Jackson tapped on the steering wheel against the beat of a Meek Mill song while Aaliyah rapped along to some of the lyrics. They spent almost two hours at the rink and skating burned more energy then they thought.
While on the hunt of food and passing by a nearby park, Aaliyah noticed something and gasped. "Puppies!" She exclaimed, pointing out her window. "Oh my gosh, they're having a pet adoption! We need to go," she urged.
"We need to go?" Jackson laughed, repeating her words.
"Yes Jack! This is serious!" She tells him as he looks for a U-turn so they could go back to the park and so Aaliyah could stop looking at Jack like she wanted to knock his head off. Once they parked and arrived, Aaliyah ran ahead towards one of the puppy play pins and started fooling around with the creatures, bringing a smile to her face.
Jackson pulled out his phone from his pocket and opened the camera app to document the entire thing. "Aaliyah," he called out, shifting her attention from the Maltese puppy in her hands to him. "I️ don't know who's cuter right now," he said for the sake of the camera. Aaliyah simply smiled into the camera before bringing the squirming puppy to her face, snuggling it.
"You two are so cute," a girl said from behind them. Jackson stopped the video and turned around to see a animal shelter volunteer smiling back at them. "Y'all looking to raise a dog together?" She asked, looking between them both.
"Oh no we're not dating-"
"We're not looking for a dog-"
They both stopped when they realized they were simultaneously speaking over each other. "We're just looking," Aaliyah finally said to her.
"You seem pretty attached to that one," the teenaged volunteer pointed out. "They're only twenty-five to adopt plus free vaccinations when you get them today," she pitched.
Aaliyah looked at the little pure white fluff all with a frown. "I️ wish I️ could," she said in a baby voice to the puppy. "But my mom wouldn't like it if I️ just sprung a puppy on her, you know?" She said.
"Totally understandable," the girl nodded. "Oh well, enjoy the rest of your day," she waved off.
Aaliyah sadly put the little guy down on the ground with the rest of his siblings. "Bye baby," she muttered lowly before standing up and walking away with Jackson. "Where to next?" She asked.
"I'm thinking about beating your ass in skeeball," Jackson challenged as they got into the car.
Aaliyah laughed in excitement. "You're so on!" She tells him.
* * * *
Aaliyah filmed Jackson as he shot baskets after basket at the basketball game. "He's gonna break the high score!" She narrates as the points went up. High score was 85 and he was on 79. 80. 81. 82.
There were a few seconds left, and finally he passed the 85 mark and the buzzer stopped at 87. "Woo!" She cheered as she posted the video to Snapchat. "Wow. Is there a sport you're not good at?" She wondered.
Jackson looked up in thought. "Nope, pretty good at all of them," he gloated, making her laugh as they went to try their luck at one of those ball drop games. "You wanna go first or..." he offered as he casually leaned against the machine.
Aaliyah nodded and moved forward. She swiped the game card and randomly pressed the button, the ball falling straight into the 500 ticket jackpot. Aaliyah squealed in excitement while Jackson's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Ha ha!" She laughed in his face.
"Whatever," he swatted her away from his face, "I️ still won most of the games-"
"But who won us 500 tickets?" She repeated, self celebrating. "Come on! Let's go get our prize!" She takes his hand and heads over to the prize counter to redeem their tickets.
They leave the arcade with a ton of candy on hand, feeling giddy. Aaliyah hops on his back and he spins them around, making her laugh in delight before being put down. They get in the car and head over to their local mall to eat in the food court, considering they couldn't decide on one place to eat. Aaliyah wanted Chinese take out, while Jack wanted a burger and fries. They both ordered their food of their choice and sat down, finally relaxing.
"Thank you for cheering me up," she said as they dug right into their food.
Jack looked up from his food. "No problem.
I mean, it's the least I️ could do," he shrugged.
"Well that's the thing. You didn't have to do anything," she pointed out. "You did it cause...you're sweet," she says, catching his eyes.
Before he could say anything else, they heard a voice behind them call out, "J-man!", making them both look behind them. Devon, Elijah's best friend and a couple of guys from the football team and their girlfriends, some girls Aaliyah knew but wasn't close with, by their sides, walking up to them. "What is up man?" Devon dapped him off. He looked between them both and raised an eyebrow. "What? Y'all on a date right now or sum'?" He joked.
"We're just hanging out Devon. Nothing to freak out about," she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not," he turns his attention over to Jackson now. "Hey man, sorry you ain't win homecoming king man," he apologized, although it sounded a bit insincere.
"No worries man. I️ didn't care about it anyways," he shrugged off.
"Ay Liyah, why you left my boy hanging like that last night?" Devon asked now. "Elijah and Alexis won hoco king and queen, but you wasn't there to dance with your mans so Alexis did instead," he told her as she inwardly rolled her eyes. "He told me you had left early," he hinted, looking between the two.
"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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