It Started With A Concussion ✔️

Chapter 52

Outro (slowed) - M83

Emery's POV

The sun beats down on my face the next morning. Spending the day at the beach with my friends was exactly what I wanted to do today.

Chicken fighting against Hannah and Finn was a bonus, especially since we won. I swear I was about to fall off of Jackson's shoulders twenty times, but I stayed up there.

Getting out of the water and walking to the blanket I was refreshed and ready to stay here until sunset. That's until I saw my towel completely covered in sand.

Shaking it out did nothing so I just decided to air dry. Or at least that's what I was planning to do before I was wrapped up in a towel, and a hug by Jackson.

"Saw your towel and thought you might need mine." He says into my ear.

I smiled at the gesture, "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine." He smacks a kiss on my forehead before I plop down in one of the chairs.

Jackson takes a careless seat in front of my feet, right in the sand and leans back so he's in between my legs.

I dry off as much as I can and take a look around at all of us. I know it's only been a few days since the championship game but things are starting to look up.

Hannah and Finn are like lovebirds on a honeymoon, yet act like each other's best friends half the time. There's not one moment where I haven't seen the two laughing together.

Kayla and Elliot seemed to have figured things out. The two of them haven't really said anything about it, but they're sitting on the blanket and she has her head on his shoulder. Elliot might think I'm blind but I see the way he's playing with her fingers by his hip.

I'm sitting here braiding Jackson's hair, who I can confidently say I love without a doubt because he loves me too, and I know that. I comb the braid out with my fingers and tilt his head back.

Light bounces off his eyes making them seem brighter than they are. The way he squints with a smile on his face makes me more happy than I could imagine. I lean down and kiss him before hearing a giggle I'm still trying to get used to.

I look over at someone who joined us today and will probably be around until I leave for college. Yep, that's right, Tyler and Sadie have gotten a little more serious since prom a few months ago.

Turns out Cal and JJ's sprucing up at Priya's birthday worked on someone. Now I just have to get used to Tyler having a girl around all the time. But Sadie's nice and I don't think I'll have a problem with her.

"Do you think that's gonna work out?" Jackson turns halfway to me.

"I don't know. She's going to college like us and they're not even dating..." I reason. "I'd be thrilled if it worked but I don't want him to get too attached if..."

"I know what you mean." Jackson finishes my thought for me and wipes some sand off my legs. "Maybe it's just a summer thing."

"Maybe," I shrug and give the two one final glance.

I'm not gonna worry about it. Knowing my brother, if it didn't work out in the end, I'm sure he'd be fine.

He hasn't really taken an interest in any sort of relationship for as long as I've been alive. He was more hyper focused on allowing nobody to date me instead.

Which sounds funny but the amount I had to argue to hangout with a guy was a little ridiculous.

Although, I will say he did see a few things I was naive about. Like how the guy I liked in tenth grade commented on other girls too much. And how Eric was so full of himself he was probably channeling his ego half the time.