"Wherever your soul was before, mine was there too." - Hira
He's Jackson. But he's also:
Daniel.
Theodore.
Nathan.
Nicholas.
Zachary.
She's Aaliyah. But she's also:
Grace.
Kathryn.
Jessica.
Amaya.
Eve.
It's the same story every time. They meet, they...
Maya looked out the car window, tears in her eyes as she watched them take Nick away. He looked up, their eyes meeting as the cop next to him helped him get into the back of the police car due to his hands being cuffed. She sniffles as she looks up and meets her dad's sympathetic eyes through the rear view mirror.
"You are never to see that boy again," he speaks, maker her cry harder. "Do you understand?"
Without a word, she nods, crying harder as he starts the car and drives away, leaving him behind.
* * * *
Earlier....
Maya waited in the car and watched as Nick handed money to his old best friend Jordan. Jordan was a bit older than Nick by two years, and served as some sort of older brother slash fatherly type that he's always wanted. Jordan was everything Nick wanted to be. Calm, cool, collected, goes through life without problems, seemingly so, and has a stable home life.
The couple of times Nick's been kicked out of his home due to Harry not liking his attitude or whatever it was he didn't like at the moment, Nick could always count on Jordan and his parents to give him a place to stay for a couple of days before his mom in inevitably comes looking for him and takes him back.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jordan handed him the tickets, looking behind him to see Maya watching from a distance. "Hot date?" He teases, making Nick playfully shove him. "Didn't think you were the type to spend more than ten dollars on a girl," he said as he leaned against his doorframe while Nick pocketed the tickets.
Nick looked behind him, locking eyes with Maya before sending her a reassuring smile, making her smile back. "Trust me Jay...she's worth it," he looks back up to him.
Jordan rolled his eyes. "Obviously. You're spending more than ten dollars on her," he points out, making them both laugh. Once their laughter ended and then settled into comfortable silence, Jordan spoke up again. "She seems really nice, from what I've heard other people at school say," he laughs. "You're taking a big risk aren't you?"
Nick scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Being here. Being with her," Jordan says, crossing his arms. "And from the look of your face, your stepdad's not too happy either?"
Nick shook his head. "I️ don't-"
"Don't worry, we don't have to talk about it," His friend waved off. "But what I'm saying is, you've changed. Whether it's for the better or worse, I️ don't know cause we spoken much these days, but I️ have seen you going to school a lot more lately," he states. "Which, I️ thought was really weird at first but now I️ see why."
Nick nodded, looking down slightly. And for the first time, he allowed himself to open up to another male. "Yeah, she makes me wanna be better," he tells him. "So I'm gonna try."
