Just Be You

As much as everyone believed it, Jackson wasn’t a self-centered asshole and Cady hated the misconception that he was incapable of truly loving anyone but himself. On the surface, he came across as arrogant and mean, but behind the façade was something good.

Packing away her things at the end of class, Cady made a quick stop at her locker and then headed over to the cafeteria. The thought of eating what the school called food made Cady feel queasy, so instead, she simply grabbed herself a bottle of orange juice and frowned slightly as someone wrapped their arm around her shoulders.

“I thought you had lacrosse practice today?” Cady inquired as she looked up at Jackson, snaking her arm around his waist and tucking herself into his side.

“We did, but coach canceled it,” Jackson replied, pressing a kiss against her hair and leading her over to where the majority of the lacrosse team was sitting, “Something about a teacher’s meeting or some shit like that.”

Sat next to Jackson, Cady ignored most of the conversation going on around her and waved at her friend Stiles as he offered her a grin from a nearby table. She had known Stiles for a long time and despite the difference in their chosen cliques within school, they had remained close.

“Why are you even friends with him?” Greenberg suddenly asked out of nowhere, causing Cady to look at him and frown.

“Who Stiles?”

“Yeah, the kids a complete weirdo...”

“He is,” Cady agreed with a fond smiled, “He’s also incredibly smart, a great friend and all-around good guy.”

“Sounds like someone has a crush,” Greenberg added.

“Sounds like someone’s jealous,” Cady retorted, standing up and walking away.

“Babe,” Jackson called, but Cady ignored him and carried on walking.

The rest of the school day flew by and Cady soon found herself sat in the passenger seat of Stiles’ jeep, bobbing her head along to the song playing on the radio.

“How’re things going between you and Jackson?” Stiles inquired as they sat in his room a while later.

“Good,” Cady replied with a shrug, catching the mini basketball that he tossed to her and chucking it towards the net that had been hung on the back of the door.

“That wasn’t exactly convincing,” Stiles added, “What’s up?”

“Jackson and I are good... really good in fact, but I just never realized how different he acts around his friends,” Cady admitted, “It’s only since I’ve started sitting with them sometimes at lunch that I’ve picked up on the shift.”

“I’m not Jackson’s biggest fan, but you should talk to him about it,” Stiles advised, swinging back and forth on his computer chair.

“Stop being right,” Cady whined, flopping back on the bed and sighing.

“Hey, I can’t help it...”

It was a couple of days, before Cady decided to have a conversation with Jackson and headed over to his house. Sat on the sofa, she nervously fiddled with the sleeve of her hoody and looked up as Jackson spoke.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s something that I need to talk to you about,” Cady explained, waiting for Jackson to join her and continuing hesitantly, “I... since we started dating and I’ve been sitting with you at lunch, I’ve noticed that you’re a different person when your friends are around.”

“Different how?”

“Like you’re better than everyone else.”

“You know that I don’t think that, but I do have a reputation to uphold,” Jackson argued, “It’s been hard trying to keep my friends, especially since...”

“Since you started dating me,” Cady finished for him.

“Cady...” Jackson stated, sighing and running a hand over his face, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes, you did,” Cady replied, “I’m not stupid, I’ve heard what they say about me...”

“I don’t care what they say.”

“Obviously you do, otherwise you’d drop the façade and just be you. You’re not the asshole that you let everyone believe you are and you are not like Greenberg... you are better than that.”

Wiping the tears that had escaped down her face, Cady stood up and walked towards the door.

“Baby, please...”

“I love you, Jax, but I don’t like the person you become around them... it’s your choice to make.”

She wasn’t asking him to choose between her or his friends, she wanted him to be himself. People only ever saw what he would allow them to see, but hidden behind that cold façade was a warm, beating heart and the guy that Cady had fallen head over heels for.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she retrieved it and opened the new message from Jackson. ‘I choose us... I choose to be the guy that loves you and doesn’t need popularity to be someone.’ it read and Cady couldn't hold back the smile that appeared on her face.