it behind her ear. I grin back at her, and we start walking again.
We walk in a comfortable silence until we reach her house. I look at the front of her home, it’s bigger than where I live and better.
“Well, thanks for walking me home Jaxon.”
“You’re welcome, maybe I could do it again sometime.”
“Erm, yeah why not?” She looks up at me as she scrapes her teeth along her bottom lip giving me an urge to just kiss her. I've never had an instant attraction to a girl. I'm eighteen, a quick lay and I'm happy, but she has this innocence about her. She's not like some of the girls that cross my path, she's different. She blushes under my stare, a small smirk forming, she probably knows I'm checking her out.
“What?” She asks looking away from me
“Nothing. You're pretty that's all.” She blushes again and looks away from me.
“Oh, thanks. Well... I better go. See you soon Jaxon.”
I smile as she lifts her hand in a wave and turns around to walk away.
“Shelby, wait.” She turns back to face me. “Could I have your number?” She pats the pockets of her blazer.
“My phone’s inside. Pass me yours, and I'll put it in.” I pass my phone over and watch her tap away on the numbers. “There you go.” I ring the number once.
“There, you should have mine now.”
She smiles again, “I need to get going. Speak to you soon and thanks again for walking me.”
Shelby opens her front door and walks into the house, once the doors shut I walk back the way I came.
As I'm nearing my house my phone rings. I pull it from my pocket and swipe across the screen.
“H, what's up dude?”
“So how did it go?”
“What you mean?” I frown
“With Shelby?”
“We swapped numbers.”
“Cool, but you do realise she's only sixteen.”
“Phew, that's a relief I thought you were gonna say she was only fifteen or something.”
“Yeah, it was her birthday a few days ago. I'm coming to yours.” The phone clicks off, so I slide it back into my pocket and make my way home again.
Harry’s outside the house when I get there.
“Why didn’t you knock on the door or just go in?”
“There’s no-one here, the door's locked.”
“What? Mum never leaves the house; she has to be here.”
I put the key in the door and step inside. The house is quiet, looking around now - it’s too quiet. I run up the stairs taking two at a time, opening the door to her bedroom - nothing. I check the bathroom, but it’s locked.
Knocking lightly, “Mum, you in there?”
“MUM.” I bang my shoulder against the door, but it’s locked. I stand back and kick the door with my foot, it swings open banging against the bath. She’s in the corner, passed out. An empty bottle of vodka sits at the side of her. I put her arm around my neck and try to pull her up, but she’s dead weight.
“Harry. Come up here.” I hear him running up the stairs.
“Oh man. Again?”
“Yep. Don’t worry I’m used to it now. Get the other side of her and help me pull her up.”
Harry puts her other arm around his neck, and together we pull her up and walk her to the bedroom. Dragging her to the side of the bed, we force her down to the mattress to lie down. Standing at the side, I watch her as Harry sits. I straighten her up until her head is on a pillow. Grabbing her a glass of water and two pills from the bathroom cabinet, I place them on the bedside table for when she wakes, god knows she’ll need it.
Mum and Dad have had an alcohol problem for as long as I can remember. When he left, I thought she’d dry out, but no such luck. As a matter of fact, I think she's gotten worse. She can't cope with anything, she’s never made an effort to either. She always blames him for making her this way but never attempts to straighten herself out. It’s kind of funny when she’s the one telling me I should do something with myself and not be a waste of space. She doesn’t have to worry because I’ll never be like those two. I’ll make sure of that. I hate that she thinks more about him and alcohol than me, her own flesh and blood, her only child…well, screw them! I can look after myself
“Are you just gonna leave her there?” Harry breaks into my thoughts.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine, she’ll just wake with a massive hangover.”
“Jax, I didn’t realise she was this bad.”
“It’s cool. I have to do this at least once a fortnight. Usually, it’s giro week when she gets her Social Security money, which is why I need to get a job.” Once downstairs I tidy up then sit down.
“So come on, tell me about Shelby.”
“There’s not much to tell.” His eyes narrow as he tries to work me out.
“I like her, okay?”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. She’s cute and nothing like most of the other girls I meet.”
“That’s because they’re skanks, cuz.” He smirks, but I have to agree with that.
Looking around my shoebox called a bedroom, I look back at my cousin.
“Shall we get out of here?”
He nods, standing. I really don’t want to be here when she wakes up. I grab a fiver from the jar that mum thinks I don’t know about and head out.
Chapter Three
Shelby
Once I was in the house, I knew that Addison would be home, so I rang her to tell her about Jaxon. To say she was a little shocked is an understatement, so she came right round here. I lie on the bed in a dreamy state.
“Oh, pull yourself together, Shelby,” Addison tells me.
“What you mean, I am together.”
“No, you’re lying there like he’s some kind of god.”
My mouth hangs open in shock. “You haven’t seen him.” I gasp. “He is a god. It’s only because you have eyes for Harry…” I raise an eyebrow cockily. “Well, I’ve found out something today, but I don’t suppose you want to know...” I look at my nails and chip at my nail varnish.
“What, what have you found out?”
"I don’t think I want to tell you now.” I grin knowingly.
“You have to,” Addison demands.
“Okay, so get this...The god with the very sexy eyes,” I swoon, “he’s Harry’s cousin, I’m not sure of his age just yet, but I will ask him when I see him next.”
“You’re seeing him again?” She asks as I nod proudly.
“Yeah, I sure am.” I smile.
“Look at you.”
We spend most of the evening at my place, while we just sit in my bedroom listening to music.
A couple of days pass, and there he is again. This time when I see him standing at the top of the path outside the gate, I don’t stop and hide until he leaves. Walking up the path, I admire him for a second. The butterflies are going crazy in my tummy as I look over his form. His jeans are ripped at the knees, a dark t-shirt stretches across his chest and, yet again, a cigarette is hanging from his lips. Leaning casually against the fence, every girl that passes him stares longingly at him. I pick up my pace saying bye to the girls from Dance and walk towards him. When he sees me approaching him, he takes one last long pull of his cigarette and flicks it away, straightening up to his full height. Blowing the smoke from his mouth, he greets me.
“Hey.” He says in
a hoarse voice.
“Hi.” I put my hand up.
“I hope you didn’t mind me meeting you from school?”
“No, of course not.”
When he hadn’t texted me, I thought he’d had second thoughts about me.
“Good. I may be spending more time here meeting you than when I actually had to come here.” He smiles and winks, I feel like I’ve got butterflies doing somersaults in my tummy. “Do you have to go straight home?”
“No, my Mums at work, she is every day until five pm and then she doesn’t get back until almost six, so it’s okay.
“Fancy going somewhere. I haven’t got much money, but I thought we could get a Mcflurry from Maccies.”
“Well, I love Mcflurries so yeah please.”
We walk to McDonald's closely, side by side, his hand almost touching mine.
When we reach the restaurant, Jaxon holds the door open for me and asks which one I want. Telling him my preference, I go find us a table. I sit down at a booth in the window and wait for him.
“One Oreo Mcflurry madam.”
I smile as he messes about bowing as he places it on the table. Thinking he’s going to sit opposite, he surprises me by sitting next to me. Looking at his side profile, I find it’s as sexy as his full one. He has a sharp nose with a strong jawline with just a very light covering of stubble. Scooping some ice cream out of the plastic cup, I place it in my mouth, savouring the chocolatey taste.
“Which one did you get?” I inquire.
“Dairy milk. Want some?”
Shaking my head… “No, it’s fine.” He scoops some ice cream onto the spoon and holds it in front of me. Taking the spoon from him, I try his.
“Mmm.” I swallow down the cold dessert. Once I’m finished, I sit back against the chair. “So, Jaxon, how old are you then?”
“Asking questions now are we?” His dark eyes burn into me.
“Yes... if that’s alright?”
“I’m eighteen.” Jax smiles, looking away from me, but he then quickly turns back. “Does that matter?” he asks concerned.
“No.”
“Good, because I like you, Shelby.” A wide smile pulls at my mouth, but before I can answer he speaks again... “Is that smile to say that you like me too?”