by Cate Maroon
We all laugh as we put on our clothes and head back to my house.
They were right; the house looked immaculate in fifteen minutes of us all working together.
“I guess we should probably go before Dad starts wondering where we are.”
“Sure, thanks for the help.”
I walk the boys to the door, and all three of them give me a brief hug.
“It was awesome to meet you, Kayla. We had fun,” Jay and Josh yell as they head down the drive.
“I'll see you in the morning,” I call back
“Goodnight, Kayla,” Jackson whispers as he embraces me and kisses me on the forehead.
I am shocked by the move, but I am not repulsed. I try not to read too much into it. Jackson stares at me as though he is waiting for a response.
“Night Jackson,” I reply as my smile widens, and my cheeks ache.
Seeing my reaction, he grins back before he gives me another quick kiss on the head.
“Dude, stop marking your territory and come on,” the twins giggle.
I laugh with Josh and Jay, enjoying the way the three brothers interact. I often wished for siblings, so I would have someone to share a bond with the way Jackson and the twins had. After standing on the porch and watching the boys drive away, I shut the door, and head upstairs for a quick shower before my parents come back. I put on my pajamas and do some schoolwork.
My mom and dad got home, and it is as though they never left. We exchanged some pleasantries and head off to our separate corners of the house. No sooner had I lay in bed than my phone pinged.
I had fun today, winking face.
The four words meant a lot because I enjoyed myself too, and I hoped this friendship might work.
Me too! Blushing emoji.
I hit send, not sure if I had chosen the right one.
I cannot wait until tomorrow.
This was a strange comment because, in my opinion, no teenager likes education.
Wow, you must absolutely love school!
I laughed to myself.
Very funny! Night Kyla. Sleep well, blowing kiss face.
I was freaking out because Jackson sent me a kissing face. What does it mean? He couldn't possibly like me that way. These are the times when I wished I had a best friend to talk to about things like this because I was clueless about how to respond. You are overthinking again, go to sleep, Kayla. He either knew me so well in a brief space of time, or he had superpowers. Well, it's that, or he's a stalker. I went to the window, half expecting him to be standing outside watching me, but he wasn't.
Night Jackson, see you tomorrow x.
It was too late to take the kiss back; the text had been delivered. I was glad in one way because I sent the message without overthinking and hoped he felt the same way.
Chapter Four
Kayla
I put a little more effort into preparing for school this morning than I had in the whole time I attended Weston prep. Yes, I was one of those kids. I would give up all the materialistic things though to have a meaningful relationship with my parents, instead of our only connection being the money they gave me. Although I enjoyed having nice things, I would give everything up in a heartbeat for the one thing I needed, a real family who loved me.
Jackson and the twins arrived right on time. I would have liked to have to explain to my parents why a group of strange teenagers picked me up. If anything, this would show they cared, but they didn't notice the boys, or that I was leaving early They started work in their home office hours ago. I learned at a young age, not to disturb them while they worked, their offices were designated no-go areas. I grabbed the money they put on the kitchen countertop for my lunch and left the house.
I was shocked as Jay and Josh sat in the back of the car, I expected one of them to sit next to their brother. They saved the seat for me, and I am a little nervous at sitting up front with Jackson.
“Hi Kayla,” the twins sang from their seats.
“Morning, how do you feel about the first day?”
“Fine, I guess,” Jay said.
Josh finished the sentence, “Yeah, we are used to the whole first day, new school routine.”
“I'm sorry, I forgot you guys moved around a lot.”
I smiled at Jackson in acknowledgment of his presence as he shifted the car into drive his hand brushing mine. I initially thought this was an accident, but he did not remove his hand. Instead, he rubbed his thumb across my wrist. I did not move my hand, as I liked the calmness it had on me.
Jackson pulled up in the almost empty parking lot. The few cars belong to the janitorial staff and admin team, the teachers were not in this early.
“Well, Mrs. Morgan is in, so we can go fetch your timetables.”
“I hope we have at least some of the same classes.”
“Told you,” Jay whispered to Josh, as the pair giggled, giving Jackson a knowing glance.
We made our way to the office, and Mrs. Morgan did well to cover her surprise at seeing students in school so early. She reluctantly gave the boys their timetables, as she was a firm believer in rules and following traditions. It took a while, but eventually, she agreed to let me show them around.
I took their schedules and compared them to mine. Jackson was in most of my classes, but the strangest thing was the twins would be in the ones he was not.
“I think they have mixed up your sheets.”
“What makes you think that?”
“You have advanced chemistry, and Josh has the same English class as me.” I point out the errors in their timetables.
“We excelled at different things and got moved up in a few subjects.”
“I suck at science, you can give me a few tips,” I laugh.
I spent the next thirty minutes showing the boys all their classrooms, the food court, the sports hall, and the physical education stadium. I also showed them where the nurse's office was before a few teachers started coming in, some of them giving us questioning glances. We eventually circled back to the corridor where the lockers and the boys all made a note of their numbers, which were coincidentally right by mine. This can go one of two ways: nothing will change, and we will all hang out here between lessons or the more likely scenario, the Taylors would be mobbed by all the girls in school, and I would never be able to get to my things.
It appears I was right, as no sooner as the hallway started to fill with students than the boys were surrounded. The twins loved the attention, showing off and flirting with all the 'hot chicks' and joking with the jocks like they had been friends forever. Jackson was thankfully, not like them. He was polite and engaged in conversation, but he never left my side, and often tried to include me in conversations much to the annoyance of the girls. They glared at me like something distasteful that had ruined their most expensive shoes.
I was grateful when the bell for the first period finally rang, and the crowd dissipated. Some of the cheerleaders talked about how they wished Jackson would ditch his loser relation: you did not need to be a rocket scientist to realize they meant me.
“That was awkward,” Jackson mumbled.
“They think I'm your cousin,” I sighed.
“Well, only one way to fix that, shall we?” he asked, his hand outstretched to me.
I took his hand greedily. I did not want to admit that, but I was jealous and did not want any other girl to have Jackson: I wanted him to myself. If holding hands was not enough when we got to our first lesson, he pulled me to him and kissed me like I was what he needed to breathe. I followed his lead as he deepened the kiss, wobbling unsteadily on my tiptoes to reach him. People stared but I did not care; I was too absorbed in Jackson.
“Will you two take your seats?” Mr. Anderson yelled above the chatter we caused.
Jackson puts his arm over my shoulder and leads me to the two empty desks at the back of the class. He pushes the tables closer together and holds my hand while we work. Luckily, he is left-handed; otherwise, he would not be able to write,
and he was already on the teacher's watch list thanks to the public display of affection we both put on.
The next two lessons went the same, Jackson did not let my hand go the whole time. I was receiving constant death stares from the girls in the class, while the boys viewed Jackson as a hero like he had cracked some secret code, seeing as I never gave any of them the time of day; they must have thought Jackson was a god.
We met the twins for lunch, and I was excited to find out how their mornings went. The last time I had seen them, female admirers surrounded them. Jackson and I found a table outside, away from the glaring watch of all the other kids.
“Well, you two certainly made the top of the school grapevine today,” Josh called as he carried his lunch over to our table.
“Yeah, thanks for stealing all my thunder Kayla,” Jay mocked as he sat down.
“You might have at least waited for one-day bro, to give us a chance at building a sense of mystery. Now everyone is more interested in chatting about you two than finding out about us.”
“Sorry, dudes, tomorrow is another day. I'm sure we will be old news by then,” Jackson shrugged, but I understood nothing would change.
“Doubtful, the way they are talking, you would think Kayla was some kind of mythical creature before we showed up,” Josh whined, clearly annoyed at not getting all the attention.
“That or a hermit, depending on who you speak to,” Jay added.
“I like that Kayla only has eyes for me,” Jackson grinned, stroking my thumb in the same calming way he had this morning, almost as though he sensed my rising unease.
“Yeah, because no one can resist the charms of a Taylor,” the twins said in unison before laughing, but I did not get the inside joke.
“Do you want to hang out after school?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“A movie and some dinner?”
“Sounds like fun, but I'm picking the film.”
“Fine, anything except a chick flick.”
“Do I strike you as the kind of girl who enjoys that kind of film?”
“Then what do you like?”
“You just have to wait to find out.” I giggled.
“Can we come?”
“NO!” Jackson and I screamed in unison.
“Aww come on, you can't leave us to deal with Dad alone.”
“You won't be on your own; Hunter will be home.”
“Hunter's just as bad as Dad.”
“Well, if you two didn't live like animals, he wouldn't insist on room inspections.” I chortled at Jackson, which caused me to suck juice up by my nose, making me snort loudly.
“Says the one dating a pig,” the twins laughed.
“Kayla is not an animal,” Jackson growled, causing the twins to fall silent.
“It was a joke, dude, calm down. Sorry, Kayla.”
I rubbed Jackson's palm in the same way he rubs my thumb, and he instantly calmed down. “No offense taken.” I was not sure I liked the angry side of Jackson; Dominance radiated off him in waves and I was thankful when the bell for afternoon lessons rang.
Jackson walked me to my class. I had chemistry with the twins this period, and he had gym.
“Keep an eye on my girl,” he said to his brothers as he kissed me on the head.
“Always,” the boys chanted, which sounded like an oath.
“I'll meet you at the lockers at the end of school.”
“Sure.”
I took a seat at a bench in the chemistry lab with the twins sitting on either side of me like a pair of bodyguards. It didn't matter how huge they were because the other girls talked loudly as they slated me for being with Jackson. I tried to ignore them, telling myself they were jealous because they are. However, this still hurts that in this day and age, females would do everything in their power to make other women hate themselves rather than empowering each other. The time dragged, and at one point, I could have sworn the hands on the clock moved backward.
Finally, the bell rang to signify the end of school and time for me to meet Jackson. I text my parents to tell them I would be home late, and I would grab something to eat while I was out. I thought they would at least ask me where I was going, but the reply merely said okay.
We dropped the boys off at Jackson's house, and I was shocked at the size. They had so much land, and the extensive building appeared too pristine to be surrounded by grazing cattle. I had so many questions. A tall man who resembled an older version of Jackson waved at us from the porch.
“See you later, Dad,” Jackson called, leaving me in awe of the Taylor family genes.
We went to the local Italian to grab some food before heading to the movie. Jackson was starving, and I was not surprised. He was huge and must need a lot of calories to keep him going. When we got to the cinema, the queue was lengthy, which shocked me, considering it was the middle of the week. It had been a long time since I had been to the movies, so I can only guess this was the new norm. I sent Jackson to get some snacks and drinks, while I chose the film in secret, hoping I would shock him with my taste in films.
I picked an action movie, and I think Jackson was quite relieved when we went into this screen, rather than the romantic comedy showing in the theatre next to us. There was no way I wanted to ever watch that kind of film because my parents had conditioned me to not expect affection in my life; they were always too busy with work and themselves to have anything left for me. I let Jackson in quickly. I cannot figure out what exactly it was about him, but we share a deep-rooted connection from the moment we met. He was so familiar to me. He had broken down some of my walls, but I was not fully ready to let him in yet. His aggression toward his brothers earlier made me a little cautious but not having siblings of my own, I put his actions down to the fact nobody was able to push your buttons like a brother or sister.
When we left the movie, it was late, and Jackson drove me home in silence. He appeared to be deep in thought, constantly checking his mirrors so much that he made me worry.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, I'm just a little tired.”
“It was a stupid idea to go out on a school night.”
“No, I had fun, honestly. I'm just exhausted. We have been busy at home, with all the unpacking and organizing the house. I guess everything got on top of me.”
We pulled up at my house, and I expected Jackson to stay in the car while I went inside, but he did not. He walked me to the door and gave me another long kiss, and I was left gasping for air this time.
“I'll pick you up in the morning.”
“I'd like that, but maybe not so early, so you can catch up on some sleep.”
“Fine.”
I stood on the porch, watching him walk to his car, not wanting him to leave. He waited in the car for me to get safely inside the house before he pulled away. He messaged me.
Forgot to say, Dad wants you to come round on Saturday for dinner if you do not have any plans.
No, but are you sure you want me to meet your family?
You have already met the twins, it is just my dad and Hunter. Besides, I would like you to come.
It is a plan.
The rest of the week went exactly the same: Jackson picked me up every morning, I would be in lessons with him or the twins, and we would hang out after school. Sometimes it was the two of us, but a lot of the time, the twins tagged along with us. The cheerleaders still gave me the stink eye.
I was dreading the thought of going to Jackson's house as I wasn't sure what to expect. His father seemed pleasant enough when he waved at me from the porch, but I can not help but worry he would not like me, thinking I was nowhere near perfect enough for Jackson. I think Jackson sensed I was worried about meeting his father, as he reassured me at least a million times.
We spent a lot of our time apart texting thankfully I was ahead in class because I was seriously slacking on the homework front and my running as well. Coach pointed out the difference in me, I was slower tha
n usual, although I was still faster than everyone else on the team. If Jackson and I were hanging out so much, we would need to have study nights, and he would definitely have to come jogging with me. He was so into sport he would have no problem keeping up with me, so this shouldn't be an issue, so I decided to ask him in the morning.
Chapter Five
Kayla
I cannot believe I have overslept! The only day I need to put some effort into my appearance, and I am running late!
I throw outfit after outfit on to my bed, looking for the perfect combination, something that not only Jackson will like but will make the right impression to his dad and older brother. I finally settle on a pair of black skinny jeans, boots, and a long vest top. It was quite a warm day and I knew he wanted to show me the farm, and I did not want to risk getting my legs cut up. Jackson had said some of the land was brutal when I asked him about some scratches on his legs.
Punctual as ever, Jackson arrived at noon as agreed. I grabbed the wine I selected from my parents' wine rack, as I felt rude, showing up empty-handed. I would have preferred to have taken a pack of beer, but my parents only drank wine, and I was not old enough to buy some myself. I took my sweater off the sofa; the nights were a little chilly.
“You look lovely.”
“Thanks.”
“Dad had to go out for a while, but he shouldn't be too long. I thought I would give you the tour while we waited.”
“Sounds fun.”
I still cannot believe how enormous Jackson's house was or that they lived on a working farm. Which resembled one of the perfect homes which appear in a glossy homes magazine. They definitely had a lot of work done before they moved in. The windows were long, and the self-sustainable technology brought what was once an old, outdated shack into the twenty-first century. Stepping inside, though, they managed to keep a lot of the period features, mixing them with modern touches, which subtly brought the whole thing together.
“Your house is beautiful.”
“You like it?”