Completely Unexpected - 2. Chapter 2 - Modern Grunge

"No Jackson, I don't want to hear it!" I cried out, shivering on my side of the bench. He convinced me to come out to talk with him about what "went down" last year. I was tired of thinking about it, and I was tired of thinking of him. "I'm just, exhausted." I cried, tears sliding down my face.

"Nick." He reached out his hand, attempting to pat my back. "I'm sorry.."

"For what? What did you wrong?" I looked at him, expectantly. "I swear Jackson.. If you're just apologizing to apologize, I'm leaving right now. You know why I'm upset, don't you?" He stayed silent, looking down at the ground. He clenched his jaw and lowered his head even more, in shame. "You outed me. You were afraid that your 'friends' would call you gay, or say all these things about you. And then you.."

"Nick, you don't underst.."

"Don't understand what, Jackson? You didn't need to out me. You didn't need to take that part of me, and use it against me. You knew how I felt about my coming out. I wanted to do it slowly. I was planning on telling my friends.. my mom, on my own. You knew that.."

"You were never going to do it!" He yelled back. He was looking at me now, guilt flooding his eyes and bursting out, in tears. "I have scholarships and recruitment to think about! I have to think about how the entire school looks at me. I have to make sure that there's nothing in my way of getting into university." He stood up. "Look, I know that what I did was wrong, but after your dad passed away, you've been putting off your 'coming out' for the right moment, and that's never going to come if you keep pushing it back."

He stopped for a moment. You could hear the street lights flicker. "That wasn't your choice to make." I was standing now, too.

"Well.. The way I see it, I was doing you a favor.." I punched him in the face and held my throbbing fist to my chest.

"You fucking dick!"

"..I'm going to ask that you forgive me." I looked at him, almost wanting to laugh.

"You want me to what?" I was laughing now. That's fucking ridiculous.

"I want you to forgive me. Then, I'll leave you alone and we won't bug you again." He looked at the playground across the street and gestured for someone to come over. When I turned around, Danny, Harry and Eric all came out and started walking towards us. "Just say you forgive me."

"You're fucking nuts! What the fuck, Jackson!" I turned around, ready to run but he grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me back. "Stop!" I tried to get out of his grip, but couldn't. I went for another punch but missed and took a face full of his fist instead. I fell on the ground, but without thinking, got up and started running away from them.

"Hurry up and get him!" Jackson called out, and the three of them started chasing me.

I can't believe this is happening. I don't want to ever see him again.. I made it to my block, but they were catching up fast, I jumped into a big bush and hoped that they wouldn't notice.

"Where the fuck did he go? There's no way he got to his house.." Jackson thought out loud. The other guys had just caught up, barely catching their breath. "He might've taken the alley in between 6th and 7th.."

"Jackson?" Harry called.

"What?" They came closer to the bush I was in, so I covered my mouth, hoping they couldn't hear me breathing.

"What were you guys talking about? You looked like you were crying?" He questioned, confused with what was happening.

"I wasn't crying. I was just.. angrily sweating." He answered quickly.

"But, why?" They were in front of me now.

"Because he stole something from me and won't give it back!" He lied. "Hurry up. I think He went that way!" Jackson ordered. I waited a few moments until it looked like they had left. I stood up from the bush, realizing it was a rose bush, and painfully started walking home.

"Nick, what happened!?" Mom gasped, looking at me. I was covered in thorns and blood. As for my face, I had a bruised cheek and cut on my eyebrow. It looked a lot worse than I hurt, but I guess that's just the adrenaline.

"Nothing Mom... I uh, I fell.?"

---

"No! What even is this cruel, cruel world that we live in today!" Jared screamed out, stuffing chips into his face. I chuckled at him, stealing some chips for myself.

"Yeah.. And you're not going to say anything? I would've taken their asses to court already." Sienna flipped her hair back and sipped on her tea.

"But I hit him first, and the rest of them didn't even touch me. Besides, I don't care. Honestly, I just want to forget it happened." I sipped on my soda and looked across the cafeteria, searching for Jackson. "I almost feel bad."

"That dick doesn't deserve pity, after what he did to you! When I was quarterback, I would've pounded on anyone who acted like that." Jared slammed his fists onto the table, getting the attention of the surrounding tables for a second. "Sorry.."

"Look, I know that you two have a past or whatever, but you need to forget about that. He's not like the guy you met in preschool, girl. He's toxic now. He's manipulative and parasitic, and just plain fucking stupid." Sienna stopped eating, and looked across the room at Elliott and Amber. "She gets all the hot guys.."

"It's his second day, how did he already score her?!" Jared muttered.

"You mean, how did she score him?" I muttered in reply.

"Hey you guys!" Amber smiled warmly, arm linked onto Elliott's. "How's your Tuesday.. Oh Nick, what happened!?" Elliott let go of Amber's arm to set his food down across from me. He looked at my face, obviously concerned... but I didn't care.

"Nothing." I said, somewhat coldly.

I gave Elliott a half-hearted smile and listened to the conversation being had.

"Well, I hope you feel better soon... Ellie and I got dinner last night, and after some talking, we were wondering if we should invite more people to the party? I wanted it to be just us, but maybe we could have a few more people over? Make it a real party?" Amber excitedly, took her phone out and started listing possible guests. Ellie? Ellie??

I'm not mad at Elliott or anything... How could I be? We hardly even know each other. And he's straight god dammit! Doesn't make sense to be mad..

"So then maybe we should invite Jackson?" Amber asked, but I was still thinking to myself. "Nick?" This time, I looked up. Everyone was staring at me but I was so confused. "Should we invite Jackson?"

"Why would we? He isn't a friend to any of us," I shrugged, but then noticed Elliott looking at me kind of funny. "Did I miss something?"

"Well, remember how I told him and the other guys I was the new quarterback? The reason why I came to Rose Hill was for football. Coach Gibbs came to my hometown to recruit and told me the position was mine if I moved here. He made us both Co-Captains. I just want to make sure Jackson and them know I didn't come to cause drama." He smiled, hoping I'd change my mind.

"Um, sure. If no one has a problem with it, why not?"

"Okay, aweso.." Amber was interrupted by Sienna's voice.

"Amber, hold up. One more thing to take into consideration is Nick's safety. Jackson did that to him." Sienna ran out of tea, but sipped her cup anyways.

"Really?!" Elliott exclaimed. Amber and Elliott both looked like they felt bad, and went on to say that they wouldn't invite him. I stopped them.

"Guys, it's fine. Knowing them, they probably won't come. And you might not want to cause trouble Elliott, but that's all they're good at. Even if they do come, they won't touch me at a party." I smiled and looked up at them. "It's chill guys. I honestly don't care."

No one really said anything, but by the end of lunch, Jackson and the rest of the football team were all put on the guest list.

---

The week passed somewhat quickly. I hadn't seen any of the jocks since that stupid night, not counting Elliott I guess. Speaking of, he decided to make Amber his new "Rose-Buddy" for the week.. Whatever, right? I spent most of my time thinking about class and homework anyways, knowing that if I wanted to get into a good school, I'd have to work hard. That's not really anything I'm into though. If I could, I would just marry some rich guy and have him pay for everything, but it's a lot harder to do without an hourglass figure or boobs. Nonetheless, I want to go to college. Maybe I could do things then. I could be somebody. Find real love.

The last bell rang and I raced from my college algebra class to the parking lot, by the football field, to find Sienna. When I found her car, she wasn't there. "Must still be inside..." I looked at the school, then turned around to see the football team practicing. They usually only practice early mornings and an hour or two after school, so the jocks should be able to come by. I don't know if they will, but they're definitely able. I walked closer to the field and found Elliott standing in the front, leading warmups. He was number 48, tall, built and handsome. I never noticed it before, but he walked kind of funny too! I chuckled to myself, appreciating him. He stuck up for me his first day and seemed genuinely concerned when he found out that I was basically assaulted. You know what, I think I'm over him. It was just a silly crush anyways, right? He's a cool friend.

"Hey Sienna.." My phone rang, so I picked it up, as people do, "Yeah, I'm by the football field.. Okay, see you in a sec." I hung up and looked at him one more time, but this time he noticed, took off his helmet, and waved. His wavy hair was dripping in sweat, and when he smiled at me, I calmly smiled back and waved.

"Hey girl," Sienna came up behind me and hugged me. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" I smiled brightly, feeling heat rush to my cheeks.

---

When I got home, I found my mom happily watching her show on Netflix with Lucy asleep beside her.

"Hey Mom." I patted her head as I walked up behind the couch. "You working today?" She turned around and smiled.

"Nope. I'm no longer a waitress at that diner." She smiled and continued her show.

"... Care to explain?" I waited, confused by her nonchalant act. "Did you quit or something!?" I was starting to freak out.

"Well... You know how I've been working there, practically my whole life?"

"Yes?"

"And you know how Bubby just turned 81 and can't really do much anymore?"

"Yes..?"

"And you.."

"Mom!" I exclaimed! The suspense was killing me..

"Alright! Haha, if you must know.. I own the diner now!" We jumped and screamed, waking Lucy up. Oh my god! I was so excited! My mom had been working at that diner since she was 17, and now she owns it! Bubby was about 60 at the time, so she was still able to run it; But when you add thirty years to the mix, something's got to give I guess?

"Mom, I can't believe it oh my god!"

"I know! I thought she had a thing going on with the cook and was going to give it to her, but I guess that was just a rumor! I wasn't really expecting it either! She was impressed that I started my own business was able to keep up with both, so she made me co owner! Now I can spend my nights with my beautiful kids and just relax." She jumped back onto the couch and started to tickle Lucy.

"Go Mama!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs, throwing cereal all around.

"So what do you guys think about going down to the square and getting some ice cream? You wanna visit Ms. Abbie, Lucy?" She tickled her again. "What about you, Nicky?"

"I'm down, haha." I grabbed a hoodie and we left. It was only about 5:00 pm, so I had a few hours until the party started. Besides, Sienna doesn't really start getting ready until an hour before, and I haven't even asked if I could go yet...

When we got to Ms. Abbie's Ice Cream, we found a small old lady and her grandson, who seemed about my mom's age, sitting at the counter. Ms. Abbie was in a booth, wiping down the table with her small eyes barely open. She always looked sleepy, but she was definitely awake. Her entire body was covered in wrinkles, but she smiled widely as we all came in. Her dress was covered in flowers, and a daisy was in her hair. "Hola, hola Diana! How are you? Nicky, Lucy, come give Abuelita Abbie a hug, haha!" I held Lucy's hand as we walked over and gave the old woman a hug, taking in the smell of her perfume. It smelled like the rest of her shop: a strange mixture of sugar, lavender, and old age. It was nice.

"Hi Ms. Abbie!" Lucy hugged her, and laughed. "You have a pretty flower!" She pointed at the daisy, and Ms. Abbie laughed, pulling it off and placing it on the two-year old's head. She stopped wiping and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Nicky, how are you mijo? And your mama?" She looked up passed me, making sure my mom couldn't hear. "I'm sorry about your dad, mijo. Que triste."

"Thanks Ms. Abbie. We're alright. Honestly, I think the more we come here, the better my mom feels, haha." I winked at her, and we turned to my mom who was blushing at something that Mr. Flores had said.

"Ice cream's on the house for Diana's family, Abuela." He smiled at my mom, then started to serve Lucy ice cream.

"Oh Chris.." My mom blushed again, and Ms. Abbie and I chuckled.

We sat at a small table outside and ate our ice cream. I got a strawberry sundae with gummy worms and my mom and sister both got some sort of triple-chocolate fudge concoction.

"So, how are you Nick?" Mom questioned, keeping her eyes down at her dessert. "And I don't want a one word answer," she looked up at me, "I mean, how are you?"

I'd hate to admit it, but I really don't like talking about my feelings. When Dad died, I felt so scared alone. The only person I really ever talked to was Jackson, but even he wouldn't get more than a few words about it. Now that he isn't a part of my life, I don't talk to anyone. She knew that.

"I'm alright. I mean, I miss Dad, but it's okay. It's been two years since he... passed away." Lucy was playing with her ice cream, getting chocolate syrup all over her face. "As for other stuff..."

"Are you finally going to tell me what happened to your face? You left with Jackson and came back with bruises and cuts. You still have bruises on you, and I haven't called his mom because you told me not to worry. That's all I can do, Nicky." She had the most calm expression on her face, yet also held a strong sense of concern in her voice.

"I know Mom, I'm sorry. Really, you don't need to worry." I smiled, but she kept going.

"It's not because you're gay, is it?" She questioned with an angry inflection. "I swear to God Nick, if he's bullying you, I need to know. Now."

"He isn't bullying me because I'm gay. He isn't bullying me at all. We just got in a small fight. I'm fine, so please don't call his parents. We aren't talking anymore, so there's nothing to worry about. Really." Was I lying? I didn't feel like I was. A part of me felt like I deserved being teased.. and pushed and punched. He just needed to make sure his future was secure. I couldn't be mad at that..

"Nick... I'm your mother. I just.. I just need you to know that I love you and you can always talk to me." She smiled, eyes getting watery. She fluttered her eyes, blinking any tears she could've shed away, and grabbed onto, a now very sticky, Lucy. "Sorry for getting so weird and emotional, haha. I just.. I miss your dad, too. As long as you aren't getting bullied and you're safe..."

"I'm good."

"Good."

After seeing us get worked up, Lucy decided to ease tension by pulling her to the restroom so she could clean up. I stayed in my seat and enjoyed my time outside. It was 6:33 pm now, and the sun was almost setting. The square looked beautiful today, people walking down the street and talking with smiles on their faces. I looked over at the cafe across from Ms. Abbie's Ice Cream, to see a pair of familiar faces sitting with coffee in hand and smiles on their faces.

Elliott and Amber look kind of cute together, now that I think about it. They were laughing, sharing a muffin.. "Errands my ass! I thought he had stuff to do, but they're on a fucking date.." I muttered, trying my best to cut the last gummy worm in half. After a few more minutes of sitting alone, Mom and Lucy got back and we left the shop. "Bye Chris! Bye Ms. Abbie!"

"Bye you guys" Chris called out.

"Que Dios los bendiga!" Ms. Abbie waved goodbye and went on wiping the same spot on her table. When we got in the car, I made a face at my mom, begging without words.

"What do you want.."

"Well... I was wondering if I could go to a party at Amber's? Sienna and Jared are going and it'll be really small. Just close friends, a gathering of peers actually. I'm not even sure why I said party.." I wiggled my eyebrows, hoping to get a yes.

"Hmmm... How's Mrs. Carter?" She asked, knowing i hated that hag...

"Old and annoying."

"Some things never change, I guess. It's the second week of classes, so I'm sure you can't be failing anything this early... And you're such a neat-freak, you're room's always clean.. Hell, you keep the entire house together.. Do you have references?"

"How rude." I laughed.

"I'm just kidding! "She giggled, looking back at Lucy hoping she'd join in, but was disappointed to find her asleep. "Sienna's picking you up?"

"Yes ma'am!" I sang.

"You already told her you could go, didn't you?"

"Yes ma'am!" I sang, even louder.

"Well, alright. But don't get home too late, stay safe, and if Sienna gets caught speeding again, please don't give the officer my number." She whined, winking at me. I smiled and started daze out the window. I love her.

When we got home, I ran upstairs to shower, then into my room to search for the clothes I bought with Sienna earlier in the week. I had picked up a pair of black skinny jeans and a nice black and grey flannel shirt, with money I made working at Ms. Abbie's this summer. I put my ensemble on and was pleased with my appearance. "I think I've successfully hit 'modern grunge' on the nose, while also having a bit of an 'angsty emo' twinge, to top it all off. I combed my hair a few different ways, but decided that messy was the only way it looked good.

I pulled my phone out and called Sienna. It was about 9:45 pm, so she should be ready by now.

"Hey girl, you ready?" She gushed.

"Yeah, could you come by?" I walked downstairs and sat on the couch. "Were we supposed to pick up anything?"

"Nah, Amber and Elliott were supposed to pick up snacks and junk. Jared was in charge of bringing some fun, if you smell what I'm stepping in." I could practically hear her winking at me.

"That's gross, haha."

"Whatever, be outside in a few! I'm almost there." She laughed and hung up.

I went outside, only waiting a few minutes before Sienna pulled up. We drove for about half an hour before finally getting to Amber's house. It was only 10:30 yet the place seemed full of life. It looked like over half the junior class was here, and I didn't know whether I felt excited or nervous... I love my friends, but if a hundred people are in there, there's a good chance I actually might see Jackson... And I'm not even sure how I'd feel if I saw Amber and Elliott together.

I turned to Sienna and watched her apply a last minute lipstick touch up. She was beautiful while I was a total mess.

A/N: I'm scared, yet I know what's coming, ahh! Hope you liked this chapter!
-Frankie