The years passed, before the incident involving the sympathetic educator and the dark-eyed boy’s relative faded into a memory, but was, unfortunately, not forgotten.

The police searched for Jack’s father, only to find his corpse a couple of days later in a dumpster only couple of miles away from the school, where his friend had likely hidden him after a serious heroin overdose. Several of the detectives came to talk with the boy about what had happened, writing down the horrific events on a small notepad as he blandly relayed the story. After he finished, several of them considered the possibility of the overdose being a way to cover up a murder, but stopped when one of them reminded the others that Jack was still in the room. The asshole with his father that night was never caught, but the boy didn’t really care either way, he was fine with never seeing that man again.

Jack felt the guilt of his relative’s actions and the loss off his last parent weigh down on him, causing him to withdraw even further into his own mind than before in an attempt to disappear completely from everyone around him. The kind teacher spent a copious amount of time trying to ease the boy’s conscience, but to no avail, since he had already convinced himself that people were better off without him.

As most humans tend to do, the people around him decided the boy wasn’t worth their time if he didn’t give anything back, and by the time high school came, even his beloved teacher was unable to follow him. Jack’s uncle resented the boy for being the troublesome consequence of his brother’s stupidity, which the law had stated was now his problem, whether he liked it or not. The other kids his age ignored him for the most part, though some of the more outgoing ones would try a few times to include him, but would ultimately give up in the end.

Of course, as does everything, there was an exception. One small girl with short, brow hair and deep, sapphire eyes had taken a very strong interest in him despite his apathetic nature, and had practically made it her life’s goal to be the cause of a visible change in this boy’s emotional state. After a full year of constant failure, she had finally found his biggest weakness, and had spent the next five putting her master scheme into action, a three step plan that was completely foolproof, while fulfilling her flare for the theatrical.

Now, after five years of work, Jenny neared the completion of the first, and hardest step... befriend.

<>

“Hey, Jack!”

A voice sounded from behind the dark-eyed boy, followed by a series of excited footsteps colliding with the paved sidewalk beneath them. He looked up from the smartphone in his hand, subconsciously turning the screen off, and tucking the small object away as his thoughts turned from the book previously displayed on it, and toward the familiar person rapidly approaching from his rear. The boy sidestepped the small girl’s enthusiastic flying embrace, letting her awkwardly stumble off ahead of him before instantly whipping around in frustration to face him.

“Why’d you dodge?”

Jenny stared with a dejected, but still pouty look on her face, small hands resting scoldingly on her slender hips as she questioned the blank-faced boy. Jack looked back at her with his usual disinterested gaze while letting the evident displeasure radiating off the girl harmlessly fall to the ground, struck down by his apathy.

“Why wouldn’t I dodge such an obvious attack?”

Jack’s monotone voice fit him perfectly as he rebuked her seemingly friendly approach, causing her to take a dramatically offended stance and expression in response. The boy ignored Jenny’s actions, stepping past her while pulling his phone back out from it’s former place in his pocket, and calmly resuming his book.

The sun shone brightly overhead, unhindered by even the slightest streak of cloud as the distant blazing inferno illuminated the world around the two with an unconquerable brilliance.

‘Not unlike Jenny’s facade. No... it’s more like a charade she created for the soul purpose of entertaining herself. I’m pretty sure I overheard some of the other guys talking about how high school girl’s are all psychopaths, so I guess this behavior is normal. Whatever, it’s not like either of us cares about what’s considered abnormal, and I prefer being alone anyway, so it all works out. I have no friends, being the object of Jenny’s attention makes people feel better about ignoring me, and Jenny has someone she can be herself around. Well, since I’m not dead yet, I suppose she could even be counted as a friend, or... something. I really need to figure out what a friend is before I jump to conclusions, but, despite her teasing, she hasn’t really done anything particularly threatening lately. She seems to prefer conversation and physical contact in a non-violent, non-sexual... friendly kind of way. Maybe I’m looking to far into it.’

Jack thought to himself, casually glancing back at Jenny, who had already forgotten to act offended, and started skipping joyfully along behind him. Yet another brilliant smile had already started forming on her face, hiding her twisted sense of humor as she clutched a small bundle of books tightly to her chest, her head bobbing back and forth with each footfall.

“Attack? What are you talking about, silly? I would have been gentle since it’s your first time!”

Jack ignored her, silently wondering how she could announce something like that so loudly in a public area, and becoming curious as to whether or not she would ever develop some kind of filter for these things as the two continued on to their destination.

Kids, about Jack’s age and older, began to appear out of houses and buildings around them, walking a “safe” distance away from the pair as they began to group up with their friends, and growing larger as they neared the one thing all of them had in common... Oak Ridge High School.

Jack and Jenny shared all of their classes, sat next to each other in class, typically in the back, and ate separate from everyone else their age. This had been the norm for about three weeks since their freshman year began, but as of late, some of the guys had started to take notice of the pretty newcomer and her introverted companion, whispering amongst each other as they not-so-subtly started checking Jenny out. Of course, the girl herself was too engrossed in developing new ways to tease the dark-haired boy to notice anything out of the ordinary, but despite Jack’s introverted nature, these looks were not lost on him.

“Bernard Kawolinski! That’s it, there is nothing else it could possibly be!”

Jenny loudly shouted something after about five straight minutes of intensely studying the newspaper’s crossword puzzle, standing up as she did to add dramatic effect, though the awkward silence that came after kind of ruined it. Jack looked at her in confusion for a moment as she began scribbling down her answer with a pencil she had stolen from him a few moments ago, a victorious grin openly displayed on her face.

“Who’s Bernard Kawol...? whatever...”

Jack began to question her, but caught himself mid-sentence as he suddenly saw the trap she had set for him, but the look of victory had already warped to one of mischievous pleasure as a light giggle escaped her lips. She leaned forward, placing both hands on the table in beneath her in a threatening manner, making sure to stare deep into his eyes to make this interaction as uncomfortable as possible. Jack matched her gaze, never moving his eyes from hers partially because he’s found it to be the most effective way to entertain her, and therefore get her to stop sooner, and partially because she is not self-aware enough to notice that her position and low-cut shirt are revealing much more than she likely means to.

“Hm? What was that? You took an interest in something involving me? He he he, I’m so flattered.”

“No you’re not.”

“You shouldn’t chase after me, though... we were destined to be no more than friends.”

Ignoring Jack’s comment, Jenny switched her character from a shy little girl to a soap opera star instantaneously, flawlessly exercising her fantastic talent for acting that had fooled him so many times. The boy had grown used to the different persona’s she took on when teasing him, and even secretly favored the cute little girl personality above the rest, since she was always the one that seemed to like him while the others were often quite cruel. Jack sighed, submitting to the girl as he returned to the off-white tray holding the distasteful cafeteria food he was expected to eat while she continued to switch back and forth between fabricated personalities. The boy half-listened as the girl’s conversation with herself slowly morphed into an argument between the soap opera character and the shy girl over who would make a better life partner for him, before trailing off to an in-depth backstory about her beloved father leaving her behind with an abusive mother that hated her... etc.

Though the blue-eyed girl was only teasing him, it would make sense for them to end up together, seeing as how almost no one else can deal with them for more than five minutes without either being scared off, or bored. Their personalities complimented each other, they had known each other for quite some time, and Jack didn’t really mind Jenny’s company anymore, in fact, he kind of liked having her around in spite of himself. It was definitely something he had passively considered in the more recent past, but always dismissed it as a ridiculous idea which was most likely a result of her constant teasing about his romantic life.

Jenny continued to prattle on in the background as Jack pulled himself out of his own thoughts, making up his mind to move forward with this idea. After all, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

The boy sat up straight in his chair, summoning the shocking amount of courage required to ask the girl in front of him the question that stood above of all others in this steaming vat of hormones and assholes known as high school before turning his eyes to look directly at his target.

“Jenny.”

For the first time since they had met, Jack initiated a conversation with her, catching the cute, blue-eyed girl’s attention immediately, and causing her to pause as their eyes locked. The following roar of conversation produced by the masses of children around them fed the tension for a few moments as Jack thought about what he was going to say, not knowing whether or not he was just supposed to ask, or somehow lead up to it first. He eventually gave up, quietly sighing to himself in resignation.

“Go out with me.”

Jack realized after he had spoken that he had forgotten to make it a question, and probably came off as a jerk trying to order Jenny around, which, he had found, is something the stubborn girl absolutely hated. However, the boy’s prediction was far from accurate, and his question had actually caught the brown-haired girl completely off-guard, leaving her completely speechless for the first time since he met her.

Jenny snapped out of her stupor in mere moments, her signature dazzling smile instantaneously returning to her slender face as she pushed on the table below her, propelling her figure into a standing position where she was able to look down at him. The sadistic girl’s breaths seemed a little quicker now, but other than that, the usual bright persona she wore had formed perfectly in less than a second, and spoke the exact words Jack had expected.

“Sorry, but we’re just friends.”

Jack felt something sink into his gut as the words left her mouth, causing him to feel a little sick, though it wasn’t caused by the words themselves, but the shy voice she used when speaking them. The dark-eyed freshman slumped back in his chair, his face giving nothing away as he ignored the food in front of him, and casually pulled the small rectangular device out of his pocket, studying it’s dark screen for a moment. Of course, he knew it was foolish to get so disappointed based solely on the voice she decided to use when turning him down with, but knowing this didn’t make him feel any better.

‘Well, I guess it’s nice to know Jenny thinks of me as a friend. That’s also something I am severely lacking in, and even though she’s a bit aggressive, compulsive, stubborn, twisted, ruthless, and derives the majority of her pleasure from making me uncomfortable, she isn’t necessarily evil. Not to mention she has stuck around me longer than anyone else in my life, and even though she often makes me uncomfortable, having her around is far better than being alone 24/7. Being friends isn’t that bad.’

<>

Jenny watched with no small amount of confusion as her target slumped back in his chair, pulling a phone out of his pocket, before staring blankly at it’s empty screen for several long seconds. The air around them buzzed with the white noise of the cafeteria, blocking out the faint hum that escaped her closed mouth while her mind raced to figure out what was going on.

The thought of Jack asking her out in a serious context made absolutely no sense to her, since she was the object of ninety-nine percent of the bullshit he had to deal with every single day, not to mention a complete psychopath, so she had assumed it was a lame first attempt at a joke. However, he made no efforts to continue, and his eyes had looked completely sincere when he spoke, as if he was genuinely asking her to go out on a date with him.

‘What if...’

Jenny became slightly nervous at the thought of Jack asking her out, but hastily crushed that thought along with the feelings attached to it, remembering her resolve to fight against sharing his sentiment. The girl knewit would be hard from the start, making someone else into a friend without feeling anything for them in return required an excessive amount of self-discipline, which is why it’s so much fun. She couldn’t give in now, especially if he had developed romantic feelings for her, which would make the next step of the plan infinitely easier and more effective.

“Damn, kid, you just got friend-zoned! By the only girl who can stand to be around you, too! *Chuckle*-shit man, that’s gotta hurt.”

A voice interjected, speaking with a certain confidence that could only belong to some self-proclaimed “alpha-teenager” as it’s owner swaggered up to the table, making a point to approach Jenny’s side of the table, and directing his mocking gaze in Jack’s direction. As does just about every ass-wipe in high school with either superior physical or financial power, a collection of yes-men and human weasels followed closely behind him, almost as if they were trying to catch whatever shit he was spewing before it hit the ground.

“Hey, babe, the name’s Chad. How ‘bout it? Wanna go out with me?”

Jenny couldn’t help but smile broadly as her eyes rested on the tall junior with wavy blond hair that likely costs more than her entire wardrobe, immediately recognizing him as someone with both physical, and financial walls built around his soft, pink ass to protect him from real life. It was rare for her to find someone she hated this much with only one look, and found herself thanking her lucky stars for such a gift to arrive with unrealistically impeccable timing, almost as if it was a sign from above telling her to follow through with the plan.

Jenny turned away from Jack, who was ignoring the junior just as he did everyone else, and faced the tall boy, pulling herself up to sit on the smooth white surface of the table while letting her hands rest next to her, pushing her shoulders into a shrug as a flirtatious look crept into her eyes. Whether she likes him or not isn’t a factor at the moment, the important thing was, as usual, Jack’s opinion of the boy, which the girl assumed was not very high, and therefore perfect for the execution of step two.

“Sure!”

Jenny accepted with a smile, perfectly hiding her disgust behind an impenetrable facade one could only acquire through life’s cruel tribulations. With this, she completed step one, and set step two in motion.

Jenny’s three-step plan: step one- Befriend | step two- ? | step three- ? |