"That's something I left behind." Jackson answered himself and Tory, who had certainly become confident very quickly.
She asked the question in a charismatic way, so Jackson felt more relaxed.
Jackson believed that his ears would draw attention; some would even know what it meant to have signs of cauliflower ear, but he had thought about the answers he would give so the interest would disappear from the new people he would meet.
"It's a shame, you seem like one of the good ones, you should teach me some moves." Tory murmured with a pleasant smile.
Jackson shook his head and said, "I'm not that good."
As they walked away from the place where the argument had happened, Jackson spoke to the agitated Tory, who was trying to hide it, and said, "I'm more the type who gets hit, the kind who faces the best just so they can show off."
"That sounds cooler than what you're trying to make me believe." Tory smiled at the lies Jackson had made up; for some reason, she thought he was lying.
"Well, we can't always be the best even if we try. A sad reality… Besides, anyone would think I'm not that good a fighter just by seeing my shopping cart. There are more snacks here than on those shelves." Jackson said with a calm smile, as if just a moment ago he hadn't wanted to beat up the guy who had harassed the girl beside him.
Tory saw all the things Jackson was putting into his cart and asked, "Aren't your parents at home? You must be taking advantage of them being away to eat all that junk food, you shouldn't overdo it or you'll end up in bad shape..."
"Isn't that something everyone our age loves?" While Jackson said this, he discreetly tossed in some boxes of dry food, mixed candies, and chocolate.
"You just need to take care of your health..."
"When I'm an old man, the last thing I'll worry about is my physical condition, you have to live life even if it's like this." Jackson smiled as he put more boxes of chocolate popsicles in.
Tory felt much calmer but it was obvious that she was being boring; she felt very sad and there really wasn't anything else she could do about it. This was one of the reasons she always pushed people her age out of her circle. But this time she felt different with Jackson; she felt she could share things with him without thinking about being judged.
"Will you buy anything else?" Jackson asked after seeing Tory so quiet. Without a doubt his communication worries were unfounded, he was pretty good at talking.
"I hope so..." Tory murmured as they reached the checkout to pay for everything she had bought. After passing through the line and after her things were scanned, Jackson walked toward an ATM while Tory paid for her things.
When inserting the card, he put in the amount he wanted to withdraw; he could notice that the things that girl was buying were all discounted or about to be taken off the shelves.
Normally, if she was an exchange student or someone studying in a city far from her home, she wouldn't spend money on things like these that were a coin toss.
Jackson discovered that his friend Liam used to buy these discounted things; he knew that normally they were either still good or about to become inedible. Only then did he realize the difficult situation his friend lived in, and from that moment he began helping them.
If Tory was buying these foods, he assumed she must be going through a tough time with her family. That's why he thought about helping her, not out of pity, but because he could and it didn't cost him anything.
After withdrawing no more than two thousand dollars, which was more than enough to pay rent for an apartment or buy food for a few weeks, Jackson, who had arranged all his things in two carts, walked toward the exit with Tory, who simply followed him in silence.
"I requested a ride, it shouldn't take long to arrive, so let's go together." Jackson said as he watched a large car stop right in front of them; he walked toward the driver's window and said, "I ran into a friend, would it be a problem if you take a detour to her house?"
The man, about thirty years old, looked at the extra money in Jackson's hands and shook his head: "As long as you pay the extra fee for your scheduled ride, I can give you a ride across the whole city, let me help you load these things."
The more Jackson talked, the less time Tory had to refuse. She didn't have many things, but since he had already lifted his bags, she didn't say anything else.
Tory, who was helping load all the food she had bought, asked him, "Why do you buy so much food?"
"I usually live alone most of the time, so I can't do weekly shopping because I'm very forgetful and I usually eat out." Jackson didn't care much about what he ate, although when he used to train he followed a meticulous diet to keep his muscle levels controlled.
Nowadays he only goes out jogging in the mornings, does a few movements afterwards, and forgets completely about doing any other training.
"That doesn't sound so bad." Tory got into the car followed by Jackson, who through the rearview mirror looked at a group of motorcycles parked not far from where they were.
There were at least four people gathered around those motorcycles, which gave him a bad feeling.
Were they going to follow them? That was the problem with gang members—getting involved with them was like shaking a hornet's nest that was too angry to stay away.
Looking more closely, Jackson recognized someone in the group and sighed.
That was for sure—they were gang members, so they would very likely want a little clash of hatred to cause trouble. And if they were drunk and high, they were a damn time bomb no one wanted to mess with.
"I'm a student at the nearest school around here, so if you study there too we'll surely see each other." Jackson said, hoping to at least meet someone at school.
"We'll surely see each other." Tory had completely changed her usual attitude after being with Jackson, something she didn't even notice herself.
"Yeah…"
Tory, who noticed Jackson's silence, asked him, "Jackson, is something wrong?"
Jackson shook his head and said, "It's nothing, I was just sending a message to a friend."
Soon they arrived at the residential building where Tory lived; Jackson got out of the car and helped her carry her things home, not without first leaving the money in one of the bags.
"Well, I'm glad to have met you, Tory." When they reached the apartment, Tory opened the door and Jackson, who was standing at the entrance, decided not to go in even though he had been invited.
He walked a few steps away and left the bags near the entrance, so when Tory came back she was a little surprised and asked, "Don't you want a drink?"
"Yes, but they're waiting for me downstairs, see you later." Jackson said as he walked away from the door as fast as possible before those motorcycle guys arrived.
When Jackson disappeared from Tory's sight, she murmured, "I forgot to ask him what his phone number was…"