In A Different Time

Chapter 1

The raucous sounds greeted me as I entered through the school doors. A noise that I've gotten accustomed since the day my parents dropped me off for nursery. Teens were busy minding their own business and meddling someone else's business. I gave a friendly smile to a girl who glanced at me by her locker but she frowned and turned away. 

It's either she's not a morning person or she thinks I'm a weirdo. I thought to myself. I have to go with the first one.

I finally reached my locker and got my books for first period. Humming a happy tune while I sort my things when someone jumped on my back. I already knew who it was by the lavender perfume.

"Morning, Gray!" my best friend, Taya, greeted or rather screamed in my ear.

"You're heavy!" I grunted. She laughed and got off my back. "Geez, how much do you eat?"

"A lot." she wiggled her eyebrows and both of us burst out laughing. Yes, we're weird. Taya's gaze went behind me and a scowl formed on her pretty face. "STDs at twelve o'clock."

I turned my head and saw Jackson, captain of the football team and my ex-boyfriend,  holding hands with Tiffany, the school's queen bee and head cheerleader. My eyes stinged and I quickly averted my gaze before they could catch me staring. It was a long time ago but it still hurts.

Taya saw me tearing up and gave me a side hug. "He's a douche. It's his lost not yours." I nodded but stayed silent.

Jackson and I started dating in junior year. I never expected the most popular guy in school and captain of the football team would notice me; a quiet nerd. He came up to me while I was reading a book in the library. We had English and History together. He asked what I was reading and showed him the book cover. Then, he asked what it was about and I started explaining to him. I talked for a very long time and he just sat there listening; with a small smile on his face. I was embarrassed when I caught myself blabbering away. Jackson laughed when I apologized and told me I looked cute being invested with books. I blushed and since then we've been spending a lot of time in the library. One day, he asked me to go on a date with him and I agreed. My heart fluttered when he surprised me with a romantic picnic. That night, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I smiled and said yes to him. I was happy because I have a boyfriend who's sweet and kind to me. Although, Taya felt something off about him but disregarded when she saw how happy I was.

A month later of our relationship, our school had a big game. Taya and I went to support him. The school won and Jackson went running towards me giving me a kiss on the lips. He invited us to the victory party at one of his teammate's house and we accepted the invitation.

We were having fun dancing and singing along with the music. Jackson offered us a beer but we declined. I don't drink any alcohol because I can't stand the smell while Taya hates it because her dad's an alcoholic. I was getting tired of dancing and told Jackson I wanna take a break. He stopped dancing too and took me upstairs for us get away for awhile. We got inside one of the bedrooms and I sat down on the bed. He looked lovingly at me and sat down beside me. Gently holding my neck, he guided me forward and pressed his lips on mine. We kissed for who knows how long. When things started to heat up, he let go of my lips and kissed me my jaw down to my neck. His hand glided on my thigh until it went under my skirt. I know what's going to happen next and I do want to do it with him but I wasn't ready yet.

I gently pushed him off and told him shyly I wasn't ready yet. He grinned and kissed my forehead.

"It's okay. There's no rush. I'll wait for you." he whispered to me.

My heart warmed from his words and was glad my boyfriend was understanding. We fixed ourselves and went back downstairs. Taya raised an eyebrow and I knew she knows what we did upstairs. I gave her a small smile and shook my head. Her shoulders sagged in relief and took my hand to start dancing again.