Puck The Halls | Jack Hughes

TWELVE

JACK
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I WAS BEGINNING TO REGRET MY DECISION  to go over and pick up a girl this afternoon. Trevor was so hell bent on me not going after Miracle that I felt like I had to do something to make her mad, force her out of my life, make her think I didn't feel a thing for her, so she'd move on while she could, while it wasn't too late.

Of course, there was a voice in the back of my head, bashing me over and over again, telling me that what I was doing was the complete wrong choice.

I knew this was wrong, I knew this would hurt her, what the fuck is wrong with me? But, it was also too late to back out now. I was here, I driving home with the girl in my passenger seat, fully intending on bringing her to our house party tonight, one that Ellen had approved.

"Can we stop here?" The girl, Mallory, I think, asked. "Need to get drinks and I'm also hungry as hell!"

I blink, looking at the convenience store on our left. Please not here, anywhere but here. "Uh, there's beers in the fridge you can have," I tell her awkwardly, my knuckles tightening around the steering wheel. The less interaction between myself and Miracle the better. Plus, I was silently hoping she didn't notice I'd brought a girl later, and we could sort of sneak off together.

I mentally kick myself again, stop thinking like that, dickhead.

"I don't like beer," Melanie, or was it Mallory, scowls, and I scrunch my nose up, Miracle likes beer. "It's okay, I'll buy, just want some drinks."

I think the worst part of all of this was that Melanie-Mallory was actually a pretty cool chick, and I was most likely going to have to hurt her too. Honestly, fuck my life, and fuck Trevor.

"Um, okay," I mumble, pulling into the store parking lot and putting the car in park. I sit as stiff as I can, hoping she won't notice there's a pole up my ass and will go in alone.

"Come with," she grins, raising an eyebrow. "Help me pick."

Scratching my cheek, I let my eyes flicker to the convenience store, I know Miracle's in there, and I know that going in means facing her. My heart sank to my butt, but I climbed reluctantly out of the pick-up anyway.

Melanie-Mallory threw her arm around my waist, smiling up at me brightly, she's told me pretty clearly that she was a fan of mine, then proceeded to tell me she loved when I played defence, so I'd nailed her down to a puck bunny pretty quickly. Still, I had no business using her like this.

I tossed my own arm over her shoulders, trying to make it seem as friendly as possible as we walked through the doors, a bell sounding above us.

I cringe at the sound, alerting the girl sitting behind the counter. Miracle. She's got on these worn out old high top Converse that are fraying at the laces and scuffed all around the platform sole. She's wearing crew socks and jeans that I've discovered are two sizes too big, so she has to wear a belt to keep them high around her waist. They're rolled at the ankles, looking just as warm as her shoes, and her cap. And fuck, she's wearing a Devils Hockey hoodie that I recognise pretty quickly as my own.

When had she snuck that off me?

She pulls her headphones out of her ears, immediately recognising me. She's on her feet in seconds, eyes wide and lips slightly parted and she looks so cute in my hoodie I want to ditch Melanie-Mallory and just kiss the hell out of Miracle instead.