A Series Of Firsts

Twenty four★ Typical Annie Fashion

          Jack knew he was a jerk—nothing new there—but he'd promised himself to never hurt Annie. He'd said he wouldn't treat the ones he cared about that way, but he did just that. And he didn't think he was in the wrong until Elle pointed it out to him. "You're a dick."

          He scoffed at Elle. She'd called him all the things she thought were insulting just in the span of five minutes. "Tell me something new.".

          "You hurt her real bad. I wish I was present yesterday to slap some sense into you."

          "Keep going."

          "And she might likely think you don't want her anymore."

          "She doesn't think that." Jack was sure he made it clear that they were still in a relationship, and it wasn't ending anytime soon. He just wanted her to chase him for a change.

          "She might think you aren't worth the hassle."

          Jack froze. He definitely did not think of that. Then, he recalled the events of the previous day. "She waved at me yesterday." He pointed out, biting back a smile when he also remembered his dad telling him Annie had dropped by at his house that evening.

          "Just go and get the girl." Elle sighed as they resumed walking out to the field where they had their table under a big Oak tree.

          "Fine." Jack groaned, making a one-eighty. He heard Elle bid him good luck but he barely registered it, focusing on what he would say to Annie once he saw her. After the way he treated her yesterday, he had a feeling she would hate him, but she didn't. He smiled, remembering her angry fave when she called him an asshole, then he scoffed, her punch was so weak. He'd have to add that to the list of things to teach her.

          When he arrived at the cafeteria, his eyes easily found her sitting at a table filled with upperclassmen. She wasn't conversing with anyone, she was just picking at her lunch. Slowly but surely, he approached the table and all conversations halted, all eyes turning to him.

          "Hey." He nodded at the occupants of the table, his hands in his pants pockets. They mumbled back some kind of greeting before he settled his gaze on Annie, shooting her a pointed look. She was busy gaping at him but quickly composer herself, pushing the rest of her lunch to a random person as she scrambled out of the bench.

           When he saw that she was following, he turned on his back and hightailed the fuck out of the cafeteria, where it seemed like all eyes were on him. He now understood Xander's and Lee's insistence on sitting outside where no one would stare at them.

          They walked until they were a far distance from the cafeteria before he stopped walking abruptly, causing her to bump into him with a hmmph. "All this bone might seriously break my nose," Annie mumbled, taking a step back and he bit his tongue to prevent from laughing as he turned around. "Yeah?"

          "You wanted to talk." Jack shrugged nonchalantly, referring to yesterday. "I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself." He added, knowing he was already sick of not talking to her. He couldn't stand seeing her and forcing himself to ignore her. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done. Somehow, he understood her. It was hard to go against family. God knows he'd been trying to please his father for years.

           Annie's eyes went wide, as if she couldn't believe he was letting her talk, then she blurted. "I talked to my mom." Jack raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue. "And she still doesn't like the idea of us, but I made her know she won't stop me. I even got my phone back, see?" She brought out her phone from her back pocket, showing him the device and he honestly wanted to smile at how adorable she was being.