Chapter 4
BEFORE
September, Fourteen Years Ago
Iwas a nervous wreck the first day of high school.
I’d walked the path from the front door to my locker three times during freshman orientation, and probably practiced my locker combination close to fifty times so I would have it memorized, but I was still anxious.
There wasn’t a single person I knew besides Jackson Delvecchio, and we had only worked together four times.
Plus, we didn’t have any classes together, so I doubted I would even run into him.
After English, math, and chemistry, I had lunch. My stomach was a fluster of nerves over not knowing anyone, and I tried to get a view of the cafeteria as I went through the lunch line.
I looked at the person behind me to see if they noticed the lunch lady giving me my lunch for free after I read her my student ID number. They were on their phone scrolling through Twitter, totally oblivious. I had to stop being so paranoid.
My knees were practically knocking together as I looked around the lunch room, trying to find an empty seat.
Out the corner of my eye, I noticed someone waving their hand above their head, and I looked to see who it was attached to.
Jackson Delvecchio was motioning for me to sit next to him, and I cocked an eyebrow in surprise.
I even turned around to make sure no one was behind me.
When I turned back toward him, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Yes, Addison Bianchi, I’m waving at you! ”
I was sure my entire face flushed red. A few students turned to look in my direction, and I put my head down as I rushed over to Jackson’s table.
He had headphones in, and when I approached, he pulled both buds out of his ears and shoved them into his back pocket.
Something about it made my stomach flutter, that he stopped listening to music in order to give me his full attention.
“What’s up, Jackson?” I asked shyly. We had only been working together for two weeks; I wouldn’t even say we were friends, and I was surprised he was acknowledging me.
His eyes bounced from me to the open seat next to him. His eyes crinkled, and he let out a low chuckle. “Addie, you can sit.”
The heat returned to my cheeks as I set down my tray and crawled my legs over the bench. Jackson picked up the bag of apple slices from my tray, opening it and taking a slice as if we’d had lunch together a million times before.
“How’s your day going?” I asked as I grabbed an apple slice for myself.
“It’s good. This school is like, just a bunch of different squares. I accidentally walked in the same circle three times until I realized the numbers on the doors were the same every time. I was late to second hour,” he said.
I giggled, and we fell into an easy conversation about our classes. A few other kids joined our table and Jackson introduced me to each one, even though I knew I wouldn’t remember their names. All of them were wearing football jerseys, and I looked at Jackson, wondering if he was a jock, too.
“Do you play on the football team, too?” I asked Jackson.
Everyone at the table laughed, even Jackson.
“Nah, football was more my brother Sam’s thing.”
I nodded my head.
“Are you guys coming to the game after school?” one of the guys asked.
Jackson looked at me, acting the same way he had when he took one of my apple slices. “Do you want to go to the game?” he asked, as if we’d hung out plenty of times before.
“I guess so.”
Jackson turned back to the guys and they continued to talk about the game. I smiled to myself as I finished my lunch. He wanted to hang out with me.
***
After school, I met Jackson outside the fence to the football field, and we walked up the stands together.
“Did you get lost finding any of your other classes?” I asked as we leaned our backs against the bench behind us.
The sight of Jackson’s bare legs crossed on the bench in front of us made me realize I’d only seen him in work clothes before this.
My eyes traveled up his body from his khaki shorts to his gray shirt, which had a red pocket with an Aztec design.
“Nope, I finally figured it out.” He smiled at me and unzipped his backpack next to him. “Hey, do you have Cash for math, too?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I have her second hour.”
He pulled out a blue folder and pointed at a worksheet. “Did you have trouble with this?” It was the homework assignment from class today.
“Not really.” I shrugged one shoulder and he shoved the folder back in his backpack.
“I’m walking to the restaurant after the game; do you want to come with me? Jules is working tonight, and I’m craving pizza. Do you think you could help me with that homework, too?”
Jackson was so easy to be around, and it made my stomach flutter. “Yeah sure.”
“Sweet.” He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. “I know you don’t have a phone. Did you want to call your parents?”
This was the second time he had said “your parents” as if I had people at home who cared about my whereabouts.
I averted my eyes and pushed his phone away from me. “I don’t live with my parents; it’s just me and my brother,” I said, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
I acted like I was interested in the football warm ups, and when Jackson didn’t respond, I looked at him out of my peripheral vision.
“Did they, um . . . die?” Jackson asked quietly.
A laugh burst out of me, and Jackson looked horrified at my reaction.
“Oh my god, sorry, no, they didn’t die. It’s not that dramatic. My mom lives up in Traverse City with her boyfriend, and I’ve never met my dad,” I said quickly. I covered my mouth and turned toward the field.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” he said, finally. It wasn’t demeaning, the way he said it—more like he was confused and trying to understand. “So, you just live with an older brother?”
“Peter, yeah, he’s twenty-two.”
“Is he kind of like your dad?” Jackson asked.
Another laugh escaped me, because yeah, right. Peter was in no way, shape, or form like a father figure.
“No, he either yells at me like I’m a complete inconvenience in his life, or pretends like I don’t exist,” I said. I couldn’t believe I was admitting all of this to Jackson, but he was listening and asking questions like he actually gave a shit. It was nice, and so, so refreshing.
“Is he your only sibling?”
“That I know of,” I said lightheartedly. “We have the same mom but different dads.”
Jackson made a sound of confirmation, then stopped badgering me with questions.
“Sorry for being all invasive in your business,” he added.
“You weren’t, it’s not a big deal.” I gave him a smile to let him know it was all good, and he gave me a one-sided grin that made my stomach somersault.
The game started, and Jackson explained the rules so I could attempt to follow along. It started to get chilly by the third quarter, and I pulled my hoodie on, tucking up my legs and holding them to my chest.
“We don’t have to stay for the whole thing if you’re cold. Let’s head to the restaurant,” Jackson suggested.
We walked around to the front of the school so I could grab my bike, and I rode it slowly next to Jackson as he walked.
When we got to Delvecchios’ we sat at a corner booth, spreading out our notebooks while Julie served us pizza.
Our homework sheets quickly became fingerprinted with pizza grease, and at the end of the night, Julie brought us a few cannoli to snack on. I couldn’t take more than a bite, and Jackson ended up finishing them off for me.
We stayed after the restaurant closed, finishing up our homework while Julie blasted music through the speakers as she cleaned.
I didn’t even have to ask if they would be taking me home and putting my bike in the back of the truck. I already knew they wouldn’t let me ride it home by myself in the dark.
On the way home we listened to one of Julie’s Taylor Swift CDs, and as they belted out the lyrics to “You Belong With Me”, I mouthed the words, feeling a little bit more comfortable with showing my full self to them.
Jackson knew all my family issues now, and he still wanted to hang out with me.
I smiled the whole drive home as we sang, realizing that Jackson Delvecchio wasn’t just my coworker anymore—he was my friend now.
Maybe he would even become my best friend.