Sarah
I wake up Saturday morning in an unexpectedly cheery mood. Feeling rather great, I walk down the stairs whistling. I skip the last flight of steps and take a right to the kitchen. Mum is seated inside and she looks up from her iPad when she hears me barging in.
"Someone's joyful today?" She points out amused and eyes my tired, but happy appear up and down.
"Yes, I am feeling rather awesome today." I tell her cheerily and sit down next to her to make myself some breakfast. While I wait for my tea water to boil, I ready a sandwhich with cheese and some yoghurt. Mum and I sit in a comfortable silence and eat. Whilst I scoop up the last of my yoghurt, I glance at the clock on our kitchen wall and realize that it is half past ten. Jack hasn't made an appearence yet and my curiosity is immediately awaken.
"Where's Jack?" I ask mum and drink the last of my tea.
"He's out in the garage," she tells me, still focusing on her newspaper. My eyebrows wrinkle together, the garage? What on earth is he doing there?
"The garage?" I repeat questioningly, but mum only hums in confirmation. She seems to be really into an article.
"What is he doing in the garage?" I ask, but mum doesn't seem to hear me. "Mum?" I say patiently.
"Hm?" She looks up questioningly at me.
"What is he doing in the garage?" I repeat patiently.
"Oh, nothing really. Working on his bike I guess." She says glancing down at the paper again. Quickly I snatch it over the table, away from her.
"Hey!" She protests narrowing her eyes at me.
"Thank you for the attention." I say sarcastically. "What bike? What are you talking about?"
"Jack inherited his father's old motorcycle, who is in a rather bad condition and therefore he is working on it out in the garage. He has done this for quite some time now, haven't you noticed?" Mum asks surprised and reaches absentminded for the paper.
"No." I mumble. "No I haven't." I wonder why that is and why Jack hasn't told me about this. Maybe he just haven't had the time?
"Well, this I must see." I tell mum and stand to clean up after me. Once I have finished I walk, rather quickly, towards the garage. My curiousity grows for each step I take. When I finally reach the garage and step through the door, I see Jack knelt before a large motorcycle. I am no expert on bikes so all I can say about this one is that it is black and, I believe, a seat for two persons.
"Hey Jack." I greet him, but he doesn't move from his position nor does he acknowledge me. That is when I notice the two ear buds popped into his ears and the low noise that is coming form them. He must have turned up the volume to its highest. Knowing that he won't be able to hear me, even if I screamed the loudest possible, I stroll up to him and give his shoulder a slight tap. Jack turns his head quickly and takes out the buds when he sees me.
"Oh, hey." He says standing up. Once he reach full length he proceeds to reach his arms long above his head, stretching out his back.
"Hey." I reply. "Whatcha got there?" I ask with a cocked eyebrow, looking around his torso.
"My dad's old bike." Says Jack, dragging a hand through his dark hair. His hands has stains of motor oil over them, Jack wipes them with a dirty cloth hanging on the bike.
"Where'd you get it from?" I ask, looking at it curiously. It is pretty bad shape and I don't think you would be able to ride it.
Jack seems rather uncomfortable with my question. "Er, I got it a couple of weeks back... It was my dad's and well, after he got himself killed it was passed down to me." He says distressed, dragging yet another hand through his hair. "So yeah." He says in one breath.
"Oh." Is all I have to say. I really don't want to push Jack into talking about his parents, it seems to disturb him deeply. "It seems to be in rather bad shape." I point out, changing the subject.
"Oh yeah? You should've seen it when I got it, worst shape I've ever seen it. Can't believe that he let it get that far, it's a great bike when properly taken care of and I'm getting there." Jack says a little proud and very determined. This is the first time I have ever seen him determined about something. It is nice to know that there are some things that Jack actually cares about. It is also good that he has something to keep his mind off now that his community service is over. I don't want him getting into anymore trouble.
"How long are you planning on staying out here?" I ask while examining some sort of tool.
"I dunno, not much longer. I am planning on taking a shower before Dan gets here." Jack says, making my mood drop immediately.
"Dan's coming here?" I ask gloomily.
"Yeah, he's picking me up and then we're going to his place."
"Oh." I say, feeling rather sad. I was thinking that him and I could spend the day together, it has been awhile since we did that. "I was going to ask if you'd like to hang with me, but if you already have plans..." I say quietly, putting the tool back into its place and picking at my thumb nail. "Some other time maybe." I let out quickly, not wanting to seem disturb. Without further ado I walk out the garage.
"Was he out there?" Mum asks when I am back in the kitchen and I fill a glass of water before answering.
"Mhm." I nod whilst drinking my water. Only seconds later Jack walks in and also makes himself a glass of water.
"How's it going out there?" Mum asks.
"Good," he answers and then starts talking about stuff I know nothing about. Feeling as if though I don't bring any addition to the conversation I leave them to it and walk over to the living room, slumping down in the sofa and turning the TV on. There is nothing particularly good on, so I just leave it to one channel as a background noise as I doodle around with my phone. I don't like it when it is too quiet. I try to ignore Jack the best I can, seeming that he is much more independent of me than I am of him. Nevertheless I can't help but notice when he walks up the stairs, taking of his t-shirt as he goes, to take a shower. It is as if though my eyes are drawn to him, even if I like or not.
Jack is gone for abruptly ten minutes before the doorbell rings.
"I wonder who that is." I hear mum call out. I myself am pretty sure of who it is and, to my great disappointment, I am correct.
"Hello Daniel." I greet him unhappily, opening up the door so he can step inside. "Jack is taking a shower, but you can wait in here." I tell him and make a gesture to follow me into the living room. Daniel only nods a hello.
I don't bother to check if he actually follows me or not, personally I would prefer if he stayed in the hall. I slump down on the sofa and, to my dislike, Daniel does the same.
"Darling, who was that at the door?" Mum calls out, making Daniel raise his eyebrows at me. I raise my just as high back at him, he is not going to boss me around for one minute.
"It was just one of Jack's friends, mum!" I call back, keeping my eye contact with Daniel. I wouldn't say that it is a friendly eye contact.
"Just a friend?" Daniel asks with venom in his voice.
I look at him with a frown. "What was I supposed to say?" I almost hiss. We are speaking rather hushed to each other.
"I'm not just a friend, I'm the friend. The best to be correct." Daniel points out, scrutinizing me with his eyes. "And you're nothing other than a chick he bangs every now and then." He tells me rudely and it is like a slap in the face. How does he know?
"C-come again?" I stutter, completely taken aback. I can feel my cheeks getting reader by the moment. Daniel doesn't have a chance to answer though, because Jack comes into the living room and interrupts our little chat. I am still chocked about what Daniel just said and can't help but stare shockingly at Jack. This he notices. I can't tear my eyes off Jack, my gaze becoming more and more desperate as I process what Daniel said. He cannot have told him about us, can he? And if he has, why? Jack notices my stare and his brows come together in a bothered way.
"Hey Dan, wait in the car for me will you? I'm just going to have a little chat with Sarah." He says distantly, not tearing his eyes off mine. Daniel huffs, but stands and exits the house.
Jack waits until he has entered the car, we can see it from the window, and then sits down next to me. "Is everything alright, Sarah?" He asks, taking my hand in his. I seem to have lost my capablity to speak and just shake my head in denial.
"I- I don't know." I say quietly, searching in his eyes for some sort of evidence of what Daniel said is true or not. Jack wrinkle his forehead and his lips sets into a thin line. I wonder what he is thinking. He then shakes his head and scootches closer to me.
"Whatever Daniel has told you, don't believe him." Jack says just as quiet and raises a hand to caress my cheek. "He's not too found of our developing relationship, even though he believes we're only friends." Jack says with a crooked smile. His words are a bit soothing. I don't give a shit if Daniel likes me or not, I am not very fond of him myself. Still, I am not sure if I can trust Jack fully. Then again, he has proven me wrong before and being suspicious will probably just cause trouble...
"You're probably right." I say with a little sigh, not actually believing his words. Jack smiles and leave a peck on my cheek. He then arises from the sofa and heads out to the hall.
"I'll see you later, okay?" He peeks his head into the doorway. I nod at his question and Jack proceeds to head out. I see as he takes a seat in the car and Daniel driving away. Yet agian Jack has left me for some reason and made me feel rather terrible. I don't know how much more of this I can take.