I N S T I N C T | Jackson Whittemore

27: girl talk

Girl Talk
Chapter Twenty Seven

Her chest.

That's the one thing Annie remembered hurting. It was her chest. The heaving of breaths and movement caused pain to spiral throughout her body, skyrocketing across her heart.

Jackson had this effect on her.

Allison was in the driver's seat, while Annie sat silently in the passenger, and Lydia sat fuming in the back. All three girls had no idea what to say next as they were parked in Lydia's driveway, thinking about the past night. After a moment of silence, Allison sighed...

"I need you to promise that you won't say anything about what just happened."

Lydia sighed, "I'll promise not to say anything about what just happened if you can tell me what the hell just happened!"

"I-It's kind of complicated," Allison stuttered out, more concerned with how Annie was acting rather than Lydia's dramatic meltdown.

"Well, how about you start with why was Derek there? Or where Jackson went, or what is wrong with Erica?" Lydia seethed, and Allison swallowed hard, looking from Annie to Lydia. Back to Annie, back to Lydia "Oh, do you need a minute to come up with a plausible lie?" The fiery ginger spat.

Annie finally snapped, shaking her head and trying to compensate on the fact Lydia was acting like this after what just happened. Jackson is the freaking Kanima, for motherfucking sakes. "Part of the reason why she's asking is because Scott and Allison aren't supposed to be seeing each other, okay? So, it's better if you just keep what you know to yourself. Also, maybe take in count about the emotions of the people around you, okay, Lydia? Jesus fricking Christ..."

"Fine," Lydia shrugged, basically ignoring the final part of Annie's speech. "I'll keep what I know about you and your boyfriend — which is nothing — to myself."

"Ridiculous," Annie mumbled under her breath, holding back the urge to smack some sense into her idiotic, stupid, butt-licking face.

Allison turned to her best friend, sighing, "Hey. He's not just my boyfriend. You get that, right?" Lydia tried to escape the car, but Allison lunged forward, grabbing her arm and stopping her.

Lydia turned to the Argent, eyes wide with fury as she tripped back into her seat, closing the door coincidentally as she glared at Allison, "Let me go."

"Just for one second, please, try and remember..." Allison pleaded.

Lydia swallowed, watching in disbelief at her friend's desperation over a boy, "Remember what?"

Annie turned to Lydia, sadness and confusion in her eyes, "Remember what it feels like. All of those times in school when you see him standing down the hall, and you cannot breathe until you're with him. Or those times in class when y-you can't stop looking at the clock because you know that he's standing right out there waiting for you," Annie shook her eyes, remembering the side of Jackson only she got to see. "Don't you remember what that's like?"

Lydia looked to a point in the distance, away from the girls' faces, "No."

Allison shook her head, scoffing at the ludicrousness of Lydia, "What do you mean, 'no?' ... You've had boyfriends."

Lydia took a gulp, opening her car door and turning back to the two people she actually trusted, with sadness and desperation in her eyes, "...None like that."