The Girl Unnoticed

28. Sober Under Stars

[ A/N : Sorry for the long wait! ]

Chapter Twenty Eight : Sober Under Stars

"We're here."

Jackson's voice struck me back into reality. He had pulled up in front of a lonely wide field. The view wasn't the soft grass at night but beyond the field. There was a view of the shore of the sea at the right distance.

The sea was close enough to hear the small ripples of waves like lullabies. I felt my heart pump faster.

"What are we doing here?" I asked Jackson.

He gave me a little smirk. "You'll see."

He got out of the car and I followed him. I watched him as he opened the car's trunk (boot). I looked away when he caught me staring at his arm veins.

"This is it," he announced proudly, arms holding a pile of blanket. "We're just gonna sit..right there." He said it so casually like it's normal to ditch a party and sit in a middle of a field at night.

He nodded towards somewhere in the field while I stood there dumbfounded as he started walking towards it.

I followed him, listening to the blood rushing through my ears. I will not be murdered. I will be safe. I will not die of staring at a sexy boy for the whole night. I reminded myself in my head silently as I strode forward.

A piece of cotton cloth was placed over the grass and there sat Jackson freaking McLean, looking as unbelievably gorgeous as ever under the pale moonlight. He patted the spot next to him.

I sat down next to him but not too close since lesser distance means more danger.

He didn't look at me once. Instead, he was staring at the ocean in the distance like he was in deep thought of something so philosophical.

I took a break from staring at him when he decided not to look at me once. Ouch. How is he so bipolar? One minute he's smirky and naughty and bad and the next minute, he's this quiet, fragile and deep-in-thought boy.

My eyes diverted to the ocean. The silence stayed for a few good minutes before it became an urge to break it.

"What are we doing here? Do you always take girls away from parties to here and not talk?" I asked curiously.

He looked at the grass below before finally laying his eyes on me reluctantly.

"No, you're the first," he spoke with pure sincerity that made me feel bad for no absolute reason.

In that moment, I felt that something in him was broken. He is broken. I know that because people don't become bad boys in the day and acts like a complete different person in the night where no one sees them.

We're looking at each other now.

"Why do you act so different?" I asked.

He broke our gaze and started to pluck at the grass beside him.

He spoke, "I don't know. Maybe it's just me. I'm sometimes this person you know and the next, a total stranger."

I continued to stare at his blue, blue eyes as he kept plucking the grass. I waited for him to continue.

"Do you think people actually have their own personalities but it change when others start to judge them? People change who they are and make up personalities that aren't theirs to start with just to fit into this stupid society. Isn't it ridiculous how we forget our real selves to please the others?"

He was smiling slightly to the ground, like he and the ground had a sad secret only they both knew while I was utterly speechless. I never knew words like that could come from a boy like Jackson.