I laid in bed and cried until about 5:45, then I fixed my make up. It didn't matter much to me what I looked like, but I was representing Jackson so I felt like I needed to be pretty. Sharon arrived at 6:00 to pick me up. She knocked on the door and I peered out at her. Her eyes were glistening with tears.
"I can't believe this," she whispered. "I know that he's still going to be here for a few months, and that he'll less than an hour away… but…" she shook her head.
"It's okay," I murmured. "I've been crying since he left."
"He'll come back and visit. We have to be happy for him. You ready to go?"
I nodded. "Yep…"
When I got to the car, I saw Simon sitting in the backseat.
"I thought we should all go as a family," Sharon said to me. "Hope you don't feel too awkward. You
Summer turned out to be the best time in our relationship. We spent every day together and didn't take any of our time for granted. One day as we were driving home from having coffee with Wyette and Brent, I glanced over at Jackson."I feel bad," I murmured."What for?""You never hang out with your friends anymore. Now you just hang with mine."He shook his head. "Your friends are my friends. The only real friends I've ever had, except for Brenda. Thank you for introducing us." He kissed my cheek. "And I'll get you guys into college parties.""Are you going to start drinking a bunch again?""No. I won't. Not after how hard you've worked to help me. We're going to Mom's tonight for dinner.""What are we eating?""Who knows? Something
There are few things more embarrassing than walking in on your boyfriend's brother while he's standing naked in front of the mirror. Unfortunately, I'm speaking from experience. Not that looking at Jackson Sutterfield without clothes was a hardship. It did make things a little weird though, I must admit. For a moment, neither one of us moved. In the time we were both standing there, stupefied, I took in the sight of him. His six-pack of stomach muscles, his muscular legs, what wasbetweenhis muscular legs. Jackson just sort of stared at me, his toothbrush hanging from his mouth.Finally, my mind started working again and I backed out of the bathroom, blushing bright pink. I rushed back into my boyfriend's room, feeling absolutely mortified."What's the matter with you, Sophie?" Simon asked.I grimaced. "I kinda walked in on Jackson in the bathroom. He was brushing his teeth... naked."He laughed. "Man, Ja
"Hey," I heard him say. "Simon sent me a text during fourth hour. He wanted me to ask you if you wanted me to take you to our house after school."I turned to face him. "Why would you do that for him?""He's my little brother," he murmured, running a hand back through his hair. "I have to be nice to him every now and then.""Okay, sure. Where do you want me to meet you?""I'll swing by your locker," he said, and then he walked away."Um, bye." I muttered, although he was already out of earshot."I wish he'd talk to me!" Ellie complained. "I can't believe you get to ride home with him!""It's no big deal," I told her. "He'll just flirt with me and try to get me to cheat on Simon.""I wouldkillto have him flirt with me!""Yeah, if his intentions were pure." I took a bite of my yogurt. "He's a jerk, Ellie. He doesn't respec
"Take a seat," he said, nodding towards the bed. I looked at him uncertainly. "You can sit at the desk if you're more comfortable."I opted for the latter. "So what's up?" I asked."I'm sorry about what happened downstairs with Scott. I kinda feel like it was my fault. I was talking about getting you in the sack and I guess after a few beers it sounded like a good idea to him, too.""Why can't you just accept that I'm Simon's girlfriend? Jackson, I don't wanna sleep with you, if I did, I would've waited for you to ask me out. Not that it ever would've happened." I rolled my eyes at his expression of disbelief. Jackson wasn't used to girls telling him that they didn't want to have sex with him. "You just want me because I'm Simon's, and you have a reputation to uphold."He sighed and buried his hands in the pocket of his jeans. "That's not entirely true… The fact that you're Simon's girlfriend does make you a bit mor
Ellie and I met at our usual hangout, the Bean Street Café. She was practically bouncing with excitement by the time we sat down with our smoothies."Tell me, tell me!" She insisted."Well, on the ride he pretty much talked to Scott the whole time. When we got home, though, I had a little run-in with Scott... he tried to get a little somethin'-somethin'... Jackson came in and screamed at him, and after I went upstairs he came up to apologize. It was really sweet at first, but then he started talking about getting my pants off, and that eliminated all the sweetness." I took a drink of my smoothie."Is that all?" she asked, sounding disappointed."No. Before I went to bed he kissed me on the forehead... and I know that it's really lame, but oh my God, it was niiiiice. Seriously, should a kiss on the forehead feel that... dirty?""Well, since it's your boyfriend's brother and he's really, really freaki
Before too long, Simon and I heard music blaring downstairs."Do your parents know about this?" I asked."Well, Jackson told them we were having a 'get together'. He didn't mention how many people would be coming.""How many people are expected to show up?""Hell if I know. Word gets around pretty quick about Jackson's parties. So basically we just get a lot of booze and hope it doesn't get ugly."I'd never been to one of Jackson's parties. Simon always invited me, but I never felt comfortable enough around his brother to go. I wasn't really sure what to expect."It'll be fun, Sophie. Don't worry." He stood and then helped me to my feet. "People will be here soon, let's go downstairs."People arrived quickly, and the house got full very quickly. The living room smelled like potato chips, beer, and sweat. The music was so loud I couldn't hear myself think. I stayed b
"Go away Sophie! I put up with you grinding on a bunch of guys all night, but seeing you make-out withScott...I couldn't take that. Then you end up in my brother's bed?! There's a little thing called loyalty, and I don't think it's too much to ask for you to give me that one little thing!""I was completely shit-faced! I had no idea what I was doing! You could try to be a little more understanding. Why didn't you take me upstairs? You had to know I was going to do something I was going to regret! The only reason I was in Jackson's bed was because he was nice enough to make sure I didn't drown in my own puke!" I shook my head. "Maybe he cares about me more than you do.""Oh, don't give me that! If you like Jackson so much better, fine! Date him!""Simon, I don't want to date Jackson. I just don't understand why you're getting so worked up. If you would've gotten drunk and done the same thing... I would cut you some slack.
Ellie came over forty-five minutes later, dressed for work. We sat out on the deck and drank lemonade, a tradition we'd had since fifth grade.The first thing I told her was, "Simon broke up with me.""What!? Why?""Apparently, I fucked up bad at the party last night. I made out with Scott... and then I was with Jackson all morning, because Simon wouldn't take care of me and he wanted to make sure that I was okay. Simon just doesn't trust me at all!""It feels like you guys have been together forever... I mean I know it was only six months... but it seems like so much longer. Is there anyway you'll get back together?""Jackson seems to think so... He wassosweet, it was kind of scary.""He wasn't sweet to me at all. For like the first five minutes, maybe.""Why did you have sex with him?""It just kinda... happened.""Mm-