Except for Me ~ JGL

III

"Hey honey! How was school?" Mom asked.

"It was pretty good," I replied, sitting in the front seat.

"That's nice. Do you want to go pick up Hayley with me? Or do you have a lot of homework?" She asked.

"Uhh, I'll go home," I said.

It wasn't that I didn't want to see my sister, but I just had a lot on my mind.

When we pulled into our driveway, I unbuckled my seat, swung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed inside. I grabbed a bag of Doritos from the kitchen before walking to my room. I popped open the bag, shoved a few of the chips in my mouth, wiped my fingers, and opened my math homework. I couldn't start it though. My mind wandered too much.

I knew that I definitely liked Jayden, there was no doubt about that, but what about Mackenzie? Sure, she was beautiful, but I don't really think there was much more to her. Jayden was just. . . Jayden.

Her golden brown hair and the way it perfectly brushed her shoulders. The perfect shape of her eyebrows could make anyone's jaw drop. Her hazel eyes twinkled, no matter what the lighting conditions were. Some small freckles dotted her cheeks in just the right places. Her cute little nose was the perfect size for her face, and she had a smile that blew every other feature away, even her amazing jawline.

I picked up my phone and logged into Instagram. I had several follow requests. One was from Jayden, one from Ruby, and the rest were from the kids I had lunch with.

I accepted Jayden first and scrolled through her pictures. I could feel the pictures glowing through the screen. She was absolutely stunning.

Jayden was beyond gorgeous.

I went to Kenzie. All of her posts were pictures with Hayden, which I didn't want to look at, but her profile picture was a cute selfie she had taken. She was pretty.

I approved all the others and scrolled through some memes on my explore page for a while before remembering I had homework.

I heard the garage door shut. A few minutes later, Hayley came into my room.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. How was your day?" I asked.

"Good. How was yours?" She asked.

"Pretty good."

"Nice." She left the room.

I finished my homework, then watched an episode of Friends on Netflix. By that time, I was a bit bored, so I went downstairs. I headed into the garage to get my bike, and I took it out into the driveway. I got on it and began to bike down the street.

A few minutes later, I was across the street from a park. I spotted a girl playing with a dog. She threw a ball across the small field, and the brown and white border collie chased it. The girl looked up at me.

"Hey Annie!" She called.

I realized it was Jayden. I smiled back and waved. I stopped pedaling and got off, then walked my bike across the road. I tied it to a bike rack and headed over. By this time, her dog had already retrieved the ball and had brought it back.

"Good girl!" Jayden said. She pulled a treat out of her pocket and gave it to the dog.

"Who's this?" I asked.

"This is Alyssa," Jayden said.

"Hi girl!" I smiled.

The dog walked over to me, wagging its tail, and I petted her. She tried to lick my face. I laughed.

"She's funny, isn't she?" Jayden giggled. I nodded my head.

I stood up. Jayden threw the ball again. This time, it was a bit farther away.

"So, how was your first day?" She asked.

"Oh, it was nice," I smiled.

"That's good," she replied.

It was quiet for a few moments.

"Who did you sit with at lunch?" Jayden asked.

"Oh, Ruby and some of her friends," I said.

"Like Nadia, Mackenzie, and Hayden?" She asked. I nodded.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket as Alyssa ran back over with the ball. She took the ball and threw it again, her dog running after it.

"Here, make yourself a contact," Jay said, handing me her phone.

I took it and gave her my phone. I hesitated, not knowing what to put for my contact name. I eventually decided to just put Annie Leblanc, then I entered my phone number.

I gave her back her phone and she handed me mine. Her contact name she had entered was Jayden😘.