Fate is a mystery

Chapter 3: Quite an Impression

My stomach had been doing backflips from the moment I got up. I was nervous as hell. It was the first day of school and although I had already acquainted myself with the girls, it was still a nerve wrecking feeling to be starting at a whole new school where there are different teachers, different people, different classes. Just a whole lot of different. The sun was bright and hot as usual, so I went for a simple denim shorts and oversized t-shirt with white sneakers. I grabbed my pair of gold aviator sunglasses from the vanity and made my way downstairs. I could smell the pancakes from the stairs. When I finally got downstairs, I saw my dad frantically rushing about with a small cooler bag in hand.

"Everything okay there chef?", I asked as I grabbed a plate and started to stack some pancakes on it.

"I'm trying to figure out what to put in your lunch", he answered scratching his head. "It's just that I haven't done this since you were a kid, and I have no idea what teenagers even want for lunch. Do you guys even eat lunch now because you're basically on your phones the entire time".

"Of course we eat lunch dad.", I answered between chews.

He put his hands in his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He pulled out some cash and placed it next to my almost demolished plate of pancakes.

"Maybe you can get yourself something at school".

"Thanks", I replied as I grabbed the cash and put it into the pocket of my shorts. "We should go dad, I don't wanna be late on my first day".

He grabbed his car keys from the kitchen island and we both made our way to the car.

He pulled into the school's driveway and just as I opened the door, he called out my name. I turned to look at him wondering what direction this was going to take. He scratched his head and mumbled, "Have a great day today".

"Sure dad, thanks", I replied awkwardly. I got out of the car and immediately put on my sunglasses. The sun felt like it was shining brighter today than it was the other two days. It was bordering on blinding. I was so focused on keeping the sun out of my eyes during that walk that I didn't realise I was walking directly into someone.

"Shit. I'm sorry", I announced frantically the minute I collided with their body.

"It's okay, I wasn't even...", he stopped mid-sentence when he saw who it was that bumped into him. "You", he whispered.

I finally took his whole face in, and it hit me. OMG it's Jackson. You know, Jackson the stranger I had a full on make out session yesterday. Talk about serendipity. His eyes looked more piercing in the bright of the morning and his light brown wavy hair complimented them so well. I was not regretting that kiss at all in this moment.

"You? That's all you have to say. Come on dude I'm going to need a bit more than that from you.", I laughed. "You've got some explaining to do. You have about..." I looked at the time on my phone, "...five minutes to give me the whole break down before I have to be in the office to finalise some info".

He chuckled and looked at me with an expression I couldn't clearly decipher. I was not sure whether it was amusement or if he was just impressed.

"Well, to cut the long story short...", he began.

"No, I think I deserve the full details at this point", I interrupted.

"You just told me you have 5 minutes left", he laughed.

"Okay okay fine, go on. What the heck was that yesterday?".

"Eva is my ex-girlfriend who broke up with me at the beginning of summer to date a college guy she had met at one of her parents' dinner parties."

"Okay, I'm following", I said nodding my head.

"Earlier yesterday at the beach was the first time I'd seen her since the break -up and to save face I kinda made up a fake girlfriend who was visiting the town for the summer."

"Mmhhmm", I said urging him to continue.

"Last night I decided to go to the party to get my mind over the fact that I saw her, only to bump into her and that stupid guy outside. I was on the brink of losing it when I saw you and I panicked and things just went left from there", he chuckled as he rubbed his face with his hand.

"You do realise how horribly that could've gone right?".

He chuckled in embarrassment while scratching his head, "I know, I guess I was really lucky that the random girl I saw was such a team player".

"I never saw you after that, at the party. Where did you go?".

"I decided to bail. I had to... process?".

"Cool, cool cool", I nodded awkwardly. "I would love to stay and 'Process' but sadly it's going to have to wait right now because my 5 minutes is up, I need to get to the office. I haven't forgotten though".

He arched his brow in confusion.

"You said you owe me big time, remember? I'll hold you to it".

"Sure thing Amari", he laughed from behind me as I made my way inside the building.

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Lunch break had rolled around and I was making my towards the back of the school to find the girls. They had told me at the beach that they spent every lunch break on the sports field at the back and that is where I would find them when looking for them. I wasn't hungry yet, so I passed by a vending machine and got myself some water and a packet of sour worms and headed towards the field. It didn't take me long time to find the girls as they immediately spotted me and yelled to beckon me over to them. It was at that moment that I took in how lucky I was that I forgot about my period when I came to Watergate. It was because of that reason I wasn't going to spend lunch alone at a new school. Fate maybe?

I made my way towards the girls. I was almost there when I heard a familiar voice call me from a different side of the field. I turned my head to try and find who the voice belonged to and immediately I saw Jaden walking towards me. He waved at me with biggest smile on his face. I waved back just as he finally reached me.

"As gorgeous as ever", he said grinning at me.

"As cheesy as ever", I replied in a tone matching his.

He laughed and folded his arms over his chest, "I still maintain the fact that I'm just honest and sadly it just borders into cheesy sometimes".

"No... you're just not original Jaden".

"Ok, how's this for original? I Like you."

"I know", I replied matter of factly with a small smile on my face.

"Who's arrogant now?", he laughed. I was about to reply when a voice coming from behind Jaden cut me off.

"Dude, where have you been? I've been looking for you for a good 10 minutes now."

I looked away from Jaden to see who the voice belonged to only to be met by a familiar pair of green eyes and a mop of familiar sandy brown hair.

"Jackson?", I said with a smile. "Are you like, stalking me now", I chuckled.

"I could ask you the same thing", he laughed. "You're the one talking to my best friend".

Best friend? Wait, what?