Simply and Utterly Yours

Chapter 8: Lions, and Tigers, and Fish. Oh My!

Chapter 8: Lions, and Tigers, and Fish. Oh My!

Relationships are difficult. It's hard to accept that you have the power to make or break a person. It's hard to accept that people rely on you and you rely on them. It's terrifying to me. I always feared I wouldn't be enough. I wouldn't be enough for that one person who was enough for me. I hated accepting that relationships are two way streets. To me, they always felt like a dead end road. Relationships can be hurtful and heartbreaking. But I've seen them become something more than that. I have seen them destroy and I have seen them heal. I have seen them be what the people in them wanted them to be.

Jack and I had talked back at the hospital. After they released me, Jack looked at me and he said that we should be careful. More so than what we already were. I didn't want to be careful. I just wanted to be us, without fear and without prejudice. I wanted us to go on lovely dates and hold hands and kiss under the moonlight. I wanted to feel normal and not like a creature hidden away. I wanted a fairy tale.

But I nodded in agreement anyways. This was reality.

School is the type of thing that likes to kick the crap out of you for fun. It will take you and beat you to a bloody pulp without regrets or apologies. Anybody that tells you school is easy is a liar and a cheat. I had left that morning, hoping nobody would want to start anything. I wasn't in the mood for the normal everyday crap. But I was probably going to take it. I was just going to take it and hope Jack doesn't notice.

I prayed to a god I barely believe in that Jack wouldn't notice.

Ever since the incident , Jack was edgy. He wasn't his normal happy self. He was being a lion. A lion with claws and teeth that weren't meant to be out. I tried to placate him, but he wouldn't take it. I just hoped that he wouldn't do anything stupid. But I guess luck wasn't on my side that day or maybe the Fates were having a a bad day free for all.

Morning classes went by normally. Jack and I passed notes. It was the basic conversation. Me asking him if he was alright and him saying he was fine. It was our daily exchange. I just wanted to know that he wasn't going to Hulk out on me. I do keep spare clothes around, but I never wanted to use them. Jack would just smile at me when I asked him the question.

“Are you going to hulk out?” I would say seriously.

“Nope.” He would reply, popping the 'p' and giving me a cheeky grin. A smirk if you were going for devilishly handsome. I would nod and smile, too.

Jack had even taken to following me around now. Even when his classes were at the other end of the school. Jack would just walk with me. I didn't really mind it, it was comforting actually, but I didn't know if it was such a good idea. Jack was following me around and it seemed that my tormentors had taken notice. They had barely touched me since I got out of the hospital.

Lunch went be quickly and Jack didn't look fine by the end of it. His face was grimly set and he was gripping his tray a bit too tightly. I asked him the normal question. But he barely gave me an answer, just a quiet “I'm fine.” It was scary.

In the rush to get back to class, I gripped his hand in the crowded hallways. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me. The world was wonderfully silent in that moment. I was glad I could give him some peace.

Then some jerk pushed me.

I fell forward, but never hit the ground due to Jack's tight grip. The hallway wasn't really crowded anymore. I shook it off like I always do. It was normal. It was okay.

But Jack's hand was gone.

I was numb. I was barely breathing and my hand was cramping. No, it wasn't cramping. It was hurting. Suddenly, the cold. Nobody was near me. Silence.