The morning had come and Jack still felt exhausted. That crazy dream really messed him up. Not to mention that his sleep was practically nonexistent because of how worried he was about experiencing the same dream. It was such an awful way to start the day, but not only that, a migraine has welcomed itself to make everything so much worse.
Jack decided to get up out of bed and walk inside his bathroom to wash his face. When he looked into the mirror, he exclaimed, “Wow! I look terrible!”
His eyes were as saggy as plastic bags; a burden of exhaustion was written all over his face. Jack sighed as he walked out, feeling all zombie-like. He put his clothes on and got ready for school. Still trying to remember the rest of the previous night’s dream, Jack realized he couldn’t. The only thing he could remember was the girl sobbing in the corner… and the fact that she didn’t have a face, which was so surreal to him.
As Jack closed his bedroom door his head began to hurt. “Argh! Why now, it’s probably because of last night. I should just forget about it all. I have to do things like normal and stay relaxed. Maybe seeing my friends will make me feel better? Stupid headache.”
Jack headed downstairs where his mom was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Normally he would be lured in by her cooking aromas, being excited about what she has cooked up for everyone and having a face full of happiness… but not today. Today, he couldn’t feel that. Instead, he couldn’t smell anything, let alone have a clear mind.
She hugged Jack and asked, “Did you have any more nightmares?”
Even though his head was pulsing, he didn’t want to worry his mom anymore so he hid the fact that he was experiencing a headache. “I slept fine, especially knowing that you and Dad were looking after me.”
She smiled. “Remember, you need to pack your lunch before the bus arrives.” She continued cooking, although she still seemed worried about her son’s well-being.
As Jack packed his lunch he glanced at the rose he had picked up yesterday. He noticed that it was dead. Why did it die… I barely had it picked for a day though? Mom had placed it in a glass vase with water, which should have been enough for it to live longer. That’s really strange how a plant would die overnight.
“The bus has arrived!” his mom shouted.
Jack packed his things, then said farewell to his mom as he headed out the front door. When he got on the bus, he stopped momentarily because the migraine shot up, enough to almost make him pass out. Jack got in and all the voices of every kid distorted his hearing, to the point all he heard was ringing. All their high pitched muffled voices before helped the migraine grow even stronger… The pain was unbearable for him, even walking through the aisle seemed like an eternity. A sea of fog swept before Jack in the moment he blinked. The intense throbbing in his mind was almost enough for him to collapse again, but he managed to walk it through to his seat and sat down.
As the bus headed towards school, Jack glanced out the window to see the usual broken part of Detroit. An area filled with homelessness, rotting homes, poor infrastructure, and graffiti was everywhere. But most of all, the bloodstained streets had a murderer guarding every corner who belonged to the gangs that ruled over the city streets.
As the bus came to a stop Jack spotted the park that no one went to. It was a park filled with cracked sidewalks, the playground equipment was rusted out and falling apart, trees that resemble anorexic people, and bloodstains across the ground. The only reason why no kid wanted to play there was due to all the crimes and kidnappings. The type where drug deals, rapes, shootouts, stone cold murders, was common. Even a kid would be involved in the crime itself or get caught in the crossfire.
Jack stared at the park with a look of sadness, knowing that no one would ever play in it, well not in his lifetime. As he was about to take a mini nap to sleep off his wretched migraine, he took one last glance and spotted a little girl wearing a black robe, standing in the middle of the dead park next to all the broken infrastructure, mysteriously from out of nowhere. Her skin was pale as snow and her hair was black with a tint of midnight purple.
For some odd reason, she looked up and stared directly into his direction. Jack’s heart started pounding faster and his face started to sweat a bit. As the wind blew, it swept her hair away from her face.
“Sh-She… has no face! It’s the girl from my dream!” Jack shouted, spooking every kid in the bus.
Jack began panicking and started screaming “NO!” over and over again. The bus driver got out of his seat and walked over to him. “What’s wrong, boy?”
Jack kept stuttering and couldn’t complete his words because he was so frightened. After calming down a bit, he explained there was a girl with no face. Everybody in the bus looked at him like he was crazy. Jack swore he wasn’t lying, pointing out the window to convince everybody there was someone there, but to his surprise, no one was there.
The bus driver became agitated. “You’re just imagining things, kid.”
“I swear there was someone there,” Jack exclaimed.
The bus driver shook his head, then continued to head to the front of the bus while everyone looked at Jack a little longer. After some time, they turned around and ignored him.
“I really need to stop thinking about it or else it’ll affect my day.” Jack closed his eyes to take a short nap before arriving at school, hoping it would calm him down.
When the bus finally arrived, his migraine got worse. Jack assumed that all he might need was a drink of water or something to ease the pressure.
While walking out of the bus and into the lane, Jack spotted Veronica and headed towards her. He tried to say hi to her but she seemed really upset, so he tried cheering her up by expressing a fake smile to hide his pain.
“Hey Veronica! How was your day yesterday?” Jack asked.
She didn’t respond. Instead, she ignored him and started walking away.
“Hello? Are you okay?” he shouted as he followed her. “Can you answer me! What’s wrong?!”
Veronica stopped and looked back at him with an angry look, although her eyes said something else, because she was on the brink of tears. Jack asked again, “Are you okay? Do you need someone to talk to?”
She kept staring without saying a single word, then she slowly walked towards him and pushed him. Her eyes streamed with tears. “Leave me alone! I don’t wanna talk to anyone!”
What’s her problem? I tried to ask her if she’s alright but she decided to make things worse by pushing me more, forcing me to go away?! Jack thought.
He got a little annoyed and asked her one last time, “Are you sure you don’t need anyone to talk to? I’m your best friend, you know?”
“Leave me alone!” she shouted angrily.
Jack clenched his fists out of frustration. “What the hell’s your problem?! I just wanted to ask what’s wrong and you wanna scream at me for no reason! Not only that but you want to push me afterwards?! Well, sorry for trying to cheer you up, I’ll just leave you be!”
Her eyes kept leaking sadness and looked very puffy. Jack was about to walk away but they started getting people’s attention. There was already a small crowd around them.
Veronica, who now seemed filled with guilt, quickly caught up and grabbed his arm. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Then why did you scream if you didn’t mean too? Screw that! I tried helping, and now you wanna be sorry?!” he shouted at her with a frustrated tone.
As Jack began to raise his voice, he felt his eyes starting to burn. Veronica noticed something was wrong with them too.
“Whatever! I’m leaving,” Jack said aloud, rubbing his eyes annoyingly.
Veronica jumped in front of him and looked even sadder. “Fine! Leave then!” She clenched her fists and her eyes turned misty again. “You jerk! I hope you suffer! I never want to see you again!”
In extreme anger, Jack pushed her out of his way to get to class. She fell to the ground and was so shocked that she started crying even more. Some kids who saw what happened came to her aid, but one kid tried to grab Jack’s attention and noticed something around him — a very faint black mist. The kid resisted and Jack kept walking, ignoring Veronica’s outburst as he headed off to class.
“What was her deal? I tried helping her and she wanted to yell at me! What a way to start the day!” Jack muttered to himself while storming towards class.
He arrived at class and sat down at his desk. He laid his head down to cool off or else he would feel like he was ready to explode. “But why would she do that? My emotions are all over the place. I don’t know if I should cry or scream at the top of my lungs!” Jack silently said with his head buried into his arms.
It was so frustrating to him, so much so that he couldn’t help but dig his fingers into his hair and scratch his nails deep into his scalp.
As the class waited for their teacher’s arrival, Danny turned up and walked towards Jack’s direction. He had a glint in his eyes, with his teeth crushed and showing. He had one fist clenched and he seemed ready to explode in anger.
Jack heard his angered footsteps approach him, so he lifted his head up. “What do you want?”
Without any hesitation, Danny pulled his fist back and punched Jack right in the face. Jack fell back in his chair which boosted his horrible migraine. Now he was infuriated.
Jack got up and shoved him hard. “What the hell is your problem?”
“I saw what happened between you and Veronica,” Danny shouted.
”Mind your own business,” Jack spat.
That migraine was at maximum after the punch Danny had given him. Something pulsed inside Jack’s mind. He grasped his head. The pain was so excruciating, but something didn’t feel right to him. The intensity was unbearable.
This throbbing sensation… It feels awful, oh my god! The pain, my vision. Everything’s going… black?!
Danny tried swinging again but Jack dodged his punch. He stood back up and looked at Jack in a funny way. Out of Danny’s surprise, Jack rushed at him and grappled the bully.
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As they were both struggling with one another, students quickly got up out of their chairs and stood to the side to watch this chaos ensue. Desks and chairs were pushed over to the side, some even accidentally ramming into other classmates as well who were too close to the action. Children screamed as they watched the two struggle, some cheered, some shouted for them to stop, but both Jack and Danny were too blinded by their hatred to stop.
Jack managed to take Danny down to the ground by making him lose his balance. He started punching his face with all the built up frustration and pain he had all morning. Jack kept punching his face with no end, bruising Danny’s face badly, while the rest of the class tried to break it up. They managed to get Jack off of Danny for a second, but that gave him the opportunity to sucker punch Jack.
Jack was infuriated, but he couldn’t take it any longer. He tackled Danny onto the teacher’s desk, and to Danny’s surprise Jack managed to lift and slam him on the desk, causing him to cough violently from the impact.
Jack then grabbed the teacher’s scissors and tried to stab Danny. Luckily, Danny caught Jack’s hand and both boys were struggling to get a grip on the pair of scissors. Students tried stopping Jack, but his strength felt like it wasn’t even human. It was as if they were trying to stop a fully built adult with the strength he had.
Normally when both Danny and Jack would fight they’d be even, nor would the fight ever go this route. This time Jack was like a completely different person, he felt murderous, and the lust for blood ran through his veins.
Danny noticed Jack’s eyes were off. He could see a faint black mist around Jack, as they kept struggling, pushing the scissors back and forth. Jack chuckled quietly like some maniac, then kneed Danny in the groin and as he was about to stab him, the teacher arrived and grabbed Jack’s arm in the nick of time. The tip of the scissors was barely an inch away from Danny’s eye.
“Jack! Are you out of your mind!” she shouted. “You could have killed him! Step out into the hallway! NOW!”
“Woah! What just happened?! How… when? Okay?!” Jack said shockingly.
He noticed the scissors in his hand and dropped them, feeling confused and dizzy. His classmates seemed terrified, almost like they’d seen a monster.
Before Jack could leave, he noticed Danny’s body quiver from shock. The fear in his eyes was that of someone who was close to death. He began to cry which made Jack feel even more upset.
The teacher buzzed the office to get the principal and forced Jack to stand in the hallway with them. With so much anger still inside him, Jack was ready to burst out at any moment. The feeling of confusion and frustration, it was too much for him to bear. He punched the concrete wall with such force his knuckles were shredded and started to bleed a little.
The teacher heard the force of impact and seemed worried for his mental well-being. She quickly got the first aid kit and treated his wound. Jack stayed quiet the entire time since he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone.
Later in the day, the teacher had both boys be separated during lunch time. The teacher made sure they didn’t fight again by following them to the lunch room. However, Jack still wondered why the principal hadn’t shown up yet.
The real question was, how did they fight when Jack felt like he practically had no control of his actions. For him, it felt like he was going into autopilot or something. Was he so enraged that he just attacked Danny like some blood thirsty psycho?! That was what he guessed.
Jack got his lunch out and sat at his usual spot on the table located closest to the exit of the cafeteria. Sarah and Anna joined him a little aftwards.
“Hey Jack.” Anna noticed Jack’s depressed expression and swollen cheek. “What happened to your face?”
Sarah sat next to Anna. “Yeah, not to mention how long it is too.” Sarah tried to get a chuckle out of Jack, but that didn’t work. “Usually my jokes would work, but you don’t seem like yourself today.”
He didn’t respond and stayed quiet. Anna noticed the bandages on his fist. “What’s wrong, Jack?”
Jack looked up at her and noticed she was already beside him. She looked worried, that wondrous face of beauty. He couldn’t resist and finally smiled, then sighed deeply. “It’s too much to tell, but to start it off I had a strange dream that forced me to sleep like poo, I have this gosh darn headache that won’t go away and keeps growing, plus… Veronica yelled at me for no reason.”
“Why would she though? What’s her deal?” Anna asked.
“I don’t know, but it got worse when I got into a fight with Danny and got kicked out of class.”
Sarah pulled out her lunch. “That sounds like a blessing to me, he’s annoying.” Sarah managed to bring a chuckle out of Jack. “Oh, so my jokes still have some sort of affect on you, that’s good.” She pulled out a sandwich and took a bite. “There’s still hope.”
Anna massaged Jack’s fist to ease his pain. “I’m so sorry that your day’s been poop, but I understand your frustration, Jack. I would have done the same.” She stopped massaging his wounded fist and raised one of her own and giggled. “Remember, I’m always here for you. Just like you’re always here for me.”
Sarah looked at them and chuckled. “So, when’s the wedding guys?” Anna laughed but Jack only blinked out of confusion.
“Wedding? The heck is that… Is that some sort of holiday?” Anna sighed with a confused smile and Sarah smirked all smug-like. Jack smiled too to keep the conversation from turning blue again. “Thank you though, the both of you. You’ve managed to evaporate the cloud over my head, for now.”
They both chuckled. Jack was glad that he had friends like Anna and Sarah. They knew how to make him feel better.
Sarah tried telling another joke, but instead she burped. “Damn it,” she said. They all laughed and Sarah blushed in embarrassment and took another bite of her sandwich. “Oh haha, laugh all you want guys.”
Jack was starting to feel better now knowing that his friends were there for him. The mood had brightened, and that cloud of gray gone at the moment, they enjoyed the rest of lunch with cheers and laughs. After a nice lunch, all three were ready to spend the rest of their time outside for recess at the playground. They grabbed their bags and headed out of the cafeteria to the playground with smiles on their faces, except for Sarah, who still seemed mad about the whole burping thing.
When they made their way to the playground for recess, Jack spotted Veronica all alone. To not stir any conflict between the two, Anna went to confront her, so Jack stayed away and hung around with Sarah instead.
After the two sat on some nearby benches, Jack noticed a weird symbol on her hand. “Hey Sarah… Did you draw that on your hand? And that necklace looks kinda funny too and creepy. What is it?”
Sarah quickly covered it with her sleeve and then covered the pendant on her necklace. “Nothing that would matter to you mister.” She safely dodged the question by burping again unintentionally, which caused Jack to chuckle.
Jack looked in Veronica’s direction and could see her shouting at Anna, as though they were arguing. He then saw Danny walk up to confront Anna, so he quickly rushed over to where they were to see what was happening, leaving Sarah behind.
“What’s your problem, Annabelle! Leave her alone. Can’t you see that she’s going through a lot?!” Danny stepped in front of Veronica and crossed his arms.
Anna looked at Danny, tilting her head in confusion. “Listen Danny, I don’t know what’s going on, but I was just wondering why she’s being so mean to Jack.”
Veronica jumped up and got emotional. Her voice was loud, constantly cracking, while she raised both fists and had bloodshot eyes. “I wasn’t trying to be mean! He-He pushed me!”
Anna sighed. “Well, yeah! He did it in anger. You have to understand his point...”
Danny jumped in and said, “Well maybe if he wasn’t being such a jerk and pushed her, I wouldn’t have punched him!”
Jack butted into the conversation, surprising Veronica. “Hey! I didn’t do anything. All I did was try to cheer her up, but she gave me an attitude. She also wished suffrage upon me!”
Danny backed away, his eyes widening. He looked at Veronica as he pointed at Jack. “Yo-You were trying to kill me though! When we fought, he tried stabbing me with scissors!”
Everyone looked shocked and all their eyes were set on Jack. Anna grabbed his hand. “Is that true, Jack?”
Veronica became a little jealous, turning a little red and tried grabbing Jack’s hand too, but Anna bared her teeth. “I think you’ve done enough Veronica. Just go away before you make the situation worse.”
“Me?!” she shouted. “How dare you… none of you, especially you Anna, know what’s going on with me!”
Anna crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Being a little attention seeking I see. Well, it’s your fault that he reacted the way he did, it’s your fault for not telling him what’s wrong, and it’s your fault that things escalated the way it did.”
Their arguing continued and was starting to heat up. Their teacher came to stop all of them before it got ugly. He started to escort Danny and Jack to the principal’s office, but out of nowhere Veronica said, “Jack punched me and called me names.”
Anna got extremely upset. She rolled up a sleeve and made an angry grunt. “Oh! That’s it! I’m going to teach her a less—” But before she could do something to Veronica, Sarah stopped her.
Jack looked back at Veronica and gave her a cold stare, the stare of someone who was just framed and betrayed. “So that’s what you meant about me suffering?” Jack chuckled maniacally. “Screw you… you stupid bitch!”
Everyone was in utter shock. With eyes wide and gaped mouths, nobody could’ve imagined someone like Jack saying such a vulgar word. In that brief second, Jack’s tone was full of anger, and it deepened.
Anna was more shocked than everyone else. Her expression was more exaggerated and in utter disbelief. She shook her head slowly. “Jack… ” Anna said in disappointment.
Ignorantly saying it without learning its origins, Jack learned that word from a TV show he watched at one point. His parents found out later and told him to never watch it again without explaining why.
The teacher yelled in sheer anger at Danny. “You are cleared to go, Danny. But you, Jack, you’re going to the principal’s office.”
Grabbing Jack’s hand, the teacher angrily dragged him to the principal’s office. Jack looked back one last time and saw Veronica on her knees crying. He truly felt like a jerk.
While marching towards the principal’s office, the teacher decided to scold Jack for his language. “How dare you mister! How could you use such a disgusting word towards a girl. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Jack smacked his lips in response, which angered the teacher further. “Ooo, I can’t wait for your punishment, you rude little devil.”
They arrived and he forced Jack to sit down on one of the chairs outside the principal’s office while wiggling a finger near his face to stay put. He knocked on the door and they allowed the teacher in. Jack, on the other hand, sat there in total silence and disbelief.
He shook his head and smacked himself on the face. “What have I become?” he muttered to himself. “In the span of half a day I’ve become a freaking monster. This isn’t who I am. Why has this day been so awful to me? Damn this headache.”
After sitting for a couple of minutes the principal called for Jack’s presence. He obliged and got up, then walked into his office with his fierce eyes locked onto Jack the moment he stepped in. The principal told the teacher to leave. He did so and excused himself.
“Now Jack, tell me what truly happened? What has made you become a delinquent all of a sudden?” the principal asked.
Jack heard him, but didn’t bother to reply. His head hurt way too much for him to speak, let alone breathe. So Jack only hung his head in shame.
The teacher dropped his hands and leaned back on his chair. “I can’t help you if you don’t answer me, Jack. So please, do tell me your story so I can understand your situation and see what type of punishment I should ensue.”
Jack still didn’t answer, the only thing the principal got out of Jack was his breathing.
“Okay then, you will spend the rest of the day in my office, and I’ll be making a phone call to your parents later.” He stood up and left his office, leaving Jack all alone to wallow in his own shame.
For the rest of the day, Jack sat in the principal’s office waiting for the school day to end like he said. Jack already presumed they were going to be disappointed in him, especially his mother.
When the school day finally came to an end, Jack headed towards the bus lane to watch the buses leave because he had to wait for his mom to pick him up. He took a seat at one of the outside lunch tables. “It sure is a nice day… too bad it didn’t go so well for me. I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like? Hopefully better than today.”
Jack closed his eyes, but felt someone wrap their arms around his neck. He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder. He saw a tongue sticking out, a golden shade of blonde shining over the horizon of his eyes, and those green eyes. Of course, it was just Anna being silly.
“Hey Anna.” Jack looked at her arms. He noticed there were some bad scratch marks. “More importantly, what happened to your arms?!”
She quickly let go of him. She panicked and unwrapped the sweater she was wearing earlier in the day around her waist. “Oh it’s nothing!” Anna nervously said as she finally pulled down the sweater, covering her arms completely. “My cat just scratched me, that’s all. Ahem, why aren’t you going on your bus though, Jack?”
Jack clenched his fists and stood up. “I have to wait for my mom because that damn principal called my parents.”
Anna smacked his back. “You really hurt Veronica’s feelings you know? Now she’s blaming herself for everything. I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean to snitch on you like that.”
He sat back down and felt guilt building up inside him. “Yeah… I guess you’re right. I am a jerk.”
Anna comforted Jack and sat beside him. “You are a jerk, but I’d say you’re a nice jerk.” She giggled and leaned against his shoulder. “You made me feel better, especially what you told me yesterday… We didn’t finish our conversation, did we?”
He looked at her and smiled. “No, I guess we didn’t. What did you want to tell me, Anna?”
She stayed quiet for a moment and sighed. “You promise you won’t tell anyone?”
Jack wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. “I promise Anna, I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.” Anna looked at him with a gentle smile.
“Wait!” Jack detached his necklace that his mom gave him before she could say anything else. “Well… if it’s you, I’m sure my mom won’t be too mad.”
“Wh-What are you doing with that necklace Jack?!” she asked nervously as her body started to quake.
Jack surprised her by wrapping the necklace around her neck. Her face turned red and she touched the pendant, then admired its beauty. He stood up and stepped back to get a better look. “Wow! Anna… you look really beautiful with it on!”
What’s this strange feeling inside my stomach? I can feel my face burning! Jack thought.
Anna was so red with embarrassment. “Is this… an early birthday present for me?”
“Uhh… well, it’s just a show of gratitude for always being there!” he said while scratching his cheek out of nervousness.
She stood up and faced Jack, then embraced him. “I should be the one who should be thanking you for always being there when I need someone.”
They both smiled as they held each other. They let off of each other, Anna was ready to spill the beans.
She fiddles with her fingers, and turns red again. “Jack… I-I don’t know, or how I should explain this but… I-I think—”
“It’s okay, take your time.”
Anna nods, and closes her eyes. “I think I might… like girls, somehow. I-I can’t really explain it, but it feels that way, like something made me change my mind, I don’t know, do you understand?”
She opened her eyes and saw one of Jack’s eyebrows raised and his hands on his hips.
Jack stood there baffled, and confused. He tilts his head and scratches it. “Uhh, what do you mean by that? I don’t seem to understand your point fully. I mean doesn’t everyone like everyone equally?”
In that moment Anna had realized that Jack truly was a dense fool. From yesterday's events to now, she couldn’t resist herself and burst out in laughter. Jack didn’t understand why she was laughing, so it annoyed him a little, but afterwards he too laughed.
Anna finally stopped her laughter then finished with a giggle. “You truly are a big dummy you know that?”
“Is that so… Well I should really teach you a lesson for always calling me a dummy, how about it?”
“You’re so silly, well, I have to get going, bye Jack. Thank you, for always cheering me up, you truly are my best friend.”
Anna hugs Jack one last time, and let's go. She walks away, looking back one last time to wave goodbye to him and proceeds onward to get to her bus. Buses were beginning to close their doors, she hurried so she wouldn’t be left behind. Jack stood there, alone, and confused, he can’t help but let out a chuckle after what just happened. The smile on his face was wide, Jack couldn’t have asked for anyone better than Anna.
As Jack watched every bus leave one by one, when the last one drove off, he gazed up at the blue sky and sat back down. He began thinking again about all these turn of events, the incident with Veronica, the fight with Danny, but most importantly, the secret that Anna just revealed to him, leaving him completely confused.
Jack sighs, and glances at one of his palms, still feeling the grip of those scissors that were about to possibly end Dany’s life today if it weren’t for the teacher coming in to save him.
Jack’s eyes quivered as he stared hard at his palm now tainted by murderous intent. “Did I really do that? If so… why can’t I remember.” Jack closes his palm, he lets out one last sigh as he waits for his mother to pick him up, allowing him to bask in his own solitude of shame.