Anxiety ate Aaliyah up as she slowly walked to school, trying to put on a brave face and pretend that everything was fine.

Everything was not fine.

She had to delete all social media, and blocked a majority of people's phone number off her phone over this weekend. She refused to talk to anybody. That included Carolina, Elijah and Jackson.

If it was up to Aaliyah, she wouldn't go to school for the rest of the year. But that wasn't possible because one, her mom would find out about what's going on. And two, she and Jackson have to present their projects today. And she knew if she wasn't there, they'd both fail.

And everyone knows grades are more important then your crumbling mental stability. Duh.

So as she walked into school, she did her best to put on a brave face and to remind herself that this won't even matter in two weeks.

By that time they'll find something or someone else to gawk at and they won't even remember her stupid video-

That was easier said than done.

As soon as she walked in, she caught people staring, whispering to each other in hushed tones as she walked by. She tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible while trying to make her way to homeroom. She sat down with a sigh and placed her head on her desk.

"Aaliyah!" Carolina rushes in and sits down next to her. "Dude, I've been trying for ext you all weekend! I️ was so worried-"

The bell rang and wordlessly, Aaliyah gets up and looks at Carolina once with tired eyes before passing her by and heading to her social studies class. She sits down in a desk and two minutes later, Jackson walks in and takes a seat next to her.

"Aaliyah," he speaks, "Are you-"

"Stop asking me if I'm okay!" She snaps, making a couple people look at her. Instead of backing off, Jackson just nods and sits down next to her as she holds her head in her hands. "Do you have the project?" She asked softly.

"Of course," he said. "How do you wanna present it?" He asked.

"We can take turns speaking," she tiredly waves him off before putting her head down again. Eventually she dozes off, ignoring everything Mr. Harkins was saying. She was so tired cause her thoughts were racing all night as she tried to sleep. In the end, she only got four hours of sleep.

She felt someone lightly tap her shoulder, and she instantly sat up. "I'm up!" She says, looking up to see Jackson with a worried expression on his face.

"Miss Hill," Mr. Harkins says, catching her attention, "is my class and your fellow students presentations getting in the way of your beauty rest?" He sarcastically asks, making everyone in class laugh and snicker.

Cheeks burning in embarrassment, she shook her head "no". "It's our turn to present," Jackson tells her. She sighs and gets up, stepping up to the electronic board as Jackson hands the flash drive of their work to the teacher to pull up on PowerPoint. Standing there, she felt exposed, which was ironic considering she literally got exposed. But she felt slightly better, now that Jackson was next to her.

"Hi...everyone," Aaliyah spoke first. "Um, this is me and Jackson's family tree," she points at the board at the family trees now being presented on the board.

Jackson looks up and sees Aaliyah pause for a moment. That's when he decide to take over. "The farthest I️ could trace my family tree was way back into the 1880's in Germany and England..."

Aaliyah could barely focus as she felt her mind starting to race again, and her breathing starting to get heavy as she looks out into her class and felt the weight of their stares and whispers and laughter. Oh my god they were laughing at her...

And before she knew it, she ran out the class room.

"Miss Hill! Miss Hill come back!"

She ran down the hall, and even walked out the school's front gates. She couldn't do it. She tried, she really did. But it was hard, pretending everything was okay when it wasn't.

Feeling the tears run down her face, she walked through the student parking lot, feeling numb. She's never felt more alone in her life.

Not paying attention to where she was going, she suddenly heard the sound of a car horn, just as she looked up. Frozen in fear, she screamed and right before anything could happen, she felt someone yank her back so hard, they both fell back. Aaliyah rolls off to the side of the road and look up to see Jackson lying on his back. "What-"

"Are you stupid?!" Jackson sits up and yells at her now, making her cringe. "Why would you walk out into the middle of the road Aaliyah?!" Jackson angrily exclaims.

"I️...I️ wasn't paying attention..."

"You could've died!" He scolded, the seriousness in his tone taking her aback.

"Why are you yelling?!" She screams back.

"Cause you scared me!" He yells back. "If I️ hadn't done something, you could've been hurt! Or worse!" He points at her, making her back down. "Don't you ever do something like that again!" He stressed.

He then gets up on his feet, leaving her on the ground. Aaliyah quickly gets up and rushes behind him. "Wait! Jack wait!" She calls out behind him. He turns around to face her, only to be tackled into a hug. "Please don't leave me," she begged, surprising him.

He slowly wrapped his arms around her, unsure of what to make of this. They were in a weird place right now. But she was also very vulnerable. He pulled away from her and looked down at her. "I thought you wanted to be alone?" He asked.

"I do but, I wanna be alone with you," she tells him truthfully, snuggling into his chest.

Jackson nods his head in understanding. "You wanna get out of here?" He asked. "I️ came out here because you forgot your backpack," he gestured to her backpack that was now lying on the ground. "But then I️ saw what you were doing and I️ dropped it and ran straight towards you-" he explained, before she cut him off.

"Yes," she tells him. "Yes, please."

Jackson lets out a low chuckle. "Looks like we're skipping school," he says, making her smile a bit. He holds his hand out for her to tale and walks her over to his car, opening the door for her.

* * * *

"Alright," Jackson said as soon as they passed the threshold to his room. "What's going on with you?" He asked.

Aaliyah scoffed and sat down in his bed as she watched him slightly undress. He kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned their school's uniform top, leaving it open to see the white tank top he wore under it. He then took off his belt, making Aaliyah quickly avert her eyes. "You couldn't wait until I️ ate first before digging into my problems?" She sassed as she reached into the McDonald's bag for the food he so graciously bought her.

Jackson sat down next to her, rolling his eyes. "You're avoiding the question. You ain't slick," he said as he reached into his bag for his food.

Aaliyah turned and crossed her legs, facing him. "You know what's going on with me," she tells him.

"I️ feel like it's deeper than that," Jackson tells her as he munches on a fry now. He then sits up and faces her, making intense eye contact. "Okay, right here, right now. We ask each other everything we've wanted to ask each other but couldn't. No judgements," he declared, making her eyes widen.

"Uh-"

"Are you and Elijah still together?" He asks.

Aaliyah looked away from him, thinking deeply. "I️ don't want to be with him," she tells him.

Jackson eyes her up and down. "But that's not what I️ asked."

"I️ don't know. I️ haven't talked to him all weekend," she tells him.

"You gotta be kidding-"

"You said no judgements!" Aaliyah snapped at him. "What about you and Carolina huh?"

"I️ don't like her," Jackson tells her, making her suck her teeth. "I'm serious."

"Then why do you two hang out so much?" She asks.

"We barely do," Jackson explains. "She likes me, not the other way around."

"Why not?" Aaliyah's curiosity now piqued. "Tons of guys have a crush on Carolina."

Jackson rolls her eyes. "Cause I️ like you, stupid."

"Still?" She looks at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Aaliyah, I wouldn't buy you food, skip school with you and risk getting and F in social studies if I️ didn't like you," Jackson said.

"I️ know I️ just," she swallows nervously, "I️ treated you like shit," she tells him. "I️ don't deserve anything you've done for me."

Jackson shrugged and sat back against the head board. "That might be true," he says smugly, making her throw a fry at his face. "But...you're here with me, aren't you?" He asked, making her nod. "That's all that matters in the end."

"Everything Elijah said that day in the parking lot wasn't true," she tells him now, getting closer. "I️ do like you. That date at the beach? It meant everything to me," she now spills, getting his attention. "I always think about you Jack, even when I️ don't want to," she admits. "And these past few months have been hell," she expresses, now in front of him. "I️ hated when you looked at me like you hated me. I️ hate what I️ told you that day at the library. The feeling remains the same, but you didn't deserve to hear that," she now spills. "And I️ don't know what the hell is going on between us looking like my grandparents but I️ want to let you know that I'm not scared of us. At least, not anymore."

Jackson looked caught off guard by her confessions. Just as Aaliyah was about to say more, he cuts her off by pulling her into him, their lips meeting in the middle.

And that. Kiss. Was. Everything.

Jackson pulls away from her and looks her in the eyes. "I️ think I️ love you," he whispers.

"I️ think I️ love you too," she whispers back.

______________________________

Anyways thoughts on the chapter???

Finally you bitc....beautiful young LADIES, can stop calling me EVIL.

This is how it goes 😂😂

Me: This plot is about them being torn apart and being brought back together basically every decade.

Y'all: oh cool!! Sounds like a nice story!! I️ love the concept!!

Me: *writes emotional break up scene *

*writes emotional death scene*

*writes emotional fight scenes*

*writes emotional scenes in general*

Y'all:

Also y'all: OH NO. ION LIKE DAT! STOP! STOPPPPP!

😂😂😂😂 it's all jokes over here! I️ love y'all's reaction and how invested in the story you guys are. It's as entertaining as writing the story itself. You have no idea how much your feedback realllyyyy means to me. Love y'all!!!