2 02: The Day I Saw My Crush

JACKSON

The hot sun beat down on him as he continued to clean his mother's car, wiping the side with a towel drenched in soap and water. Agh... the only relief he had was that he discarded his shirt and was only in a pair of basketball shorts.

A blonde head appeared from inside the house, stepping outside and squinting at the sun. She placed a hand over her eyes and went forward, planting her hands on her hips. The teen only gave her a glance before promptly getting back to work, knowing she'd speak when she wanted.

When the younger girl continued to only stare at her and not do anything else, the boy stood to his full height and talk first to end to conversation faster.

"What do you want, Lillian? I'm kind of busy, if that escaped your notice."

Eleven-year-old Lillian Arden only huffed and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Don't test me, Jackson. I am fully aware you're doing something else. What irks me is how you saw me and chose not to acknowledge my presence."

"All right, thanks for the acknowledgement. Now go on inside please."

"No. I have a dilemma."

Jackson blinked. He was debating with himself on whether to indulge in his sister's whims or continue washing the car. After all, he was almost done. Hmm... if what Lillian wanted done was urgent, then he'd drop the car. If her request can wait, he's finishing the car.

Jackson flopped the wet towel on his shoulder, providing his skin with some cool.

"All right let's hear it."

"I can't find my beige scarf," Lillain sighed. Jackson sighed through his mouth. "I know it's in my drawer but now, I can't seem to find it."

"Scarf?" he repeated. He scratched his head. "It's a hundred degrees out and you wanna wear a scarf?"

Lillian shot him an icy look. Jackson flinched at the cold stare and reminded himself to watch his words, especially around his sister, who was sharp and had even sharper words and stares.

My room is blasted by constant air-conditioning thus it's acceptable for me to wear a scarf. And said scarf is MIA."

Jackson ran a hand through his hair again, his bangs flopping back uselessly on his forehead.

"You can just borrow one of my shirts and I'll buy you a new scarf or something."

As response, Lillian raised a perfect brow at him. Jackson second-guessed himself if his suggestion wasn't enough. His sister wasn't easily pleased and usually it was for good reason. Despite being young she had much intellect and had almost little to no tolerance for nonsense. Because of this, she appeared snobbish and prissy by others but she's learned how to deal with it, which Jackson begrudgingly admired.

"Your shirt? I wouldn't but thank you for the offer."

"Okay then lemme finish the car first and I'll help you find your scarf. How does that sound?"

This seemed to appease Lillian as she grinned and nodded, jauntily skipping back inside the house.

She paused in front of the door and spun on her heel to face him again.

"Oh one more thing."

Jackson groaned. Lillian chose to ignore that as she said, "My guitar needs tuning."

Yes, Lillian owned a guitar. For all her discipline and manners, she was more than happy when she came in contact with any form of music be it instruments, songs, or anything else. Jackson supposed he had some sort of influence on her as he loved music too. They differed in taste since he liked rock and pop while she was more into classical music and bubblegum pop.

"All right I'll tune it later."

"Much obliged. I'll be going now!" She waved before fully disappearing inside the house.

Jackson shook his head and resumed cleaning the car, throwing a bucketful of water on the side and stepping back to avoid getting soaked.

"Oh hey Jackson!"

He blinked and turned toward the voice, heart leaping at seeing Trista Grassini, her radiant black hair looking sleek and shiny as she drew closer. Her eyes were shining but maybe that was just the fading sunlight? She was in a tracksuit and a dimple was on her left cheek. Gosh, she had such a pretty smile.

He robotically waved back, smacking himself internally for being so stiff and awkward around her.

"Hey Trista how's it going?" He's immensely thankful for whatever higher power was working his voice didn't waver and he didn't stutter.

"Going well! You know, out for a jog." He saw her eyes rove downwards for a second and Jackson was made hyperaware of the fact he was half-naked in front of his crush. The thought made his cheeks flush. He briefly wondered if he should run inside and find a decent shirt but then she was talking again. "Is this your car?"

"Oh no it's my mom's." He gestured to the car, mind at a loss on what to say to her. "Neat, right?"

Wow, that was the best he could come up with?

Luckily for him, Trista nodded, as if impressed. Jackson told himself not to hope too much. She was probably just being nice.

"Awesome indeed."

A silence lingered in the air.

"Um..." quick, what to say?! "I didn't know you lived around this area."

Trista laughed. She waved a hand. "Oh no, I don't. I'm visiting a cousin and staying over and since I was bored, I wanted to get my body moving around. You know?"

"Oh yeah yeah I know." He really didn't. He wasn't much of a sports fan. "That's cool."

She grinned. "Thanks." She waved again. "Well, it's nice to run into you. See you in school!"

Jackson raised his hand and waved energetically. Trista giggled.

"Yup! See you!"

With a nod toward him, Trista took off again.

Jackson waited with bated breath until he was sure she wasn't around the vicinity anymore, screaming to the sky at another successful attempt to talk to his crush. He jumped around and celebrated like any man would: waving the towel he was using to wipe and spin it over his head, whooping with joy.

Never mind if he looked like a complete fool. He was ecstatic!

In his excited state, he accidentally kicked the empty bucket and he gasped loudly, watching it fly and bonk a girl on the head. She released a short scream and Jackson blinked before hiding by the car.

He was about to yell out an apology but then recognized her as the girl who ran him over at school when he was carrying metal rods. Huh... a small part of him had a sick satisfaction at seeing karma hit her and he didn;t realize he was grinning manically.

Ha... now they were even.