39: What did I do?

There was a scream, followed by a cry for help. There comes a point in life when all hope is lost, when it’s time to throw the towel in and accept fate. That time had arrived, and as the darkness closed in on him, gripping him in an overwhelming sense of impending doom, Jack screamed even louder.

“All right, you know what? I have to ask, and if for nothing else, then for my own sanity. Jack, why did you put a pumpkin on your head? No, better yet, where did you even find a pumpkin, and why did you bring it to school?”

Jack’s voice was mumbled, his entire face trapped inside of the pumpkin. It was dark and smelled inside … like a pumpkin, which for some reason came as a surprise.

“Because, Adam, Melissa is angry with me over something and I don’t have any idea what it is. I wanted to bring her roses to apologize.”

Adam sighed. “So I’ll ask you again: why are you standing in the middle of a bathroom with your head stuck in a pumpkin?”

Jack was getting annoyed, and more than a little impatient. He didn’t want to answer all of these questions, but he knew Adam wouldn’t help without the full explanation.

“Because, I didn’t know how expensive roses were. They were way out of my price range.”

“So … you bought Melissa a pumpkin instead? You know what, fine, whatever, in your world maybe that makes perfect sense. But why is it on your head?”

Jack felt embarrassment spread over him, knowing he’d need to be honest with Adam. “Well, I was watching The Nightmare before Christmas last night, and I got this really cool idea that I wanted to look like Skeleton Jack. Get it? Because my name is Jack, and so—”

“Yes, Dammit I get it,” Adam interrupted.

Jack tried again to tear the thing off his head, but he was sealed too tightly inside it. The darkness wasn’t even the worst part, although it came close. The worst was the slimy, slippery feeling inside of the air-constricting pumpkin. “Get it off!” Jack yelled. “It’s killing me!”

“Will you stop acting like such a baby? You’re not going to die to a pumpkin. Just … I mean, I don’t even know what to say here, Jack. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen, even coming from you. Hold still, all right? Maybe if we both kind of, you know, pull it up at the same time? Here, try this.”

Together they pulled on the pumpkin, Jack prying at it with all of his might. There was a pain in his neck, the pumpkin protesting its removal, until finally, with a loud pop, the cursed object was ripped from his head. Jack was sweating, and he looked down at the thing in awe. He shook his head like a dog drying itself off, sending bits of pumpkin all around the bathroom. Adam frowned at him, pieces flying at him and clinging to his shirt.

“You’re an idiot,” he muttered.

“Well, at least we know something important now,” Jack said. “There’s a positive side to this: now we know why it’s not a good idea to use pumpkins this way.”

“There are so many things wrong with what you just said that I’m not even going to bother pointing them out. Come on, we’ll be late for math. And please, Jack, throw that damned thing out.”

Jack followed Adam out of the bathroom and into the crowded third-floor hallway of Elms high. It was a scalding hot day, and the school lacked any kind of air conditioning. All around students were sweating while they shuffled through the overcrowded hallways and on to their next classes. It was the last week of school before summer vacation, something that had Jack riled up and excited. Finally, there would be a vacation from the hell that was school.

It had been two weeks since the incident in Staten Island, and as Jack walked through the hallway with Adam, his mind once again wandered, trying to remember what he could’ve done to upset Melissa. The team hadn’t bothered him since the ordeal, giving Jack the most freedom he’d had in a while.

After Deven had taken Jack home, he was told that his team was being given some time off to rest and recover. At first, Jack was thrilled to hear this. He planned on spending some time with Melissa, and maybe even going out on that date she owed him. Unfortunately nothing was happening as planned.

Melissa wanted nothing to do with him. She didn’t answer his calls, she didn’t speak to him, and when Jack texted her and reminded her of their deal, she told him that the deal was off and that he should go to hell. Jack had literally no idea what he could have done to her. Was it because he’d told her he liked the older Star Trek movies more than the newer ones?

No, that couldn’t be it. Melissa doesn’t like any of those movies to begin with.

Then, he wondered if it was because he kissed Sandra, the girl known as Requiem. No, that couldn’t be it either, because right after that happened I asked her if she was angry about it, and she said, “No, why would I care? You can do whatever you want, Jack. Don’t let me stop you. I’m not angry at all. In fact, you can go out and kiss all the crazy murderous skanks in the world for all I care.” Yeah, so there’s no way she’s mad at me for that. Damn, what could it be? Why are women so mysterious?

People pushed and prodded through the tight hallway, the excessive number of bodies adding even more heat to the already unbearable third floor. Jack’s hair was more of a mess than usual, wet from the pumpkin and now dripping with sweat. His shirt was damp too.

“Jack, where are you going?”

Jack looked behind him, realizing he’d walked past the class. “Sorry, I was thinking about something.” Jack spun around and walked back towards Adam, trying to think of some reason for Melissa’s behavior. He entered the new classroom, built after Jack’s—accidental—destruction of the older one, something he still didn’t remember doing.

Most of the class was already seated, the bell only moments from ringing. Jack and Adam took their seats in the middle of the class, removing their books and preparing for the lesson. From the moment Jack entered, the entire class focused their attention on him, whispering and pointing fingers. Melissa, for almost an entire week, had followed Jack around, never leaving his side and protecting him from the two Psychs that’d been pursuing him.

It was something the students of Elms high could only take one way: Jack and Melissa had been two of a kind, inseparable, and madly in love. Melissa hadn’t bothered to deny it at the time, because she’d been too busy trying to watch her surroundings.

If anything could be said about the students of Jack’s school, it was that they were an observant bunch. They took notice of the way Melissa avoided Jack now; whispers followed him wherever he went. If that wasn’t enough, the other boys were moving in to try to date her; word was quickly spreading that Melissa Sayre was once again available.

“I think he cheated on her, Trish. Jessie told me so,” whispered a girl’s voice from behind Jack. He moaned, wondering where all these rumors were coming from. Didn’t they know he could hear them?

“No—way! I heard the same thing. Do you know what I heard today in English class?” her friend whispered back. “They’re saying Jack Harris is a sexual animal, and that he was seeing four other girls at the same time he was seeing Melissa. And that—”

Jack covered his ears, wondering why life always went from bad to worse. The bullying had gotten worse, too, because now the bullies were jealous in addition to whatever other reasons they had to pick on Jack. Even though it only lasted a week, they were still agonized by the thought of a loser like Jack dating Melissa in the first place. He tried to tell them it wasn’t true, and that they were only friends, but no one seemed to believe him. Well, no one except Adam.

Jack still hadn’t told Adam about everything that’d happened. In the beginning he planned on it, almost looked forward to it. These days, he realized more fully the need for secrecy. It was a dangerous world Jack lived in now, one that he didn’t want Adam to be a part of.

Jack heard the click of feet against the marble floor, and he turned to look at the gorgeous blonde approaching his desk. “Hey there, Jack,” she said. “What’s up?”

Ever since he started associating with someone as popular as Melissa, out of nowhere, girls were starting to talk to him. The bullying didn’t stop from the guys, but on the other end of the playing field, things were going pretty well.

“Oh, hey, Barbara. Umm, nothing much. How about you?”

She was pretty, though to Jack no one was as pretty as Melissa, except maybe Sandra. Barbara had a few cute freckles and a tiny pair of silver glasses that made her even more attractive. She looked both smart and sexy, and at one point in time, Jack would’ve passed out just by speaking with her. These days, he only had eyes for Melissa. She was the girl of his dreams. Well, sometimes Sandra, too. He had no idea why, but he was caught between the two of them in a bad way.

All he could think about was Melissa and Sandra, and his mind wouldn’t let him pick only one. A thought occurred to him.

Maybe that’s why Melissa is mad at me? Maybe she thinks I like Sandra?

Jack tossed the idea from his mind and discarded it in his mental trash bin. Melissa didn’t like him that way; it was the simple truth. Jack tried so many times—almost always humiliating himself—to show her how much he cared for her. Each time she shrugged it off or teased him about it. Sandra, on the other hand, looked at him in a way that set a fire off in his belly.

Just remembering the night he saved her made sweat pour off his face like a running faucet. The way he held her in his arms, the way she’d gazed up at him with a look so filled with love and gratitude. Jack couldn’t get the memory out of his mind.

I need to go check on her.

Deven had assured Jack that she’d be kept out of the facilities and that she’d be taken care of. Jack wanted to see for himself, and with a silent nod, he promised himself he’d go looking for her the first chance he had.

“I’m good,” Barbara said. “Hmm, have you been working out, Jack?”

“Umm, not really,” Jack answered. Melissa was watching the exchange, and she gave him an evil, dark look.

Now what is it? Jack wondered. Oh, I know! She’s angry because she’s worried I might tell Barbara something about Psychs. That’s why she gives me an angry look every time I talk to girls. She thinks I’ll spill out our secrets. She should really trust me more.

Jack winked at Melissa then pointed to Barbara, nodding his head, a gesture he hoped would tell her everything was fine. She seemed to grow angrier, her face contorting into a full on scowl.

Man, I have no idea what’s going on. Why is she so mad at me?

“Class is going to start soon, Jack,” Barbara said. “I need to get back to my seat. Hey, maybe you could show me how to play those card games you and Adam are always up to. They look so fun.”

“Whoa, really! I’d love to teach you how to play Magic the Gathering. Jeeze, last year you laughed at me whenever I played that game.” Jack sighed. “I guess in the end no one can resist the draw of the Plainswalker!”

“Ahh, yeah … that’s it. Talk to you later.” She blew him a kiss in the air and walked away. Jack tried not to blush.

The classroom door opened and Mr. Munson entered, wearing a top hat and a pair of slacks. “What time is it!” he called out, sliding into the room like a performer.

As usual, only the math geeks in the front, and Melissa in the middle, called out the answer. “Math time!”

The teacher reached into his bag and removed a sheet of paper, then began taking the day’s attendance.

“Emily Carnell,” Mr. Munson called, reading from names off the sheet.

“Here!” a cheerful voice replied.

Jack filtered out Mr. Munson’s voice and entered a state of deep thought, thinking of some way he could get back on Melissa’s good side. He realized that he only had one option: he’d have to try to ask Melissa yet again what he’d done wrong, and hope that this time she’d tell him.

No matter how much he wished otherwise, Melissa would never like him as anything more than a friend, but he wanted to at least remain that. The fact that she wasn’t speaking to him wasn’t even the worst part—he still had to see her every day. Lately, Melissa had been coming over his house more and more often. She’d have tea and discuss stupid, girly, boring things with his mom while the repairmen fixed up their wrecked home.

Every time Jack entered the room to get a drink or a snack, both Melissa and his mother would glare at him and halt their conversation until he left. Alana usually looked amused, as if she was forcing the glare for Melissa’s sake, but it didn’t make Jack feel any better.

“Jack Harris.”

Jack was still deep in thought; he felt a sudden panic at hearing his name called out loud.

“Whatever it is I didn’t do it!” he yelled.

The entire class burst into laughter, and Jack felt his face flush with embarrassment. Everyone already thought he was an idiot, and now he was once again proving them right.

I am an idiot, he thought with a frown. Even Melissa’s laughing at me now.

“Didn’t do what, Mr. Harris? This is attendance. Just say ‘here’ or ‘present’, will ya? I see someone has a guilty conscience. Oh, and by the way, Mr. Harris, nice job finally passing a test for once. I don’t know how you did it, but everyone give the kid a round of applause. Mr. Harris scored a whopping seventy-one on the last test!”

Jack was further humiliated as the class broke out into a round of applause. At least he wouldn’t have to go to summer school. Finally, he would have a summer all to himself, assuming Paro didn’t drag him on any more ridiculous cases. Melissa’s tutoring had really paid off.

Mr. Munson taught until the bell rang, as he always did. He didn’t believe in letting the students go early. Jack waited for Melissa to leave, before bolting out of the room and following after her. She didn’t look behind her when she spoke, and Jack had to strain to hear her over the hum of voices from the hundreds of students scrambling to their next class.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice passive and uncaring.

“Melissa, please, can you at least tell me what I did wrong? You’ve been ignoring me for weeks, and I don’t even know why. I just wanna talk.”

Melissa stopped short and spun around on him. It was so fast that Jack almost bumped into her. She had a look of disgust on her otherwise beautiful face, several strands of her golden hair falling over her eyes.

“Oh!” she shouted. “That’s surprising.”

Jack gulped. “What is?”

“Oh, you know. That Jack Harris wants to speak to someone like me. After all, I thought you only liked to talk to girls that go around murdering people.”

Jack scratched his head. He had no idea what Melissa was talking about. “Wait, what?”

“Well, let’s see. I guess if I went around ripping people’s hearts out, we’d have more to talk about, wouldn’t we? Go away, Jack. I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

Jack rubbed his eyes, trying to make some sense of it all. He gasped as a thought came to him. Wait a minute. Could it … could it be she was lying when she said she didn’t care about me and Sandra? Is something like that even possible?

Jack chose his words carefully. He knew that right now, more than anything else, he needed to be tactful. He had to make absolute sure that he didn’t slip up and say something that would only make Melissa angrier. Jack knew exactly what to say; he was learning more and more about the way women thought. Jack grinned, sure that what he was about to say would make everything better.

“Melissa, are you jealous?”

As a red handprint formed on his face, and Melissa stomped her feet, marching away, Jack realized he’d made yet another mistake. “I need to call Michael,” he said aloud. “This has officially gotten out of control.”

Jack didn’t realize that Adam was behind him until he felt his friend’s arm on his shoulder. “Jack,” he said. “Maybe you shouldn’t speak to her from now on without memorizing a script. I saw all of that, and it was just awful. What were you thinking?”

Jack shrugged. “I don’t even know. But I’m not giving up, though. I’ll make her like me again, even if it’s just as a friend.”

As Jack walked with Adam through the boiling hallway to their next class, Jack hoped he’d find a way to make Melissa forgive him.

Even though I didn’t do anything! he reminded himself.

****

Sebastian checked both ends of the dark hallway before closing the door behind him. The girl was sitting on his bed, a massive grin on her face. She was becoming intolerable, bugging him nonstop for days.

Sebastian had spent over a decade trying to locate Cyrus. He’d gone through hell and for the sake of getting closer to the man—and for what? So some love-stricken teenager could ruin it for him? He’d abandoned his family, his wife, his son, and everything that mattered to him.

“What is it now?” he asked. “You should be in your room.”

Requiem frowned. “I wanted to talk, Darling. Besides, my room is too close to the stench. I’ve been smelling fish guts in my dreams.”

Sebastian sat on a chair next to the bed and rested his head in his palms. “What do you want to know this time?”

Requiem’s face lit up with one of her rare, genuine smiles. “What is his favorite color?”

Sebastian was in awe at the girl. As crazy as it was, he was beginning to believe she was only there to find out more about his son, putting her life at risk to ask foolish questions. “It’s blue, I think—hey, can you please get that dog off my bed?”

“No!” she snapped. “Mr. Wellington goes wherever he pleases. Isn’t that right? Oh yes it is,” she said, kissing its nose. The dog wagged its tail and licked her face.

“How did you even find me?” Sebastian asked. “Do you have any idea how much danger you’ve put your life in by coming here? You just show up out of the blue with a dog and say you’re my stepdaughter. Are you nuts?”

It took Sebastian a moment to realize the dampness in his eyes was a result of the girl spitting in his face. He glared at her. “What the hell was that for?”

“Silence! You don’t get to ask me questions. Now, tell me another story about Jack.”

Sebastian was quickly growing tired of the girl. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of his family. He’d missed out on most of his son’s life, for a purpose that couldn’t be ignored. Cyrus needed to be stopped, and even if it meant sacrificing everything, Sebastian was willing to do it. Yet, this was the first conversation he’d had about Jack in years, and he couldn’t help but feel a little interested, if not sad.

“Can you at least answer one of my questions first?”

Requiem nodded. “Very well, Darling.”

“What’s he like these days? I can’t imagine he’s any smarter than—don’t give me that look. Okay, fine, let me cut to the chase: is he a Telekinetic like his mom and I?”

Requiem’s answer sounded casual and disinterested. “Hmm, no, I think he’s an Unrestricted, whatever that is. I didn’t know all the terminology until recently. Okay, my turn now. What is his favorite—”

Sebastian leaned forward and grabbed the front of her shirt. “Hey! Are you messing with me?”

Requiem narrowed her eyes on him then cast them down to look at his hands gripping the collar of her shirt. The dog growled, and her eyes turned dark. “Darling, remove your hands from me this instant.”

Sebastian forced himself to release the girl. “I’m sorry, but please, can you repeat that? Did you say he’s an Unrestricted?”

She shrugged. “Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. Mr. Wellington is sure too.”

Sebastian stood up and fell backward back into his chair. He needed to sit down.

Why? Why did it have to be Jack?