Life carried on, no matter what troubles you had, and there were always troubles, no matter how minuscule. For Jackson, most of his major troubles were in the past, or so far ahead in the future they were either undiscovered or not worth worrying about. Life carried on.
The school week progressed slowly, even if he thought he was shifting the scales back into a balanced position. He filled the time in between classes, studying, and hanging out with friends, by working out as much as he could. A few quick pull-ups on that branch when walking through a park. Pumping through a few calf-raises when waiting in a line. Dropping down for a quick set of push-ups when waiting for his friends.
There was boundless energy within him, and he knew there would be until the summer break. That was the big thing on his horizon. Summer break and summer training camp. Once he was beyond that, football would be back, and it'd finally be his time to step foot on a high school gridiron; one underrated aspect of the National Tournament was the fact it made the off-season a hell of a lot shorter.
But Jackson couldn't focus solely on what he'd get up to during summer training camp and the season beyond. That wouldn't be balanced. He had to find time for the little things, as well. To stop and smell the roses, as it were. Which he did so the best way he knew how.
'I mean, don't you think the timing is a little weird? You can do what you want, but most people I know always get jobs during the summer—people will definitely be ordering more pizzas during the summer—or on the holidays. Like retail places ALWAYS need more casuals and temps during Christmas and stuff like that.'
Jasmine sat with Jackson on a tree-shaded hillside just outside of the gymnasium. It was the middle of lunch, and the two had taken theirs outside for some privacy, a regular occurrence at that time. It allowed them to relax and talk without anything to distract them, friend or otherwise.
The sounds of the city and school were carried away by the cool, gentle wind, leaving them with the tranquillity of nature and each other's heartbeats. Clouds danced across the sky, covering, and uncovering the sun like a burlesque performance. It had the effect of keeping the temperature on that crisp, Arizona spring afternoon JUST right.
After eating, they sat and talked. Jackson couldn't think of a better day, nor many better ways to spend it. Maybe if what they were talking about was something nicer—the current topic of discussion was Jackson's thoughts on getting a part-time job.
'I know, but the summer won't work for me, I'll be at training camp, and even when I'm not I'll be training extra hard. I mean, it wouldn't be any different than getting one now.'
She nodded, her head leaning on his shoulder. 'I guess timing wise it'll be the same then. It sounds like something you've just got to figure out for yourself, you know all the pros and cons already, don't you?'
'Well… what if it takes time away from us?'
She giggled at that. 'You think so? Maybe I'll just have to order more pizzas then, and ask especially for their cutest delivery boy.'
He blushed, almost swallowing his tongue. How could she always fluster him so much, and turn his tongue into some unmoving blob in his mouth? Giggling and grinning, she kissed his cheek. Once he'd recovered enough to get back in control of his faculties, he returned the kiss. They stared at each other for a moment then, both with reddened cheeks, then their lips met for a few seconds that felt like hours before they pulled back.
Not long after her lips left his, the taste of cherries, sunshine, and rainbows was replaced by something sour. If he were delivering pizzas to her house, that would mean…
'What if your parents answered the door?' he asked.
'Huh?'
'If I'm delivering a pizza to your house, your parents could open the door.'
She quietened, moving her head away from his shoulder, staring across the yard. He tensed, watching her. The wind had stilled, but so had the cars, birds, and any other sound. The sun was naked, shining down on them full force, yet Jackson still felt a chill.
Every damn time it was always like this… but it was still something they needed to talk about.
'You know, if you told me what was so bad about them, I wouldn't bring them up so much,' he said.
She shook her head. 'Why can't you just drop it if it's something that always ruins the mood?'
'Because if I'm gonna be your boyfriend I'm gonna have to meet them eventually, so when?'
'It's difficult and—'
'—and complicated, yeah, you always say that. "It's complicated. It's difficult. You wouldn't understand," but maybe I'm not understanding because you don't ever explain it. So what's the issue?'
She stood up, readjusting her hair bun. Jackson wished he could've pulled her to his chest, run his own fingers through those beautiful, soft locks. Maybe he had been stupid to open his mouth. Maybe he was just ruining the moment for no reason. But no; he had to be strong. This HAD to be talked about. He stood as well, watching her pace around in a small, frantic circle.
'I don't wanna talk about it,' she finally said. 'So can you stop looking at me like I'm hurting you by just keeping quiet? Shouldn't that be enough? Shouldn't you respect your girlfriend's boundaries?'
'I…I want to, and I would normally—you know I would—but this is something we HAVE to talk about. Eventually, if not now, but the best time is now.'
Watching her pace was making him nervous, giving him the same restless energy. His leg trembled.
'Or what?' he said. 'Am I just never going to meet them?'
'That's not—'
'—is it because you're ashamed to call me your boyfriend?'
'Jesus fucking Christ.' She stopped, staring at him. 'Of course not.'
With a single step, she crossed a divide that seemed as wide as a football field, and threw her arms around him. He leaned into her, returning the hug. It was a chance to end the conversation, to steer away from unpleasantness and back to the sweetness of her, something he dearly wanted to savour. But sometimes you had to make the hard decisions, and do something you weren't going to like in the moment, for a long-term gain.
'Is it something to do with them—your parents? Is…Is there something wrong at home? Are they hurting you? Should I be worried?' He held Jasmine at arm's length, looking her over in a new way, checking for injury or abuse he'd been too awestruck to recognise.
'Jesus no, they're not… they're not abusing me.'
'Then what is it? There has to be something.' He took her hand in his own. 'I'm not letting go until you tell me.'
'Hah… Jesus… you're lucky I like that stubbornness of yours, you dummy.' She squeezed his hand, and rested her head on his shoulder. 'Alright. If you're that desperate… you can come over this weekend.'
Jackson grinned, leaning down to nuzzle his head against hers, however, she pulled back, her face grim.
'Don't be too excited. They're… weird. Okay? You're not gonna like them. We're just gonna explain what's happening between us, and that's it. Don't let them bully you, but don't mention some stuff, like my band, or your accident.'
'Isn't that…' He sighed as she glared at him; there wasn't even a hint of a joke in her. 'Okay, I can do that. But I still might need a bit more of an explanation as to why. You can't just say they're weird. Like, how weird are we talking?'
'They're religious.'
'My family's Christian. What does that matter?'
She shook her head. 'It's definitely not the same. My parents are RELIGIOUS religious. Yours are cool… I mean, football's more your church than anything, isn't it?'
He blushed a bit, but nodded, even if that felt a little blasphemous to admit. It was true. Sure his family said they were Christian, but that was more due to how they lived by the rules of "love thy neighbour," and doing unto others as you would want done unto yourself, and stuff like that. Jackson couldn't recall the last time they'd gone to a church.
'And my parents aren't Christian,' Jasmine said, 'they're Mormon… but don't call them that to their face.'
She said it as if this was the perfect explanation for all her fears and worries regarding them, but the statement had only filled Jackson with more questions. Yet before he could get any of them out, and before she could explain further, the bell rung.
'We'll talk later, okay?' she said. 'I've gotta go.'
She pecked him on the cheek, and then she was off, hurrying across the yard and back into the main building. Jackson watched her go, ruminating over their conversation. It took him a few seconds to remember he ALSO had to get back to class, and then he was running, too.
***
After the final bell, Jackson walked from out of the school gates, with Kenny by his side. They'd yet to hop onto their bikes, as they were talking about Jasmine's revelation and why she'd be so concerned about it.
'She treated it like some big, horrible secret,' Jackson said. 'Like she was telling me her parents were vampires or something.'
'I don't really know much about Mormons, but… I thought they all lived in Utah?'
'Uhh, I think that's where their main church or whatever is? Like, yeah, there's a lot of them in Utah, but that'd be like saying all Catholics live in Rome with the pope or wherever.'
Kenny shrugged. 'I don't know what to tell you. But there must be something to it. She wouldn't be worried over nothing. Maybe its as simple as her parents not wanting her to date outside of their religion? Mine aren't religious, but I don't think they'd like me bringing home a girl who… isn't Japanese… which is great! Because there's SO MANY Japanese girls at our school.'
Jackson reached over, patting his friend on the back. 'Maybe they'd at least settle for one who's Asian.'
Kenny snorted with laughter, and the two soon climbed onto their bikes, pedalling lazily. The clouds had vanished, and none of them had carried rain before, though there was still a damp smell in the air. It was the kind of scent that hung around right before a storm broke.
Jackson scanned the sky. It seemed even the world was overreacting to the situation with Jasmine's parents. That's all he could see it as. He knew it wouldn't be entirely fabricated, but surely it couldn't be as bad as Jasmine was making it out to be. Look at her for example. She was so awesome. How could they be so terrible if they'd produced such an incredible daughter?
He tried to recall if he'd ever met a Mormon before. He couldn't recall ever speaking to one, at least not knowingly—it's not like people wore giant signs at all times, stating their religion—but he had at least seen a couple of them before.
There were two boys at the mall, once. They were well-dressed, with white button-downs, and black ties. They must've been going around spreading the gospel to the other mall-goers. Jackson's family had passed by while the pair were busy with someone else, so he hadn't heard what exactly they were talking about. But they didn't look BAD.
Jackson would just have to wait and see with Jasmine's parents. He was looking forward to it, however. Finally he was going to meet them… finally he and Jasmine would be a serious couple. In that way, no matter what happened, it was already a win in Jackson's mind.