Fated Love (BWWM)

present day - 8

"Yeah. I️ wasn't feeling good," she stated defensively.

"But you feeling better now, huh?" He taunted, making a couple guys laugh behind him.

"What the fuck's your problem?" Jackson finally snapped, making all eyes fall on him.

"Jack..." Aaliyah's tone was full of warning, but knowing Jackson by now, he wasn't one to back down from confrontation...ever. He always stood up for himself and she wasn't sure if she loved that about him or hated it.

"Look at you, Captain Save-A-Hoe," Devon spat, making the others behind them laugh now. "Yo, you think we stupid or sum'?" He snickered. "Y'all two ain't show up for the king and queen announcement and everyone put two and two together," he says, pulling out his phone now. "Say what's up to my IG. We live baby!" He laughs.

Aaliyah's jaw drop at his attempts to humiliate her. Elijah probably put him up to this and like the messy dumbass he was, he agreed. "Can you fucking stop?" She screeched, fed up.

"Uh, can you stop cheating?" He mocked, making her jaw drop.

Before she could say anything else, Jackson abruptly got up, making the chair he was sitting on fall back in a loud crash, now catching the attention of everyone around them. "Knock it off!" He demanded.

Devon finally stopped fooling around and passed his phone to his homie behind him, before stepping up to Jackson. "You better watch who you stepping to white boy," he eyed him up and down, trying to intimidate him. "And here I thought we was bros."

"We night play for the same time but we were never bros," he seethed. "Now apologize," he points at her.

Devon defiantly looks over at her. "Nah. I️ said what I️ said," he looks over at Jackson now. "But have fun with your little hoe," he smirked, turning to walk off.

Jackson raised his fist, ready to launch when Aaliyah jumped up and caught his fist. "No no no no no no," she pulls him back. "Stop! Let's go!" She takes ahold of his wrist and drags him away from the scene. They make it all the way to the parking lot when she said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Jackson was caught completely off guard. "Me? Are you serious?" He exclaimed. "He was completely disrespecting you. I was just trying to defend you."

"Not everything can be solved with violence Nick!" She yelled at him. Her eyes then widen at her mistake. "Jack," she corrected herself. "And I️ don't need you defending me! I️ can handle shit myself."

"So last night was you "handling it"?" He shot back.

"Fuck you," she rolled her eyes. Low blow.

"And what about right now? Was that your way of handling it too? Letting them call you names and accuse you of something you didn't do?" He pressed. When she didn't answer, he just scoffed and opened the car doors to get in. "Come on, I'll take you home," he offered.

Aaliyah turned to face him. "You really think I'm going anywhere with you after that? God, you're just as bad as he is," she muttered as she pulled out her phone to call Carolina.

That comment caught him off guard. "How can you even say that?" He fumed.

But she just ignored him while the phone rang. When she finally picked up, Aaliyah heard some shushing and a bit of heavy breathing before she said, "Hello?".

"Hey what are you doing right now?" She said.

She was silent for a few seconds. "Uh..." was all that came out her mouth. "Cleaning?"

Aaliyah furrowed her brows in confusion. "Oh. Well I️ need a ride home from the mall-"

"Damn girl, I️ really wish I️ could but I️'m like, scrubbing toilets and stuff. Plus I️ smell like bleach right now. If you want, just Uber, on me. Okay?" She offered.

Aaliyah looked behind her at Jackson who was looking at her expectantly. "It's fine. I️ found a ride," she said before hanging up. "Not another word," she pointed at him before getting in.

And he did exactly that because he was as mad as she was. They both drove back home in silence, neither one of them speaking. The tension was thick but they both pretended it wasn't there. When he dropped her off, she hopped out the car without so much as a goodbye. Just as she was about to knock on the door so that her brother could let her in, her mom opened the door instead.

"Hey baby! You're back sooner than I️..."
She looked up in curiosity and saw the boy who's car she just left from. "Who's he?" She asked.

"It's just Jackson. No, we're not dating. Yes, we're just friends," she deadpanned as she pushed her out the way and made her way up stairs. Her mom looked over at him again, this time his eyes meeting hers and she gasped as she watched him drive away.

"Aaliyah!" She called out again. "What did you say that boy's name was again?" She asked.

"Jackson," She grumbled before rolling her eyes and headed up the stairs. Her mother pulled out her phone and when into her photo app, pulling up a picture of an aged photo her mother had of her father.

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