“Wake up, sleeping beauty,” a loud, irritating female voice boomed from the kitchen of the second floor apartment that Jack Jones shared with her best friend and classmate, Nadia Becker. “Jeez, Jack. Get your ass out of bed and get ready for class. You’ve got half an hour!” Nadia kept shouting in her high-pitched voice.
Jack rolled over in her comfortable queen sized bed to stare blindly at her clock. 8:30 read the quartz numbers. “Shit,” Jack mumbled as she sat up, her socked feet making a gentle thud as she swung her legs onto the floor. Hastily lifting herself off the bed, she hobbled to the kitchen and sank into one of the cushy chairs by the table.
“So, how was the competition?” Nadia asked as she set a plate of hot eggs, sausage, and toast in front of Jack.
“I swear, the more I compete, the more bruises I get,” she replied, a slight hint of her Australian accent emerging as she spoke. “But I won,” she added. Jack was a native of the country, living in and around Brisbane all her life, and moving to San Francisco only six years earlier after being accepted to Stanford. She was in her last year of school working towards a Master’s in nuclear physics. In her spare time, she did extreme sports such as skateboarding, roller blading, and BMX, which she competed every weekend for.
“That’s good,” Nadia said as she sat down beside Jack.
“Yeah, but when you’re competing against Seth Fisher, you gotta expect the bruises,” Jack replied, picking up her fork and placing a mouthful of egg into her mouth. “I really hate having a 9 AM class on a Monday. I take enough of a beating on Sundays that require painkillers to get over, then I have to get another beating from teachers the next day. I’m so surprised I can even get out of bed. These pain killers knock me out for hours on end.”
“Poor Jack,” Nadia sympathized as she patted Jack’s shoulder.
“Ow!” she cried, the pain from yesterday’s fall on the ramp slicing through her like a knife.
“Sorry,” Nadia apologized after quickly pulling her hand away.
After breakfast, the two girls hopped into Nadia’s red Durango and drove off to the university for a three-hour long class and lecture.
“Your mom called,” Nadia said as she pulled into the parking lot.
“And?” Jack asked while pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail.
“She said that one of your cousins were coming to town, but I didn’t catch his name. She told me he’d be here around three this afternoon,” Nadia explained as she pulled into an open spot and turned off the car.
“I wonder which one. I hope its Danny. I really miss him. I haven’t seen him in six years. I wonder how he’s doing,” Jack said, putting on some mascara to highlight her bright emerald green eyes. “Then again, it would be cool to see Oliver again. He was always nice to me. But Danny, man, he was like my best friend. I miss him so much. We used to do the craziest things together.”
“Danny sounds like a great guy,” Nadia commented. “Too bad I’m going to miss meeting him.”
“That’s right, you’re leaving for New York tonight,” Jack replied as they walked down the shady courtyard towards their respective classes.
“Hey, I can’t miss this interview. My entire medical career depends on it. I have to go,” Nadia said as she veered off to the right.
“I’ll see you when you get back next week!” Jack hollered as she veered left towards the science building. Nadia waved to her and disappeared into the English building.
~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch slowly rolled around as Jack’s three-hour class finally ended. Any more lectures on elementary particles and she’d scream. She walked off campus and slipped on her roller blades to skate to the nearest mall, which was three miles away. She was used to the long distance, and greatly enjoyed the feeling of the wind filtering through her long brown hair.
Jack skated up to one of the outdoor restaurants and ordered her usual, a double cheeseburger with extra mayo and pickles, fries, and a large Coke. She quickly found a seat near the outskirts of the dining area and plopped down into the chair, her book bag slowly sliding down to her feet.
“Where have you been all my life?” she asked the cheeseburger as she picked it up in her hands. Just as she was about to take a bite, her cell phone rang. Jack put down the burger and added, “I’ll get back to you.” She pulled out her phone and flipped it open.
“Talk to me,” she answered.
“Jackie Jones, is that really you?” a deep, male Aussie accent asked.
“Who is this?” Jack replied suspiciously, fear building up in the back of her mind. ‘Who the hell is this guy and how does he know my name?’ was the question that kept circling her head.
“Jackie! You really don’t recognize me? Your own cousin?” he said.
Jack’s mouth dropped open. “Danny?” she questioned.
“It took you long enough,” he answered with a laugh.
“You little shit! How ya been?”
“Eh, so, so. I’m in town for a little while. The band’s playing a few gigs out here, then taking some time off before we start touring again. I thought I’d spend my free time with you.”
“How’s the band?”
“It’s good. Darren’s being the usual pain in the ass, but nothing that I can’t handle,” Danny answered before Jack broke in.
“Who’s Darren?” she asked.
“I didn’t tell you about Darren?” he replied.
“No… We kinda haven’t spoken to each other in six years! Of course you haven’t told me about Darren,” Jack sarcastically shot back.
“He’s been with us for the longest time. Great voice. He’s just a little conceited, that’s all. He stares at mirrors far too long. But who can blame the guy? He’s still trying to get over his ex-wife,” Danny explained. “But enough about me, how are you?”
“I’m doing just fine. It’s my last year of school, finally. Being stuck here for the last six years has been a very strange and very exhausting experience. Oh, and the extreme sports scene has been very good to me. I just won one of the preliminary competitions this weekend that qualifies me for the X-Games next weekend. Will you come and watch me?” she politely asked.
“Jack, have I ever turned you down?” Danny replied.
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll be there.”
“I bet you won’t be able to recognize me, though.”
“Wanna bet?”
Danny had just struck her weak spot. Jack loved betting, no matter what it was on, horses, dogs, even coin tossing. She just couldn’t resist when the opportunity popped up. “Dinner says you can’t pick me out of a crowd,” she wagered.
“Okay, it’s on. Hm… Let’s see… I imagine you’re wearing a candy apple red tank top, your white bra straps slightly showing over your shoulders. You have on a pair of tight black biking shorts, which are completely wrong for those roller blades on your feet. Oh, your hair is tied back in a ponytail and you’re holding a big fat double cheeseburger in your hands that has extra pickles and extra mayo,” Danny described with pinpoint accuracy.
Jack let the burger drop to her plate as she stared blankly at the hole between her hands where it used to be. “When did you become a psychic?” she inquired.
“Never, you’re just gullible,” Danny answered.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Jack yelled into the phone. Instead of getting back a response, she heard a click from the other end. Danny had hung up on her. “Son of a bitch!” she loudly whispered. She began surveying the food court around her to see if he was there. Finding no one even remotely in her vicinity, she scratched her head and picked the burger up again.
Jack looked at it then put it down. She wasn’t hungry anymore, at least not after that strange conversation. ‘How did he know all that stuff? He’s not even supposed to be here yet. It’s only 12:30,’ she kept thinking. Being lost in such deep thought, she didn’t realize that a stranger had sat down beside her.
“Excuse me, do you have any ketchup?” he asked.
“Huh?” Jack replied, snapping out of her thoughts. Her eyes locked with the emerald green ones of the stranger sitting beside her and she gasped. He was very handsome with golden brown hair, muscles slightly bulging out from beneath his gray ribbed shirt, and the sappiest smile she had ever seen.
“Hi, Jack,” he said.
“Danny!” she screamed, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe it’s you!”
“I can’t believe it’s you!” he replied. “I missed you so much!”
“I missed you, too,” Jack said as she let go of her hold on his neck. “Look at you. You’ve gotten so handsome. You must be fighting off the girls.”
Danny laughed, “Like you won’t believe! Every concert! And look at you! Oh, my God! Jackie Jones has turned into a real girl!”
“Danny!” she squeaked, punching his arm.
“Ow, and you’re really strong too.”
“Like duh! Come on! Does ‘extreme sport’ mean anything to you?”
“Not really.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“But seriously, you’re very pretty. I think I’m gonna have to keep Darren away from you with a stick,” Danny complimented as Jack turned bright red. Before she could utter a word, his cell phone rang. “Hello? Oh, hey Daz… Yeah, I’m free tonight… Sure…Could I bring someone along? Yeah, Jack… Okay, great. Seven it is. Bye.”
“Let me guess, Darren?” she asked.
“Yeah. He wants us to go to dinner with him at seven. You up to it?” Danny replied.
“I’m always up for dinner,” Jack answered.
“You’re paying for me,” he said.
“That was not a fair bet! You had the advantage! Besides, guys are supposed to pay for girls when they go out to dinner with them. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that?”
“And when did you become a girl?” Danny retorted. She gave him a dirty look and he added, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay. You don’t owe me anything.”
Jack’s face lit up with a smile. “Thanks Danny!” she replied, hugging him again. She looked down at her barely eaten food and picked up the burger.
“Hey, you gonna eat all that?” he asked. Jack rolled her eyes and split the burger in half.