Jack sat alone beneath a shady tree in Stanford’s courtyard reading a physics book and taking notes. Her reading glasses had fallen down her nose to the point where they were about to completely slip off her face. She kept reading, oblivious to anyone who passed her or even sat down beside her. She didn’t even notice Dan when he walked up to her until she felt a sharp kick to her foot. She looked up to see him trying to contain his laughter.
“You little shit head,” Jack said as she returned to her note taking.
“Are you gonna sit here all day, or do I have to drag you away from school to do something fun?” Dan replied as he stood closer to her.
“I need to finish my homework before I can do anything that involves physical contact,” she answered, writing down another note as she read her book.
“Okay, fine. I’ll just sit here until you finish,” he said, flopping down beside her and leaning against the tree.
“Darren, are you just gonna stand there?” Jack called without looking up from her book. He had been leaning against the fence that surrounded the courtyard. Darren looked at her in surprise. “Come on, get over here. I promise I won’t bite like I have been the last two days.”
Darren cautiously walked over to the tree and sat down beside Dan. He looked at Jack with a confused expression on his face then turned to Dan and whispered, “What’s gotten into her?”
“I don’t know,” Dan quietly shrugged.
“What are we doing today?” Jack asked with her nose in her book and oblivious to their conversation.
“Why don’t we see some of your routines for the competition Saturday?” Dan suggested.
Jack perked up. “That would be so cool!” she replied, finally putting her book down. She slammed her notebook shut and stuffed it into her book bag. “Come on. Let’s go!”
“But I thought you had homework,” he began.
“It can wait. Besides, my eyes are sore. I need a break. I’ve been sitting here for an hour, and my ass is asleep,” Jack said as she took Dan’s hand and pulled him up. “How did you get here?”
“Bus,” Darren mumbled as he picked himself up.
“Good thing I have the car,” she added, almost dashing down the courtyard, but being held back by Dan. Jack quickly drove them back to the apartment and escorted them to the ramp out back. She ran upstairs, grabbed her bike, roller blades, and skateboard, then headed back down the fire escape. Dan and Darren were already sitting on lawn chairs waiting for her.
Jack climbed up the ramp with her stuff and asked, “What do you want to see first?”
“I haven’t seen you do any bike stunts,” Dan replied.
“Then BMX it is!” she called back, hopping onto her bike and jumping onto the ramp. She gathered enough speed to do her first move and executed it with pinpoint accuracy.
“She’s really good,” Darren told Dan. “How long has she been doing this stuff?”
“So long I can’t even begin to count,” Dan replied.
Darren thoughtfully nodded. He stared at Jack’s agile body as it flew through the air with grace and speed. He hair swam around her face as the wind whipped through it. She had the moves of a dancer, only her bike was her floor. He didn’t realize up until then how beautiful she actually was. Her eyes were that same emerald green as Dan’s, except a little paler and more true to the color of the precious gem. She had strong, bulging muscles, but they actually looked good on her. They made her seem even more attractive. She appeared so fragile, yet so tough at the same time.
“How old is she?” Darren suddenly asked.
“Twenty-four. Why?” Dan replied.
“Just wondering,” Darren kept his gaze on Jack as she flew off the ramp and into the air. She was heading back down a little to fast. Her body was high above the bike doing a summersault. He bike hit the edge of the ramp before she had a chance to get back on it. Her shoulder hit the ramp as the bike flopped to the side. Dan and Darren jumped off their seats.
Darren was the first one to reach her. He pulled the bike off her body and helped her up. “Are you okay?” he asked as he walked her back to his chair.
Jack touched her shoulder and winced, “Ouch!” She pulled up her sleeve to see it was already turning colors. “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Not today! Not today! Two days before my fucking competition and I have to go and dislocate my fucking shoulder!”
Dan leapt up the fire escape to grab the pack of ice he had set in the freezer the day she hit her head. He knew something else would happen and he’d need another pack for some other reason. Darren stayed with her and tried to keep her calm.
“Calm down,” he told her.
“You shut up,” Jack almost yelled.
“No, you shut up!” Darren shouted back with newfound strength. “I’ve been taking your shit for the last few days, and I’m not gonna keep taking it anymore.”
Jack suddenly became very still. She stared at him with startled emerald green eyes. Her full lips stood poised in a pout. She was dumbfounded by how Darren stood up to her. Dan ran back down the stairs forcing her to snap out of her daze and look up. He appeared beside her seconds later, ice in hand. Jack took it from him and slipped it over her shoulder. She was ready to scream with pain when she felt the cold hit her, but kept it in as she clutched the armrest of the chair until her knuckles turned white.
“I’m taking you to a doctor,” Dan said as he lifted her off the chair and carried her over to the fire escape.
“No!” she loudly protested. “You can’t take me to a doctor! I won’t go!” Jack began kicking her feet, but it was no use. Dan was simply too far away for her to hit. She gave up until they reached the inside of the apartment and he set her down on the couch.
“Why don’t you want to go?” he asked.
“Because I don’t,” she replied.
“You’re not telling me the truth,” Dan retorted.
Jack looked down at her feet as she replied, “I don’t have any insurance.”
“That’s a good reason,” Darren piped up.
Dan glared at him. “Why?” he questioned Jack.
“Because I don’t have the money to pay for it. Everything goes towards my tuition and my bills. By the time I’m done paying those, I only have enough money for about a week’s worth of food. I bum off of Nadia the rest of the time,” she explained. “That’s why the X-Games are so important. With the money I win from that competition, I’m set for the next few years until I get a real job.”
Dan stared at her sympathetically. “If you had just called me I would have sent you the money,” he quietly said.
“But Danny, you’re as deep in the hole as I am,” she replied.
“Jack, we’ve sold over twenty million albums around the world. Trust me, I’m not in the hole,” he answered back with a smile.
“Twenty million albums?” Jack’s voice began to squeak. Dan nodded with a sparkle in his eyes. She sank lower into the couch and stayed quiet. “I’m still not going to a doctor.”
“Why?” Dan whined.
“Because it’s not as bad as you think. Get me my pills and I’ll be fine.”
“Jack, you’re addicted to those things!”
“No, I’m not!” she shouted. “I only take them when I’m in pain, and I’m in pain right now! And what did I tell you about passing judgments? You’ve only been here for four days. That doesn’t qualify you to know what’s happened in the last six years of my life!”
“I know you’re in pain. That’s why you need to go to a doctor,” he reasoned.
“Shut the fuck up Daniel!” Jack finally exploded as she shot up off the couch. The two cousins stared each other down as Darren watched helplessly. He couldn’t step in and stop them. He just didn’t know enough about the situation. He watched as Dan finally crumbled beneath Jack’s stone cold stare.
“You win,” he muttered, his eyes falling below hers. Dan walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Jack fell onto the couch, her shoulder throbbing in pain. Darren sat down beside her and whispered, “Are you okay?”
She looked at him and replied, “Not really.”
“Are you in pain?”
“Yeah.” Jack hesitated before asking, “Could you get me the pills on the kitchen counter?”
“Sure,” Darren said as he stood up and walked into the kitchen where Dan was trying to calm down.
“So, you’re doing her dirty work?” he angrily asked Darren.
Darren didn’t reply. He scooped the pills off the counter and filled a glass with water. He headed back to Jack and handed her the stuff.
“Thank you,” Jack softly replied. Darren sat down beside her and nodded. “You wanna go for a walk?” she asked after swallowing down two pills.
“Yeah,” Darren said with a smile. They stood up off the couch and slipped out the front door. They headed for the beach as the sun began to set behind the horizon.
“So, what’s your story?” Jack questioned.
“You really wouldn’t want to hear it,” Darren replied.
“Come on! Yeah I would!” she shot back.
“Okay, but just to warn you, it’s short and boring.” Jack nodded. “I was born in Australia. I first wanted to become a teacher. I went to college for that, dropped out, got married, and joined Savage Garden. Soon after, my wife and I divorced, and now I’m single again.”
“Oh, sorry,” she apologized.
“It wasn’t your fault. Don’t be sorry,” Darren said.
“There are other reasons I should be sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you like shit. I’m truly sorry about that,” Jack apologized again.
“It’s okay. I said some really bad things that I didn’t mean, and I’m sorry for that,” he replied.
“Apology accepted,” she said. “Why don’t we start all over again? My name is Jacquelina Jones, Jack for short.” She stuck out her good hand.
“Pleased to meet you, Jack. I’m Darren Hayes,” he replied, shaking her hand. “So, what’s your story?”
“Like you, I was also born in Australia. Dan and I grew up together. We were always best friends, then six years ago I moved out here to study nuclear physics. My father died my first year here, and ever since then I’ve been completely engrossed with extreme sports,” Jack explained as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. “I have some fond memories of my days back in Australia. Dan and I would get into so much trouble when we were together. I remember this one time when we decided to teepee his mean neighbors house. Halfway through the act, we got busted, so we spent the next few weeks cleaning up out mess.”
Darren laughed out loud. “No way!” he giggled. “He never told me about that. He never tells me the fun stuff. And when I try to get him to do something crazy or stupid, he won’t do it.”
“That doesn’t sound like my Danny,” she observed.
“Well, he’s changed a lot in the last few years,” he tried to reason.
“That’s not possible,” Jack rejected. “I bet that he still has a crazy side to him.”
“Okay,” Darren replied. “Set the terms.”
“$50 says that Dan is still the same guy I knew six years ago.”
“And a kiss says that he isn’t,” he finished.
“Yeah, right,” Jack skeptically said.
“You won’t have to pay me $50,” Darren answered.
“Fine,” she replied. They shook on the bet.
“How’s your shoulder?” Darren asked, changing the subject.
“Getting better, I think.” Jack tried to move it. She managed to raise her are to about the level of her shoulder before feeling a shooting pain run through it. “I’d better stop doing that. I’m only gonna make it worse.”
“Maybe I can help you,” he replied. “Sit down and I’ll be right back.” Darren ran off to the edge of the ocean and soaked his hands in the cool water. Jack was already sitting on the beach when he came back.
“What are you going to do?” she asked as he knelt down behind her.
“I’m going to give you something special, so close your eyes and relax. If you feel any pain, feel free to pull away and slap me,” Darren answered.
Jack complied; she closed her eyes and let her tense muscles relax for the first time in hours. She could feel him pulling up her shirt and placing his cool hands on the small of her back. She nearly jumped, but soon realized that there was nothing to be afraid of. Darren’s hands were as gentle as her own and slowly massaged all the tense areas of her back. She breath in deeply as the experience became even more pleasure some. His hands slowly crept up her back and to her shoulders. He was very gentle as he worked on her bad shoulder, slowly slipping it back into place. Jack could barely feel any more pain as he finished up. The moment Darren took his hands away, she opened her eyes.
“Where did you learn that?” she asked, still a little dazed from the experience.
“Family secret. If I told you, I’d either have to kill you or marry you, depending upon the time frame,” he answered.
Jack held out her arm and turned it in as many directions as she could. The pain had subsided to a throb that almost felt like she had only been softly punched in the arm. She turned around and hugged Darren. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied.
“Okay, time to head back to the apartment and apologize to Dan,” Jack said as she and Darren stood up.
‘This should be interesting,’ Darren thought to himself.
When they reached the door, it swung open with Dan standing behind it, fuming. His eyes were aglow with fury. Jack walked right past him without noticing and sat down on the couch. His expression softened when he realized that she wanted to act civil.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said softly as she looked over at him from the couch.
Dan sat down beside her, dumbfounded by her sudden mood change. “Jack, are you okay? Do you have a fever?” Dan asked as he placed his hand on her forehead.
“No, I’m fine,” she answered. “I just wanna apologize for my actions, that’s all.”
“Okay,” Dan exhaled. “I forgive you this time, but one more blow up and I’m never talking to you again.”
“I won’t blow up anymore. I promise.”
“Good. How’s your shoulder?”
“Check this out.” Jack lifted her arm and moved it around. Dan’s mouth dropped open. He stared at her with wide eyes as she smiled back. “Darren is a miracle worker.”
“What did you do to her?” Dan nearly shouted at him.
Darren almost jumped as he threw his arms up into the air and said, “Nothing!”
“Boys!” Jack loudly interrupted. Dan and Darren stared at her. “I don’t want you fighting. I’ll kick both of you out of the apartment if I see even one punch being thrown. Besides, Darren didn’t do anything bad to me. He gave me a massage, and a very good one at that.”
Dan and Darren looked at each other for a moment before heading off in different directions. Jack shook her head and stood up to go to her room. She picked out one of her favorite movies, “Fools Rush In,” and headed back to the couch in the living room. Picking up the phone, she called the local pizza pub and ordered a large pepperoni pizza then sat down on the couch and began the movie. After finishing the previews, she yelled, “Food’s gonna be here in five minutes!”
“What food?” Dan asked as he poked his head into the living room from the kitchen.
“Pizza,” Jack said.
“What kind?” Darren questioned from the bathroom.
“Pepperoni.”
Dan began to laugh. Jack stared at him in confusion. ‘What’s so funny?’ she thought.
Darren walked out of the bathroom and replied, “I don’t eat meat.”
“Pick it off,” she retorted. Dan laughed harder. ‘What now?’
“Ew!” Darren said in a disgusted manner.
“You baby,” Jack shot back. The doorbell rang as she was about to crack a joke. She quickly answered it and handed the pizza boy the last of her spending money. She set the pizza down on the table by the couch and opened the box. “Come to mama,” she said, pulling off a slice and taking a bite.
“You’re weird,” Darren replied as he and Dan sat down on opposite sides of Jack.
“I’m hungry!” Jack defended as she took another bite. “Who wants a beer?”
“I’ll take one,” Dan said.
“Daz, how about you?”
“I’ll pass.”
“You don’t drink either. I guess that’s a good quality in a man.” Jack walked to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of Bud Light. “You want a Coke?” she called to Darren.
“Sure,” he replied. She returned with the drinks and set them down on the table. The three of them ate as the tape played on. Halfway through it, all three were stuffed to the brim and laying back on the couch.
Jack had her head on Dan’s shoulder, but her gaze kept shifting towards Darren. ‘He looks so lonely,’ she thought. During the last half hour of the movie, Dan fell asleep. Jack purposefully shifted her position so that she was now laying on Darren’s chest, her arm perched just about his navel.
“You’re my new pillow,” she whispered. Darren smiled down at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It was strange to have someone new to hold, especially when it was Dan’s cousin.