disposition. | jack gilinsky

| Chapter 6 |

My little meet & greet pow wow with Cousin Jack (which is what I'll only be calling him from now on) was cut short due to my lack of interest and exhaustion. The high finally subsided and I was very ready for bed. I totally forgot we were cousins or that he was living with Uncle Rick this entire time.

The next morning, Aunt Sophia didn't have time to come with us to school to get Cousin Jack settled in. She left all the paperwork on the counter and he had to fend for himself.

"Any pointers for my first day," he asked.

"Considering I only started yesterday? Uh, no. No, I don't know where you should sit for lunch. I don't know any bullies you should avoid-"

"Bullies, ha!"

"Laugh all you want, they exist everywhere," I warned him.

I grabbed my house keys off the dining room table and Cousin Jack was learning to keep up. As soon as we step outside, there was Cameron, sitting in his car with his shades on.

"I almost beeped the horn," Cam shouted.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Offering a ride to school. Who's your friend?"

"Not my friend. This is my cousin Jack," I unenthusiastically presented.

"Oh, another Jack." He gave a half-assed smile. "I'm Cameron, I live across the street." He extends his hand out the window.

Cousin Jack enthusiastically walks up to the car and shakes Cam's hand. "Jack Johnson, sir. Pleasure."

"Whoa, easy," Cam said. "We're around the same age. No formalities. Hop in."

I rolled my eyes, wishing Cam didn't do this. I don't want him to think I owe him anything. I owe nothing to no one. Let's just hope he did this gesture out of the goodness of his heart. We got in the car and sped off.

_________

"The office is that way," I informed Cousin Jack. After he fucked off, I expected Cam to follow suit. Don't get me wrong, Cameron is a nice guy and undoubtedly sexy, but he was stringing himself along like a lost puppy. All he was giving me was a nice ride in a nice car and a listening ear - even though I had nothing to talk about.

"See you at lunch?" Cameron asked.

I glanced past him for a quick moment and saw Gilinsky leaning against the red lockers down the hall with his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. His hood was up and he had a smirk on his face as he stared at me, nearly ignoring a girl passing by that said hello to him. I turned my attention back to Cameron.

"Uh, yeah, maybe. I might see if I can go home early, I'm not feeling too hot," I told him.

He proceeded to put the back of his hand on my forehead. "What's wrong? Your head feels fine."

"I'm on my period, okay?" I said bluntly, causing him to snatch his hand back.

"Whoa, okay," he chuckled. "Not my jurisdiction. Well, feel better babe."

"Thanks."

I walked down the hallway toward Jack but stopped short at my locker. I kept glancing over at him. His slight pout almost made my legs give out but I didn't show it. He tried not to fully smile, then pushed off the lockers to walk away. I took a deep breath and opened my locker. It was only then that I realized: I don't use my fucking locker.

Jack never told me about this elaborate plan for us to hang out during school. I went through first period & homeroom already and still nothing. It wasn't until my 2nd period Pre-Calculus class, which I was totally lost in, when a girl rocking a blonde french braid walks in. She walks up to the teacher, Mr. Brockton, and hands him a yellow slip of paper. He reads it then looks out at the class, landing on me.