AN:OMG. I am SO sorry. I uploaded this chapter to the wrong story! Clearly I am sleep deprived by my teething baby! Moving to the correct story. Sorry guys!
I've been sitting on this for a while because I wanted to write the rest of the afternoon as the same chapter, but I just need to get it out. Your reviews motivate me so maybe this will get the ball rolling. Enjoy!
Jax POV
It had been weeks since Adam and Tara had strolled onto campus hand in hand and I still couldn't find a way to get right with it. The ease with which they had settled into each other twisted something dark inside of me. Not that I could blame him; Tara was laidback in a way that made you feel comfortable laying all your cards on the table. It was a natural reflex to let you guard down when you found someone as empathetic as she, especially if you'd had a lot of heavy in your life. She was relatable, like talking with one of the guys… with the added bonus of being unintentionally gorgeous.
Fuck. I had to stop thinking about her.
But I was becoming increasingly aware that that was damn near impossible.
I'd tried damn near everything; bikes, booze, bitches, to no avail. I'd tried staying at the clubhouse for the distraction; tried losing myself in the inner workings of a cult classic model someone brought in from the junk yard; worked my way through half the girls on the JV and Varsity cheerleading squad until I realized I just kept picking up brunettes who looked like Tara.
I couldn't even find sanctuary with my friends because Adam and Tara were now a staple in our group setting. It was a double edged sword. Watching the two of them flirt made me nauseous. I had this nagging feeling in the back of my skull that things with Adam were going to end badly for Tara. It was more than simple jealousy, it was instinct. On the bright side, Tara and I were friendlier now that she seemed to be completely off limits to me and, though all I really had to do was say the word, I didn't want to be a dick and exclude them.
The bell rang and I moved to stand until Mrs. Schmidt cleared her throat.
"Mr. Teller. You were five minutes late, now you owe me five."
I shot her my most charming smile.
"Aw, come on, Mrs. Schmidt. You wouldn't want to make me late to my next class, would you?"
She smiled and clicked her tongue against her teeth.
"Mr. Teller, something tells me you weren't going to be on time anyway."
"Touche', Mrs. Schmidt. Touche'. That's why they keep you around, huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "Make yourself useful and straighten up the equipment on those lab stations over there," she instructed as she spun the dial on one of the lab table timers.
I shuffled around half-heartedly grouping beakers together and stacking microscope slides. I heard rubber soles squeaking across the tile but didn't pay any mind until the voice accompanying them spoke.
"Mrs. Schmidt?" her resonating voice questioned.
"Yes, you must be Ms. Knowles. I understand regular biology was too easy for you."
I spun around in time to see her cheeks flush pink as she dropped her eyes to her Vans and anxiously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Mrs. Thresher though it would be better if I challenged myself," she exaggerated the word as though it was the most ludicrous idea anyone had ever had.
"I see. Did Mrs. Whitman make you turn your textbook back in to her?"
"Yes maam. She said you would issue me another one."
Mrs. Schmidt clicked her teeth again.
"Of course she did. Well, unfortunately we are short on text books so you'll have to find another student to share with. We're all full up with lab partners as well so I'll have to place you in a group of three."
"Oh, that's fine. I'm sure I'll know at least one person I can share with."
"I can share mine with her, Mrs. Schmidt," I offered as Tara jumped at the sound of my voice.
"Jesus, Jax! I didn't notice you."
I smiled ruefully, "Yeah, I gathered."
"That's not-"
"It's cool, darling. I'm just helping Mrs. Schmidt with a few things."
"Ah, Mr. Teller – ever the gentleman. But won't you need your book to study yourself?" Mrs. Schmidt asked, though everyone in the room knew it was a silly question.
Tara laughed; half real laughter and half exasperation. "You don't have to do that, Jax. I'll find someone in the class."
"No point in all that, darling. I'll just pass you mine on the way out."
"But how am I supposed to get it back to you before you have to go to class."
I rolled my eyes. "It's not that big of a school, Tara."
"What about homework?" she asked and I smirked.
"What about it?"
Mrs. Schmidt cleared her throat. "Maybe Ms. Knowles will help motivate you to actually do yours for a change?"
Tara stared back at me long and hard and I could see the hamster wheels in her brain turning before she finally shrugged.
"Okay. That's cool. Thanks, Jax."
Mrs. Schmidt's timer went off and I realized the class was starting to fill up. I walked over to my desk, picked up my book and headed over to Tara who was still unsurely glued to Mrs. Schmidt's desk. I handed her the book and she smiled, a small smile but still enough to knock me off my feet. As it was, my face betrayed me and responded with entirely too large a smile in return.
"I'll get with you after school" she yelled over her shoulder as I walked into the hallway.
Something told me that this was quite possibly my best move yet.
XOXOXOX
Tara POV
I mindlessly twirled my hair as Mrs. Schmidt rambled on about mitochondria and cell structure. If this was what honors biology was about, I had a feeling it was going to be a long year. Not that I had particularly wanted to transfer to an accelerated class, but I had hoped it would be slightly less boring at least. But apparently, accelerated was just that – accelerating through the same old bullshit curriculum just at a faster pace.
I stared blankly at the bright white book cover, thankful that I hadn't had to share with someone in class. It was bad enough that my two lab partners were the most socially awkward guys I'd ever met. I had nothing against geeks, I could be a bit of a bookworm myself after all, but I couldn't even get them to make eye contact when they were talking to me. At least this way I didn't have to force conversation while staring at the pages together. I silently thanked God that Jax didn't give a shit about school and was willing to help me out.
It still seemed a strange coincidence that he had been there at that exact opportune time, but I definitely wasn't complaining. Things had been better lately. There wasn't the same tension between us that had infiltrated our interactions for so long. He knew I was with Adam now and he seemed to respect that. We could actually talk now and it was a nice change.
On the other hand, from where I was sitting, Jax didn't seem to be doing so hot. I couldn't quite pinpoint the root cause, but he seemed to be on shaky ground lately. Don't get me wrong. None of us were saints or anything, but his inebriations took on a sadder tone these days. We all had our pitfalls on our little island of misfit toys; we all cycled through the highs and lows. But Jax seemed to be at a low right now, and it made me sad. I knew he didn't really have anyone who understood. Everyone thought he was this MC Prince who had everything he wanted and no excuse to be so sad. But I saw how John's lingering absences bothered him; how Gemma's anxious fawning drained him. I tried to get him to talk to me about it one day when we'd had a moment to ourselves, but he just smiled through pursed lips, gave me a playful shoulder bump and said "I'm fine, Knowles. You worry too much."
I guess I couldn't expect him to open up, even now. He was never one to show much vulnerability to begin with and, though we'd come a long way the last few months, we'd never be the way we'd been before. After all, how could we be?
The final bell rang, snapping me from my musings and I shoved Jax' text book in my bag and headed for the door. Adam was already waiting for me.
I reached for his hand as he leaned down and gave me a small peck.
"How do you do that?" I asked.
He looked perplexed. "Do what?"
"Like apparate from thin air? Don't you have class across campus?"
Adam shrugged. "I do what I want," he smiled and squeezed my hand.
I felt someone bump into me and turned to see Ryan smirking down at me as he reached to shake hands with Adam.
"What are you two love birds up to today?"
"Ah, you know. Same shit, different day. I'm gonna drop Tara at her house and then I gotta head into work.
"Sucks, man. When's your next day off?" Ryan asked and I cringed at the question as Adam's grip on my hand tightened a little.
"I don't know man. Ma's been needing a little extra help lately so I've been trying to pick up a few shifts here and there."
"Say no more, man. I got you. Shitty man, but you gotta do what you gotta do."
Adam nodded in assent.
"Who's gotta do what now?" Opie asked, joining us as we walked through the parking lot.
"Adam's gotta work this afternoon," I piped up, hoping to keep the full explanation at bay.
"Again? Damn, I figured most of the jocks would be too busy with football season to be hitting the cages," Opie said.
Adam tiredly ran his hand over his face, down his beard. "Yeah, you know. The little kids have fall ball and all that shit and I've been doing a lot of maintenance on the machines. Trying to keep up the grounds and shit."
"We should go by there," Ryan proposed. "I can't remember the last time I swung a bat."
"Who are we swinging bats at now?" Jax asked as we approached and Frankie laughed.
"Naw man, I was talking about going out to the cages and swinging a few. We haven't done that shit since we were kids," Ryan explained.
A flatness fell across Jax' face but he quickly recovered. My heart broke a little as a memory of Jax feeding quarters into the pitching machines for a tiny Tommy dressed in baggy baseball pants flashed across my mind.
"Yeah, it's been awhile. We should do that one day," Jax agreed.
"Shit, why not today?" Ryan asked.
"Today?" Opie asked skeptically, clearly not as excited about the idea.
"Yeah, today, fucker. What else do we have to do?" Ryan reasoned.
Opie frowned but shrugged.
"That cool with you, Woodley?"
Adam rubbed the back of his head. I could tell he was tired. The hours and his mom had been draining on him.
"Yeah, that's cool. I'm gonna drop T off and then head over there. Gimme 30?"
"Why do you need to drop her off? Rocky, you should come too," Opie suggested.
"Ohhhhh, I don't know. I don't really get down on baseball."
"And I do?" Opie raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you can keep me company while these assholes make fools out of themselves."
I looked at Adam, not sure how he felt about me just showing up at his work like that.
He swung our joined hands and smiled. "Yeah, you should come. You'll brighten up the place a little."
I felt my chest expand with giddiness. Sometimes Adam really made me feel like a silly little schoolgirl, in a good way.
"Alright, well we'll just meet you guys there then," Adam said.
"We're gonna have to make a pitstop first. Can't expect me to sit through that shit sober," Opie responded begrudgingly.
Adam laughed. "Whatever you gotta do, man."
"Rocky, you wanna ride with us and we'll take you up there with us?"
"Um…I.." Of course I wanted to go smoke with them, but I didn't want to bail on Adam.
Adam squeezed my hand and gave me a gentle nudge. "Go, you damn stoner. I'll see you in a little bit."
"You sure?" I asked, snaking an arm around his waist.
He wrapped his arm around in a side hug, pulling me to him and almost lifted me off the ground.
"Yes, I'm sure. Go. You're gonna need a good buzz to sit and watch these guys biff it on the machines," he laughed.
I smiled and stood on my tip toes to give him a kiss.
"Alright, we'll see you in a bit then," I told him before turning toward the motley crew of boys behind me.
"SHOTGUN!" I yelled triumphantly as I ran to the passenger side door.
"Fucking Rocky!" laughed Ryan and the other guys rolled their eyes.
The guys lumbered over to the truck as Adam turned to walk to his car.
I saw a subtle exchange of words between Opie and Jax and then Opie pushed him toward the cab of the truck. I shot Opie a 'what the fuck?' look but he feigned innocent. Clearly he still couldn't get on board with the fact that the Tara and Jax ship had sailed and sunk. Jax smiled apologetically before opening the door and letting me climb in.
"You know, I thought I called shotgun, not bitch" I said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I'll let you argue with Opie next time," Jax retorted lightly.
Frankie looked at both of us and shook his head.
"What?" Jax and I asked at the same time.
Frankie just shook his head again and started the engine. "You guys are crazy. Every last damn one of you."