Aaliyah watched from the stands as Elijah fiercely argued with the coach. She couldn't tell what it was about but whatever it was, it involved Jackson. Jackson stood next to the coach, looking between Elijah and the coach, unsure what to do or what to say. She frowned.

Poor boy....

Soon, the coach's voice overpowered Elijah's and whatever he said shut Elijah right up because he stopped arguing and grumpily puts his helmet back on. Everyone got back into position, and she watched as on if the guys called out the plays, threw the ball back to Jackson, who caught it effortlessly. But before he could pass it, Elijah barreled down the field towards him and rammed into him, harshly knocking him into the ground. Aaliyah gasped and stood up, as everyone else also crowded around Jackson, who wasn't getting up. A couple of teammates had to help him up, walking him off the field.

The coach blew his whistle and declared practice over. Just as Elijah headed over to the locker room, the coach held him back by the shoulder and said something that he must've disliked, because he angrily chucked his helmet against the grass and stormed off.

Aaliyah sighed, knowing she was in for a hell of an afternoon as she got up and picked her bag off the ground, heading down the bleachers to wait for Elijah to change so he could give her a ride.

"Aaliyah, hey!" Jackson smiled brightly as he got out of the locker room, no longer wearing pads and a practice jersey but instead wore gym shorts and a tight fitting shirt like the rest of the guys coming out of the gym. She couldn't help but stare at his impressive physique but quickly covered it up with a smile.

She noticed him limping a bit and her lips fell to a frown. "Are you okay? I️ saw you get sacked like, super hard," She cringed.

Jackson simply waved her off, walking over to a nearby wall to lean on. "I'll be fine. Nothing an," he winces once more before finishing off his sentence, "ice bath can't fix." He then looked down at her and asked, "what are your plans for this afternoon?" He asked her.

"Elijah's taking me home and then I️ gotta get started on some homework," she tells him.

"Aaliyah!" She heard her boyfriend call from behind her.

"Speak of the Devil," she whispers, making him smile a bit. "I'll see you later?"

"For sure," he nods, as she turns away and hurries over to her boyfriend. He takes his time walking to his car, making sure to go slowly so he doesn't mess anything else up. Their next game was Friday and he was really eager to play so he had to make sure he takes good care of himself. But before he could get in, he heard loud yelling coming from across the parking lot. He looked up to see Elijah, going off on Aaliyah. And Aaliyah yelling back, seemingly trying to defend herself.

"Get your own ride home then, cause I ain't putting up with this!" Elijah yelled once more before getting into the car and furiously driving off, Aaliyah banging and kicking on the door for good measure. She then lets out a loud frustrated noise before pulling out her phone and storming off to the sidewalk to make a call.

Jackson looked between his door handle and her, thinking deeply. He knew better than to offer a ride to the girlfriend of the violent quarterback he had just replaced, but also, if his father were here, he'd scold him for not offering the helpless damsel a ride home. So, manners over mind, he walked back over towards her. The closer he got, the more he could see that she was crying. "Hey," he called out softly, making her look up at him.

"Oh, Jack hey. I'm sorry," she quickly wiped her tears off her face, embarrassed. "You saw that, didn't you?" She frowned at him.

"Unfortunately," he replied. "You-"

"No, I️ don't want to talk about it," she snapped.

Jackson put his hands up in defense. "Woah, okay," he laughs gently, "I️ was just gonna ask if you wanted a ride home," he offered. "And maybe, there's a bit of ice cream involved too," he grinned.

Aaliyah shook her head "no". "That's nice Jack, thank you. But I️ already called an Uber, I'll be fine," she rejected.

Jackson's smile turned into a disappointed frown. "Oh, well alright then. Have a good night Grace," he waved off, making her scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion.

"Grace?" She questioned.

Jackson stopped once he realized his mistake. "Aaliyah," he corrected. "Sorry, I️ must be really tired," he excused, "I️ don't know anyone named Grace," he said to himself.

Oddly, Aaliyah didn't feel mad that he called her the wrong name by mistake. Something in her actually resonated with him calling her that, and it weirded her out. She watched as he walked off and got into his car. And before she knew it, she ran off after him, knocking on the passenger seat window to let him know she was there. "Actually, I️ know a great place at the mall," she tells him, making him smile.

"Get in," he says, unlocking the door.

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"Don't be a creep. Don't be a creep. Don't be a creep."

Jackson repeated these words in his head as he watched her drink a milkshake. She stopped to dip a finger in the whipped cream, only to lick it off, and those simply actions in themselves had Jackson wanting to-

"....gonna finish that?"

Jackson blinked a couple times, turning his attention over to her. "I'm sorry?" He asked.

"I️ said, are you gonna finish that? It looks like it's starting to melt," Aaliyah frowned. Jackson looked down and realized that indeed his ice cream was melting. He started to quickly lick it before it could start dripping and crest a sticky mess on the table.

Maybe ice cream wasn't such a good first (not a) date.

"So...Aaliyah," Jackson his turned his attention on her. "Can you sing like her too?" He asked, making her playfully roll her eyes.

"Oh god no," she laughs. "I️ sound like a dying cat. My mother just really liked her back in the day," she told him. "Plus the name was pretty to her."

"Can't argue with that," he says. There mall awkward pause between their conversation before she continued.

"Yeah..." she trailed over. She then turned the attention on him now. "What about you, mysterious new kid?"

"What about me?" He retorted.

"I've heard things about you," she leans in, giggling a bit. "You don't talk much, you're always alone, etcetera etcetera."

"I'm better off alone," he shrugs. "I️ guess you could say I️ was "popular"" he used air quotes, "at my last school." He explained. "And then..." he stopped as he remembered the events of his last school go quite vividly.

Last day of junior year and they wanted to end it with a bang.

Literally.

Jackson, including his friends Henry, Anthony and Jonathan, all thought it'd be a funny idea to throw a stink bomb into the...chemistry lab.

The sulfur and spark from the bomb ignited a fire that almost killed him, and mostly definitely killed Anthony. It was three long months of court, lawsuits, lawyers and 90 days of juvenile detention. But that wasn't the worst of it all.

Jonathan and Henry has lied against him on the stand. Telling the judge and everyone else that it was his idea, (it was actually Jonathan's), and that Jackson had purposely left Anthony to die. And it didn't help Jackson that he was forced to plead guilty on charges of manslaughter and arson.

After his stint in juvie, his dad, decidedly having enough of him, kicked him out and sent him to his mother.

"Don't come back until you've grown up!" He yelled as he dropped him off at the airport. Not even a single gesture of affection. He just tossed his bags out of the car and hit the gas, leaving him in the dust.

So there he was, his trust in people broken and just wanting to finish his last year in high school in peace.

"I️ guess I️ just learned the hard way that people aren't always what they seemed to be," he tells her, making her frown.

"I️ -I️ know exactly what you mean," she agreed, pushing some of her hair behind her ear. "So then why talk to me?" Her curiosity got the best of her.

Jackson simply smiled. "Lately, I've gotten really good at seeing people for who they really are," he leaned into her. "But even a blind man can see that you're as sweet as this milkshake," he points at her drink, "and as real as can be."

Aaliyah tilted her head at him and beamed. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me," she honestly says. Her eyes then flicked up and looked behind him and widened in fear.

Before either could react, Jackson felt himself getting yanked up by his forearms and shoved against the wall in surprise. "This is...cute," Elijah says as Jackson struggles to get out of his grip. "You guys having a date? That's so nice," he mocked.

"Elijah, leave him alone-" Aaliyah stood up to defend him, but his two teammates he recognized as Travis and CJ, held her back to stop her from interfering. "Get off of me!" She screeched, trying to hardest to push them off of her.

"You shut up and stay out of it!" He pointed at her. He then turned his attention to Jackson now. Before he could say anything, he raised his fist up and punched him right in the jaw. Aaliyah covered her shocked expression with her hands. "It's bad enough you took my spot on the team, you tryna take my girl too?" He exclaimed, landing another punch.

"Stop it!"

Jackson was breathing heavily through the pain and could barely focus on Elijah's threats and Aaliyah's screams. Elijah then tossed him against a table, making Jackson fall to the ground, knocking all the air out of his lungs. Aaliyah gasped in horror as she watched him violently cough and struggle to get up.

Once he was satisfied with the damage he'd done, Elijah nodded towards the door. "Let's roll," he said, his friends walking out before him. Not only did Jackson's face hurt, he also had his sprained ankle on top of it, making it impossible for him to stand.

Everything hurts right now.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! Fuck that!" Aaliyah screamed at him.

"Stop causing a scene!" He hissed at her, making her scoff.

"You literally beat someone up in public!" She shoved him away from her. Not wanting to argue anymore, Elijah stepped forward and threw her over his shoulder, pissing her off even further. "Elijah, put me down!" She angrily shrills, pounding against his back. She looks up at Jackson once more and sees a couple of people rushing over to him, trying to help him up.

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