It was a cold, Saturday morning but it was the only day Aaliyah told Jackson she could meet up with him. He assumed she hasn't told Elijah about their partnership and deep down, he hope she'd keep it that way. But not because he like, cares or anything. But because Elijah would make this project a thousand times harder by calling multiple times or even by showing up.

Jackson waited by one of the computers for her to arrive, going on ahead and getting started. His family tree was pretty easy to trace back. The real work was probably gonna be Aaliyah's family tree.

"Hey Jack," he heard her say behind him. Speak of the devil.

"Hey," He answers quietly, turning his attention back on the computer.

Discouraged, Aaliyah simply took off her coat and set down her backpack. "Um, what do have so far?" She asks him. Jackson reached into his backpack and pulls out a couple of old family photos, some spanning back a couple of decades. "Oh wow..."

"Yeah, my dad had most of these sent to us, or found them on Facebook posted by other family members," he said. He then pulls out a piece of paper that already outlines his family tree all the way back to the 1940's. "So apparently I'm Jewish on my mom's side," he tells her. "So because of World War 2, I'm missing some family members," he explaining the empty spots on his mom side.

Aaliyah looked at the family tree closely. "You have a brother?" She looked at him now. "You never mentioned him," she pointed out.

"He's not worth mentioning," Jackson practically hisses. Aaliyah backed off, deciding to leave that topic alone...for now. She then looks over the family tree once more before quickly pulling out hers.

There were still a couple empty spots considering her father didn't know his own dad, neither did her mom. And her grandmother's father on her mom's side also was absent. Apparently, absentee fathers were her family's curse.

Jackson looked it over, his eyes stopping right where her grandmother's name was. "Do...you not know your grandfather's name?" He asked cautiously.

Aaliyah shook her head. "She refuses to talk about him," she lets out an exasperated sigh. "She's barely told my mom about him," she now sits up. "Actually, he fought in Vietnam too."

Jackson perks up hearing this. "Really? That's crazy."

"Mmm, not really," Aaliyah scoffs. "Pretty sure lots of people's grandfathers or whatever fought in Vietnam if they were too young to fight in World War II," Aaliyah tells him. "Anyways, I'll try to get more info about him when I️ get home," she assures him.

"Cool..." he says. Jackson moves to pack up his stuff. "Guess we're done here."

Aaliyah watches him in disbelief. "What about our paper?"

"We can do that later. We have all month," Jackson quickly dismisses. "Or we can just do it individually," he suggests. "It's not like it's that hard."

Aaliyah felt a pang of hurt go through hurt. "Do you really hate me that much that you can't stand to be around me?" She asks him, starting tearing up.

Jackson paused upon hearing that. "Aaliyah, that's not-"

"Then what is it?!" She hissed, causing a couple people around them to go "SHHH".

Jackson looks around and realized what they were doing. He grabs her hand and leads her outside, where they could talk more freely. "I️ don't understand why you're so upset. You've made your choice, and now I'm making mines," he says much louder this time, making her flinch. Realizing what he's done, he takes a step back. "I'm sorry. I️ didn't mean to-"

Aaliyah turns away from him, not wanting to hear those words come out from his mouths. She heard those same words come from Elijah way too many times to count that now, they mean absolutely nothing to her. "You know, I️ thought you were different," she finally speaks, catching his attention. "Most the guys here grew up together. So they copy everything they see each other do. But you? You're new, you weren't raised here. So I️ just thought..."

"Well I'm sorry to be a disappointment then," he snaps. "Doesn't feel good when others let you down huh?"

Aaliyah just wished, wished, she could tell Jackson what was really going on. But if she did that, there's no telling what would happen. Jackson was as impulsive as Elijah, and even if he defended her on her behalf, Elijah would still send out the video. Still show it to everyone she knows, still post it online. And no matter what she does, everyone knows that the Internet is forever, and once it's there...that's it.

So instead, she keeps her mouth shut. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You're sorry?" He repeats in disbelief. "I️ cant fucking believe this," he mutters to himself, rolling his eyes. "I literally fought for you!"

"I didn't ask for you to-"

"I️ made myself look like a totally asshole in front of everyone at school over you, only to find out that they were all right! That I️ had zero chance with you cause you're so stuck to your shit boyfriend!"

Aaliyah took the verbal hits in silence.

"And just when I️ thought everything was good, you two pull this shit on me!" He yells, rightfully hurt, like Elijah intended. "Did you even care? Did anything I️ ever did for you even mattered?"

"Of course it did! Jesus," she scoffs, shaking her head. "It's just complicated Jack!" She reaches and tug his arm. "You know me! You-"

"Apparently I️ don't," he yanks his arm back. "I️ gotta go," he huffs. "I'll see late-"

"The way you're treating me right now hurts a hell of a lot more than Elijah punching me in the face at homecoming, you know that?" She says, catching him off guard. He stops and watches as she shoves right past him to go back inside the library.

Aaliyah quickly wipes her tears away as she picks up her phone to text her mom to pick her up. She then rushes into the bathroom to wipe her tears and wash her face. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and almost scoffed at how pathetic she looked. Here she was crying over yet another guy that didn't even like her.

Once her mom pulled up, she was a lot calmer than before, her mom not even noticing. After a couple minutes of silence, Aaliyah spoke up. "Mom what happened to grandpa?" She asked lowly.

"Oh I️ don't know. That's something you're gonna have to ask your dad when he gets back-"

"No I️ mean...what happened to your dad?"

Her mother frowned. "He died in Vietnam baby, you know this," she said as if it was obvious.

"But, we don't even know his name?"

Elisa sighed. "I️ don't love, this is something you'd have to ask your grandmother," she tells her as she parks in their driveway. They both got out and walked alongside each other, making their way inside the house. "But hell, who knows if she'll ever open up. She barely talk to me about him," she scoffs.

"Well it's important. It's for school. Me and Jackson are partners and we-"

This caught her mother's attention. "Did you say Jackson?" She repeated.

Aaliyah modded slowly. "Yeah...he's my partner," she explains with a slight scoff. "Some partner..." She then looks back at her mom who looks conflicted. "What's wrong?" She asks.

Her mom finally sighs. "Alright, look. I️ wasn't sure if I️ wanted to show you this but...actually it's better if you just follow me," Her mom waves her over, confusing her. Aaliyah hesitantly follow suit, not sure what was going on. Her whole demeanor was off and she was acting pretty weird. They went all the way into the master bedroom where her parents slept and she watched as her mother crouched down and reached under the bed to pull out a worn red leather box. She opened it up and there, she saw a bunch of little mementos from her mother's youth. Medals, ribbons, souvenirs from trips, letters and more importantly, pictures.

Aaliyah slowly sunk down to sit next to her and watched as her mother pulled out old photos of her and her grandmother. Ones from when she was a baby, up until she got married in the early 2000's. "I've never seen these before," she murmurs quietly.

"That's because I️ didn't want you kids ruining them," her mom says, making Aaliyah playfully suck on her tooth and roll her eyes. "But that's not what I️ wanted to show you," she says, pulling out a photo of a man she's never seen before.

Except, she has seen him before.

Aaliyah's jaw dropped as she took the photo, the same photo she saw Jackson post on Snapchat weeks ago, into her hands. "Mom...where did you get this?" She whispered.

No.....

Her mother exhaled before speaking. "When I️ was about your age, I️ was curious about my father too," she explained. "And I️ was so mad at your grandmother for refusing to talk about him that, one day while she was at work, I️ snuck into her room and I️ looked all over the place for some sort of clue and the only thing I️ found was this picture," she said.

Aaliyah was at a loss for words. But it was when she turned it over, that she knew.

Nathan, 1972

_______________________________

😱

This book got some many plot holes, I'm sorry y'all. I️ know, I️ just made it weird.

I️ think after this chapter, I️'m gonna make some changes to make this less incesty. I️ wanted to shock y'all, but it went...wrong I️ guess you could say.

Anyways....while I️ fix that, enjoy the 90's!