The Jock's Nurse for the Summer.

Chapter Eleven

Throughout the rest of the day, Jackson and I did not converse as much. Our chit chat was limited to yeses and noes to small questions. But it didn't mind me, I think I rather preferred it that way. Silence was better than having him make a mockery of me, or force conversation.

This stage was what we had hit previously after we stopped being friends. What used to be long nights talking to each other - confiding with secrets that were too heavy to keep holding on to - then instantaneously transitioned into nights spent with me having to fill the space with something else to do, because talking to him was all that I ever knew. It was rather funny, I found it, how nobody really knew that Jackson and I were friends. We barely had any classes together back then, so after school it was straight to our hideaways that we found peace, away from everybody else.

Under my philosophy however, that everything happens for a reason, I allowed the termination of our friendship to prosper, buried it and never looked back.

***

It's true what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And in my opinion, the most delicious. In the kitchen, with one hand wrapped around a tuna sandwich and the other around cherry tomato, I began munching away, taking bites from each hand like a continuous system in a factory.

"Be careful or the hinges from your jaw will unscrew loose."

I turned around, and there stood a tall Jackson Waters with metal around his hands as the crutches allowed him to stand. Look at you, I thought, finally deciding to open your mouth. I wasn't sure why I didn't hear him limping, scraping that elephant of a cast of his. Perhaps it was because food was the only thing all of my senses were being attentive towards. As usual.

"It's called being hungry." I managed to spit out, along with a few pieces of sandwich.

"And that's called lack of manners." Jackson instantly replied, taking his finger and pointing it to my mouth.

"Um, Alexa," Jackson continued, struggling to manage himself over to the seat next to me. I was going to be of aid to him, but I had to teach him to do things on his own sometimes. Plus, I wasn't finished eating yet.

I awaited for whatever was going to fly out of his mouth, most probably a little joke about my hair today which looked like a birds nest belonging to an entire neighbourhood of them.

"I wanted to apologise for last night." Jackson's gaze was strictly on the floor, but he sufficed a strong stare into my eyes. I looked through him, and realised that it was sincere. How strange.

"It's fine." I reassured him.

"Good." Was all Jackson left me with as with the help of his crutches, stood back up and retreated himself.

"I never knew your period made you this moody." I said to him, before his head made it out of the kitchen door. "Look, it's normal."

I let out a little chuckle, because I knew it stopped him right in his tracks. It was amusing seeing him hate me with such intensity for a light joke. And in that moment, I understood why he adored to ridicule me ever since the moment he came here - he had lost touch of how to speak to me properly, how we used to. Hence, having to resort to humour as a loop hole.

"Alexa," he said in slow monotone, "You do not want to go there."

If this was how Jackson wanted to threaten me, he really had to go back to his meetings and learn some more things about it.