Before Sunday

Seventeen

12:14 PM

The morning drags on endlessly. I spot Xavier at lunch, but some girl named Stephanie Locklan is hanging off of him and I can't be bothered to interrupt. Doesn't matter, he doesn't look up. Part of me feels as though I should take offense to this, but a bigger part of me is simply relieved for a few moments of solitude.

I buy a veggie tray with hummus, find a clear spot on campus green space and sit and for the first time that morning, I pull out my phone. Not surprising, there's a text from Jackson.

Sitting here alone. Thinking about postcolonial and how sexy it sounds when you say it.

My mouth curls around the carrot stick I'm eating which I finish before I hit reply.

I know all kinds of hot words like existentialism and concupiscent ;)

His reply is instant. You're a fucking tease, Angel. Concupiscent? Really? Skip the rest of the day. Come to me.

I laugh out loud, not caring that people are walking by, snickering to themselves.

My fingers fly across the keyboard. Negative. School.

Jackson. Better than school.

I bite down hard on my lower lip because a foolish smile is demanding to come out. Maybe so. School builds future.

Jackson IS future.

Duly noted.

Still no, huh? :(

Still no.

Damn. I tried.

A+ for effort

And now a teacher reference. She kills me.

See you after school, Jackson Sunday.

I'm counting the minutes, Angel. Maybe I'll get another tattoo.

Goodbye, Jax.

Don't ever say goodbye. It's see you later.

See you later, Jax.

See you later, Angel.

I pocket the phone and despite my best efforts not to turn into a total idiot, my cheeks are burning as they defy gravity and turn upward to the sky with the grin that has secured itself on my face.

I finish the carrots and hummus and pack up my bag, throwing a quick glance to where Xavier had been a few minutes before but it's empty. As the day drags on, I begin to feel ill, which is no surprise. Jackson was right. There's no way I can delay seeing him between classes and the library meeting with X. If I do, I have no doubt Xavier will not be in good company that evening. So I spend the rest of the day trying to avoid Madeline Mason like she's the plague and ignore the persistent knot in my belly, the spinning in my head and the hot flashes that are flushing my face. It gets so bad that I don't even go back to my dorm at the end of the day, instead heading straight to Jax's beach house.

He's sitting on the patio, feet stretched out in front of him on the wicker furniture. His head is back and he's got a set of earphones in his ears. His eyes must be closed beneath the sunglasses on his face because he doesn't even flinch when I come up the stairs. I tiptoe behind him, lean over and kiss him.

His arms instinctively reach up and behind him to where I'm standing as his the fingers of one hand grip my hair while the other removes his earbuds. "Hey Einstein."