Chapter 13 - Jack here.
"These bitches just get better every day," Lukas hisses to Ash and I as we walk into the club. The place is crowded and the stench of sweat and alcohol and cheap perfume and tobacco is heavy in the air. This is the sleaziest club in town and that's precisely why my 'friends' have brought me here. Lukas is a friend from college and as soon as Ash told him about my lack of women in the summer he insisted we come here. Besides - he's desperate to get lucky tonight as well. Ash has brought Sofia and his step sister along, the bombshell, Melanie. He didn't want her to come at all because he thinks she'll get into trouble with some random guy but she kept pushing and I said I'd 'look after her'.
As we pass the dance floor, where people are just packed in like sardines grinding against eachother, Melanie sends me a grin from beside me. Lukas, Sofia and Ash are already up at the bar by now, ordering drinks.
"Have you been here before?" Melanie calls to me over the noise, as Ash hands her a Coke. She takes it, rolling her eyes at him for the lack of alcohol.
"Uh- yeah," I reply with a grin. "A few times before. You?"
Probably has, I think to myself, because this is where people like her hang out. She is looking smoking hot tonight, as usual - tight black skirt which just covers her back side, and a figure-hugging red top with a sexy neckline. Her shiny black hair just runs down her back, her caramel toned skin glowing under the strobe lights. I really had better look after her.
"Oh, yeah, my girlfriends and I," she says confidently, grinning. A guy comes past who looks about twenty, and winks at her, his eyes glued to her chest.
Fucking idiots, they make it so obvious.
Sipping my drink, I look around for any girls who seem to be available. I really would like to get things going with Mel but she is Ash's sister. He'd eternally hate me, and make my life hell if he found out.
But then she flutters her eyelashes at me and puts her glass down with a smile that could turn a guy's legs to water. "You wanna dance, Jack?"
Inside I'm fucking screaming. Damn, yes.
I look back at Ash to see him, Sofia and Lukas are talking and laughing with the barmaid so I turn my attention back to her with a charming grin. "Yeah, sure."
That's when she grabs my hand and pulls me into the world of madness right in the centre of the club. She leads me trough people jumping and grinding and snogging and groping until we're right underneath the centre light.
And then the girl begins to dance, with her back to me. It's sort of a medium paced song, and she starts by moving her hips round and round, her butt grazing my crotch each time. Her arms move up to wrap around my neck, and she starts to rub her back against my front as I quickly grab hold of her hips, turning her round to face me.
During that song, her hands travel everywhere all over me and mine all over her. I'm getting turned on even more by the second, and at the end when she pulls on my shirt, her lips crashing onto mine, I'm gone.
She's a fucking amazing kisser. I manage to get my hand in between her legs, massaging her thighs as her hands rove around my chest and back. All it is, is lust, and it's so comforting to feel that emotion again. I begin to grind my hips against hers as she does the same, our tongues dancing in each other's mouths.
"That's why I wanted to get you in the middle," she purrs into my ear after breaking away. "Don't want Ash annoying us."
Grinning, I run my hand over her butt. "Good thinking."
"You think I'm sexy?" Melanie questions me seductively, her hands in my hair.
I give her a look and pretend to nibble on her ear, "Fuck, yes," I growl lowly, as I run my hand down the length of her body. "Did you plan this?"
She giggles, and whips her shiny hair over her shoulder with a sweet smile. As the next song begins to play she trails her hands down my chest slowly. "Jack, Jack. You think that you're the best out there, don't you?"
I smirk lightly and grab onto her hips, as we start to move against each other, to the song. "I'm just saying. I wouldn't have minded if you had planned it. We can be friends . . . With benefits."
Rolling her eyes with a coy smile, even though she's anything but coy, Melanie leans up to whisper into my ear, "Oh . . . No friends. Just benefits."
-
I wake up the next morning with a banging headache, and a sour taste in my mouth. Last night rushes back to me - well, snippets of it anyway. There was dancing with Melanie, making out with Melanie, going back to the bar with Melanie, drinking with Melanie, and lots of other things - some blurred - all with Melanie.
I'm in the middle of trying to remember what time I got home when the door opens and in walks my brother. I sit up and my vision is fuzzy, my head spinning and my stomach churning. I don't think Dan is looking happy, but right now I couldn't care less because any moment now I am going to hurl.
"Jack, it's almost twelve," he tells me with an irritated look on his face. He sits down on my desk chair and I squeeze my eyes shut, bending forward so my head can go between my knees. "I think I'm gonna be sick, mate-"
"You were pissed beyond comprehension last night when you got home," Dan tells me rather loudly. It makes my fucking head hurt like hell.
"I'm sure I was, because I'm hungover now," I growl at him angrily through clenched teeth.
Dan clicks his tongue and mutters lowly, "Please don't be like this in front of Stella and Jess."
"I know, I won't," I groan at him and then finally look up. He looks like a lost puppy or something, sitting there with his chin in his hand. I'm about to say sorry when I feel bile begin to rise in my throat and I have to rush out. I make it to the bathroom just in time.
When I'm done, I still feel dreadful. I go back to my room to see Dan sat on the desk chair in the same position, and I sigh before collapsing back onto my bed.
"Where are they now?" I grumble into the pillow, closing my eyes. The feeling is much more bliss than standing up.
"Stella's took Jess to town . . . Ella has gone with them too."
"Okay. Look, Dan, I'm sorry. A'ight? I got carried away with this girl." I sigh into the pillow, as my stomach continues to churn unpleasantly. Resting a hand on my head, I groan, "I really need painkillers."
Dan ignores my last sentence and asks, "What about Alyssa?"
I growl and sit up. "What about Alyssa? I'll never get her, she thinks I'm a fucking criminal! And her boyfriend ended up cheating on her and she's all upset and worked up and probably doomed to hate the entire male population for the rest of her life. There's no fucking point-"
"She's not gonna hate men for the rest of her life. That's stupid - all women get married or have a boyfriend at some point and those who don't wish they could."
I lift my head and look at him, feeling amused for the first time today.
"Besides, a body and face like hers was made to either please man or torture man. It can't be wasted!" He exclaims passionately, pumping his chest with his fist and doing the air grab and everything like a total nerd.
I press my hand over my face and grumble, "That girl doesn't deserve me."
I see Dan shake his head. "You're gonna have to stop using that as an excuse. Make her deserve you. You have to seize the day, seize any opportunity!"
I look at him with amusement, my brother preaching carpe diem to me. Then I sigh and lie back down. "I don't have any opportunity-"
"Oh I've seen the way she looks at you, Jack. All girls love you anyway..."
I remember the day before yesterday, Thursday, when we were up on The Overlook and my stomach twists in a way that is different from anything caused by how much I drank last night. I remember the way she was curled into a ball, tears streaming down her face and how I had no choice but to just hug her tight. At first I'll have to admit it was awkward, and I hardly knew what to do. But I think she needed just someone to hold onto, someone to talk to who wasn't anything to do with the bastard Will, someone who hardly knew anything about the idiot.
It hits me how vulnerable that girl is. She's strong in a different way than everyone else, which I don't think I knew how to explain yet. All I wish is that we were closer and I could see her everyday . . . Before, I should have got to know her even better. If I had have known her boyfriend was going to fucking cheat on her then I would have done something.
-
I end up staying in to sleep off the hangover and when I wake up I feel slightly fresher. After taking a shower I have a sort of brunch even thought it's three in the afternoon, and that's when the door rings. Dan is in his room on the computer for school work so I haul myself up from the table (which is cluttered with various food items and drink cartons) and go to answer the door.
It's a girl, around fourteen or fifteen, and she's blonde. I'm talking that white-blonde, but natural, dazzling shade which is almost white, pulled back from her pretty face. She's about five foot two or something so I'm strongly reminded of Alyssa and the way I feel like I tower over her.
"Hey," I say to the girl as she looks up at me with a shocked expression in her dark blue eyes. I hope she's not bloody selling something because it's always awkward when it's a child and you have to turn them away. I notice a bag hanging on her left shoulder.
"Oh. Hi," she replies, looking rather overwhelmed, or confused. "Um- Is Dan in? Do I have the right address?"
Does she have the right address. Dan looks so much like me that you'd have to be thick to not realise I'm his brother and vice-versa. I lean against the doorframe and check her over before raising an eyebrow. She looks terrified by this point.
"Yeah," I tell her. "Are you his new girlfriend?"
Her chalk-pale cheeks suddenly fill up with so much colour it's unbelievable. She begins to stutter. "Uh- I, we- He said he'd help me with Chemistry today," she replies quietly, her head hanging. "I'm Christie, by the way." She looks back up at me with a shy smile.
I'm not annoyed that she's here, I'm more amused. And even though Dan could have mentioned something I'd like to see what goes on so I nod with a friendly smile and step back to let her in.
"I'm sorry, Dan didn't tell me you were coming," I inform her as I lead her up the stairs. I could just let her go up by herself but I really want to see what Dan's gonna be like with her in front of me.
"Are you Jack, then?" Christie asks me and I feel like doing a face palm. At least all the girls I get with know how to put two and two together.
But, "Yep," I reply nonchalantly and then when we reach the top of the stairs I gesture to Dan's door. "He'll be in there."
Then I casually go into my own room and began to 'tidy up', as I hear her knock. Soon the door opens and I hear Dan say excitedly, "Oh, hey! I didn't hear the door."
A giggle. Then, "That's okay. How's it going?"
"Good! Good." I can practically imagine him bouncing around like some sort of excited pixie horse.
That's when I snort aloud, and there's silence. I freeze, trying to control my laughter but still neither of them speak. So I have to go casually out of my room, towards the top of the stairs.
I don't make eye contact.
-
An hour and a half later they're still up there. Occasionally I hear a laugh from my brother or a high pitched giggle from Christie as I read my biology textbooks.
Stella, Jess and Ella walk in some time later. They've all got rosy cheeks from the cold and Jess immediately comes to sit on my lap, the other two girls sitting on either side of me.
I stroke Jess's tangled hair as she begins to chat to me, full of life, about what they got up to in town. I do love my siblings. With them I feel like I've got a place, not just because of my responsibility - although that does play a big part.
Ella is just like another of my sisters. Her and Stella were born on the same day, and our mum and her mum were on the same ward. When mum passed away, her family were the ones who cried just as much as us. And they moved down here with us, because they knew my dad wouldn't be able to always be there for Stella and Jess. Although I've never gone to them for help.
"We bought a goldfish," Jess tells me. "I'm calling him Jack."
"Jack?" Ella cries out. "What!"
"Oh God, no," I laugh awkwardly and Stella rolls her eyes.
"It's because," Jess begins, "The fish looks lost." She pushes a water-filled clear sandwich bag into my face with a small orange fish floating around in it. "His expression is the same as yours."
"It is?" I ask halfheartedly, raising my eyebrows.
Stella shakes her head. "I don't know where she gets these ideas from."
"Come to think of it, she does have a point. . ." Ella trails off as she peers at my face.
We both stare at each other until I bring a cushion up to throw at her face. "Stop staring at me and go and put Jack the goldfish in a bowl."
My dad gets in after Ella and Christie leave at around half six. He comes in with a takeaway bag while me and my sisters are teasing Dan about his new girlfriend as he tries to watch the TV. Dan immediately gets up, starting a conversation with him, and Jess runs to him, jumping up and down at his feet. Stella and I give eachother a look which is sort of an silently decided way of showing exasperation, as dad picks Jess up and sits her on the edge of the table.
"Daddy, what have you bought?"
"Chinese," he tells her with a smile. Dan begins to take out plates, as Stella and I walk over.
"Hey, you two. How's it going?" He asks us. It sounds like we're acquaintances of his that he sees once a week or something. I dart out of the way, murmuring a "Fine" as Stella goes to hug him.
-
This Sunday, is my dad's day off. Instead of relaxing at home like any other person who was working non-stop would do, he decides it's best for us all to go on a great big family outing - to the mall.
Getting my sisters and I ready is like hell. I pull on one shirt to find it's stained from when I was painting with Jess, then I have to run down to find another shirt in the newly-done washing just as Jess is wandering around crying about her lost doll. I pull on a clean checked shirt and then pick her up, bringing her upstairs to her room while Dan runs past us looking for a belt.
In Jess's room, I tell her to pick out the clothes she wants and it ends up being a nightmare. She wants all the colours matching so I have to go through everything in her drawers to find a specific purple skirt, while she's still crying about her lost doll.
"Okay - I'll look for the doll, you get dressed," I tell her with exhaustion after finding the skirt. She looks up at me with watery eyes before nodding as I go out of the room, only to bump into Stella who is fully dressed. I frown as I inhale a strong, too-sweet perfume.
"Stella. What the hell- where did you get that perfume?" I ask as I step back. "How much have you got on?"
She frowns, and crosses her arms, looking offended. "It'll fade throughout the day."
"It better do," I growl, then notice how her eyes are rimmed with blue. "What's that?" I question, leaning forward and pulling the bottom lid of her eye down with the edge of my thumb.
She groans and immediately slaps my hand away, stepping back. "Eyeliner, Jack! Everyone wears it!"
I roll my eyes and then lean down to mutter, "You know what dad is gonna do when he sees that. Just- just tone it down or something."
We both look over at the closed door which leads into dad's room, and then she looks at me and nods. "Right."
He hates seeing makeup on Stella or Jess.
Half an hour later we're out the door and in the car - dad and I are in the front and Jess is squashed in between Dan and Stella in the back. I sigh and rest my head against the window as my dad starts up the car, and I feel my phone vibrate.
I quickly taking it out, my head full of images of Alyssa. But when I see Melanie's name, and "Wanna come round to mine? 7 is fine xx" on the screen, I immediately switch the whole thing off.
"Is that a new girlfriend?" My dad enquires with a smirk.
"It's just Ash's step-sister," I mumble.
Out of the mirror, I see Stella rolling her eyes. "What does she want?"
"Nothin' that you need to worry about."
Dan wants to go to get new headphones when we get there, so my dad leaves me to look after Stella and Jess.
"Meet us at Pizza Hut," dad tells me, "In about twenty minutes."
"Right," I mutter briskly as the pair of them walk away. "Okay, girls. Where do you wanna go?"
Jess jumps up and down excitedly, as she grabs onto my hand. "Build a bear. Build a bear workshop!"
I sigh as I get led to the yellow and blue themed shop full of stuffed animals wearing clothes. As Stella and Jess look at all the bears, I go over to this machine and start playing with the sound effects. I don't realise that I'm embarrassingly engrossed until someone taps me on the shoulder.
Turning round, I see a person I instantly recognise - Phillip, Alyssa's little brother. I look at him and grin, while he slowly smiles back.
"How old are you?" I say jokingly. "What are you doing in here?"
Phillip rolls his eyes, then adjusts his glasses. "Eleven. I'm getting a birthday present for my cousin who's turning five. I just thought I'd say hi. My mother is over there." He turns and points to the blonde I recognise as Alyssa's mother, looking through the piles of still un-stuffed bears.
He turns back to me. "You here with your sister?"
"Yeah," I smile. He talks like one of those posh kids with an IQ of two hundred or something, but really I know he's not a total snob. He and Alyssa are just insanely smart.
"Uh, so have you spoken to your sister?" I ask him casually.
He nods with a smart-looking smile. "Yes. I called her this morning, using my mobile of course. She's really loving university. Have you spoken to her?"
"The day she got there," I mumble faintly. Suddenly his mother is calling him from the other side of the shop, a pink bear in her arms. He sighs and then looks up at me and rolls his eyes as his glasses begin to slide down his nose. "Well, I'll see you. Have a nice day, Jack."
"You too, mate," I agree as I pat his skinny back. "Laters."
-
"Mmm, Jack..." Melanie whispers slowly into my mouth, her hands moving all over my bare chest. I've been in her room since midnight, because her mother and step dad are out of town and she doesn't want to go and stay with her dad and Ash and his mum. She still won't go to sleep. I just want to get out and get home as soon as possible now, but she obviously has had other ideas for the past two hours.
I sigh and kiss her back, before resting my head against the pillow beside her, sliding off of her.
"What time is it?" I mumble, as I turn onto my side under the sheets, wrapping my arms around her.
She looks at me, her black hair all wild and her lips swollen and red while she reaches behind for her phone. "Hmm.. It's ten past two. What do you wanna do now?" She whispers in a sweetly alluring voice, her eyebrows raising.
I smile and run my hands down her bare body before closing my eyes and bringing her close. "To be honest ... I'm feelin' pretty tired. Are you not?"
"Maybe just a little." She whispers, then runs her hand through my hair. "Thanks for coming over tonight, Jack. You're a really great guy."
I nod, already pretending to be drifting off. "It's alright. You're my best girl, Mel. Sweet dreams."
The simple charm which I use on every girl, so I can calm them down and let them leave me to my thoughts for a few seconds. I yawn as she snuggles her head close to my chest, warmth radiating off her skin against mine.
The next thing I know is that the bed is vibrating. I hear Melanie groan softly from beside me and I open my eyes, to look at her then the bed which our clothes are strewn across.
"It's yours," Melanie mumbles before inhaling deeply. "It's your phone."
I nod, and sit up, the duvet falling off both of us. I rummage through my stuff and her stuff before following the light in the pocket of my jacket, holding my phone up to my face and seeing Alyssa's name and picture on it.
"Who's the slut?" Melanie asks me sharply, resting her chin on my shoulder.
"She's not a slut. She's one of my best friends," I hear myself say protectively, defensively. Since when do I use that tone?"
Immediately, I press the green button and press the phone to my ear. "Alyssa?"
What the hell is she doing calling me at two in the morning? It only means that there must be a problem.
I listen closely, blocking out Melanie's angry face, and slowly the sound of sobbing fades into my ear. "Alyssa. Are you okay?" I'm almost shouting.
"No," comes a reply, an immediate reply. She sounds angry and scared and haunted. So many questions buzz madly inside my mind, so many that I want to throw them all onto her at once. But I settle with, "Where are you?"
More crying. Then, "I'm at The Overlook. Why aren't you here? I thought you were here. Where are you!"
I gulp, throwing the cover back and beginning to get dressed while supporting the phone next to my ear with my shoulder. "I'm sorry," I play along. She's drunk. For some reason that doesn't sit right in my mind - I can't imagine sweet, innocent Alyssa drinking so much. Or even possessing alcohol.
"I feel sick," she tells me weakly, her words all blending together, slurring together. Faintly, I hear the smashing of glass.
"Alyssa?" I call, thinking someone's broke into her car or something. "What's going on?"
She begins to sob again, violently into my ear. I quickly tie my laces. "I don't know ... Jack, I wanna go home," she whines, reminding me of a lost child. I feel my heart swell in my chest from the pain of listening to her like this.
"Shh, it's okay." I stare down at Melanie's navy carpet, before mumbling, "I'll be there in two seconds, I promise. Just hold on."
When I get off the phone, Melanie sits on the edge of the bed in front of me, still completely unclothed. She gives me a questioning look, and holds out her hands. "Um, who was that? Why the hell are you suddenly dressed and not in my bed?"
Looking at her, I shake my head, then run a hand through my messed up hair. "I need to go and help out my friend. I'm sorry..." I sigh and know I have to lean down and kiss her. She wraps her arms around me, before I lean back and she pouts. "I had a great night, Melanie. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"You had better be the first one to call me," she tells me before pointing her finger at me with a raised eyebrow. "Make sure I'm not around Ash though."
"Don't worry about it. You're the only one I'm calling." I smile with charm, winning a smile back in return from her. I take in the sight of her lying there in front of me so welcomingly and almost wish I could stay ... But then Alyssa pops back into my head and I quickly turn around, running down the stairs and to the thick, opaque outside night air.
---
I AM SOOO SORRY it's been so long since there was an update and I've left you with a rubbish chappie. But I'm writing the next one now, so don't worry - be happy. :D
Thank you so much for reading! If you read this, your friggin' amazing. Aaaaand... HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all have a wonderful 2013. And I also hope you had a great Christmas. Tell me you New Years resolutions in the comments below! ;)
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