Jack Is a Jerk

JACK IS A JERK CHAPTER TWO

Jack the Jerk's horrible words were still streaming across the entirety of his brain even after he had taken a shower and gotten in to his PJ's for the night...Josh Pallister frowned as he went over the boy's wrath again and again in his mind...

"Tasha is cheating on you...I dunno with who...but she IS...cheating on you..."

Now who the fuck are you gonna believe, Pallister?

Your girlfriend for the last two years, who honestly, he felt has been drifting away from him for a while now...I mean COME ON...the rest of the guys on the team...Tommy, Tyson, Daniel...even Jack, if he had to be brutally honest were far from being virgins like he was! If it wasn't for the fact that Tasha had made it ABUNDANTLY clear over the last twenty-four months that she wanted to wait for the "right time" to actually have sex...but he had always respected her wishes, just like his father had always told him to do when it came to girls.

And now...now this.

This...stunning, unexpected revelation coming from the new kid, the arrogant piece of crap that Mama Hartman had now chosen to foster for the next three months, giving that seemingly heartfelt story back at school over how Jack Lavery has had a hard life...being shipped from one foster family to the next, seemingly no one being able to cope with the demands that came with caring for the boy. Josh rolled his eyes as he laid down on his bed, with his phone in his hand, and checked if his BFF Tommy had been online on WhatsApp lately.

Seeing that Tommy had literally been on his phone a matter of minutes ago, Josh took that as a sign that his best friend was still awake and quickly typed him a message.

"Hey man, what up? Douchebag still giving you hell over there?"

Tommy was also one of Mama Hartman's foster kids but between him and his equally foster sister Stacy, Jack was giving them all sorts of hell. Between being the biggest jerk that Josh himself had ever come across, to being the reason that he injured himself in the athletics race they had weeks before, when his school Freedom High, lost the 400 Meter relay to the idiots over across town at Edgemead Academy. To this day, Josh was adamant to anyone who would listen, that Jack had tripped him in order to win. Nothing and no were gonna get him to get rid of those thoughts.

Now who the fuck do you believe...his own girlfriend, or someone like Jack? Who the fuck was telling the truth and who was lying their ass off?

Fucking hell.

A flickering on his phone had him reach for it, as he saw that Tommy had finally managed to reply.

"Nothing much...sitting outside and looking up at the stars. You?"

Weird...Tommy sitting outside in the middle of the cold, South African winter? The dude HATED the cold...Oh well...Josh shrugged his shoulders as his fingers once more flew over the keyboard of his phone.

"Looking at the stars? You okay, bro? Anyway, I'm fucking stressing my ass off over here...that jerk Jack Lavery told me that Tasha is fucking cheating on me. Bro, I dunno what the hell to believe anymore."

Sending the message, Jack felt his cock thicken somewhat as Tasha's beautiful face came into his mind, sighing with sexual desire as he laid down with his feet stretched out in front of him, caressing his teenage dick like only a sixteen-year-old boy could, and he closed his eyes.

The more he wanted to see only Tasha in his mind, the more he also saw Jack...he angrily smashed the mattress with both his fists as a fire started smothering inside his young chest. Fuck, would he ever be able to think of Tasha without remembering just what that JERK had told him?

Man...his dick was still hard, but now was not the time to have a jerk off session...he didn't wanna know what would happen to his mind the moment when he could actually CUM and see Jack's face in front of his mind's eye instead of Tasha...yikes.

Phone beeping. Another message from Tommy.

"She's totally cheating on you. She's a skank ass whore! She tried it on with me as well the other day, I just didn't know how the hell to tell you."

WHAT!?

JESUS!

Any thoughts that Josh might have had to actually give his cock some relief went straight out of the window. He stared at Tommy's message in complete and utter disbelief! Why...why wouldn't Tommy have TOLD him about this THE MOMENT it had happened! Why did he allow Josh to continue making a complete and utter FOOL of himself? Fucking hell, Tommy was his BEST FRIEND! Why didn't he tell him?

Wait...

No...

Just wait a God fucking minute over here.

Josh stood up from his bed and took his phone, reading the message that Tommy had just sent, over and over in his mind... "skank ass whore"? Never in his life, have Tommy ever said those words! EVER! That just wasn't his kind of vocabulary...he has known Tommy for close to ten years. No...there was something very weird, very wrong about all of this.

Wait...

What it...could it be that...no...NO!

Stacy.

Stacy will know.

With a nasty suspicion creeping up on him...an anger that was starting to seep within his veins as the more he thought about it, the more he knew he was right...he quickly typed a message to her.

"Stace, do you know if Tommy is still awake?"

After a few minutes of gritting his teeth and bulging his fists in sheer morbid frustration, Stacy finally replied to his message.

"I don't think so, Josh, he told Mama Hartman he didn't feel well and went to bed right after dinner."

BASTARD! The BASTARD! HE KNEW IT!

That wasn't Tommy messaging him! It had to be JACK the JERK!

Where he had found Tommy's phone, he had no idea, but the piece of shit obviously found it somewhere...how can one dude be so fucking vindictive?

Grabbing his phone, yet again, his fingers seemed to fly over the keyboard faster than he could ever hope to speed around the athletics track, before he sent off the message to who he now knew, was Jack, and not Tommy.

"Listen here, you son of a bitch, I don't care what who you fucking think you are, but you leave my girlfriend's name OUT of your fucking mouth! You're such a fucking asshole stealing Tommy's phone FFS grow up!"

He didn't even care if there was a reply coming through or not, but when he turned off his bedroom light and got into bed, turning his face to the side of the wall, burying his head inside his warm, soft pillow, he did hear another notification alert. Fuck sake...it had to be him. Sighing out loud, he unlocked his phone and checked what Jack the Jerk had sent this time. His eyes narrowed as the screen became clear...

"Fell for it long enough hahahahahaha"

JERK! URGH!

Josh tossed his phone to the side of the bed and angrily closed his eyes. And THIS was the fucker that the coach wanted to put on the team? Fuck that shit! He didn't care how fast or how speedy or how much of a looker Jack Lavery was...he didn't wanna be ANYWHERE near him! JERK!

**

"Dad, Coach had just sent the attachment for the regional championships that we are taking part in at the weekend and there's some things you need to sign and the money needs to be paid..."

Ethan Pallister wiped his hands off on the dishcloth that he was using and drank the last of his coffee, before he took his son's phone, opening one document after the other...Josh watching his father with eagle eyes as he did so. He knew that all of this was going to cost a shit load of money...it always did.

It was their entry fee for taking part, following by the petrol that the bus was going to use to get them all the way to Cape Town, followed by their accommodation for the weekend...he sighed as he saw his father slowly sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs, with a look of total misery smeared across his face.

"Dad, please don't be mad..."

Ethan sighed and slowly placed Josh's phone down on the kitchen table, before he stood up and slowly paced around the small area, before he finally stopped and turned around to face his son directly.

"Josh...I don't know how I'm gonna get the money for all of this...I'm on half days at work and even with that being said...how the hell are the rest of your teammates affording these outrageous prices?" he said, his fingers actually shaking as he finished his sentence.

Josh sighed but before he could answer his father, his phone beeped. Once again, it was a WhatsApp message from Tommy.

"Dude, I'm coming to get you at your house, I don't care what Mama Hartman says about family and all that shit, I can't be around Jack for one more second! And yes, in case you're wondering, it's actually me!"

A small smile spread across Josh's lips as he read Tommy's words...he could actually HEAR his best friend screaming all of this inside his head...but his father's eyes made contact with his and viciously at that, obviously demanding answers.

"Dad, I'm sorry that it costs so much money, I really am, but you gotta understand, this is the only sports I play at school...this is me! You know I live for athletics...but I guess if there is no money for me to go, then I will understand. It's just...no, forget it..."

Ethan's eyes narrowed as he saw his son was obviously upset, and it was way more than just the money it would cost to get him there...he saw a motionless boy before him, and that was NOT like his sixteen-year-old son. Not at fucking all.

"Josh, there's something more that you're not telling me...what is it?" he asked.

Josh sighed and grabbed his backpack, checking his phone in the process...Tommy would probably be here any moment.

"Dad...it's just that the new kid, the one that I told you about...the idiot who tripped me on the track that one race is now a student here at Freedom. He's on the track team and everything now! And there's a real chance that he has taken MY place since my foot is not yet healed! I just don't wanna make it THAT easy for the fucker...sorry...I shouldn't have said that, but that's how I feel! You work just as hard as all the parents out there, but for some reason WE just never have any money!"

Ethan looked like he just had the last of his worth knocked out of him as his son finally spilled the tea on how he really felt about all of this, and as a father, it tended to STING, and badly so. He ran his fingers through his hair once more and looked miserably at what he had inside his wallet, knowing what he had inside his actual bank account. If you put that against what this entire trip was going to cost...man, oh man.

"Look, Josh, give me a couple of days, maybe I can get an advance at work. But like you said, do you really HAVE to go, when you're not even gonna be able to actually compete?"

FOR GOD'S SAKE!

Josh walked out of the house with so much as another word to his father, slamming the door behind him as hard as he possibly could. This was so unfair; it wasn't even funny! Why did no one else he knew at school have the same money problems as he had? He knew this father tried his best, but at this moment, in his typical teenage heart, his father's best efforts just WEREN'T good enough!

He sighed with relief as he saw Tommy's car move into their modest driveway, and he was at his best friend's side within mere seconds.

"Thank God you're here...just get me the hell outta here before I actually say something I'm gonna regret..." he whispered to Tommy, who smiled and nodded, before they were on the high way and on their way to school in no time.

"Oh, and by the way, if you see Jack the Jerk this morning and you just happen to see the reddish marks on his neck, you"ll know where they come from," Tommy finally said as they were stopping at the nearest robot, waiting for the light to turn green. For the first time that morning, Josh smiled serenely and genuinely, as he clapped his hands together in total glee and giggled out loud.

"Choked the heck out of the idiot, did you? Well done, brother!" he shouted as he reached downwards and placed the local radio station on full alert, leaving the two teenage best friends to jam to the tunes all the way until they had finally reached the school.

"So...you're gonna confront Tasha over this whole mess that Jack told you about, or what?" Tommy asked softly, so that only himself and his best friend would be able to hear, as he nervously looked around them, getting out of the car. Josh Pallister was one of the most, if not the most popular boy at the school and if there were any stories of his girlfriend cheating on him, he wanted to know at least, so that he could defend his buddy in any way that he could.

He personally never did like Tasha...boobs and ass...that was all that he ever thought she was. But then again...that was Josh Pallister WANTED in a girl, so who was he to break that wet dream?

Josh blinked a couple of times and grabbed his backpack and closed the passenger door of the car, looking at Tommy for a long time, before he shook his head.

"Dude, I don't know what the hell to believe anymore. You weren't there the other day when Jack told me that Tasha was cheating on me. He actually threatened to kill me if I ever told someone this, you know the classic drill by now, but I'm gonna fucking tell you anyway. He totally went too far last week, brother. He actually told me that HE had slept with Tasha and that made him more of a "man" than me. But when I actually pummeled him good and proper..."

"Wait just a fucking second...when and where did this all happen?" Tommy asked, in sheer disbelief, his eyes wide and bulged at every word coming out of Josh's mouth.

"What did ya'll think I was busy doing when you guys were doing laps around the track? I got stuck talking to the loser! Anyway, he was ramming off all of these things about Tasha, when I fucking finally had enough and I jumped him. But that's not even the half of it...listen to THIS..."

Josh stood even closer to Tommy, so much so, that he could actually smell the boy's aftershave that he must have used earlier that morning.

"When I was really going hot and heavy on his ass, he started totally whimpering like a little boy, pleading with me not to hurt him, and to leave him alone. Jack the jerk...acting like a little kid about to get a fucking hiding of his life...I don't even think I had hit him THAT hard in the first place."

Tommy giggled as he rolled his eyes and held his stomach trying to calm down at the sound of this juicy bit of detail.

"Dude, you're not living with the guy! You don't know the fucking arrogance going on over there at Mama Hartman's place! But now that I know the jerk is nothing but a little arrogant SOFTY...man, thanks for that, brother! Let him just try and snatch my phone again...I promise you, Josh...I'm so gonna be ready for him this time!"

"Dude...please, I'm telling you, there is more to that than meets the eye. It was like I had caught his ass in a fucking moment of weakness! If you go and tell the entire school about what I just told YOU...come on man, the coach asked us to be patient with the guy! And you heard what Mama Hartman said about him having had a shit life..."

Tommy's eyes flashed dangerously towards Josh, before he gathered up some saliva inside his mouth and spat it onto the ground at the hearing of what his best friend was actually suggesting.

"I'm sorry, Josh...I really tried to make it work for all of us...Jack treats me and Stacy like shit, not even mentioning how he speaks to Mama Hartman some times. No brother...hell no. Assholes like Jack Lavery needs to be taught a LESSON...and fast!" Tommy hissed as he too grabbed his bag and the two friends trudged onto the school grounds.

At the first sight of Tasha, Josh sighed, but he knew that he needed to talk to his girlfriend. If Jack was wrong about all of this, or if the idiot was totally playing him saying Tasha was a cheat, then he's gonna end up being single either way. Tasha wasn't known at school for being the Ice Queen for nothing. Believe you me, she fucking earned that title.

"Tash...can we talk?" he asked softly as he approached her as well as her posse of friends that she ALWAYS had around her. Tasha grimaced as he saw him, but nodded thankfully, telling her girls that she would meet them back at the class, as this, whatever this was, shouldn't take too long.

Josh frowned...that doesn't sound good...that didn't sound good at fucking all. What the hell was going on?

"You wanted to see me? Make it quick, as you can see, they are waiting for me..." Tasha said, as pure sarcastically as she could, looking at her nails, and then finally up at him. Tasha was stunningly beautiful for a sixteen-year-old girl, and holy shit, did she know it too. Josh shook his head and stared across the playground at nothing in particular as he tried to formulate what to actually say...he knew she was his girlfriend for nearly TWO years, but at this moment...and for the past few weeks, it really felt like he was busy dealing with a total and utter stranger.

"Tash...I gotta ask you something and...I'm sorry if this is gonna upset you, but I've heard stories..."

"Oh really...what kinda stories? Tell me...so I know who to go and fucking murder," came the cold, insipid reply, just like he knew she would react. The last thing Tasha could stand, was gossip, if SHE wasn't the one actually doing it.

Josh swallowed slowly, before he took both of her hands inside his own. Like her attitude, her limbs were fucking cold as ice.

"Look, the new kid...Jack Lavery told me the other week that you're cheating on me...and if it's not true, than I fucking apologize and I hope to God that you can forgive me, but I gotta ask, Tash...you've been ignoring my calls and messages for God knows how long...we never see each other anymore...you didn't even come and visit me when I broke my ankle at the championships...and then I hear a thing like this...I mean come on, Tash, what the hell am I supposed to fucking think?"

Tasha rolled her eyes dramatically, but Josh knew her by now...dating someone for two years would do that...he knew her inside out, or so he thought. But he did see a level of horror reflected in her beautiful brown eyes, before she giggled out loud and looked straight at him.

"Wait, lemme get this for real now...you believe a guy who you have literally known for a few weeks, you fucking go and take this word over mine, is that totally what you're saying here, Josh Pallister?" she asked him straight out, the voice severely high-pitched, annunciating every single syllable.

Josh closed his eyes...THIS is what he was afraid of! Did he really think she was gonna ADMIT it, even if she WAS cheating?

"Tash, please just answer the fucking question..." he said softly, as he took a good look at his watch and saw that the school bell was gonna ring any minute now, indicating the start of the first period of the school day.

Tasha giggled once more before she tossed her hair over her shoulders like she normally does, every time that she wanted some or other attention paid to her, before she smiled and placed her arm on his shoulder.

"You know what's funny as hell though...the fact that Jack Lavery told you that I was cheating on you when in fact, HE is the one who couldn't stop touching ME the first fucking week that he was here! So...there you have your answer...why the hell would I even LOOK at his direction...the way everyone is hating on him...when I have you...Josh Pallister...at my side? Ask yourself that question, babes..." she said, before she winked at him and took off towards the school entrance like the devil himself was going after her.

Josh sighed once more...he was nowhere near getting answers, or the truth from either Tasha or Jack. The one, simply blamed the other for doing something wrong, and what they both heavily denied. Jack did have a reputation ever since he had first set foot in this town...he knew what Tasha was saying could be true as hell. But then again, he also knew, that she HAD been avoiding him for several weeks now, the only time he still saw her was literally at school...could there be some truth in what Jack had said?

Jesus.

And now...he had eight hours of school to deal with too.

The joys of being a teenager.

Fuck this shit, sideways.

**

"Will you STOP going on and ON about Jack the Jerk? Dude, you wanna know what you starting to sound like? Do you totally have a crush on the new guy?" Tommy asked as they drove into the Pallister residence that same afternoon after school was out.

Josh punched his best friend on his shoulder before he grabbed his backpack from the back seat, ready to get the hell out of here and into his room. God knows, he needed some alone time...and to fucking contemplate how to tell the Coach as well as his teammates that he wasn't going to regionals this weekend. And knowing that Jack of ALL people was going to end up permanently taking his place if his dad never had the money to send him to these things, made everything just THAT much worse.

"Dude if you don't like my company, you can actually just go..." he said, smilingly slyly at his bestie as he did so, which earned him a raw groan from Tommy's inner throat.

"I just wish you would stop talking about the guy...you realize when I get home, he's gonna be there? When I wanna be alone, he's always there! When I wanna take a fucking shower, he's ALWAYS there! When I wanna watch some TV..."

"...he's always there, I fucking get it okay? Look, for the next three months he's gonna be your foster brother..."

"...you fucking take that back!"

"I will not! Dude...just give the guy some slack, I guess! Do you have any idea what you must be doing to Mama Hartman when you two are always fighting like this? She's an old woman, what if she has a heart attack and fucking dies? What are you two gonna do then? Let the government look after you?"

Tommy swallowed the words that he had to have ready to fire back at his best friend, at the hearing of all THAT, before his eyes softened somewhat, with a reddish fiery blossom quickly spreading over both of his cheeks, clearly at a loss of any kind of comeback.

"Didn't even think of any of that..." he whispered, under his breath, so much so, that Josh actually had to strain his ears to hear him.

"So do what she fucking asked...if Jack is a jerk to you, and we all know he's GOING to be, just fucking let it wash over you! Brother, I promise you...if you make out like his crap doesn't even bother you, then he'll stop, guaranteed! Look, I gotta go...I'll message you later and for fuck sake...don't leave your phone just LAYING around again! I don't wanna talk to Jack the jerk."

Tommy smiled slowly as he playfully pushed his best friend out of his car, on his way out.

"Just for that, I fucking wish Jack is waiting naked for you at home..." Josh whispered before he quickly shut the door, totally ignoring the middle finger that Tommy so urgently casted his way, before he laughingly swung his bag over his shoulder and entered their modest apartment through the back door, where he saw his father was sitting at the kitchen counter, with what honestly looked like...

...was he dreaming? Was he having nightmare that he would wake up from any minute now?

No...no, he wasn't because this was all too real and he was very much awake.

But could it be?

His father was looking up at him...his grin as big as the Kalahari Desert, before he excitedly showed him the countless amounts of bills that was currently being shown off to his son on the kitchen table.

"Well, what do you say now?" Ethan Pallister said, his voice as happy as Josh had heard it, in a very long ass time.

Josh's eyes fluttered over all the cash bills that was so casually spread across the table, but it was like his brain had refused to register what it was seeing...there literally had to be way more financial gain on this table than they had EVER had...ever?

"Dad...I'm sorry to even have to ask this, but did you rob a bank or something...what the actual hell is going here?" he asked, his voice shrouded with confusion and sheer disbelief.

Ethan's grin happened to grow even wider as he winked at his son, whilst handing him over a fat dollop of cash, before he stood up and hugged Josh to his person.

"I got a little advance at work, my boy. Don't you worry about a single damn thing, okay? I want you to go on this trip this weekend, and you make me proud as hell, yeah? Athletics is your thing, and I'm your father, so I need to look out for you...I love you, my boy. Never forget that, okay, Josh?"

Ethan swallowed slowly, before he cleared his throat and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Josh still in a sort of comatose trance at what had just happened. He knew what his father made every month as a sales man...and THIS...this couldn't possibly be JUST an advance! It just wasn't possible! He didn't know where the heck his father had gotten ALL of this cash from, but it sure wasn't from work...

...still. With all of this cash, he could more than afford to pay for everything going to nationals! Sweet Jesus, he could actually be going! He had DREADED telling Coach that he wasn't able to go and wanted to put it off until his father was absolutely sure about his finances...but now he was glad he didn't.

Fucking hell! He was actually going!

Without even thinking about it, Josh bit his lips and walked quickly towards the living room where his father was sitting in his favorite chair, having just put The Voice on to watch. Josh grabbed his father from behind, and gave him one of the most passionate, most loving hugs that he had EVER given to another human being, burying the front of his face inside the crook of his father's neck in total thanks.

"I'll never forget this, Dad...I'll make you proud of me...I promise..." he whispered softly, before kissing his father's cheek as a final moment of total glee. He could see Ethan starting to well up...it had been so long since himself and his father had any kinda of closeness such as this...with the death of his mother a mere three years ago from COVID, he knew his father was still lonely as hell...and he knew as a one parent-family, he tended to struggle...but he never complained. NEVER!

"You already make me proud, Josh...and so would your Mom have been..." Ethan managed to croak out, before he once more cleared his throat, and before Josh gave his father a final pat on his shoulder, once more looking at the cash bills inside his hand...just ready to pay for his weekend trip to nationals.

OH YEAH...I'M ACTUALLY FUCKING GOING...he chanted within his teenage heart, as he quickly ran to his room to phone Tommy and tell him the good news.

**

On Friday afternoon, everyone gathered back at Freedom High to wish the athletics group fair well on their journey to nationals, which would be held all the way in Cape Town. For many of these young teenagers, they had never even been outside the boundaries of Freedom, so to travel all this way, seeing new stuff, experiencing new and unknown beginnings, was a real treat and dream come true.

Tasha hugged Josh towards her, but for the first time in a while, Josh could feel that his heart wasn't totally in it, as it should have been...would have been, only a couple of months ago. The fact that he was starting to think that Tasha was just using him...I mean, these past couple of days that had passed, ever since he had asked her straight out if she was cheating on him, he was lucky if she had replied to his numerous messages, even twice. She didn't even look sad that he was going away for the whole weekend...

Fuck...could Jack the Jerk be right? Man...

Turning around, feeling an arm thrown protectively over his shoulder, he realized that Tommy had joined up with them, as well as Jack of course, with the two forced to live together with Mama Hartman under one roof. He smiled at Tommy, completely and utterly ignored Jack the Jerk and focused his attention on Mama Hartman herself, giving her one of his warm hugs, as the older woman lovingly cupped his cheek, as he released her.

"You take good care of my two cubbies, won't you?" she asked, a glimmer in her eye, as was the case each and every time that she laid eyes on Josh, being the best friend of one of her adopted boys. You just couldn't help but love this woman on first sight, she was such a good person, in heart and in soul.

"I will do just that, Mama H, I promise!" he replied with a wide smile, meanwhile Tommy rolled his eyes in disgust, sticking his finger down his throat for good measure. Jack meanwhile, tried to shoot the shit with the other kids going on the trip, but it didn't look like anyone wanted to have anything at all to do with him.

Well, you dug your own grave, pal...if you are gonna be a rancid jerk to everyone, don't be surprised if they don't wanna be your friend, it was as simple as that!

Stacy, who came along for the ride, also gave him a tight hug, and as always, Josh was careful not to make it look like it was anything more than just... a goodbye hug. He knew that Stacy kinda had a thing for him, but her being Tommy's adopted sister kinda threw a spanner in that works, and he had always refused to even TRY and go there. As he turned towards his baggage, Jack and Mama Hartman narrowly caught his eye, as the older woman enveloped the lanky teenager in an endearing hug of her own.

As much as Josh wanted to look away...it was a hella personal moment between the two, as well as the fact that the last person he wanted to see before his eyes, was Jack the Jerk...a fluttering tended to stab his upper cheat and heartstrings as he saw how uncomfortable Jack was in the older woman treating him with so much love and tenderness.

Jesus, he knew from what Mama Hartman had said before, that Jack didn't have much of a life...being shipped around from one foster home to the other for years on end...but from what HE could see...that was all Jack's fault! I mean, who would willingly keep a guy living with them, that tended to go out of his way to make people's lives difficult?

Finally, all the kids, as well as the coach and ALL their baggage were finally on in place, as the bus driver beeped his horn in saying goodbye to those who had come all this way to see their kids and offspring off. The two other teenage boys on the 400-meter relay team, Tyson and Daniel sat behind Josh and Tommy, trying to enjoy the six-hour trip as best as they could. Tyson meanwhile took out his guitar that he had carried on the bus and started playing one tune after the other, with all the athletes joining in with the festivities.

After an hour or so, Josh felt that he needed to take a piss, and he made his way from his seat to the back of the bus, and relieved himself. Coming back into the isle on the return, everyone was still singing random songs out that, requests was being made to poor Tyson left, right and center. Josh happily smiled...until he casually turned to his right-hand side and saw that Jack was sitting inside his seat, all alone with no one beside him. Josh frowned, as he realized Jack looked like he was literally inside a quiet little world of his own, as the dude was staring out of the window as every second passed, not sure if he was actually SEEING anything, more like just...getting the time to pass.

His father had raised Josh better than just to LEAVE Jack like this...but fucking hell man, this was Jack the Jerk...he totally brought this on himself! Still...sigh. He could not in good conscious just leave the guy without at least asking if he was okay.

"Jack? Jack, you okay, dude?" he carefully asked as he stood next to Jack in the isle, and even more surprised as he realized that Jack didn't even hear him. He stood a little closer, before he once more spoke Jack's name, and still...it seemed that the boy was way into his own little mind to even notice what was going on around him.

The bus suddenly stopped without warning as it appeared that the driver had done his best to avoid hitting a deer that was situated in the middle of the road, and before Josh knew what hit him, he tumbled across the entirety on the seat, and right onto the lap of the unexpecting Jack.

"WHAT THE FUCK..." Jack managed to shout out loud as the bus came to a sudden stop, leaving all the kids in said bus to look over towards them, followed by a mammoth chorus of laughter as they realized just what had happened. Josh angrily stood up as fast as he could, as he showed a middle finger to all the clowns shooting the shit, laughing their asses off at his expense.

"Okay, okay, you fucking had your fun...Tyson, play us another song, for God's sake..." he hollered over towards his teammate, nervously looking at the Coach, remembering his language, but he latter simply shook his head with a sly smile. Josh turned towards Jack, who was still trying to calm himself down from the shock he had received...was he so into himself that he really didn't notice Josh next to him at all?

"Dude...I'm sorry, yeah? I totally didn't mean to flatten you..." he said softly, with him not even sure Jack could hear him over the noise of his teammates' singing voices.

Jack sure as hell did though, as he simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to look out of the window, his face as serene as it was before. Josh wanted nothing more than to return to Tommy and the others, but this boy...this incredibly rude, arrogant...defenseless dude got his curiosity up like no one had EVER before. There was something about Jack Lavery that he JUST couldn't figure out...it puzzled him like NO man's business to be honest.

Sitting down, taking a huge risk to Jack throwing a tantrum to disturbing his peace, Josh placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, forcing the latter to turn around...and clearly not expecting to see one of his biggest enemies sitting down right next to him, let alone even touching him.

"What the hell do you want, Pallister? Why don't you get back to your boyfriend over there, I'm sure as hell he must be missing you," Jack sneered towards Josh, and finally over towards Tommy, rolling his eyes as he spoke.

Josh closed his eyes and begged for the patience to actually TRY and make friends with this jerk...this complete and utter asshole, before he took his hand off the boy's shoulder and gave Jack a lobsided smile in return.

"Just for that...I think I'll remain here for the entire trip. Tommy is gonna see more than enough of me on the weekend, he can cope without me for now," he said, as sweet and sarcastic as possible, before crossing his arms and stretching his legs out in front of him, as a sign of saying...fuck this, I'm staying right here.

For a moment it seemed like Jack wanted to crack a smile, as Josh seemed to somehow...BREAK through that incredible wall-like barrow which Jack Lavery had managed to create all around him...but before you knew it, that by now well-known scowl was back, and he pursed his lips, as he looked away from Josh.

"Do whatever you want, I ain't stopping you..." Josh managed to hear Jack saying, before there was one more total silence between the boys.

**

The six-hour trip to Cape Town actually felt less than that, as the athletes all bungled out of the bus as they had finally arrived at one of the local schools where they would be staying for the duration of the weekend. The headmaster of said school warmly welcomed the team from Freedom High, and after shaking hands with the Coach, he showed them where they would be sleeping, and assured them, that they would be a barbeque as well as a welcoming party held over at the gymnasium that night, for all the participating schools to attend.

Several of the lower classrooms of the school had smartly been converted into bedrooms, with more than enough beds for all the athletes, which obviously meant that the boys would be sharing, and the same went for the girls. As Josh, Tommy, Daniel and Tyson entered the bedroom assigned to them, each picked out a bed of their own, whilst Tommy immediately calculated that they had a bit of a problem going on, something the others were either too tired or too excited to even realize.

"Uh guys..."

"What?" Josh replied, immediately placing his sports bag onto his chosen bed, wanting to get his sleeping bag out as quickly as possible in this heavy winter Capetonian cold.

Tommy frowned, turning around on one spot, before he nodded towards Jack, who were only entering the bedroom at that point and time.

"Anyone else notices that there are like...five of us, and only like...four beds in here?" Tommy asked the bleeding obvious, and Josh froze as he realized what his best friend was talking about.

"Oh wow...oh man...how the hell did THIS happen? For all the damn money that we had to pay..." he murmured underneath his breath, before he looked sharply at the Coach speedily entering the classroom.

"Boys, there seems to be a bit of...oh, I seen you already figured it out...totally my mistake and I apologize...I forgot to mention to the organizers that we will be FIVE boys instead of the usual four...man I totally missed that. Look, I just spoke to the headmaster and he told me, that there is in fact one more classroom that they can convert into a bedroom, however there can only fit two beds in there. And I cannot legally, allow one of you to sleep in there all on his own. Your parents will never forgive me if something would have to happen to one of you."

"Not if you don't have any..." came the sarcastic response from Jack.

The coach sighed at the boy's words, and looked back at his usual army of athletes.

"Are there any two of you willing to sleep there? Unfortunately, it's a little further away from everyone, all the way on the third floor of the school and therefore also much colder..."

"I will...don't care either way..." Jack immediately stated, with all the boys looking at the Coach, as if they were pleading with him NOT to choose any one of them.

"Boys, I can't allow Jack to sleep in there on his own! Come on, I'm begging you here! Tommy, what about you? You guys are living together with Mama Hartman anyway, right? Shouldn't be much of an ask for you?"

Tommy threw his backpack to the floor, angrily as hell, before he marched up the Coach and stared him directly in his eye.

"Not a chance in hell! I'm sorry Coach, but living with this guy at home is already hell on earth! I ain't doing it here as well and you can't make me!" he said, with the total and utter attitude of a seven-year-old child, crossing his arms and looking both Coach as well as Jack defiantly in the eye.

The Coach's breathing increased just a tad, before he sighed and turned around and took a look at Jack.

"You're gonna have to bunk with me in one bed then, I'm afraid, I can't allow you to have a whole room to yourself..."

"Okay, Coach! I'll do it, then! I'll damn well bunk with Jack...how hard can it be?" Josh finally said, picking up his sleeping bag as he did so, just anything to have all of this stop and get some fucking piece.

"Tasha knows how hard it isn't..." Jack sneered towards Josh, and before the latter could storm towards his biggest enemy, the Coach was more than happy to intervene.

"RIGHT...there you go! Always nice when you can sort out problems as quickly as efficiently as this. Josh...thanks. Thanks a bunch. I'll be sure to make it up to you somehow..."

"Oh please, don't be doing your favourite any more favours, Coach..."

Josh balled his fists as both Daniel and Tyson had to stop him from wringing Jack's neck, before the Coach grabbed the latter's arm and slightly pushed him away from the others.

"AND YOU! I have just about HAD it with you! You think it's a wonder that no one wants to even share a room with you! GROW THE HELL UP! Otherwise, you, my friend, are OUT of this team! I don't CARE how fast you are...I am NOT tolerating you SHIT any longer! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Josh widened his eyes, as yet again, he could have sworn he saw just...just a flicker of fear inside Jack's own, before the boy one more threw up all his defenses and simply nodded...with the Coach signaling Josh to follow him out of the room, where they could talk privately.

"Josh...I get this is a hell of a hard thing to do...God knows there are times these last few weeks where even I was close to losing it with Jack, but let's be honest...with you still not ready to run that relay, we really need him. Please, my boy...please just...it's two days. Just TRY and handle him. If anyone can, I know YOU can!" he said to his star athlete, patting the boy on the shoulder for good measure.

Josh sighed and turned back to where he could still see Jack...the boy was still standing in the doorway of the classroom that they had left him in...just...STARING at Josh...he didn't know whether it was hatred, or whatever...fucking hell, can this weekend just FLY by? Please?

**

Later that night after everyone had eaten and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, Josh was starting to get sleepy, but he didn't wanna let it on with his other teammates. The coach had already gone back to his own room, to get some much-needed sleep, with the Nationals starting tomorrow, which meant it was only the school's two security guards that had any kind of watch going on over the teenagers.

Most of them were tired as hell after the long ass trip, with only a minority of them still sitting by the fire, drinking hot chocolate, or getting to know those from the opposing schools on a more...intimate level. Josh giggled with glee as he saw Tommy and Tyson throw out their best moves in trying to impress two girls from Parow East Academy, meanwhile Daniel had fallen asleep in front of the fire a long time ago. And he literally had no idea where Jack even was.

Josh sighed. He couldn't actually GO to his room without Jack either, since he had the only key so how the fuck would Jack even get inside...don't think Jack and his already furious manner would appreciate that. He poured himself a cup of steaming cocoa that the headmaster had arranged for them and decided to go and sit with the sleeping Daniel over at the fire, when he heard the loud ass commotion going on at the back of the gymnasium.

Daniel, now wide awake, shot up out of his chair, as well as the two Don Juan's Tyson and Tommy looked over to his side, confusion and shock etched on their faces.

"GET OFF ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"But that sounds like..." Tommy started to shout towards Josh, but before he could, they finally saw what was happening.

Three, tall as hell, huge ass eighteen-year-old teens from one of the opposing schools were literally carrying a screaming, scattering Jack in their arms. It seems like they were carrying him all the way to the bon fire in the middle of the grounds.

"LET ME GO! YOU BASTARDS!" Josh heard Jack scream out in sheer morbid terror, before he finally got to grips with what he was seeing, and stormed towards the three boys.

"Is there a problem here? What the hell are you doing with our team mate?" he shouted out loud as he approached the three older boys, still holding on tight to Jack, not even a shiver of a chance, in allowing the boy to escape.

The tallest, and what seemed like the oldest of the boys, turned furiously towards Josh and signaled his head towards Jack.

"Ask you little faggot friend over here! He tried to sneak a fucking peek at us in the showers! Some of us guys saw him lurking at the back of the bathroom back there and thought we'd just teach this little fudge packer a little lesson in what happens to homo's around here...LETS BURN THE FUCKER!"

"Josh! Help me! Please! They've fucking serious!" Jack shouted with all his might, before one of the boys placed his hand firmly across his lips, leaving the poor boy's voice more than useless.

Fuck this shit. No way. There was no way! Jack might be a jerk, but he was STILL a teammate! He was STILL one of them!

"Guys...let's do this..." he signaled to Tyson, Daniel as well as Tommy, and suddenly, it was mayhem just everywhere you God damn looked.

Josh smashed the tallest boy's nose with just about everything that he had inside him, whilst Daniel and Tyson were dealing with the other two, in fact allowing a terrified Jack to sliver out of their grasp and somewhat away to safety. Whilst he was still fighting against the bigger of the boys, Josh was FURIOUS to see that Tommy, was in fact still standing on the exact same spot that he had been before the fight started...he wasn't doing a thing to help his adopted brother!

JESUS, TOMMY! WHAT THE HELL, MAN?

He knew Tommy had an intense hatred for Jack, but this was on a whole other level! These idiots...Josh still wasn't sure what the hell Jack had done in order for them to think that he was gay and had spied on their naked teenage bodies, but they were ANGRY enough to actually wanna throw Jack's ass straight into that bonfire! He saw it in their eyes...their entire demeanor...they fucking would have, if someone hadn't been around to stop them.

Daniel threw in one last punch to allow the boy he was fighting to slouch down in sheer pain, clutching his abdomen, whilst the one that Tyson was dealing with, didn't know whether he was coming or going. Apart from athletics, Tyson's biggest hobby was kickboxing...the dude clearly didn't know who he was dealing with. When his two buddies were down, out for the count, the bigger boy didn't seem all that confidant anymore, with all three Freedom High dudes...Josh, Tyson and Daniel, all threateningly encircling him.

"You...you're actually defending that homo...what the hell man, you guys should be on our side!" the huge asshole even dared to even say, with Josh walking straight up to him, and grabbed him by his shirt's collar.

"I don't care if my team mate is gay or straight, or even fucking trans...you touch another hair on this dude's body and you'll end up WORSE than your buddies over there, you got me?"

The taller dude held up his hands and smirked at all the teenagers watching him, before he reiterated a few steps backwards, his eyes once more falling on Jack, as he did so.

"Never thought I'd see athletes such as yourselves defend a total faggot like him...come on, you bunch of useless pansies..." he croaked out as he attended to first, one and then the other of his friends, helped them upwards, before he looked back at the Freedom athletes, all bar Tommy still in total unison of defending their team mate.

"Ya'll fucking deserve each other! Sucking each other's dicks no doubt!" he muttered under his breath, before himself and his buddies walked out of sight, in total and utter humiliation.

Josh turned towards Jack and he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked, but as he saw the boy's eyes he realized THAT was totally the wrong thing to even ask...

"I have just almost...been THROWN into a fucking fire, and you ask if I'm, okay? JESUS, what is WRONG with you?!" Jack spat out, and took one more look at the bon fire, before he shuddered and ran away towards the school, most probably towards the room that both himself and Josh was now forced to share.

Josh sighed once more, before his eyes fell onto Tommy...still standing on the same spot he had been when all of this commotion had started, as if he was firmly rooted into the weeds of the soil.

"Dude? What the hell was that? We had to do all the dirty work and you just stood there? You actually did fuck all to help Jack!" he hissed towards his best friend in total insanity.

An angry, ugly look glanced and reflected over Tommy's youthful face, before he came up to his bestie and looked him straight in the eye.

"The fuck? You can't stand the dude either, and yet you helped him...so what the hell is wrong with YOU! You're the one that has been bitching over his ass from the beginning! At least if they tossed him into the fire we would have been RID of the douchebag!" he cried out, as cold as Josh had ever heard him.

Both Daniel and Tyson looked at Tommy as if he had been possessed by some or other demon, meanwhile Josh couldn't believe what has just come out of his buddy's mouth...this wasn't like Tommy? He wasn't normally like this...and even though no one could deny that Jack Lavery had been a total pain in the ass ever since he had transferred to Freedom High...he didn't deserve his own ass getting tossed into a raging fire surely!?

"Tommy...I dunno what the hell is going on with you, but as your friend, as your best friend, I'm telling you to drop the attitude towards Jack. He might be an asshole, but not even you could wish anyone that amount of pain you wanted him to endure...guys, seriously, we are a team. I don't like Jack anymore than you do, but we're teammates. Let's try and fucking act like it...for fuck sake..." he said as he looked each one of them in the eye, turn after turn, before he shook his head and made for the classroom where himself and Jack was sleeping in.

He was halfway over there...when he heard the voice of his best friend one more time...

"If you chose him over me...if you seriously are gonna give Jack the Jerk a chance, Josh...me and you are over. DO YOU HEAR ME? THEN, WE ARE OVER!"

**

"Jack, you here somewhere?"

A small, quiet sniff could clearly be heard, before Josh's eyes followed the shadow of the boy who so obviously had no key to actually get IN to the room, and had been sitting out the door, waiting for him to arrive.

"The hell took you so long...you fucking had to kiss your boyfriend good night, or what?" came the rancid reply, which Josh took the liberty to fucking ignore.

"Let's get you in here, shall we..." he sighed before he unlocked the door to the classroom and let them both go inside.

Switching on the lights, Josh's eyes shook with confusion as he saw Jack take off his jacket and shirt that he was wearing in one go, before his trousers also made a beeline for the floor. The boy took the clothes that he had just RIPPED so severely from his body and tossed them straight to the corner of the room, before he suddenly seemed to notice that there was in fact someone else in the room with him.

"Dude, I get that we need to share this place for the weekend but just...just leave me alone, okay?" he said, his eyes tired as hell, before he sat down on his bed and simply laid down on his back, taking sharp, huge breaths.

Something wasn't quite right...Josh more than knew that Jack had an almighty scare, but that didn't quite explain THIS kind of behavior either.

"Jack...listen..."

"What, dude? Seriously, haven't all of you had enough comedy for one fucking night?" Jack rambled on.

Josh sat on his own bed, and looked Jack directly in his eye.

"Dude...if I didn't care about you, then I wouldn't have even thought about taking on those guys, and neither would Daniel or Tyson for that matter. You're our teammate..."

"...yeah, and I bet you're all fucking THRILLED about that..."

"...if you would just STOP being a fucking asshole to people..."

"...I like being an asshole to people!"

"WHY? WHY, JACK?"

"BECAUSE...BECAUSE..."

Jack suddenly stopped, his entire body shaking as he did so...it seemed that words wanted out, but he just couldn't force them to. Although obviously trying his best not to cry in front of Josh, he wasn't doing a good enough job, as one tear flowing out of his left eye became more and more, cascading down from both eyes as much as he was clearly trying to stop it.

"Jack..."

"WHAT?

Josh stood up and before he even knew exactly what he was doing, he planted himself on the end of Jack's bed, the latter sighed with feeling the moment he felt the extra weight on the mattress.

"Oh great, you're gonna read me a bedtime story now? Want a cuddle as well? And just for your fucking information, I didn't SPY on those boys! I really didn't! I just...believe it or not, I just had to get away from that fire, okay? I can't STAND flames! I never fucking could! Every time I'm near a fire or near anything hot, I freak out, okay? My clothes STINK of fucking charcoal, so I have to get them the hell OFF me! You can think all you want, fucking taunt me, I don't even care! You wanted to know the real reason I'm like this, well THERE you are!"

Jack's chest was heaving up and down at a ferocious pace, he was struggling to control his breathing, and Josh at once recognized the first obvious signs of Jack having what had to be a panic attack...he knew EXACTLY how all of this happens...he had his fair share of them after his mother passed away three years ago.

He reached over, grabbed and held both of Jack's hands inside his very own.

"Jack...listen to me...listen to my voice okay! Even better...just look at me...look into my eyes...concentrate on my face, one thing at a time...Jack, listen to me!"

Jack looked up, his face distorted bright red, more red than what Josh had ever seen it, he tried as hard as he could to control his breathing, to get his lungs to actually do their job.

In...out...in...out...over and over, whilst all the time looking straight at Josh, never even DARING to break the slightest of eye contact. Just as his psychiatrist back then had told him to do when it had happened to himself...Josh sat with Jack every step of the way, until the boy's cheeks returned to their natural colour. His blond hair, loosened severely from his pony tail after being roughed up as he was earlier, hanging down by the side of his ears.

Huge gulps of air, over and over. Swallowing. Breathing. Regaining control.

Jack sighed and nearly collapsed onto the bed, as the panic attack was finally deemed to have passed, his breathing and motions returning to their normal state of function. He gripped Josh's hands so hard and so badly, that the latter knew he would probably have some kind of scarring tomorrow. He didn't care...no matter how much this boy had uprooted his life, ever since he had appeared in it, he just couldn't get it over his heart not to help him.

Jack needed him. That was all he needed to realize...when Mama Hartman asked their class to please give Jack time...she really meant it.

"Since when have you been afraid of fire...or flames for that matter? Come on Jack, talk to me..." Josh urged as Jack rapidly started to look around the room nervous as anything, probably humiliated as hell, that Josh Pallister of all people had now seen him at his worst.

Jack shook his head slowly, blinked his eyes a few times, as if to fully focus what was going on, before he finally, slowly, let go of both of Josh's hands.

"I...I dunno. As a kid...I can remember having these dreams...dude, I don't even know if they are real, but...they FELT real. It felt as if I was really there. Flames...fires all over the place and I'm just STARING at it. Put that together with the fact that I have no family out there...and you start to fucking wonder if it wasn't real after all..." he whispered so softly that even Josh was struggling to hear him.

"You really can't remember anything from way back? You never knew your parents?" he finally asked.

Jack shook his head, having calmed down quite a bit by now.

"No...I wish I did though. Everyone has a family, or at least a dad, like you. Ever since I can remember I was alone. Sent from fucking pillar to post, never really belonging everywhere. And this is South Africa, man...people love to braai (BBQ) and once they realize they have a kid living with them who pisses his pants every time he sees flames...they tend not to wanna have that kid around no more."

Jesus. Josh swallowed slowly...his heart struggling to digest or realize even a SMIDGEON of what Jack Lavery had gone through in his short sixteen years on this earth.

"There must be a way you can possibly find out who your folks were? I mean, there has to be some kind of record out there..."

Jack rolled his eyes, but at least there was no malice in them, this time.

"Don't you think people have tried? I have no clue what my mother's name was, and even so, there's no "Jack Lavery" on record like...anywhere! It's like for some reason, who ever she was, she never bothered to even register me! Dude...we need to get to sleep, we have a big race tomorrow..."

Jack stood up, possibly a little too fast after his entire ordeal, as his feet and legs totally gave way underneath him. Josh, seeing what was about to happen to the guy who was supposed to run the relay in his place the following day...jumped up and was just in time to catch him around his midriff, just as it seemed Jack would be falling his ass off onto the cold, tiled floor of the classroom.

"Holy shit, Jack...watch yourself!" Josh managed to utter, before their eyes suddenly met.

Jack's brown ones focused on Josh's bright blues...the electricity between them was more than palpable.

It was like time had suddenly decided to stand still and focus on the only two beings on the face of this green earth...Josh was still holding Jack...and he could actually feel and hear Jack's rapid heartbeat going more than ballistic inside of his chest, as they were standing way closer than what they would normally be.

A few more seconds passed. Complete and utter silence.

Jack saw the genuineness, the caring side of Josh Pallister...the boy who stood up for him earlier like NO one else ever had, more than anyone would have ever done, someone who had actually gone to the trouble for once in his life...in PROTECTING him.

Josh in turn, saw the one weakness of Jack Lavery, the side of him that he seemingly did his level best to hide away...making him be the absolute jerk that he always was...when in sheer reality, he was nothing more than a scared little orphan boy.

"Fucking hell man...that's...that's the second time you saved me tonight..." Jack managed to breathe out softly...his eyes firmly focused on the boy who was still holding him very tightly in his arms.

Josh, in all honestly, didn't know what to reply...he was stunned. More than stunned.

All his life, he felt like he had this...instant connection with girls. Only girls.

He never, ever dreamed that a boy...A DUDE...could ever, EVER...look at him, the way that Jack was now.

Time stood still.

And when Jack Lavery leaned in to kiss Josh Pallister...

...it was as if time had totally froze.

**

THANKS FOR READING!

So, Jack does remember the flames...but he seemingly can't remember how his mother died and why.

And just WHERE...did Josh's father managed to get all that extra cash...?

And more importantly...WHAT would Tommy do if he found out his best friend and his biggest enemy have now shared a KISS!?

Wanna read more? I'll happily write more chapters if I get some feedback from you guys xx

liciousryan@gmail.com