Jack Is a Jerk

Hey guys!

I don't tend to write a note such this before chapters anymore, but since this is a new story, I thought I'd owe you guys that at least.

Some of you asked on former stories that I have written...I would say THESE are my personal favourites AS WELL as those who gained me the most feedback from readers.

PATCHES (Adult Friends) SLENDER BEGGAR (Adult Friends) DOCTOR HANDSOME (Adult Friends) WHERE ARE YOU (Highschool) TWELVE-YEAR-OLD TYLER (Adult Youth) NEW KID RYAN (Adult Youth) RICH BOY POOR BOY (Highschool) I FUCKING HATE HIM (Highschool) DUDE WHAT THE FUCK (Highschool)

Please enjoy, should you wanna read them!

Anyhow, my newest attempt at WOWING you guys, is called JACK IS A JERK...and I hope you have a good read, as I have attempted to write it. Those who know my stories will tell ya I'm a real sucker for romance, and a happy ending. I just LOVE two high school aged boys discovering each other, giving in to their own temptations, amongst all the chaos and drama in their lives, but in the end...they always find each other LOL.

Peace and love! Ryan

JACK IS A JERK CHAPTER ONE

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO

"Nearly there, Kiddo...yeah? Almost home...and then we can have some fish fingers for lunch...how does that sound?"

The adorable three-year-old nodded happily as he carefully surveyed the area in which mother and son was now urgently walking home...the park which they had to get through, just outside their modest apartment was just beautiful, especially this time of the year. The flowers were all in bloom, the sun was out, the birds were chirping...and in the end his mother knew that it didn't take much to make a youngling of that age happy.

Sheridan Lavery checked her sides and even pretended to have dropped something onto the wet grassy terrain, to check if both of them weren't being following by someone from the back. As far as she could see, there was no obvious people or even a single person acting suspiciously in any way...but you can never be too careful.

Sheridan sighed.

He knew.

Curtis fucking knew. Jesus Christ Almighty.

She glanced downwards as young Jack, her only reason for living and breathing in this entire world, happily jogged ahead in front of her, picking up some of the crisp, orange leaves that had been scattered by the incessant Fall they had been having, and even brought some back for his mother, with a cute smile on his handsome face.

Every day...every single fucking day, she saw more and more of Curtis in him. It didn't make any sense to keep denying it any more...anyone out there could see that Jackie and Curtis were father and son...the resemblance was uncanny...too uncanny for her. There was no way that he could ever see this darling boy...no...NO!

This was the reason she had left her home town and had been hiding under a fake name for nearly three years...this was the reason that she left her family and ALL that she knew behind in 2010, to get away from the mess she had made of her life...only to discover that she was pregnant...and she knew only Curtis could have been the father. Sheridan ran her fingers gently over Jackie's clean blond hair, hugging him to her for just a second.

If Curtis ever finds this boy...he would fucking KILL her and he would take Jack and make him into his own personal mini me...she knew that...she knew what his much-feared Capetonian gang tended to do to their own offspring. The Ravens...the name alone was enough to send several shivers down her spine, so much so, that Jackie looked up from the hug that she was giving him and her eyes immediately softened as she saw he was confused...his three-year-old brain not yet developed to fully understand why his mother was suddenly crying.

"Did I do something wrong, Mommy?" he asked in his tiny, childish, boyish voice, the one that she had fallen so in love with in these past few years ever since he was born. She laughed slightly, wiping away said tears from both of her cheeks as quickly as possible, before she picked him up, and twirled him around just as she knew he always loved, the worrying frown across his beautiful face fast turning into a thunderous applause of laughter and enjoyment.

"Let's go home, okay?" she whispered, taking another look around her, before they were off to their apartment.

**

About two weeks later, Sheridan's worst nightmare had suddenly became a vicious reality.

Jack had been cooped up in the apartment for days now, as she had literally been too afraid to let him out of her sight. Her best friend from back home in Cape Town, Kimberley Starke, had managed to phone her, letting her know that Curtis had put up a reward several weeks ago for anyone who had any information about Sheridan and her son...THEIR son. Every gang in the Cape Town area knew that he was looking for them.

Sheridan wanted to ask Kimberley why she had taken THIS long to let her know what was going on, but since her friend was DATING Curtis right now and taking a massive risk even contacting her...his latest fling until he found someone better, that was...there was only so much that she was allowed by him on a daily basis...people who didn't live in Cape Town always tended to see the beauty, the stunning views and the breathtaking backdrops of the several tourist attractions...

...what they didn't see, was places such as the rural areas. Grassy Park, Blue Downs, Hannover Park...and the area where she was from...Mitchell's Plain to be precise. The multiple gangs down there was getting worse and worse, with murders and killings taking place there nearly on a daily basis...so much so, that residents who had no other choice but to live there, had by now accepted it as part of their normality.

Sheridan stood still when she reached the front door of her apartment inside the old building that she was renting at the moment, instinctively knowing that something as wrong as hell...her eyes were flashing all over the place...did she forget to close the door behind her when they left for the park this morning?

No...she wouldn't...she COULDN'T forget something as important as that. Jesus.

Her heart was beating so fast, it felt as if she was on fire. Clutching her son's hand, she slowly walked over towards the door, before she stopped and knelt down to face Jackie directly.

"Jackie...why don't you go over to Uncle Jasper's apartment for a while? Tell him I sent you and ask if you can stay there for a while, okay? Just down there, number ten, yeah? Mommy will come and fetch you as soon as I can!"

Jack looked back to where his mother pointed, and turned back to her with fear in his eyes.

"But I wanna stay with you..." he muttered, his voice on the verge of breaking into solid cries, but Sheridan hugged him to her body before he could.

"Jackie, please...please baby, just go over to Uncle Jasper's...Mommy will explain everything later, okay? And tell him not to open the door for ANYONE!"

The moment she was sure that her son was now longer in any sort of danger, Sheridan rose herself upwards to her full length. Come what may...she was ready to face the music. She was tired of hiding, tired of being afraid. If Curtis wants trouble, he's gonna get just that...she knew how to defend herself...she had learned from the best, and he would do well to remember that.

After checking several times through out the entire apartment, there was no one there, however it was clear that there WAS...at some point. Everything she owned had been thrown onto the floor, broken or had been damaged in some form. But THAT wasn't what was worrying her.

No...it was the fact that the framed photo of herself and Jack that was situated on her night stand, was no longe

Jesus. They found her.

She didn't know how...but they found her.

Thank God...thank everything that was Holy, that Jack had so badly wanted to go to the park that morning, otherwise...

...no use in thinking about this now.

If they were here before, they would be sure to be back. Especially now that they knew THIS was where they lived.

The Karoo was so far from Cape Town...FUCKING HELL how on earth did the Ravens manage to track them down? Did Curtis's army really stretch this far?

No shit, she had a couple of messages on her phone. Both of them were sent from Kimberley herself, sent hours ago, her phone being on silent all this time. Both, in no uncertain terms, pleaded with her to call her. Taking a deep breather, Sheridan poured herself a glass of water, and took a few sips, before she loaded enough airtime onto her phone, and dialed Kimberley's number, as she always when the latter would give her the all clear.

It rang for a few seconds, before she heard someone on the other line pick up...

"Kimmy? Kimmy, are you okay? Fucking hell, girlfriend, they were here! I don't know how, but we're gonna have to get the hell outta here...Kimmy? Kimmy, you there?"

"Hello babes..."

Sheridan dropped the glass of water that was still in her hand to smithereens onto the tiled floor, her breathing increasing by the minute.

"Where...what did you do to her? YOU BASTARD! Where's Kimmy?"

The by now, more than evil cackling laughter sent even more shivers down her body, as she closed her eyes and begged herself to calm down...there were times where she thought Curtis wasn't even human. He was a monster...a sick, twisted, MANIAC of an animal and she knew what he wanted. He wanted his son...he wanted his child.

There was no way she was gonna give him, what he wanted. Not a chance in hell. She'd rather DIE before giving her sweet boy to that scoundrel.

"Kimmy is no longer in the land of the living, Babes. Yeah...now you know what happens to people who cross me."

A small croak out of Sheridan's throat was evident as she closed her eyes, allowing the pent-up tears to flow for the obvious loss of her friend...she knew that something had happened to Kimmy...the very moment that Curtis answered the phone. JESUS! Why did she had to get involved with him in the first place? If she knew then what she knew now...

"Fuck Curtis, you didn't need to kill her!"

"SHUT UP! YOU BITCH! Now you listen to me...my men know where you are. And it's just a question of time before they get back here and tell me. I wanna be the one to get you and my SON MYSELF! Even if you run, Babes...I will find you. I will END YOU! And I'll take my son...my heir...my BOY...and make sure he NEVER knows who the hell you even were..."

"GO TO HELL!" Sheridan shouted in pure desperation, throwing the phone across the room, allowing it to smash against the wall with such velocity that it immediately scattered into a million broken pieces. She frantically searched for the SIM card, which she sliced in half with a pair of scissors, making sure that this number couldn't be traced.

It hit her like a hard cock to her face.

It didn't matter. Jesus.

Because they knew where she was.

The only reason why she wasn't...Oh God...why she wasn't in the exact same situation that poor Kimberley was in now...was because Curtis was adamant that he finishes the job himself.

"I have to get out of here...I'm not gonna fucking surrender myself like this...Jack...gotta get Jackie back..." she muttered, before she willed herself to calm down. Jack couldn't see her like this. She still had time...it was gonna take a while to travel from Cape Town to the Karoo for Curtis and his army of idiots.

If they weren't still around, that was.

She blew out some air, before she left the apartment and rushed over to Uncle Jasper's.

**

"Dear Mom and Dad.

I'm writing this letter because I'm sure by now your phones are all being tapped by the Ravens. Curtis is on an insane mission to find me and I wanna stop that from ever happening. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry that I got messed up with those people. You tried and warned me, but I wouldn't listen and look what happened. If I ever get home, we are gonna have the biggest group hug possible...because I miss both of you.

PS...you have a grandson. His name is Jack. He's so precious...and I know you guys will just adore him once you get to meet him.

PPS...I have loaded everything I have on Curtis...all his crimes that I know of, onto a memory stick and I've hidden it in the one place that they will never think to look. Just incase this letter gets intercepted...I'm not gonna tell you where it is. If you know, your lives are in danger too.

I love you. Both of you.

Sheridan."

The tears rolled down her cheeks once more as she finished up the letter and placed it securely onto an envelope, before licking the top and folded it neatly shut. She glanced over the apartment where she had been living for the past three years...working as a seamstress in a nearby factory kept her alive for this long. She had enough money left to keep them going for a while...but after that...she wasn't sure. Sigh.

"Jackie...are you ready to go?" she asked the little boy, who was playing with his stuffed teddy bear, looking up at his mother when he heard her voice.

"Mommy...did you break Teddy? He has a hole there, and it wasn't me..." he asked, his little blue eyes blinking as he held out the teddy to her.

Sheridan smiled as she knelt before him, and took both of his boyish hands inside her own.

"Jackie...I want you to listen to Mommy, very carefully, okay?"

Another nod from the little boy, his eyes widening, even in his childish mind, he had to know this suddenly serious.

Sheridan placed the teddy inside his hands, and squeezed it tightly.

"Never...ever...lose Teddy, okay? He's very important to Mommy. Very...very important. Never forget that, yeah?"

Another nod from the little boy, giving a new regard for his beloved stuffed animal, before Sheridan stood up and took his hand.

"You ready to go on an adventure?" she asked him, her eyes full of life and urgency to just...GET away.

"Yeah!" Jack energetically replied, his eyes sparkling as he jumped up and down out of pure, boy excitement, before both mother and son left the apartment, for the final time.

**

It felt like hours since she had left the Karoo after she had posted the letter to her parents back in Cape Town.

Sheridan sighed and tried her best to focus on the road. She didn't sleep at all the last couple of nights, and being behind the wheel for quite a while now, it was starting to catch up on her. She glanced sideways towards Jack, who was still playing games on her mobile phone...she really should protect the battery life on it, but the poor boy was bored...being cooped up in a car for hours on end. She didn't care where they ended up, as long as it was far from the Karoo.

She saw a town up ahead...fully concentrating on the map on the dashboard, realising that it must be the town of Freedom...or so the map was saying. She sighed and shook her head. The town infamous in South Africa for its old ways...it's views on anything that was NOT Christian enough in their eyes, the town that famously forbid homosexuality and same sex marriages...the town which frowned upon coloured and black people setting foot in their neck of the woods. She didn't even realise she had driven them both THIS far into the country side.

She reached over and patted the now, sleeping boy's blond hair as she hesitated...my son is half-coloured. I'm white and Curtis is Cape-Coloured. Jesus. Placing both of her hands on the wheel, she sighed again, but at the same time, placed her foot on the accelerator.

This was NOT the place where she wanted to raise her son, but perhaps...perhaps Freedom was for the best. It would literally be the last place that The Ravens would probably ever set foot in...she felt horrible thinking what these backward folk would even do to them if they did. However, she had Jack to protect right now...there wasn't time to think about anything else.

She saw a truck coming from the opposite side. It was coming out of Freedom itself. Luckily there was a robot where she could stop and drink some water. Jackie was still asleep with her phone inside his hands. She stepped on the brakes below her...only nothing was happening.

Sheridan frowned as she stepped on the brakes again, hard. The car was still not stopping. If anything, it felt as if said car was increasing in speed.

Shit...oh shit.

Sheridan tried to stop the car a few more times, but it was obvious after a while, that something was terribly wrong. Curtis...did one of his men tamper with her car before she left the Karoo? Jesus...were they even EVER on their way to her...or was this Curtis's sick idea of forcing her to flee...knowing that her car had been sabotaged?

Sheridan's face was as pale as snow...there was no way she would be able to avoid crashing into that truck. As she tried to no avail one more time to stop the car, she was forced to swung the vehicle out of harm's way and away from the truck that she would have surely hit...but in doing so, she completely and utterly lost control of it.

The last thing she saw, was the telephone pole, situated next to the side of the road, just a couple of miles before she would have reached Freedom getting closer...ever closer...and the shocked expression on Jack's face as he woke up and had to realise what was happening...

**

The news about the terrible car accident had quickly reached the neighbourhood watch in Freedom and within minutes, they were out in full force to where it had happened, to see if there was in any way that they could be of help. Even in this...twisted and old-fashioned town, when tragedy struck, they tended to unite. However, the first few men on the scene knew that there was nothing that they could do...the car was already starting to leak out petrol...which was fast spreading to the rapid fires caused by the car crash itself.

"Don't go any closer! That thing will explode at any moment!" some one screamed and several residents urged each other to say at a decent distance from the ruined vehicle.

It was when they HEARD the unmistakable sound of a toddler crying that majority looked at each other in sheer disbelief.

"What was that?"

"Can you guys hear that?"

"SSSSHH!!! LISTEN!"

"Holy mother, but that sounds like..."

"Oh, my Good God, is there a child in there?"

"LISTEN TO THAT! That child is still alive!"

"Are you serious? We have to TRY and save him, then! That kid is gonna FRY in there soon!"

For a moment, everyone was silent as mouses, quiet as doormats as one seemingly knew what to do...as the shrieks and cries from inside the car could now very clearly be heard. One of the local farmers, suddenly bared a soul crunching chill inside both of his eyes, and he gritted his teeth.

"I'm going in, cover me!"

"NO! ARE YOU CRAZY? THAT CAR WILL EXPLODE AT ANY MINUTE!" the several yells, protests and screams fired through the area, but the farmer was adamant. That was someone's son...that was someone's child. It might be way too late for the mother, but at least, he could do something for that poor little boy.

As the farmer arrived at the car, the door was amazingly, open, as must have been the power of the collision of vehicle to telephone pole. The fire was now rapidly spreading and he knew he had only a couple of minutes, if that much. He quickly leaned in to check on the mother, and he instinctively knew this little blond-haired boy was now officially an orphan.

Her eyes were open, glossy, and her hand was halfway situated on her son's lap...as if in her last moments, she still tried to protect him.

The farmer blinked and turned his attention to the boy. With one swift movement from his strong, callused hands, and the boy was out from his car seat, still crying all the while, so much so, that his tears and snot had long since combined underneath his chin. The farmer took one look at the flames nearing the liquid petrol on the ground, before he gave chase for safety.

Within a matter of seconds to spare, he managed to reach the safety of the on-lookers, before the car finally exploded into a million pieces, and with that, the last remaining memories that young Jack Lavery would ever have of his mother.

"Poor little boy...he doesn't look older than three, perhaps four?" one woman said, as she slowly took him from the farmer's tired, loosening grip, allowing the old man to take a few deep breaths for some much-needed air.

"Wonder what's going to happen to him now..." another woman softly claimed, stroking the boy's beautiful blond hair, in a worthless attempt to calm him down, which was seemingly impossible. It was as if Jack had known what had happened...even at his tender age, as if he knew...he would never see his mother ever again, and that from THAT moment on, his life had been irreparably changed.

"There's something in his hands..." the farmer croaked out of his bated breath, as she came back up, and once more took little Jack from the two women surrounding him.

"Oh, my goodness...it's a teddy bear...an old stuffed teddy bear...he's holding on that for dear life, poor thing..." one of them said, her eyes full of unshed tears.

The flames coming from the destroyed car was reflected in Jack's eyes, and for the love of everything holy, the little boy couldn't look away from the wreck...even if he tried.

**

"We can't keep him, Sweetheart. You know we can't."

The farmer sighed and shook his head.

"I know...I know...we simply don't have the finances to feed another mouth around here..."

His wife sat down next to him, as they both looked over the sleeping boy inside the bed that they had made for him on the settee inside their living room. The farmer smiled as he saw the little boy had his teddy clutched firmly towards his chest.

"I know he's still a toddler, but he has quite a weird obsession with that stuffed animal of his..." he laughingly whispered to his wife.

"It's because perhaps he knows that his mother is gone...that teddy is probably the only way he now has to remember her," his wife replied, her voice as melancholy as could be.

They were quiet for a few seconds, before the farmer wiped his face with his big hand, and sighed once more.

"I'll call social services tomorrow...as much as I would love to raise him...you're right, we just can't..." he managed to croak out.

His wife wasn't far behind with wiping away her own tears, getting upwards, before draping another blanket securely over the little sleeping boy.

"Good luck my darling boy...whoever you are..." she whispered softly, before placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

PRESENT DAY

"ON YOUR MARKS...GET SET...GO!"

The gun blasted off in the headmaster's right hand, smoke set about on drifting just about everywhere, and the crowd was going crazy as together, four speeding, sixteen-year-old teenage boys set off on the biggest race of their lives, or at least, so it felt. This was the event that all the spectators had been looking forward to all week, the 400-meter boys relay, the final signature event of the regional school championships.

Josh Pallister could hardly contain his excitement as his best friend Tommy Hartman started the first leg for Freedom High. The boy was lightening quiet and super-fast, and as the coach always taught them, you strategically placed your two quickest runners, one at the beginning, and the other at the end. To get a good, decent start, and then finally, to blister your way to the finish line like no man's business. Tommy was first coming towards the second leg, and he superbly handed over to Tyson Lancaster who carried on running the race for Freedom High in first position.

"Daniel, you're up next...Josh, get ready...you're going for the end so FOCUS!" the coach warned both of the teens that was yet to get in on the action, as Daniel fist bumped him, before getting in position to get going for the third leg of the relay.

Josh winced as he saw another school's chasing athlete do the nasty on poor Tyson and ended up passing him, and suddenly Freedom wasn't leading anymore. The opposing boy came to the finish line with a mammoth sprint, and handed over to his partner for the third leg, with Tyson in close pursuit, handing over to Daniel as the two boys gave chase in this epic race.

Daniel was faster than Tyson, that was for sure, but the boy he was racing against was putting in a decent performance of his own. Daniel had hawled sad boy in all the way, and the two of them were exchanging being ahead time and again, nearly nothing to separate them in distance, as they rounded the narrow bend towards the finish line.

"Get in there, Josh! BRING IT HOME!" the coach hollered over towards him as the boy stood in line to get his hands on that metal bar that kept the relay going.

The other two athletes behind them were nothing but made-up numbers...all the fans and the spectators in the stands knew it was always going to be a straight fight between Freedom High and Edgemead Academy. Josh got in position and kept his right hand steady behind him as he happened to look straight into the eyes of his Edgemead opponent, also waiting for the last leg handover.

"Bet you a fifty you can't beat me!" the pony-tailed blond boy sneered towards him, and looked behind him to see where his own team mate was, before he spat in Josh's direction.

"Fuck off, loser..." came the reply from Josh, as he waited for Daniel to arrive.

Daniel was there a sheer millisecond before the boy from Edgemead was, and Josh Pallister gave chase the very moment that he felt the metal bar land in his grip.

"GO ON, JOSH!" he heard Daniel yell and go ballistic behind him as he came to a stop, with both Josh and the blond boy from Edgemead giving it all they had.

There was a reason that both school's coaches chose to place these two boys in the end position...both were quick as lightening as they seemingly flew across the athletic course, their feet barely touching the grass as they sprinted their guts out for the win.

Around the bend, and it seemed for all that Josh was in fact, in front at that point. He was speeding towards the finish line for all his worth...all that he could think of was how the entire school would be screaming, chanting his name...how much his girlfriend Tasha would be proud of him when he won the race for his school...how lucky he would be getting tonight...

...JOSH! FOCUS!

A couple of meters before the end of the race, and he felt the boy's breath on his neck. He sped up, but so did the boy. They were only a couple of meters away from the finish line...

...and suddenly...

...and horribly...

....Josh tripped and he fell.

The crowd rose like one man to see what had happened, but it was unclear to say the least. All that they were clearly seeing was that their star runner and athlete, Josh Pallister, was laying on the ground with his left foot raised in the air, and he was screaming out in the most severe pain that you could possibly imagine. To make matters that much worse, the boy against who he was racing, had made it to the end of the finish line and therefore won the relay for Edgemead, by a God damn country mile. In what he was sure was a record-breaking time...that should have been JOSH's.

At once, the coach, as well as Tyson, Tommy and Daniel swarmed around him, until the coach made it clear that they should give the poor boy some air to breathe. Tommy placed his arm around his best friend and help him upwards, but it was more than obvious that Josh wouldn't be able to put any weight on his foot, which was already red and swelling rapidly.

"Damn dude, what the fuck happened?" Tommy asked, the moment that the coach addressed the headmaster on what was happening with his pupil.

Josh grimaced as he turned his eyes towards the finish line, and his hand shook as he raised it and pointed it towards the blond-haired boy, his pony tail swaying in the slight wind, who was currently shooting the shit with his mates in total celebration.

"IT WAS HIM! HE FUCKING TRIPPED ME!" Josh angrily shouted, so much so, that the coach, as well as the headmaster came running towards him in sheer anger as they heard his devastating words.

"Say that again?" the coach demanded, gritting his teeth as he did so.

"I'm honest here, coach! I have never fucking TRIPPED on this course in my life! That idiot knew he wouldn't win against me, so he tripped me!" Josh shrieked out as his pain seemed to get worse and worse with every syllable he spoke.

The opposing coach as well as his runners overheard the commotion that Josh was busy making, and grinned as they slowly came over, their coach crossed his arms and all of his runners seemed pretty much pleased with themselves at how things had turned out.

"There a problem with the runners up here?" he said, grinning even more as the Freedom High runners balled their fists at the unfairness of it all.

The Freedom High coach sneered at his Edgemead counterpart, before he cleared his throat.

"I demand that this race is repeated at some stage when my star athlete has recovered from his injury! It seems, according to him, that your athlete TRIPPED him and that was why he fell during the race! As always...bunch of cheats you lot are..."

The Edgemead coach smirked and turned towards his athletes, signaling at the long-haired blond boy to come forward. Josh hissed as he saw the boy nearby taunting him with his eyes, before he played all the innocent as his coach placed his arm around him.

"Listen up, team! It seems that the Freedom lot can't take a loss like the men they claim to be! Did anyone...any one at all, see Jack here trip their runner? Anyone?"

Like one man, all the Edgemead folk shook their heads...nope...didn't see anything. The lad from Freedom, Josh Pallister, simply fell during the race and was now blaming one of them.

The Edgemead coach shrugged his shoulders, however his laughter didn't quite reach his eyes, as he first locked targets with the Freedom coach, before smirking at Josh once more.

"Innocent until PROVEN guilty...and still losers to us..." he said, patting his blond boy on the back as he did so...as if he was actually PROUD of him.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Josh screamed, the idea of this ponytailed faggot getting away with what he had done to him, but the coach was quickly there, alongside Tommy to get him away from all of this.

"THIS AINT OVER! NOT BY A LONG SHOT!' Josh yelled as he was turned away by his friends, with Tommy in particular making sure that he didn't hurt his foot more than he already did.

"Fucking wankers! All of them!"

"JOSH! LANGUAGE!" the coach hollered towards him, but even he himself was red in the face out of sheer morbid frustration, knowing there was literally no way to prove with Josh was saying...they both had been going at such an insane speed even for two teenagers...everything happened SO FAST! It could have been the Edgemead boy who tripped Josh...or he knew Josh could have tripped over his own two feet.

The latter, he didn't wanna even mention.

Josh noticed that nearby everyone was staring at him, and as usual, his anxiety seemed to kick in when he only least expected it.

"Just...just get me home, please bud..." he quickly groaned to Tommy and the latter nodded, the coach affirming that they were allowed to go home...the championships were clearly over, with the relay being a washout, and Edgemead had taken the bragging rights for this semester.

"You okay, dude? You want me to stay with you until your dad gets here?" Tommy asked, as he parked his car at Josh's home, noticing that his best friend was quiet as a mouse. In fact, he hadn't said a word since they had left the school.

"Dude...you've lost races before, don't let it go to your head..."

Josh's head swung angrily towards his bestie, so much so, that he was surprised he didn't end up with whiplash for brains.

"I...I DIDN'T LOSE! That mother fucker tripped me!"

Tommy sighed and took out his phone.

"Damn...five missed calls from my mom. Wonder what the hell is up now again...any way, I don't wanna leave you here all alone...that foot looks nasty, bro..."

Josh rolled his eyes and gave Tommy's shoulder a slight punch as he did so.

"Just help me get inside...my dad will be home soon. And say hi to Mama Hartman from me, yeah?"

Tommy helped Josh towards the living room of his modest home, and after once more making sure that Josh would be okay until his father got home, he made himself scarce, leaving a still angry as hell, and HUMILIATED Josh still contemplating what the hell had happened earlier than afternoon.

He laid his head back against the couch cushions, and closed his eyes, trying his level best to relieve the minutes...second by second...trying to recreate in his mind what had happened.

They were going around the bend...he knew that part was always tricky especially with doing hurdles, but he had never personally had problems with it. All that he knew was...he felt something pulling at his feet and the next thing he knew...he was rolling around on the grass with his foot in the air.

That...that fucker! Jack...or whatever his name was! That blond haired bastard...better not set foot near him ever again!

**

"Damn it, Josh...how long will THIS take to recover from?" his dad asked when he came home later that afternoon, immediately upset with what happened.

Ethan Pallister was a salesman and he only worked half days at his job, and for ONCE...Josh was happy his dad was home early...his foot and ankle especially giving him all sorts of discomfort.

"It really hurts, Dad..." he whispered so softly that his father nearly didn't hear him.

Ethan sat down on the coach, and held his face in both of his hands, before he looked at his son, in total miserable fashion.

"Josh, if you need to go to Casualty, I suppose we can get an Uber but I'm not sure I have the money to pay for all this right now...it's near the end of the month!" he said in a hard, forced voice, running his fingers through his thinning hair, before he stood up and grabbed his phone.

"Dad?" Josh said, but Ethan quickly silenced him.

"Too hell with the money...you won't get an ounce of sleep tonight with that foot," he murmured before he booked the Uber.

"Jesus...it's ALL HIS FAULT!" Josh cried out, the tears running down his handsome teenage face as it all became too much for him.

Thank God his girlfriend Tasha wasn't here right now...he would never hear the end of it. Boys weren't allowed to cry it seemed, in this God forsaken town...and if fully grown men just showed THIS much of emotion they were ridiculed and SPAT upon for being too soft.

"Who are we talking about?" Ethan asked, his mind on ordering the Uber.

Josh rolled his eyes in typical teen boy fashion, angrily wiping away his tears, embarrassed as always to show any sign of weakness before his father.

"Smart ass little punk who tripped me this afternoon when we ran the 400-relay," he managed to grit through his teeth.

Ethan swiped a few times on his phone, before he looked back at his son.

"Uber will be here in two minutes. Josh...you sure he tripped you? You didn't do it yourself? Something like this has never happened before? How would this boy even do that with EVERYONE watching?"

Josh tried to get up, before he looked angrily over at his father for help, the latter racing towards his son and tried his best to get both of them out of the house and to the front garden where the Uber would be arriving soon.

"I'm...fuck...I'm sure, Dad! Just wait until I get my hands on his..."

"JOSH! MANNERS! Jesus, how much is all this gonna cost me..." Ethan murmured once more, before their Uber finally arrived, and they were off to the hospital.

**

"Guess what?"

"Tommy, I'm really not in the mood."

"No, come on, dude! Just take a guess!"

"You've finally lost your virginity."

"Already did, two years ago!"

Josh took a snide look at his best friend.

"I thought that was a total lie to look good in front of the team?"

Tommy giggled, and shook his head, proudly pumping out his chest as he did so.

"Fraid not, bro! I know you are still though...Tasha is not called the Ice Queen at school for nothing..."

Tommy once more laughed hysterically as he narrowly dodged the bottle of water that Josh had thrown at him, before he once more sat down and turned the TV to ESPN, where he knew would be athletics on.

"What I wanted to say was...Mama Hartman is at it again. She's getting in another foster kid."

Josh took a sip of the water that Tommy had so casually tossed back towards him, before he swallowed and leaned back onto the coach, his injured foot neatly placed on the coffee table for support.

"Another one? Jesus...how many kids as your adopted mother fostered by now?" he asked.

"Five or six, including me...I was number three, I think...could be four, I'm not really sure. I never met the oldest two. It has always just been me and Stacy. Now I guess she's fostering number five. Or six."

"Wonder who it could be. If it's a girl, I hope she's hot...Tasha needs some competition and I fucking need some pussy."

Tommy cracked up and took a sip from the water bottle that his best friend had just a few seconds ago.

"I have some bad news for you...I don't know who it is, but I don't it's a dude. I overheard Mama Hartman on the phone last night. Apparently, he had only been staying at this couple's house for about five months before they called up Socials and told them to find him another place. Sounds dodgy as fuck, but Mama Hartman knows what she's doing by now."

"You listen in on her convo's, Bro?"

"Fuck you, man! I happened to be around when the phone rang, that's all."

"When you were checking out Stacy in the shower, no doubt..."

"You sick freak! She's, like my sister!"

"ADOPTED SISTER!"

"Whatever, man. I ain't wanna play with your ass no more..." Tommy said, smirking at his best friend, before he "accidently" bumped against his injured foot, leaving poor Josh HOWLING out in copious amounts of pain and distress.

"See ya! Wouldn't wanna be ya!" Josh heard him giggle as he quickly left the house.

Yeah...he probably deserved every inch of that.

**

"Hey Daniel, have you seen Tasha anywhere? Recess is nearly fucking over and I still can't find her anywhere..." Josh moaned to his athletics team mate as he and Tommy hobbled past their group, himself still on crutches as his foot had not yet completely healed.

Daniel turned towards Josh and shrugged his shoulders, a clear indication that he didn't know.

"Although, Stacy said she saw her with the new kid, so you might wanna check at reception?" he said, taking the final bite out of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he was busy eating before they had arrived.

"New kid? What new kid?" Josh asked, confused as hell, before the school bell finally rang.

Tommy placed his arm around his shoulders, helping him to get to class, every step of the way, and with him being Josh Pallister came a certain matter of respect from his peers, they all knew what had happened in the championships...like one man they made way so that he could get the fuck through to class.

Tommy helped him sit down and dramatically sighed out of mock tiredness, with Josh once more pulling faces towards his buddy, before he froze...as he caught sight of just WHO was standing along with Mr Smith at the front of the class room.

"Dude, what the hell is Mama Hartman doing here?" he whispered to Tommy, who was also more than shocked seeing his adopted mother joining their Maths teacher at the front of the class. He did however, smile at the old lady, happy to see her, with her more than returning the favour, even going out of her way to wave at both Josh and Stacy, who was sitting at the back of the class.

"Okay you lot, settle down...settle down! So, as you might know, we have the legend that is Gladys Hartman over here visiting us this morning, although some of you might know her lovingly as Mama Hartman, is that correct?"

Majority of the kids in the class murmured in agreement...Mama Hartman was a living hero around these parts.

As Tommy had stated, she had taken in numerous foster kids over the years, and placed them through school at her own financial expense. She never married, and therefore never had any children either, but she went out of her way in doing her bit for the Freedom community. She was probably, if not, the most adored, most loved citizen in town, and she more than deserved all the accolades that she kept getting.

Josh knew from personal experience...he and Tommy has been best friends for ages...he simply couldn't remember a time where Mama Hartman hadn't been around in his life.

"The floor is yours, Gladys," the teacher said with a smile, before the latter gave him a warm smile.

"Hello everyone. Sorry to disturb you all on this beautiful day, but I kinda have a favour to ask all of you."

Mama Hartman folded her hands before her and a sad smile stretched over her face.

"I have taken in another foster child...on a trial basis. He will stay with myself, as well as Stacy and Tommy of course, for a period of three months. He will be here soon, but I wanted to give you guys some background first...now, I don't do this normally but...let's just say Jack Lavery is someone who is going to take a little time in getting to know and even be friends with, perhaps."

The kids nodded, and several of them looked at each other with raised eyebrows...Josh and Tommy most of all. Josh sat upright...why all of a sudden, did he have such a NASTY feeling in the pit of his stomach when the boy's name was mentioned...

JACK...?

Mama Hartman sighed for a moment, before she looked back up at the rest of the class.

"I've been told...and I have personally SEEN...that he is not the easiest boy to deal with. He has quite a temper, and that is putting it mildly. But before you judge...and that's why I wanted this opportunity to speak with all of you this morning...is to know why."

Josh swallowed slowly, and noticed that even Tommy had his head raised, sorely paying attention.

Mama Hartman hesitated, before she continued.

"That boy...hard and tough as nails...he has been through an awful lot. His mother died when he was only three years old, he has been sent from one foster home to the other...needless to say some of those homes were only after the money the state pays them to look after those children...all I'm saying is, Jack Lavery didn't have an easy life. So please...be kind to him, even if perhaps...he is not."

**

"You're quiet as fuck," Tommy said as they left school after the final bell rang.

They had cross-country practice that afternoon and they were quickly joined by both Daniel and Tyson in succession as the four boys made their way to the locker room.

"Uh...Josh...you realise who the new kid is, right?" Tyson hesitated in saying, getting a death dagger in the eyes from Josh for his efforts.

"Of course, I fucking do, I ain't fucking blind...and the sad thing is Mama Hartman asked us to be nice to him...but I'm not sure that I can...It's totally his fault that I can't even train properly with these!?" he said miserably, waving his two crutches around in the air for dramatic purposes.

Tyson pursed his lips before sighing and started to get his school kit off and changing into his athletic uniform, followed by the other boys on the team doing the exact same. James, as always, these days, needed to help Josh get into his own...fuck knows what for, he couldn't yet run for shit...but the coach had ordered him to be at the training, so he didn't have much of a choice.

Arriving at the track, the boys did a couple of laps to warm up, as was tradition, which meant leaving a more than scowling Josh plodding his way to the stands, where he angrily sat down and nearly threw his crutches on the ground in quick despair, before he suddenly remembered what his father had to pay for them...yikes. That was close.

"Gather around everyone! Now...with Josh Pallister being out of the team for a few more weeks, a new opportunity had presented itself to our shores. Everyone...meet Jack Lavery, he's a transfer student from..."

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

The coach, as well as the new kid and the ENTIRE team, turned towards the bleachers like one man possessed as they saw Josh standing upright, on BOTH feet, mind you, not even bothering with the pain that it was most definitely causing him...

...his chest was heaving up and down at a ferocious pace, his face was as red as anyone had ever seen it...it looked like he was about to blow at any second.

"Josh, now just wait a second..." the coach started to say, but it was way too late for that, as Josh had grabbed his crutches and was quickly, well, as quick as he could, making his way over to where the team was.

Halfway there, he threw his crutches angrily down on the grassy terrain, and looked towards both he coach as well as the new kid with flames in his eyes.

"Coach...what the hell? You know who this guy is, right?" he hissed, and if looks could kill both would have been six feet under by now.

The blond-haired kid smirked once more, placing both of his hands inside the pockets of his shorts, his long hair neatly tied in a pony tail as it was on that terrible, terrible day of the championships...however his smirk was blown right off his face as he received a stern look from his new coach.

"Josh...of course I know...of course I do, but you have an injury and we have nationals coming up! We have to send a four-man team, otherwise we as Freedom High can just as well withdraw right now!"

Josh shook his head and balled both of his fists in his ghastly rage.

"DOES IT HAVE TO BE...HIM? Jesus, Coach!" he screamed, his voice thick with emotion and pent-up anger.

The new kid stared at Josh for a couple of seconds, before he turned to the coach.

"I ain't needing this in my life...I'm out..." he said, spitting on the ground as he did so.

"Yeah! Go! Run away, we don't need you!" Josh hollered after him like a man possessed, only for Jack Lavery to turn around and slowly looked back at the former. A smile as wide as the Kalahari Desert sneaked across his lips and suddenly his blue eyes were sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. He licked his lips and winked at Josh.

"You know...just for that...Coach, I think I'm totally gonna stay..." he spoke calmly and clearly, winking at Josh again, taking off the blazer that he was wearing, and threw it towards James, before he dashed off and made a start on his laps around the track.

"Well? What are you all waiting for? GO! WARM UP!" the coach yelled at his team, with both Daniel and Tyson shrugging their shoulders apologetically towards Josh, and Tommy simply mouthed "sorry" before all three took off after their new teammate.

Josh sighed as he caught sight of Jack's speed and pace. Fuck. The dude was quick as hell. There was no way that they would be able to lose nationals easily with him in the team. URGH!

"Coach...what happens to me now? If I come back, who goes out? Will I even get back in?" he asked, his mood sinking as he realised that suddenly there was five of them...and only FOUR would be able to compete in any sort of relay.

"We'll deal with that, if and when the time comes, okay? Remember...he's only under Gladys Hartman's roof for three months. Nothing has been decided. I suggest...and I know this is gonna be hard...but can you at least TRY and make friends with him? He's gonna be your teammate too, after all..." the coach said, patting Josh on his shoulder as he walked away.

**

Josh was feeling much better at the start of the following week, with his foot starting to heal nicely, and although he no longer needed the crutches, he still couldn't run or even walk as he was used to. Waiting outside the school for Stacy and Tommy to arrive, he was greeted from all directions by his peers, everyone knowing what a popular dude Josh Pallister was.

He frowned as he saw that Tasha still wasn't reading the WhatsApp messages, he had sent her...like seriously, all six of them from last night. She's totally blue-ticking him...and he had NO idea why. He started to type yet another message to his girlfriend, when he noticed Mama Hartman's blue BMW sleek its way onto the school grounds, and within seconds, she waved to him as she parked right beside him.

Tommy got out first, and Josh's eyes widened as he saw that his best friend was sporting a black eye, but before he could ask what the hell happened, Stacy got out on the front and hugged him as soon as she saw him. He kinda knew Stacy had a crush on him, but being two years younger than him at only fourteen, he didn't know if he wanted to go THERE. Even more...it would be like dating his sister.

Finally, as she released him, he saw Jack get out of the car. His blond hair waving loosely all around him as he reached for an elastic band and immediately tied it all together behind his head, finally sighed and checking his reflection through the windows of the BMW, before he seemed to smile at himself and turned his attention towards Josh.

"Yo homie, what up!" he yelled out and reached out his hand towards Josh in the process in a traditional high-five gesture.

Josh hesitated for a few seconds, even noticed the warming that Tommy was trying to send him, but with Mama Hartman RIGHT THERE...a lady he loved and respected watching him like a hawk, he felt like he had no choice. He blinked once, before he rapidly reached out in order to greet Jack's own...

...and in a flash before he even got there, Jack pulled his hand back and slicked it over his forehead.

"Too slow, loser..." he sneered, before he cackled and made for the school's entrance.

"Jesus..." Tommy said as he narrowed his eyes, with Mama Hartman still within ear shot.

"Jack is a jerk...Holy shit, he's a piece of crap..." Josh whispered back to his bestie, before both waved at Mama Hartman as she finally drove off.

"Been meaning to ask...what the hell happened with your eye?" Josh asked as he watched Stacy meet up with her own group of friends, before returning his attention to Tommy.

Tommy shook his head and keep this head down.

"Fucker started pushing me around for no damn reason last night...I tried to block him and he ACCIDENTLY, according to him, slammed his wrist on my arm, and that went into my eye. I don't think he meant to hit me...but it's not like he apologized either."

Tommy sighed as they neared the school building.

"Josh, I don't know how much more of this I can take! The guy...you said it! Jack is a jerk! I...I don't think I've ever...HATED any one as much as I do him! I cringe every time I look at him! And dude...there is blond hair like EVERY WHERE you fucking look...in the bathroom, in the toilet...fuck knows how it got there...I can't TAKE it no more!"

**

"Come on, Coach! Just a couple of laps around the track! I'll go slow, I promise!"

The coach smiled, but firmly shook his head, clear as day...no.

"Sorry, Joshy...gonna have to give it a few more weeks, okay?" he said good-heartedly, walking away to start timing both James and Daniel, with Tyson sitting out for now.

Josh sighed as he longingly glanced over the track, imagining himself gliding as always over the hard exterior, when he was slightly pushed forward, and nearly doubled over, managing to keep his balance, at least, furiously balling his fists as he saw Jack nearly choking with sheer laughter and entertainment.

"What the hell did you do that for? You wanna finish with me, what you started with my best friend?" he blasted over towards the new kid, with the coach and the rest of the team without not within earshot of what was happening.

Jack smiled, and his long hair once more whipped up in the afternoon breeze, before he slowly walked over to Josh and stopped, looking the boy up and down.

"You, my dude, need to relax and taken a fucking joke! You're nearly as bad as your bestie over there...dunno what he told you but I ain't taking responsibility for his black eye...not my fault if he takes everything so personally..."

Josh was quiet for a while, before he kept his cool and forced himself to calm the fuck down while Jack was seeminly keeping to himslef doing dstretches. He hated to admit it...but the dude had a decent physqiue. He was well msucled, tall and lanky, his blue eyes would be the death of any girl or gay dude around here for sure.

Quickly forgetting his thoughts, he remembered what the coach had asked of him, suddenly remembered what Mama Hartman said this dude had gone through in his life...man, it didn't make it better not to LOATHE him. Still, he probably owed it to both of them to actually TRY and force a conversation.

"Actually...Jack...tell me, why are you always such a fucking jackass to people? No seriously, I wanna know...because I don't think there is ANYONE around in this school who actually tolerates your ass. In one week, you've messed up all your chances to actually make any friends around here, and even that is a fucking record. Why are such a fucking jerk, like all the time?"

Jack smirked as he listened carefully to Josh's words, before he leaned down, taking a few fingers of sand into his hands, letting slip through said fingers as he spoke.

"You wanna know why I'm such a jerk?"

"Oh, I'm fucking dying to know..."

Jack smiled and wiped his hands off on his shorts.

"Because I can."

Josh nearly doubled over in quick succession. The fucking...NERVE and ARROGANCE of this guy! FOR FUCK SAKE!

"You...dude, you really think you can go around being nasty and crap and vile to people just for the hell of it?"

"Hell yeah. Who's gonna stop me? You?"

Remember where you are...Jesus, calm down...

Josh looked over to where the rest of the team were, and even glanced over towards the bleachers where numerous students were watching the afternoon sports taking place on the different fields and pitches out here.

"And you think we just gonna shut the fuck up and TAKE that? Hell no, brother. Not gonna happen. Fucking start have some respect, you're not at Edgemead now, okay?" he croaked out as he gritted his teeth yet again, angrier than he's ever been.

Suddenly Jack burst out in sheer, typical teenage laughter, before Josh knew what hit him, and he looked him straight in the eyes.

"Funny...that's not what your girlfriend said the other night when I was fucking her in the ass like a real man..."

**

Josh froze.

What...what did this idiot just say?

Did he even hear him correctly?

It was like...his brain could hear what was said, but it refused to register it.

Only Jack wasn't finished there.

"Yeah...what was her name again?? Ohhh yeah...Tasha, right? Nice and tight and so warm, my dude...not a surprise at all you haven't tapped that yet...by the looks of things you and my new step brother are probably sucking each other's dicks anyway..."

That was it.

THAT...WAS IT!

That was about as much as any teenage boy could take, being pushed to the ultimate limits that even he didn't knew existed.

Josh Pallister THREW himself Jack Lavery with every ounce of strength that he had inside of him, the boy clearly not expecting him to do so in his current injured state, so his defenses were totally down...with Josh immediately having the upper hand, hitting the boy's face with so much vigor and so much determination and so much ANGER, that even HE struggled to contain himself.

With every hit, every mark he was managing to leave on the boy's handsome face...YES, he was man enough to admit that the boy had looks going for him...

...and as the hits kept on coming, Jack was blocking majority of them, but he did manage to get in a few hits.

He heard it, before he even registered it inside his brain...

"Please...stop...stop...don't touch me...please don't touch me...leave me alone..."

Jack's voice was suddenly so soft...so gentle...so incredibly...CHILD LIKE, that Josh hovered above the kid's face, his fist at the ready to dealing more blows at any moment...

...only to see that Jack Lavery, the humongous, pompous jerk that he had gotten to know these last few days, was now nothing more than a blubbering mess.

Josh's eyes softened...full well knowing this could be nothing more than a prank from Jack to get the upper hand...but as he stood up, and away from the boy still not moving on the grass...he realised.

There was nothing...NOTHING fake about what he was seeing. Jack was still whimpering out several words, some which Josh could make out and others which he could not over and over and over, until he was suddenly quiet...with only tears streaming across his teenage face.

"Jesus, Jack..." Josh whispered, nervously looking around at the rest of the crowds around them, but nobody seemed to pay attention to just the two of them. He paused for a moment, before he leaned down and stretched out his hand towards the boy.

"Come man, get up...come on Jack, lemme help you..." he said softly, so that only Jack would be able to hear him.

Jack blinked a couple of times, as if coming out of a deep, deep trance, before he finally seemed to realise just where he was...and who he was with.

Coming into focus, his face was suddenly drenched with distrust, before he seemed to swallow slowly and this time...unlike that morning, there was no other tricks up his sleeve. He took Josh's hand firmly inside his own, as the latter pulled him upwards, with both boys looking each other directly in the eye.

Jack took a few deep breaths, willing his heart rate to come down, before he looked down at his old, dirty shoes, before he willed himself to look back at Josh.

"If you...if you tell anyone about any of this...I swear dude...I'll fucking kill you..." he whispered, before he turned around and walked away from Josh.

Halfway he turned around and closed his eyes, before he shook his head.

"I didn't really fuck your girlfriend. I just wanted to mess around with you a bit...but you gotta know that she IS cheating on you. Just so you know...Tasha ain't the girl you think she is...see it as a thank you for...helping me there" he said quietly, before he once more placed his hands in his pockets, and slowly made his way out of the school gates.

Leaving Josh Pallister speechless...confused...and heartbroken.

**

THANKS FOR READING!

I hope you enjoyed the beginning as much as I enjoyed writing it! Now, I need to know if you wanna read more. I'm always willing to get behind my laptop and write if I know YOU guys like my work.

Josh and Tommy really have NO idea what Jack has been through in his life...but the question is...does JACK remember any of it? Does he know just WHO he is? And WHAT did poor Sheridan have on that memory stick to incriminate Curtis and WHERE might it even be?

Till next time!

liciousryan@gmail.com