"What's the problem around here?" Jackson asked everyone as the sun departed, leaving little light on them. Daley, Taylor, Melissa, Eric, and Nathan sat before him.
"You should know what's going on, Jackson," Taylor told him.
"But the rest of us have almost no idea." Daley spoke, "Would you mind telling us Jackson?"
"Yeah, Jackson. Tell them." Taylor seemed to be pleased with being able to corner him this way.
"I guess I have no choice but to tell them, and explain what was going on. Here goes." Jackson sighed, "Alright, so what happened was I was with Melissa last night and I don't know why but I felt that I had to kiss her. It was really strange, and I did kiss her, but it obviously wasn't the best thing to do when I didn't know how I felt about her. And then today…Taylor was just right there, and I was frustrated, and I just had to let my feelings out somehow…And I was just taken over again and I kissed Taylor. But, longer. And it was more…aggressive, I guess…" Jackson looked down as he spoke his last words. He still felt terrible.
"So, why's Melissa crying exactly? It can't be because you kissed her." Nathan asked Jackson.
"I can't tell you that. I don't know." Jackson spoke quietly. Everyone turned to Melissa.
"I saw you kiss Taylor." She spoke very softly.
"What was that?" Jackson asked her with sincerity.
Suddenly, Melissa stood, and an angry expression was seen clearly through her tears, "I SAW YOU KISS TAYLOR!"
"Melissa…" Jackson fell at a loss for words, "I'm sorry. I don't know exactly what's going on with me, but it was just that…It was so easy to get to Taylor, and I needed that escape. You have no idea how I've been feeling lately, and it just seemed to be a good way out and…" He looked up at her, right in the eye "But it's still no excuse. I did something horrible. And I'm sorry."
Melissa's frown faded, and she sat again. No more tears, but Jackson knew how much he had lost. Melissa was still there for him, but she couldn't fully trust him until this ordeal wore off.
"I'm glad that's all over. Maybe after a good night's sleep most of this will blow over." Jackson sighed once again and was about to tell everyone that was all when Taylor spoke in an outburst.
"So, that's it?" Taylor asked him, "You're just going to pick Melissa, after what you put me through?"
"I thought too soon." Jackson crossed his arms and looked at Taylor, "I thought I told you. I'm sorry for what happened, but you weren't someone I had feelings for. Not true feelings, anyway. I know that now, and I honestly feel bad for what I did to you, but what do you want me to do now?"
"Well, you have to do something!"
As Taylor and Jackson exchanged, Daley was becoming angry. She was tired of Taylor's ignorance, and wished that she would stop.
"Like what? What can I possibly do?"
The fuse on Daley's temper became shorter.
"I don't know, something!"
Shorter.
"Like what?" Jackson was also becoming frustrated.
"Just tell me why you did it."
Shorter.
"I already told you!"
"Just tell me again."
Boom.
"It's because he heard that you're a slut." Daley cut in, her voiced raised without predecessor.
Taylor, with a slightly shocked look on her face kicked into the dirt aiming for Daley, but instead hit Melissa. Nathan then began to yell at Taylor about the dirt and Melissa was screaming that it was really okay, that it was an accident, but Nathan spoke otherwise while Daley was still harassing Taylor about how she caused the entire problem. It was complete chaos.
"Hey!" Someone shouted, and everyone turned in one direction. Eric stood there, a stern look on his face, "Daley, that was completely uncalled for."
"Like you're one to talk." Daley responded.
"You're absolutely right." Eric approached Jackson, "You're the leader here. You may have caused a problem, but we can fix it. You have to make sure that we can address problems in the right way. Even if it's something you caused."
Jackson sighed as Eric walked away from the site.
"Look," Jackson looked up at the remaining people, "I think that today's been a long day, and we can't concentrate on this problem right now. Everyone relax, get some sleep, and we'll worry about this later. Okay?" He gave no time for response, "Meeting adjourned."
"Damn it all…"
- - - - -
Hey everyone, how's it going? I know, it's been a while. Buuut..I think it's going fairly well. By the way, oftentimes when I write I tend to contradict things that I stated in earlier chapters. If I ever do that, tell me and I'll revise the chapter. Thanks everyone.
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