The raucous sounds greeted me as I entered through the school doors. A noise that I've gotten accustomed since the day my parents dropped me off for nursery. Teens were busy minding their own business and meddling someone else's business. I gave a friendly smile to a girl who glanced at me by her locker but she frowned and turned away.
It's either she's not a morning person or she thinks I'm a weirdo. I thought to myself. I have to go with the first one.
I finally reached my locker and got my books for first period. Humming a happy tune while I sort my things when someone jumped on my back. I already knew who it was by the lavender perfume.
"Morning, Gray!" my best friend, Taya, greeted or rather screamed in my ear.
"You're heavy!" I grunted. She laughed and got off my back. "Geez, how much do you eat?"
"A lot." she wiggled her eyebrows and both of us burst out laughing. Yes, we're weird. Taya's gaze went behind me and a scowl formed on her pretty face. "STDs at twelve o'clock."
I turned my head and saw Jackson, captain of the football team and my ex-boyfriend, holding hands with Tiffany, the school's queen bee and head cheerleader. My eyes stinged and I quickly averted my gaze before they could catch me staring. It was a long time ago but it still hurts.
Taya saw me tearing up and gave me a side hug. "He's a douche. It's his lost not yours." I nodded but stayed silent.
Jackson and I started dating in junior year. I never expected the most popular guy in school and captain of the football team would notice me; a quiet nerd. He came up to me while I was reading a book in the library. We had English and History together. He asked what I was reading and showed him the book cover. Then, he asked what it was about and I started explaining to him. I talked for a very long time and he just sat there listening; with a small smile on his face. I was embarrassed when I caught myself blabbering away. Jackson laughed when I apologized and told me I looked cute being invested with books. I blushed and since then we've been spending a lot of time in the library. One day, he asked me to go on a date with him and I agreed. My heart fluttered when he surprised me with a romantic picnic. That night, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I smiled and said yes to him. I was happy because I have a boyfriend who's sweet and kind to me. Although, Taya felt something off about him but disregarded when she saw how happy I was.
A month later of our relationship, our school had a big game. Taya and I went to support him. The school won and Jackson went running towards me giving me a kiss on the lips. He invited us to the victory party at one of his teammate's house and we accepted the invitation.
We were having fun dancing and singing along with the music. Jackson offered us a beer but we declined. I don't drink any alcohol because I can't stand the smell while Taya hates it because her dad's an alcoholic. I was getting tired of dancing and told Jackson I wanna take a break. He stopped dancing too and took me upstairs for us get away for awhile. We got inside one of the bedrooms and I sat down on the bed. He looked lovingly at me and sat down beside me. Gently holding my neck, he guided me forward and pressed his lips on mine. We kissed for who knows how long. When things started to heat up, he let go of my lips and kissed me my jaw down to my neck. His hand glided on my thigh until it went under my skirt. I know what's going to happen next and I do want to do it with him but I wasn't ready yet.
I gently pushed him off and told him shyly I wasn't ready yet. He grinned and kissed my forehead.
"It's okay. There's no rush. I'll wait for you." he whispered to me.
My heart warmed from his words and was glad my boyfriend was understanding. We fixed ourselves and went back downstairs. Taya raised an eyebrow and I knew she knows what we did upstairs. I gave her a small smile and shook my head. Her shoulders sagged in relief and took my hand to start dancing again.
Our relationship continued on and he was still sweet and kind to me. There were times where he would initiate us taking the next step but I still feel I wasn't ready. He would hug me and told me he understands and would wait for me. I'm glad Jackson understood me... or so I thought.
It was before Christmas break, I was finally ready for him. Luckily, my parents had a seminar and would be back a week later. I planned a surprise dinner for him at my house and wore a white lingerie I bought at Victoria's Secret with Taya's help. I was excited and can't wait to see him. When I reached the boy's locker room, I waited outside for him. I heard loud moaning inside and I cringe that there were people bold enough to do it in a public place. I was about to text him that I'll wait outside. My heart stopped when I heard a girl moaning his name. I couldn't believe what I heard and tried to tell myself I was wrong. With stiff legs, I went inside the locker room. I gasped loudly when I saw Jackson and Tiffany making-out; half naked. They stopped and their eyes were on me. Jackson's eyes widened and went for his shirt. Tears ran down my cheeks as I ran out of there. He caught up with me and saw me crying.
"Why?!" I cried out. "Why would you do this to me? How could you?!"
He closed his eyes and sighed. "I got tired."
"What?"
"I got tired," he said loudly this time. "I've been waiting for so long but you just wouldn't. We've been dating for six months for crying out loud! I don't know what's the problem!"
"I wasn't ready yet, Jackson. I thought you understood that!"
"I did but—"
"How long?" I cut him off. Tears were still running down my face as I glared at him.
"W-What do you mean?" he stuttered.
"You know what I mean. How long were you cheating on me? And don't you dare lie to me. The least you can do is to be honest for me this time."
"Five months."
He whispered it softly but I still heard it. My heart felt like it was being torn apart and it was getting hard for me to breathe. All this time he was cheating on me. How stupid was I?
I was devastated. What's worse Jackson came to school with Tiffany the next day; hand in hand. I became the talk of the school. It hurts to hear people talking behind my back. It hurts to hear from them of how I wasn't good enough for him. Taya told them off whenever she heard kids talking about me and also kicked Jackson's no no zone. She didn't have to do that but I admit I was satisfied when she did that for me.
"Hey!"
I snapped out of my thoughts when Taya called my attention. She looked worried and tightened her hug. "Don't you dare think it was your fault. You didn't do anything wrong; he did. If he truly cared for you like he said, he wouldn't cheat on you."
"Thanks, Tee." I grinned gratefully.
"Don't mention it, Gray." she smiled. The warning bell rang signaling classes were about to start. "Now, off to Math we go!"
I giggled and walked towards our first class. I'm happy we have the same class schedule. I get to be with my best friend the whole day in school.
As we got inside the room, we sat down on our seats and I took out my pen and notebook. Tom, Jackson's best friend, strode in and as soon as he saw us; he waved at Taya and sat down at the seat in front of me. I forgot Tom is in the same class as we are. It's a good thing Jackson and I have only arts together.
"Morning, Taya." Tom smiled at her making my best friend blush. She greeted back shyly. I have never seen Taya blushed like that before. He then turn his attention to me. "Morning to you too, Grace."
"Morning, Tom." I grinned at him. "How's everything?"
He shrugged. "Nothing new. Still handsome as always."
"You never change." I giggled.
He smiled and seconds later he looked nervous. "By the way, I... I'm not okay on what Jackson did. He may be my best friend but it was a dick move and I'm sorry for what he did. He didn't even apologize to you."
I was touched by his words. "It's okay, Tom. And you shouldn't be the one apologizing for him."
"Yeah... but I feel bad about it."
"Don't be. I'll be honest it still hurts but I'm moving on from it."
"Glad to hear it. Like I said, he's my friend but he doesn't deserve you."
Mr. O'Neal, our Math teacher, came in and placed his briefcase on his table. "Morning, students! Hope you had a good weekend." The whole class mumbled out a reply and he smirked from our response. "Yes, I could feel your Monday agony. It's a shame I have to start your morning with graphs and numbers."
We laughed at his comment. Even though he's a Math teacher, he has this happy go lucky personality and never made the class boring. Mr. O'Neal made sure we understood his lesson. Also, he cares about our grades and would help those who need to catch up. I wish all teachers were like him.
He clapped his hands to gain our attention. "Alright, alright. Let's start our class." I took out my notebook and pen. I pushed away my thoughts on Jackson and focused on the lesson.