Girl Meets Jackson

Written by: probablyobsessingovergmw & lucayacowboy on Tumblr

Rated T for Graphic Depictions of Violence/Abuse and mentions of suicide

Prologue:

Jackson Hunt is a 10th grader at Abigail Adams High School. He's one of the most popular boys and a star baseball player who is also known for playing girls' hearts. Jackson had a string of girlfriends throughout his years, but little did he know, he would develop feelings for Riley Matthews. Riley was not the most popular girl in the school, and she was also a 9th grader when Jackson asked her out. All of her friends:Maya, Lucas, Farkle, Zay, and Smackle, had told her to be careful when it came to him. Riley, putting her trust in everyone as usual, didn't listen to them and began dating Jackson despite her friends' concern. No one else knew this, but Riley had also agreed to date Jackson because all her friends were in a relationship. She felt a lot of pressure to fit in, since it was high school. Lucas and Maya were a couple, as were Zay and Smackle. Farkle and her were the only ones not in a relationship. Everyone thought Riley and Jackson's relationship was going smoothly and that they were perfect for each other. Their relationship was perfect, up until a few months ago. Jackson had started to verbally abuse Riley when they were alone and Riley would cry herself to sleep at night. Jackson had crossed the line one day, so Riley broke up with him. This led Jackson to start plotting revenge…

Chapter 1: Riley's POV

*2 weeks later*

Ugh, I'm stuck working on a project with Jackson. I just broke up with him and now it's like fate has drawn us back together. I was not happy about this, but school is important so I have to deal with it for the next few days. I reluctantly invited Jackson over after school around 5 so that we can work on our project. My parents are out for the night and Auggie is at Ava's, which is making me nervous. When he arrived, I cautiously opened the door and invited him in. He gave me a dirty look as he threw his jacket down on the chair. I knew that seeing him alone again was going to be awkward, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I finally decided to break the silence and say something.

"Look, neither of us want to be here right now. We both hate that my father paired us up for this project, but we have to deal with it. You know how important getting good grades is to me. We need to forget our history, put aside our differences, and work together to do well on this."

"Maybe if your dad wasn't our teacher we wouldn't have to do this at all."

"There you go again. Blaming everything that doesn't go your way on me or the people I care about. What is it with that? Is it really always my fault? It's like I can't do anything right in your eyes, Jax."

"You haven't called me Jax since you broke up with me."

"Jackson, sorry. So it is all my fault. I'm the one to blame for all of this?"

"Well it sure wasn't my fault, Riley. Maybe if you weren't so childish, we wouldn't be in this mess.

"Childish? Since when is that a bad thing?"

"Let's just say that you're lucky that a guy has ever had feelings for you. I mean I don't understand how any guy could love you to begin with. I don't know why I started having feelings for you. You're annoying, way too energetic, and yes, childish."

As I listen to Jackson insult me, I feel a few tears trickle down my face and onto my shirt.

"Jackson, how could you say those things?"

"Are you really crying right now? Make that babyish. You're a baby, Riley! I can't believe I actually dated you. I regret ever looking at you. You're not even that pretty and your style is similar to a 9 year olds."

I am now sobbing and trying to catch my breath.

"JACKSON, STOP!"

"DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU'RE WORTHLESS. YOUR FRIENDS ARE ONLY YOUR FRIENDS BECAUSE THEY PITY YOU. YOUR PARENTS ARE EMBARRASSED THAT YOU ARE THEIR DAUGHTER. NO ONE LOVES YOU, RILEY. YOU'RE NOTHING!

I was bawling by now. Even my middle school bully didn't hurt me as much as Jackson had in the past 7 minutes.

"OUT. GET OUT. GET OUT RIGHT NOW. GET OUT GET OUT."

I swung the door open and Jackson scoffed. He came up to me at the door and slapped me across the face.

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL YOUR STUPID LITTLE FRIENDS I DID THAT OR SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS CONVERSATION. IF YOU DO, I'LL COME BACK AND YOU'LL GET MORE THAN A SLAP NEXT TIME."

He stomped out the door and I closed it. I slowly let myself fall to the ground in tears. I sat there for a solid half hour just bawling my eyes out and holding my cheek. My shirt was stained wet and my eyeliner and mascara were running down my face, but I didn't care. I couldn't believe what just happened.

"He hit me. He actually hit me." I thought aloud.

I knew that my parents would be home from their date soon. I also knew that they couldn't know about any of this. I finally got the strength to stand up and walk upstairs to my bedroom. I sat in the bay window and thought about everything that had just happened. After about 3 minutes of processing, I realized how tired I was, so I flopped onto my bed and cried myself to sleep.