Carrying the Banner

Chapter 1

"She seems to be out to get you!" Medda exclaimed.

"She is! She never liked me!" Crutchie said.

"Only one year left bud," Jack chimed in.

"Thank god."

The rest of the car ride went on like this. Finally, they got to their home. It was a fairly large, yellow home two stories high, with room for more than the three of them. On the outside, there were a ton of plants. Trees, bushes, flowers, you name it, they have it in their front yard, with a garden in the back as well. Medda paid some of the neighborhood boys good money to take care of the plants, and the fruit and vegetable garden out back. The house had a lot of windows, with the window frames painted white and had white columns in the front holding up a piece of the roof that overhung over the doorway.

The inside of the house was much less elegant. Medda liked to go crazy with the decoration. There was a wall in the living room that hung pride flags. The woman loved colors, and allowed Jack to paint on the walls. He did such a wonderful job and loved it so much. He would paint beautiful murals on any surface she allowed him to- which was about everywhere. She loved to flaunt his art and to tell everyone that her son did that. Medda also would slip a little extra into his allowance when he painted on the walls for her, or when he helped paint sets for the theatre.

The three entered the home, and everyone split off to do their own thing. Crutchie went to do some reading, Medda to practice for her next performance later in the day, and Jack to call his girlfriend, Amelia.

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Drrrrrr- "Hello?"

"Amelia?" Jack asked, sitting down on his desk chair, kicking his feet up on the top of the desk.

"Hey, Jack."

"How's France?"
"Umm... I mean, it's fine. Nothing special, though."

"Nothin special?" Jack exclaimed. "It's France! I've never been outta New York!" He threw his free hand around in the air as he spoke.

"Really?" Jack heard on the other line, sounding almost disgusted.

"I've told ya that before, Ame."

"Oh." The line fell dead a moment. "Anyways. Whats Jeremy up to?"

"Jeremy?" Jack asked.

"Jock Jeremy."

"Oh... I don't know, he wasn't at school today. Probably ran off with Kaitlyn for the day."

"What?"

"I said he pro-"

"No, don't repeat it, I heard you, idiot."

"Sorry, hun."

Silence from the other end.

"Well, I guess I better head off," Jack said, taking his legs off the desk and spinning in his chair.

"Whatever." And, just like that, Amelia hung up.

"Hows miss 'Queen of the World'?" Crutchie said and knocked on Jack's bedroom door, which was already partially open as is. With Jack's wave, Crutchie hobbled on over to his brother's bed and plopped down, setting his crutch behind him.

"She's bored of France," Jack said.

"Bored? Of France?"

"I know! Unbelievable, right?"

Crutchie sighed. "I don't get 'er. I don't get you for liking 'er."

"She's so perfect for me, though!" Jack exclaimed. "Beautiful, smart Amelia."

"You forgot 'bad news'."

"Bad news for any girl with a crush on good ol' Jackie boy," Jack said, holding two thumbs up, grinning.

"Believe me, there isn't any girl out there who'd fall for that," Crutchie said, earning a light punch on the shoulder from Jack.

"Yeah? And what do you have a girl would fall for?"

"Personality!"

"Oh, definitely got personality. Not a good one, though!" Jack teased.

"Oh shut up." Crutchie laughed. "What classes you got tomorrow?"

"Gym, History, and English," he explained.

"Wednesdays are easy for you. I've got Science, Math, English, Government, and History."

"Well, that's your fault for loading your schedule that way."

"Ay, shut up."

"Boys?" Medda called as she walked up the stairs, eventually ending in Jack's doorway. "I've got my next show in about an hour, I'll be heading up soon. Dinner is in the fridge; all you gotta do is heat it up. I'll be back late tonight."

Jack stood up to give Medda a hug. After, Medda walked over to Crutchie and gave him a hug where he was. "I'll see you boys tomorrow, alright?"

"See ya, Medda!"

"See you tomorrow!"

The older woman left, leaving the two boys home alone. "What time do you want to get dinner?" questioned Jack.

"Six?" Crutchie said. "I'm good whenever."

"Alright. Movie tonight? Or do you gotta do homework?" Jack asked.

"Got homework tonight. Gotta read some dumb book." Crutchie said. "Y'know, one of these days, you should do your homework, y'know, at home."

"C's get degrees my friend, and until I get a D, I won't stress whatsoever," Jack said, sitting back down on the bed.

"Yeah, whatever," Crutchie said and stood up. He made his way to the door. "I'll work on the book before dinner, and maybe I'll have time for other stuff after."

"Sounds good, my man. I'll be here," Jack said, standing again to head to his art desk. Crutchie left to go work on reading. Jack began doing some sort of cheesy art of him and Amelia to send her a picture of. 

Hey everyone! 

I'm very excited for this fic. I plan on updating every Friday, so keep your eyes out for new chapters!

I hope you all will enjoy this fic as much as I enjoy writing it. Please leave a comment if you liked this chapter!

xoxo, Angie