Growing up, Jackson was a kid that wore his heart on his sleeve. He loved often and he loved deeply, putting his heart into every aspect of his life. He had many crushes over the years, but all of them remained just that. All of them... but one.

Her name was Julia Bidoon and she was one of the popular kids throughout her school years. She was a far cry away from being the queen bee, though. No, that title belonged to her older sister, Beth.

The first time these two met was in the winter of 2004 when Jackson was just ten years old. The middle school he would be attending that spring was holding an open house for its new students and their parents. Julia's parents were part of the PTA and Beth was the new student council president, so the Bidoon family were actively welcoming the new students.

It sounds cliché, but Jackson is sure that it was love at first sight - at least it was for him. None of his other crushes had ever caused such a stir in his belly or caused his heart to race so frantically. She treated him so kindly, too, spoke to him with such warmth. He was sure that she felt the same connection he did. Never in his life had he wanted to start school as badly as he did in that moment.

When the term finally started, however, she acted as if she had never seen him before. She wasn't overtly rude to his face, but that warmth she had show him before had been replaced by pure ice. He was confused as to why she had changed her tune so drastically.

Because she was a second year and he was a first year, their paths rarely crossed. He wanted to try and win her heart, but he just didn't get the opportunity to do so. It was mostly just gazing at her from afar between classes. It was frustrating to him. He decided, though, that was enough for now.

After two months, Jackson had gained a considerable amount of popularity due to his good looks, athletic physique, and his martial arts prowess. His grades were average, though, which opened up many chances for his fangirls to try and get close to him through offers of tutoring. He just wasn't interested.

Even queen bee Beth offered to tutor him. This one he agreed to simply because he wanted to get along with her because of Julia. Surely if he became close to her sister, she would finally give him the attention he craved... right?

Rumors began to spread like wildfire.

This delighted Beth who had developed a crush on the first year king.

This worried Jackson because he didn't want Julia to get the wrong idea.

Julia was annoyed by this solely because she hated her older sister with a passion, wanting to beat her no matter the game. So, when she learned that her sister had developed a crush on the boy who had been chasing her, she felt angry. Angry enough to formulate a plan that would destroy her sister's heart.

The problem is that it would destroy Jackson's, too, not that she cared. As long as she got her way, that's all that mattered.

━━━━━━༻Two Years Later༺━━━━━━

 Graduation was right around the corner and Jackson was feeling excited to finally be a third year. He also felt worried, though, because his girlfriend would be moving up to high school. He considered it to be the big leagues and he hated how he was being left behind.

High school also let out before the middle school did, making it impossible for him to wait for her. Even so, he felt secure with his relationship. After all, distance only makes the heart grow fonder.

Keith nudged him with a smile, leaning closer so that the teacher wouldn't hear. "Why are you grinning like a fool, hm?"

Jackson scoffed in reply, unable to hold back his grin. "I don't know what you're talking about, bro."

"Sure," he chuckled, returning his attention to the lesson. He could pretty much guess why his friend was in such high spirits and it made him feel happy to see Jackson that way. Still... there was an odd feeling of doom lingering in the back of his mind.

Keith did his best to ignore the feeling, but it just wouldn't go away.

━━━━━━༻Four Months Later༺━━━━━━

"Will you calm down?" Keith laughed, watching his friend with amusement.

Jackson was bouncing in place, going up on his tip toes before rocking back and forth on his heels. "I can't help it," he huffed in reply, not taking his eyes off the window of the bus. "It feels like it's been ages since I last saw Julia."

In truth, it had been nearly three weeks, though the pair had kept in contact via text and phone call. Since graduating middle school, Julia had been steadily distancing herself from him, but he was sure she was just busy. High schoolers were given more work, after all, plus she was a cheerleader.

As far as he was concerned, their relationship was as strong as ever. He loved her deeply and he was sure that they would be together forever.

Keith glanced at him and frowned. That same feeling of dread was still lingering in his gut. It hadn't gone away and, in fact, it had steadily been getting stronger as the days past. It clenched at his heart, occupying his every thought. His gut told him that visiting Julia at the high school was a bad idea, but how could he explain such a thing to Jackson?

Especially when he was so excited about the trip. No, he would keep those feelings to himself and hope it was nothing more than just that.

Jackson nearly tripped in his haste to exit the bus, earning weird looks from those passing by, but he wasn't bothered by it at all. He just wanted to get to the school as quickly as possible.

When they finally arrived, the final bell was just beginning to toll. He took a moment to run his hand through his hair, straightening his jacket and making sure he looked presentable.

He knew that Julia would be heading to the football field for cheer practice, so he wanted to surprise her there. Where was it, though? The school was huge and students were beginning to pour out of the building like ants. They gave the two boys weird look as they passed, their navy uniforms giving away the fact that they did not belong.

"Jackson?"

His head snapped to the side. It was Beth, looking at him with wide eyes behind her round glasses. She had changed a lot since the last time he had seen her, face full of acne and her body several pounds heavier. She required glasses to see now, unable to wear contacts. The queen bee had fallen from grace completely, but he still felt fondness toward her. She was still beautiful to him.

"Hey, Beth!" He smiled at her, closing the distance so he could pull her into a hug.

She hesitantly returned the hug before pulling away. With her confidence all but gone, she struggled to look him in the eye. "What are you doing here?"

"We had a half day today," grinned Jackson. "So I came to surprise Julia."

Her eyes widened again, fear flashing across her face. 

Jackson failed to notice this because he was looking around the sea of students for any sign of his girlfriend. Keith, however, didn't miss this look and it filled him with worry.

"Where's the football field?" Jackson wondered, returning his attention to her. "She's at cheer practice, right?"

After a moment of internal debate, she swallowed hard. "Um... it's behind the main building... on the right..."

"Thank you. It was great seeing you again!" He smiled at her warmly, patting her on the shoulder before beginning to walk down the path that curved around the building.

Keith stared at her for a moment, taking note of her damp eyes before she bowed her head and ran off. A frown tugged at his lips as he jogged after his best friend.

"Jackson!" he called out when he caught up to the male. "Maybe this isn't -"

Jackson stopped suddenly, making Keith do the same. He followed his line of sight toward the locker rooms on the right side of the field. There was Julia, her arms wrapped around some guy's neck as he held her by the hips, their lips molded together like glue.

It felt as if Jackson's heart fell to the ground at that moment, shattering into millions of tiny pieces. Everything else disappeared except for himself and those two.

Keith bit his lip, glancing at the pair before giving his friend a worried look. "Jackson?"

There was no response, even when he put his hand on his shoulder.

"Jackson."

When the two finally broke apart, Julia caught Jackson's eye. Rather than acting surprised or ashamed, she licked her lips and smirked at him, clearly proud at being caught cheating. 

There are no words in any language to describe how that made him feel.

"Jackson," Keith called softly, shaking the boy's shoulder. This seemed to break the spell that he was under.

"Huh?" He tore his eyes away, focusing on the tall boy beside him. "What is it?"

"Are you okay?" Keith frowned, scolding himself for the question. Of course, he wasn't!

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." He tried to smile but found he didn't have the energy to do so. "Why?"

"You're crying..."

"What? No, I'm not -" Jackson's hand reached for his face, surprised to find that his cheeks were indeed wet. "I -" his voice broke as more tears fell from his eyes.

Keith's heart ached for his friend as he pulled him into a hug, his best friend clinging to him as if his life depended on it.

━━━━━━༻Present Day༺━━━━━━

I frowned at Jackson, tapping my fingers on the top of the table before nudging Keith. "Oi, what's his problem?"

"Hm?" Keith glanced up from his textbook, looking first at me and then at the male who sat across from us.

"He's been reading that same page for twenty minutes. I know he's dumb, but this is manga, not a science book."

Keith knew exactly what was wrong. The year may be different, but this is the same date that his heart had been unbelievably broken. It was the same date he had vowed to never fall in love again. It may sound sad, but the wound was still fresh and very deep.

"He's been spaced out all day," I complained, sitting back in my chair with my arms folded over my chest. "He hasn't insulted me once today. That's weird as fuck."

Keith chuckled, patting my shoulder before returning to his studies. "If he needs us, he'll let us know. Until then, it's best not to push."

"I guess..."

"Study hall is almost over. Have you finished reviewing for tomorrow's test?"

"...well, fuck."

He laughed again, sliding his notebook toward me. "Come on, I'll run you through what's most likely to be on the test."

I sent Jackson another worried look before scooting my chair closer to Keith. "Okay~ Thanks, Keith."

"Of course."