First off, I'm not trying to offend or stereotype. This is just a one-shot, and it not based off anyone. I am NOT saying all popular people are like this (bitches/backstabbers), just a few (or at least, the ones in my school anyway). This is obviously AU. Enjoy (:
Summary: With him, Lilly didn't have to pretend. JacksonLilly. AU.
Pairing: Jackson/Lilly
Dedication: Kelly for helping me so much with this (:
The word popular can mean lot of things. It can mean that you're pretty, or stupid, or fake. It could mean that you're able to gossip, or pretend that everything is okay. It means that you have to claim that you don't care (when secretly you do).
Lilly Truscott wasn't stupid. She knew that her fellow 'populars' bitched about her behind her back, she knew they laughed at her clothes, and she knew they spread the rumours about her getting pregnant (they weren't true, in case you were wondering). They weren't her friends. They were her enemies. Yet still she hung around with them, went shopping with them and gossiped with them.
Lilly Truscott was a hypocrite, a bitch, a liar, a cheater – but most of all she was popular. And she hated every minute of it.
She didn't want to be known around Malibu as 'the bitchy one'. She didn't want to be mean. She didn't want to do an over exaggerated hair flip as she walked down the hallway. She didn't want people to fear her. Yet if she backed out of her position on the social pyramid it would just get worse.
But with Jackson, it was different. With Jackson, Lilly could be herself – the old Lilly who laughed and smiled, and didn't hate everyone, the Lilly who liked to skateboard and hated manicures, the Lilly who ran a brush through her hair barely twice before heading out.
She met Jackson on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. He bumped into her as she was walking home (she was sheltering under her umbrella and he'd got himself tangled in it). Maybe the rain had changed her into her old self, because instead of snapping at him she laughed, helping him untangle himself. He gave her a confused look but accepted her help.
"Hey, I'm Lilly." She introduced herself.
"I know." He replied, rather coldly.
She didn't reply with a "got a problem?" or even a "get lost, loser." Instead she winced, letting him continue speaking.
"You've given my younger sister hell for the past three years."
Guilt washed over her and his expression softened.
"I'm sorry." She said, offering half of the umbrella, which he gratefully accepted.
"I know you are, but still, sorry doesn't cure everything."
"You don't know how much I just want to break out of that clique."
If you asked Lilly why she was confessing to Jackson (wasn't his younger sister Millie? Molly?), she wouldn't be able to answer straight. Maybe he'd just bumped into her at a weak moment, or she'd been wanting to confess for such a long time and he'd caught her just as she was about to burst. Whatever the reason, she did confess, and Jackson saw a side to Lilly nobody had ever seen before. A side he liked, rather then hated.
"Where are you walking to?" He asked her when she finished confessing, and, to Lilly, this was a way of showing that he'd keep her secret. Gratitude showed on her face as she answered.
"I live on the same street as you, want to walk with me?"
Jackson accepted her offer and they walked (for the majority of the time in silence), and although nothing had physically changed something had altered in Lilly that day.
Jackson had a proper conversation with Lilly about two weeks from their first meeting. It was the same place, though this time it wasn't raining. As they walked home they played twenty questions, and Jackson learned that Lilly was an only child, her favourite colour was green and she had never watched Titanic. Lilly learned that Jackson had talked with Hannah Montana (she didn't believe him until he showed her the picture), could play the guitar and his favourite colour was red.
They became friends the next day, and walking home together became a regular thing. They talked some more - mainly about Lilly and how her popularity came about. Lilly discovered that she didn't have to pretend to be something she wasn't, and although she wasn't ready to do anything about abandoning her popularity, Jackson told her he'd be there when she was, and this gave Lilly a much needed confidence boast.
Jackson told her his plan exactly two months after their first meeting on that rainy Tuesday. Lilly didn't agree at first – she was too cautious. Jackson knew this, but he persuaded her. By the time Lilly got home she was already having second thoughts, but she'd promised, and the new and improved Lilly didn't break her promises (although the only person that knew the 'new and improved Lilly' was Jackson).
They became best friends the day before the plan commenced. Lilly had never had a best friend before, but Jackson was the one person in her life she trusted, and ever since that rainy Tuesday he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
The plan was put into action after a week of planning on Jackson's part, and a week of worrying on Lilly's. It was a Wednesday, in the cafeteria. Jackson sat on a nearby table to Lilly's, encouraging her with a smile. Slowly (and shaking slightly) she turned the topic around.
"I'm going to sit with Jackson next lunch." She said softly, half hoping the other girls surrounding the table wouldn't hear.
"You what?" Jodie, the 'leader', turned to Lilly, her eyes cold and menacing. Lilly almost backed down, but she could feel Jackson's eyes on her, so she continued. She'd promised, after all.
"I'm going to sit with Jackson Stewart and his friends next lunch, and the lunch after that, and I'm not going to hang around with you anymore." Lilly explained; her eyes on the table. This was much harder then Jackson had said it would be.
"You're joking, right?"
"No. I'm not joking. And I want you to leave me alone."
Lilly stood up, close to tears as she ran away, leaving her uneaten food on the table. She knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but she was willing to take the risk.
Lilly realised she was crushing on Jackson the day after the plan had taken place. Abigail, one of the populars who hated Lilly (even more) ever since, had come up to her when Lilly was getting books out of her locker. Lilly remembered the words ever since.
"You're going to regret that, Truscott."
Lilly had turned, her expression cold.
"Regret what, Abigail?"
"Your stupid little confession, that's what."
Lilly was about to walk away when another voice spoke up.
"She's not going to regret anything, Abigail."
Of course, Jackson had stood up for her, like he'd promised. And at this exact moment in her life, Lilly fell for Jackson Stewart.
They had their first kiss a month after Lilly's popularity had ended. They had been walking home, and Lilly had told him about her feelings. She had been debating on it for a long time, but in the end she'd confessed. Jackson had turned to her with a small grin.
"If you keep confessing your feelings you're going to get into trouble some day." He said with a laugh before kissing her on the lips.
They got married ten years later. Lilly was twenty-six and Jackson was twenty-eight.
Although neither of them mentioned it, they were both thinking the same thing.
They got married on a rainy Tuesday.
So, thoughts? I'm not to sure about the ending but I really wanted to post this today. (:
