I N S T I N C T | Jackson Whittemore

17: "other things"

"Other Things"
Chapter Seventeen

Jackson sat on the lacrosse field bench, bouncing his leg up and down, impatiently awaiting for the game to start. The team was just warming up, and he looked around trying to spot Annie when he saw Danny and Matt walking up with a tablet. He began to fume. Jackson thought he could trust Danny with his secret... and yet, here he is, walking up buddy-buddy with Matt.

"What the hell is this?" Jackson stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. "Dude, I thought I could trust you—"

"Relax," Matt scrunched his eyebrows, giving Jackson a dirty look. "It's my camera, okay? He just needed to ask me some questions."

"Matt's the one who found it anyway," Danny added in before Jackson could punch him in the face.

Jackson rolled his eyes, although he was interested in what they found, "Found what?"

Danny fast forwarded the video a few minutes, then showed it to Jackson. It was him in bed. The whole tape was him in bed... weird. He couldn't question it though, Jackson was his best friend. Hell, he'd die for the kid. "There," Danny pointed to the second-quick movement of Jackson's arm.

Jackson shook his head, "There what?"

"It's an edit point," Danny rewinded the tape so that Jackson could see again. "It's been looped, two hours worth."

Jackson closed his eyes, inhaling, "What does that mean?"

"It means there's two hours of footage," Matt paused looking at Danny and then back at Jackson, "missing."

Annie walked up to the field next to Stiles and watched as Jackson looked to her, smirked, then looked away. Something was up with him, and she wasn't for sure what it was.

Gerard sat down on the bleachers next to Allison, his sweet granddaughter whom had asked him to a lacrosse game. He found her sweet... but also weak, something that needed to change. He looked out across the field and saw Annie talking to Stiles, and watched as Jackson Whittemore walked over and began to socialize with her.

Gerard enjoyed Annie, he thought she was strong, and even now when she was with someone she clearly loved, she didn't let her guard down.

Jackson walked over to Annie and kissed her gently on the cheek. Annie smiled and asked, "You ready for this?"

"I'm more ready for what's after," Jackson smirked.

Jackson leaned down and kissed Annie passionately, making sure that the other team knew she was his. Annie's hands found their way to Jackson's face while his hands tangled with the Beacon Hills sweatshirt she had acquired from Scott for the evening... she would never let Jackson know that it was Scott's though.

Jackson let Annie out of the kiss he was pinning her in, and her lips were still puckered as she stood there, watching the way the jersey moved on his body as he ran away. She wasn't sure what was going to happen after the game... but she was anxious to find out.

* * *

Annie cringed, sitting next to Stiles on the bench. The two teenagers watched as yet another player from Beacon Hills got hauled off the field after being tackled by the troll whom was playing for the other team.

Stiles chewed at the end of his glove, nervously bouncing his foot. He, not only, was freaking out about the game, but also the task that he was going to do, or try to do. Somehow, Allison was going to get her grandfather's keys and Stiles and Annie would slip away to look for the bestiary.

Coach sat down next to Annie, his hair spiked up in different positions, standing on end because of him constantly running his hands through it nervously. "Come on," he pointed at the huge player from the other team, the one that had been picking the Beacon Hills team off one-by-one, "is that thing even a teenager? I want to see a birth certificate. Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?"

Stiles, not understanding the sarcasm/rhetorical attitude in the question, leaned over Annie and said, "Eddie Abomovitz, Coach. The call him... The Abomination."

Coach rolled his eyes, scoffing, "That's cute."

Annie sat bouncing her leg as she watched Jackson run over to Scott on the field. The 37 on the back of Jackson's jersey stood out in the dark of night, despite the lights shining down on the field, but Annie could have spotted him from anywhere... It was almost as if her eyes were being drawn to look at him.

Jackson tapped Scott on the chest with his lacrosse stick, "McCall, what the hell are you waiting for? This is the semi-finals, bring that roid-head into the ground!" he yelled at Scott for his performance on the field.

"Me?" Scott shook his head,confused. He might be a werewolf, but he didn't like to use his supernatural strength on the field. It felt wrong. "You're the one who said I was a cheater."

"And that freak of nature being on the field is fair?" Jackson pointed to Eddie, "Do something!"

"I can't," Scott raised his voice, but then he calmed himself down. He looked to see Allison sitting next to Gerard, "Not while Annie's grandfather's here."

Gerard watched attentively to the violent game of lacrosse. He kept his eye on Scott McCall, that boy was something else. Allison fluttered her legs and then rubbed her hands along her arms, "I knew I should have brought a warmer jacket..."

"You're cold," Gerard announced, looking at his freezing granddaughter. "Here, take my coat," he said, pulling his winter coat off.

Allison scrunched her eyebrows, "Are you sure?"

"Oh, yeah," Gerard smiled, tucking the coat around her.

"Thanks," Allison smiled, sitting down. She tapped her fingers against the fabric before plunging one of her hands into the right pocket, but found it empty. She took a breath, then reached into the next pocket and was relieved when she felt cool metal against her skin. She silently pulled them out and dangled them over the edge of the bleachers, meanwhile Stiles awkwardly walked past her, swiping the keys to go look for the bestiary.

Suddenly, another Beacon Hills kid was getting trampled down. Gerard groaned along with the rest of the crowd, he looked over at Allison, "Is it always this violent?"

"Aghhhhh!" the player yelled as he was carried off the field. Matt watched intently as he leaned against the bleachers, taking pictures of things while he was benched from the game. He noticed the woman next to him was frantically biting her nails, and he scoffed a laugh. "Does he belong to you?" he referenced the hurt player.

"No, mine is still on the field," Melissa shook her head, looking at Scott. "While I'm here really wishing that he would've stuck with tennis," she smiled. Her eyes looked to Matt as he took another picture. "Are you the yearbook photographer?"

Matt lowered his camera, smiling, "No, uh—I just take pictures."

"Just lacrosse or other things?" Melissa smiled.

Matt looked down at his camera, looking at the image of Annie he had just taken. He zoomed in on her hazel eyes, admiring them. He didn't even look up as he responded, "Anything that catches my eye..."