Just A Kiss

Chapter 6: Jackson

I walk into my new class and see the most beautiful girl in the world. She looks at me and I look away so she doesn't know that I was starring.

She has this long brown hair that is just shining. Her eyes beautiful. Her smile, perfection.

"You can sit by AnnaLyn. Thank you, Jackson." The teacher says, pointing to the girl.

I sit next her and she tenses up a little, then relaxes.

"Hey. I'm Jackson." I say, her eyes draw me in like a fish caught by a hungry fisherman.

"Hi, I'm AnnaLyn." She smiles. Beautiful.

"I know." I turn to the teacher.

I see her smile at the corner of my eye.

***

"Hey Jackson!" Victoria says when I walk up to her.

"Hi." I smile.

"So, I heard you met AnnaLyn."

"Yeah. Man, she is gorgeous." I say, and Victoria looks at me sternly. "Sorry, it's true."

"Well, she took my boyfriend, Caleb, away from me and I want revenge. Want to help me?" She bats her eyelashes.

"What do you want, Victoria." I sigh.

"Oh nothing. Umm you should have a party tomorrow. I know a really good recipe for homemade fruit punch." She smiles mischievously.

"Okay." I say.

"Invite AnnaLyn. She'll love the refreshments." Victoria walks away.

***

"So, here's the plan." Victoria says after class. "My homemade fruit punch has alcohol in it. She'll drink it if she thinks it's fruit punch. You just have to keep them comin and make sure she drinks it. Then you can drink with her all you want and Caleb will hate her and come back to me. Sound good?"

"That's some plan. I'm liking this fruit punch thing by the way." She smiles. "But what if Caleb doesn't come back?"

"Oh he will. Or else." She winks. "I'll bring the drink over while you distract her if she's going to your house."

"She is." I say and she nods and heads to her next class.

***

I see AnnaLyn walking over to me. She sits in the chair next to mine.

"Hey." She says.

"Hi babe." I say, jokingly.

"You were gonna ask me something?"

"Oh yeah. Um, I was wondering if you wanted to come to this party on Friday."

"Sure." I feel evil. I kind of like it. "What time?"

"You can just come to my house after school. Is that okay?"

She smiles. "Sure."

"Cool. So, tell me more about yourself. I only know your name and where you kinda live."

"Um, I'm LDS." Oh, of course she is. That'll make my job even harder. "I'm 17 and I have no siblings. I have one best friend and that's my dog."

"I'll be your human best friend." I smile, pulling her into the trap.

"Fine with me."

"Or we can be," What was I thinking? AnnaLyn's gonna hate me for this. "Nevermind."

She opens her mouth to say something but Caleb sits next to her.

"Hi Anna." He says and I want to be angry. No one should call her that but me.

AnnaLyn clears her throat. "So Jackson. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Tell me about yourself."

"Oh. I have a little sister that's half my age and I have a couple best friends and they're my horses." I smile.

She hits my arm and I feel like a winner. "Copy cat."

We keep talking and I see Caleb leave but I don't care.

***

I was quite excited for today. I pretty much ran to find AnnaLyn.

"Hey, you ready to go?" I said when AnnaLyn walks out of her last class.

"Yep." She says.

We get in my truck and AnnaLyn says, "I don't know where you live."

"You will." I say, thinking about where Caleb lives. I turn up the music and and AnnaLyn laughs. Cute.

We reach my street.

"Wait. Isn't this where Caleb lives?" She asks.

"Yeah. I live across the street from him." I say.

"Huh. That's awesome." She says with some doubt in her voice.

"Nice house." She says and I smile.

"Thanks I guess." We get out of the car and go inside.

I can tell she's amazed when we walk in. She looks around slowly and her mouth is open a little bit.

"Wow." She says, looking at the chandelier. I keep walking and go down to the basement.

Again she is amazed.

"Jeez. It's like a party all by itself!" AnnaLyn says and I laugh.

"Want to play ping pong?" I ask, grabbing a paddle and a ball.

"Sure." She grabs a paddle too and I play te ball to her.

***

"You're pretty good at basketball." I say, actually amazed that she hasn't missed a single shot.

"I used to play."

"Why don't you anymore?" I ask as I shoot again.

"I don't know. I never really liked it." I smile. I don't know why. "When's the party going to start?"

"6. Or until lots of people get here. Do you wanna go see my horses?"

"Heck yeah!" She says and I laugh.

"I'll show you my favorite, then we'll probably get ready for the party."

"This is Princess Anna." I smile. "She sort of has the same name as you."

AnnaLyn laughs. "Yeah. She's beautiful."

"Like you." I say, looking at the horse and pretending nothing happened. I see AnnaLyn smile.

***

"Alright. Let's set out some drinks." I say, wondering if Victoria stopped by.

"Do you want me to get the snacks out?" AnnaLyn asks.

"Sure. They're in the pantry."

I grab a bowl of red liquid from the fridge and head downstairs

"Where should I put my backpack and stuff?" AnnaLyn asks.

"In my room. It's the very far door on your left."

She comes back to see me setting the bowl on the table.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Fruit punch." I pour a cup. "Want some?"

She takes it and drinks it.

***

I walk over to AnnaLyn who's getting another drink. Dang, she is beautiful.

"Hey beautiful." I say, touching her cheeks because it looks so soft.

"Hi." She smiles.

"Come here." I take her hand and pull her to the couch.

I sit and she sits down too. I touch her face again, then put my hand behind her neck to pull her lips to mine.

I find her hand and hold it, wishing she would remember this.

***