.havecourageandbekxnd:
The clear juxtaposition between Ella’s reaction to the collision and sight of her best friend, and Jackson’s reaction to their predicament, was really something else. Where Ella had initially felt humiliated, scrambling to cover herself in whatever way that she could, and hide herself from plain view, Jackson seemed entirely undeterred at the sight of her. She barely even registered the sweet, endearing greeting of hello, Elly (the cute little nickname that only Jackson was allowed to refer to her as, always making her blush and giggle whenever she heard it) as she blinked in surprise.
It didn’t take long for him to call to attention what she was wearing, much to her distress, and she instantly tugged her top down further, hoping that she’d be able to at least safe herself some of the embarrassment. She wasn’t like all of the other cheerleaders; they were beautiful and flawless, with gorgeous frames and confident smiles. They could pull off anything from what she was wearing now, to a trash bag, and still look utterly gorgeous. Ella wasn’t the kind of person that could effortlessly show herself off in such an unapologetic outfit, and she felt all the more embarrassed for ever having thought she could pull it off.
“I do not look hot!” Ella gasped, her eyes wide. She shouldn’t have been surprised at such a notion coming from Jackson; he’d always been much more confident and comfortable in ways that Ella had never been able to mimic.
Sneaking a glance over her shoulder, once more trying to ensure that nobody was around to see them, she bounded forward and, hopping up onto her tiptoes, she slid her palm over her best friend’s eyes, obscuring his vision entirely. Keeping her hand steadily in place, she breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded quite contentedly to herself. “Right. Much better. You can’t seem like this!”
She frowned, then, as the seconds passed, her arm aching with the effort of holding it in place; Jackson was significantly taller than her, and her severe lack of balance meant that she was already wobbling on the spot, and putting herself at risk of toppling to the ground for a second time. Breathing out a huff that one might say was a little petulant for someone as soft and shy as Ella Tremaine, she retrieved her hand and pulled away, shouldering her backpack and wrapping her arms around her torso once more.
She didn’t shy away from Jackson’s touch, allowing him to wrap an arm around her shoulder, and instead she fell carefully into his side, resting her head comfortably against his shoulder and letting him take the lead. This was how it should always have been: Jackson and Ella side by side. It felt right, and she always felt safest knowing Jackson was close by. Even her newfound humiliation was stifled ever so slightly by her indifference toward what Jackson might think. He’d never judged her before, so she couldn’t imagine him starting now.
With a sigh, she slowly started to address his various questions. “I’m fine, yes. Clumsy, an idiot, but fine.”
A short laugh fell from her lips as she glanced up at him. It was in Ella’s nature to be self deprecating, a habit that she’d never managed to locate the off-switch for. Jackson had always scolded her for it, gently as he went about it, and always had some sweet words to lift her up and make her feel good about herself. She wasn’t entirely sure she deserved it, but he was the closest thing she had to family now, and she internally vowed never to take that for granted.
“I’m not joining the pixies, no,” she shook her head. Crinkling her nose up in discomfort, she gave a small shrug as she thought back to the past hour, and how pathetic and weak she’d been. Kim must have thought she was a complete joke for not showing her face! “One of the girls – Kim, red-haired, very pretty? – she invited me along. I… I said I’d give it a go, but. Well, I spent the last hour hiding in a cubicle like the complete coward that I am.”
She sighed, feeling resigned. If there was anybody she could confess her own doubts to, it was always going to be Jackson. With Peyton still keeping something of a distance, Sherrie with her own bigger concerns, and Gus assuring that he’d stay at her side at any given moment, Ella understood that she needed to try harder, and to be there for Jackson where she’d failed to over the years. It was with that realisation that it dawned on her how dismissive she’d been of his words only moments before. Over the past 6 years she’d been so wrapped up in her own problems, that there was still so much of Jackson’s life that had gone amiss to her.
Giving him a gentle nudge in the ribs, she wrapped an arm around his waist as they walked and mused, “What about you? What are you doing here? Did you say… are you a cheerleader?”
Jackson snickered when Ella pushed herself up onto her tiptoes so she could block his view of her clad in the Pixies outfit. Why, he didn’t know. But he boiled it down to her feeling self-conscious about wearing a skirt that was shorter than anything that he’d seen her in before. He did think she looked hot though, despite her tendency to automatically turn down the compliments he threw freely at her. Arguing against it would only make her blush more, and if he could navigate through this conversation without making Ella turn a deep crimson and spontaneously combusting, then he’d count it as a win.
“Fine, you look ugly,” he told her with an easy smile. He pulled his head back to quickly kiss the palm of her hand, a soft, affectionate action to let her know he was only joking, even though she would already know that.
With Ella tucked safely under his arm, he swung his other arm around her so she was locked snugly into his hug. Rolling his eyes at her words, he ducked his head so she could see the disapproving expression on his face. It wasn’t in Jackson’s nature to let his friends think so lowly of themselves. He was a cheerleader in every way, sprinkling moral support over anyone who needed it, but especially to his best friends.
He listened intently to her story, hopes climbing and falling when she mentioned that she’d at least considered joining. It would have been fun if Ella decided to join the squad so he’d have someone familiar there with him. He loved the other girls that were part of the Pixies, but sometimes he felt a little bit at odds with their dynamic. As if he didn’t quite fit in. Jackson was an adaptable creature and could shed his skin and take on a new façade whenever the occasion called for it, meaning he could easily slip in and out of cliques and pick up new friends as he went, but he’d only really been grounded in his friendship group with Gus, Ella, Peyton and Sherrie. And the foundations for that little gang had crumbled long ago.
“Well, you know what they say,” he said eventually, fixing her with a serious look. “With Kim, anything is Possible.”
It was a joke he’d tried to crack before and Violet had told him to shove a dirty jockstrap in his mouth and never speak again. Like, lovingly. He’d hoped. But maybe he’d have better luck with Ella who had been granted years to grow acquainted with his sense of humour.
“I did say that,” he grinned when Ella cottoned onto his words. He hadn’t realised that this would be such a shock to his friend. He didn’t keep his extra curriculars a secret, often plastering photos from practise all over Instagram and Facebook but, then again, Ella wasn’t the most avid social media user. He shrugged like it was no big deal.
“That’s me. The queer cheerleader. The queerleader,” he added, bobbing his head. Nudging her a little as they began to talk, he wondered why she’d hid out in a cubicle for the past hour.
“It’s not so scary, you know. I mean, Izzy doesn’t bite! None of us do. Except maybe Vi, but I’ll protect you,” he teased. Letting go of Ella, he stepped back and readjusted the strap of his duffle bag.
“Why not give it a try? I’ll help you out with anything you’re struggling with!” He shoved a hand into his pocket and offered his friend a one-shouldered shrug.
