The touch that Mattie gave to Jaxson in the middle of class seemed to have burned through the skin of his hand, for he could still feel her fingertips even when she was gone.

He thought back to the other night when he invited those two women over to somehow fix his urge for Mattie. He cringed at the remembrance of their red lipstick smearing against his neck and jaw and cringed at the way that when he connected himself with them, it was passionless. And as though he knew it would be, he wanted that missing gap in his chest to be filled.

However that couldn't happen with two whores, it needed to be done with the girl that tangles her hand in his hair and whispers sweet nothings into his ear, something he's never had before and hopes to never need again. For even though she was enough for him, it would never really be enough.

Thunder roared through the sky as he laid in bed along with the nothingness of the darkness surrounding him. He was not afraid, nor was he worried as he stared at his closed curtains, knowing that Mattie was not far away at all.

He took comfort in knowing that she was just next door, and he hoped deep inside that she took comfort in knowing that he was nearby as well. And she was, for as the thunder bolted through the sky and she began to flinch, she stopped and stared at her own closed curtains, knowing Jaxson was close.

However, little did she know that he was sitting in the dark, watching. Watching for nothing really in particular, but continued anyhow as the different shades of darkness began to play tricks on his mind. That happened often to Jaxson, for he was in the dark for so long that it was finally beginning to creep into his brain.

Mattie envisioned his dark hair as another roar of thunder erupted from the starless sky. She began wondering what it looked like without the black dye, and tried to picture the same with his clothing.

Out of habit she bit the corners of her fingernails while remembering what his skin looked like without all of the black material clinging to it. She envisioned his body, the way it curved and had freckles here and there. The way goosebumps would arise on his skin as she dragged her nails down his back, and especially the way he made her feel with just one touch.

She loved it, and she swore she loved him until she remembered the woman's voice in the background from their phone call just days before. She couldn't shake from her head how it sounded. It was the way she said Jaxson's name, how it almost sounded like a moan coming from the lips of an out of breath pornstar.

Her breaths became heavier as her thoughts became more detailed. She began to think about his hands on another woman, giving her pleasure as he did with her just weeks before.

She realized that she had ended things with him and he wasn't cheating, however it was the fact that he seemed to get over her so quickly that caused her stomach to knot.

Mattie squeezed her eyes closed, hoping the storm would vanish soon along with her mourning for Jaxson.

_

The following morning was dreary and cloudy, showing signs of another storm soon. Mattie groaned at the sight of it out her window, and continued to get dressed in some skinny jeans with small tears on the knees and a maroon colored T-shirt.

She kept her hair down for once, letting the cocoa colored, un-straightened waves fall down her shoulders.

Jaxson loves when I keep my hair down, she thought, but quickly shook her head to rid her mind of him even if it didn't exactly work.

"Mattison!" Her mother called from just down the stairs, a swirl of excitement lacing in her voice.

Mattie looked at her sleep deprived eyes in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, cringing at the minty taste that she always hated as it danced on her tongue.

She hated the way she looked in the mornings. How the bags under her eyes always needed to be covered with concealer, how her eyes seemed so small from having them closed all night, and lastly how her body itself wasn't up to her own personal expectations.

It wasn't like most of the girls at school. It wasn't perfect and free of the almost transparent lines called stretch marks. She hated the name, and called them lightning bolts instead. Her mother taught her that back when she was happy with life, back when she thought of life as a gift instead of a punishment.

"Coming!" Mattie replied after rising the foul tasting toothpaste from her mouth.

She then applied a few swipes of mascara to her lashes before slipping on her favorite black Toms and going downstairs with her heavy backpack slung over her aching shoulder.

She took in the scent of cinnamon rolls and cream cheese frosting as she walked down the stairs, her legs aching from her ballet practices.

She had a recital in just two days time, however the excitement that she used to have for it was now buried somewhere deep in her chest, lost in the darkness where Jaxson already had taken over.

Her heart dropped even farther than it already was when she saw the same boy that her mother showed her just recently, Timothy. His hair was gelled back perfectly, too perfectly. There wasn't a single wrinkle in his khakis or red polo shirt, and she could easily imagine him being in a frat in college.

Does Jaxson want to go to college? She wondered.

"Good Morning Mattis- Mattie." He corrected himself with a dimpled smile following just afterward. She thought he was definitely easy on the eyes, but it was something about how perfect he was that made her want to be two feet away from him at all times.

He was the exact replica of what Mattie wanted in the beginning. However ever since Jaxson took over her mind and body, it changed her mind for what she thought was for the better.

He carved his name into her brain, skin, and mind. He did it with permanent ink, for each time she attempted to rub it off, it remained. It remained and mocked her each time she thought of him and how much he's affected her in such a little amount of time.

"Timothy offered to take you to school today!" Her mother beamed, a bit of icing from the cinnamon rolls on the corner of her lips.

"Oh, you go to West High?" She asked, a brow raised. She hasn't remembered seeing him around..

"I do. I'm uh-" he scratched the back of his head. "I'm in your last period, English, I guess you haven't seen me?"

She attempted to remember his face, however it was all a blur.

"We did those presentations," I hesitated, forcing the remembrance of Jaxson's poem out of her head. "I didn't see you present?"

"Oh yeah, I just forgot to do it." He laughed, and Mattie found herself laughing in reply, finally not having to force it.

He wasn't so "perfect" after all, she thought.

Mattie's mother watched them with a smile fighting on her lips, and continued even as they began to walk out of the house and to his car. It was silver and very chipped, not a Prius like she for some reason expected.

"I know this is weird and we just met, but your mom insisted." He held open the passenger side door for me, and I smiled warmly before stepping inside.

And as he sat in the drivers seat and started the ignition, he spoke again:

"With a pretty girl like you, I couldn't exactly say no." His dimples arose upon his cheeks that were slightly pink from the cold morning weather, and she finally began to see the kindness in his bright eyes that she hadn't noticed before.

She saw it, and felt warmth within herself as Jaxson felt the exact opposite whilst watching them from his window.

He felt heat, anger. Something that Jaxson hated feeling, for when he felt it there was no stopping it until what ever caused his anger was resolved.

____