I N S T I N C T | Jackson Whittemore

04: grandpa

Grandpa
Chapter Four

Annie walked to her locker after school, her mind fluttering with every little thing that has happened. Today was Kate's funeral, and she didn't need this on her mind. Annie compartmentalized Jackson, and Derek, and werewolves... today it was about grief.

She lifted her lock up, and swung her locker open, taking out the small black dress her mother had dropped off for her. As Annie looked up, she noticed a boy staring at her. She creased her eyebrows, looking at him. He was good-looking... but he was no Jackson Whittemore.

Matt smiled at Annie, "Nice dress."

Annie smiled back, looking at the large camera in his hands, "Nice camera," she complimented back.

Annie smirked as she turned back to her locker, but her smile slowly faded as she heard two girls speaking across the hallway.

"Not her sister, her aunt," a dark-skinned girl named Harley said to her friend across the hallway. Annie kept her head down, but could easily hear the conversation. "The one who murdered all those people."

The other girl scoffed, "You mean the crazy bitch that killed all those people?"

Harley nodded, "Yeah, the fire, all those animal attacks... it was her aunt."

"Are you kidding?" the girl gave Annie's back a dirty look. "I sit next to her in English."

Harley laughed, "Find a new seat."

Annie slammed her locker shut, and stormed down the hallway with her dress, only to run smack into someone with little-to-no grace.

Jackson groaned as someone collided with him, "Watch where you're going, b—" Jackson saw who it was, and immediately bent down and picked up the dress she had dropped, "Sorry..." he muttered out.

Annie wiped the tear that had escaped her eye, and sighed, pulling the dress back from the hand... weird thing was, the person wasn't letting go of the dress. Annie finally looked up, and her heart skipped a beat at Jackson beaming down at her.

"Are you okay?" he questioned.

Annie scoffed, tugging on her dress, but still not getting it free. "Why do you care?" she sighed, another tear falling down her cheek.

Jackson brought his thumb to Annie's face, and then wiped away the tear slowly, never breaking eye contact. Annie was in shock by his too-close-for-comfort gesture, and almost pulled away, but then she got lost in his eyes...

They made her forget the scene in the bathroom, made her forget the supernatural for a moment, and made her forget the douchiness of this boy... because his eyes told her a different story. He was hurt, he was mad at the world for something, but there was still kindness and love deep down.

"I will not release this dress until you tell me what's wrong, Annie," Jackson raised his eyebrows at the amazing girl in front of him.

Annie shook her head, she was literally flabbergasted. "H-how do you know my name, Jackson?"

Jackson smirked, "How do you know mine?"

Annie squinted her eyes at him, "My aunt—"

"Kate," Jackson nodded, "I'm familiar with her story."

Annie sighed, "Her funeral is today... there's gonna be cameras and... and... I can't be like this," another tear escaped Annie's eye, and she quickly wiped it away without a thought.

Jackson smiled, "Aren't you supposed to cry funerals?"

Annie rolled her eyes, "You know her story... You know what kind of person she was."

"It's doesn't matter," Jackson moved a strand of hair behind Annie's ear, "you could be crying for you. Maybe Kate wasn't totally who you thought she was, but you still lost her..."

Annie flicked her eyes up, meeting Jackson's, and slowly pulled her dress back from him. They traded places in the hallway as Annie blinked her eyes, still wrapped up in shock, "Yeah..."

Jackson took a few steps back, shocked at was he was feeling... butterflies in his stomach. He's never felt butterflies with a girl before, "Goodbye, Annie," Jackson nodded to her.

Annie took a step back, sucking in a startled breath because of the way she was feeling. She liked this boy. She nodded to him, "Goodbye, Jackson."

* * *

Annie walked up to the scene with Sam's arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and her father's arm slung over her shoulders, guarding her from the protruding cameras. People and flashes were everywhere.

"Annie! Miss Argent, can we get a few words? Just a few words! A few words, Annie!" the reporters would yell.

Annie inhaled a breath as her family and Allison's made it behind the barrier, and they could finally see Kate's graveside up ahead.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Sam groaned, continuing to keep his sister close.

Allison reached back and grabbed Annie's hand, causing her nerves to go down a bit. "Well it wasn't my idea," Kyle groaned.

Carrie, Annie's mother, shrugged her shoulders, "I tried telling him, but he insisted on making a point of it."

"Well, if he insisted," Victoria said harshly, "he can deal with it when he gets here."

Allison stopped and turned to Annie, it seemed as if they were the only two that had no idea what was going on. Annie looked around at the white, plastic chairs, and then back at her family, "When who gets here?"

"Just sit down, lovelies," Victoria said, ushering Allison and Annie into their seats.

At the barrier, Matt stood with his nice camera, and ducked underneath the line when the police weren't looking, getting closer to the scene for a better shot. He took a few, and then looked down at his favorite, one of Annie.

Suddenly, the camera was lifted from his hands, and he stood up, watching as an old man examined the item carefully.

"This looks expensive," the old man commented.

Matt huffed, "Yeah, 900 bucks."

The old man opened the memory compartment and pulled out his memory card, "And how expensive is this?" he questioned as he snapped the card in half, and handed the camera back to the boy.

Annie and Allison watched as the old man walked up with his personal security behind him, and he strolled up to Allison's father, giving him a hello. He walked over to Carrie and kissed both of her cheeks. He turned to Kyle and nodded, "Hello, Kyle."

"Gerard," Kyle nodded.

The older man named Gerard turned to Allison and Annie, "Do you remember me?" Allison and Annie looked at one another before nodding. "Considering that I haven't seen you two since you were three, I don't suppose I can assume you'd call me grandpa. So if it's comfortable, call me Gerard for the time being," he smiled at the two, and he sent chills up Annie's spine.

"But I'd prefer Grandpa."