Episode 3 - The obsession begins
1140 Words
I climb into Gran's Ford F-150. This vehicle has seen us through many states and many years. Gran is looking at me expectantly. She hesitates as I am clearly flustered.
"Can we go, please Gran?" - it's as if I am worried someone is going to come running after me! Ridiculous, calm down, you i***t.
We drive off and Gran asks me what's going on. "Did you have a bad day?", she adds, concerned.
"I actually had a pretty good day, Gran. I know you wouldn't think so right now" I laugh, trying to ease the tension, my tension, a little. "I just... I don't know. It was kind of weird and I don't really know how to explain it."
For some reason, this seemed to be quite logical to my Gran as she didn't push further and seemed comfortable with my non-explanation.
"Did you meet any cute guys?"
I roll my eyes. "So first off... What is with this place?! There are almost ONLY cute guys and gorgeous girls??? And next... I don't want to talk about it!" We both laugh.
Back at our sweet cottage, I want to chill outside for a while. I need fresh air to fill my lungs and the feel of the earth to ground myself. I lie down and begin to calm down. I congratulate myself jokingly at finally retrieving my senses and then there it is.
I actually can smell Jackson again. Very faintly. Weird. I didn't rub up against him today, did I? Or did I? I was pretty smitten... Wait, maybe I still have his scent on me where our hands touched. I held my hand to my nose and sniffed. Nope. But the memory of that feeling came back. And his eyes... Boring a hole in my soul.
Right, I'm going to have a shower straight away. If his glorious fragrance is on me somewhere, it is preventing me from thinking clearly.
"Having another shower, deary?"
"Yes, I'm in a kind of funk. I need a clear head to go through all the information we were given today."
The shower did me good! I just stood there under the hot water, with mist rising around me. Slowly, I started washing my hair, then scrubbing my skin. My mind went back to wanting to look my very best tomorrow. To Jackson... Of course. To Rosie, ugh. I tried to interpret his body language with her. He moved away from her touch, he didn't seem to pay her attention. She called him honey and stuck to him but they didn't actually make out or anything. This made me feel happier, more confident, and more excited about the next day. I wasn't so intent on being invisible now, I moved to the wardrobe to choose an outfit that wasn't overtly flaunting my body yet was less 'don't-look-at-me' than usual. I went for my favourite skinny jeans, which make my ass look mighty fine and a blue tank top which wasn't exactly revealing but hugged my shape nicely. I have to wear my trainers though otherwise, I'll just be uncomfortable. I almost felt like I had a personal vendetta with Rosie the cheerleader for putting her hands on what is mine. Yikes, am I going to end up in some asylum for having thoughts like this? Soooo out of character. I guess the teenager hormones have finally hit me. Haha. Oh god. Help.
I spend more time than I would usually, brushing and styling my hair. And I choose some light jewelry for the next day, something I would never usually wear: short gold chain earrings with yellow feathers and a gold locket that I have as a reminder of my parents. The gold chain is dainty and the locket is in the shape of a wolf howling. On the inside is a photo of me as a baby in my mother's arms. It makes me feel warm and loved.
Once all this is ready for the next morning, I skip downstairs and go to give my Gran all the information that she is patiently waiting for me to share.
"Hey Grannygrangran! Thanks for not pushing me to talk earlier on. I felt pretty weird when I came out of school earlier, in case that wasn't clear by my bright cheeks and terrified eyes!" We both laugh. We have a lot of fun together. "It's just that I have a major crush on this guy, since I walked into the school this morning. There are many gorgeous guys but this one... Ugh, he's just dreamy. I don't recognize myself, Gran. Anyway, we just brushed hands on the way out and I felt like I had an electric shock. And the way he was looking at me, I feel he felt it too. I just freaked out and kind of made a fool of myself running away. I think he has a girlfriend too", I add, miserably.
"Tell me all about him", says Gran. "And I shouldn't worry. If you 'think' he has a girlfriend, then that's not certain for now. And if you are both feeling a pull towards each other, you may be destined to be together! Now, what's his name?"
"Do you believe in that, Gran? Being destined? His name is Jackson, Jackson Grey..." I swoon again while my Gran seems to nod in approval. Does she like the name? I definitely do.
"He's tall, strong. He has the most gorgeous amber eyes. He is really kind and thoughtful and seemed genuinely interested in me. A real gentleman."
I think back to miss chief cheerleader's body against him. I have to stop going in circles with my thoughts! Maybe tomorrow will shed some light on this situation. I am excited.
Gran bustles around humming as if she is happy I have gone crazy. We laugh and joke and have a delicious salad with lots of yummy bits in.
I decide to go to bed early, hoping sleep will quickly take me so I can get to tomorrow as soon as possible.
Sleep does indeed sweep me into his comforting arms as I nod off thinking of Jackson's eyes. In my dreams, I wander down to our garden. The forest is dark all around and silent. Just within the first line of trees, I spot a large black wolf - ridiculously large - staring at me with amber eyes. I don't feel scared. The wolf sits at the border between the forest and my lawn and just looks at me. I wake up. I guess thinking of Jackson's beautiful eyes and picking up my wolf locket brought this weird dream on. It's 3am and I still intend to get at least 3 more hours of sleep. I turn over and bring the cover up snug, over my shoulder and doze off again.
- Writer
