Hey, there! For those of you who are waiting on my next Teeth of the Dragons chapter, I'm gonna be doing this for a while instead so I can have time away from the project.

Summary: When Jack's mother dies, the seventeen-year-old boy moves in with a father that abandoned him before he was even born. Then Celia, a sweet sixteen-year-old that lives not five minutes away, comes into his life and makes him feel guilty for his discontent towards his father. Will Jack be able to reconcile with his father before it's too late?

Chapter One

You look just like your father. Those were the last words my mom said to me. You're just like him, too. Jackie, don't hate him.

Then, she was gone.

I cried for at least four hours, refusing to leave her side. She had been the only constant in my life, the only one I could tell my secrets to. My best friend.

And she died.

Now, I was being sent off to live with my father. I had never even met the man.

He and Mom had never married, as they only spent a summer together. Mom, eighteen at the time, was visiting the village of Forget-Me-Not Valley, where my dad, who was twenty, was working on a farm with his best friend, Takakura. It was a wonderful summer, Jackie. she had told me. It was just after I discovered my cancer. The doctors recommended that I take a break from the city and enjoy the scenic view for once. The Inn I stayed at was just across the road from Jon's farm. It was, actually, love at first sight. We made love without protection, because we planned to get married. But then I got a call...your great-aunt had died, and I needed to be there. Jon offered to come with me, but I told him to stay and do what he loved. I didn't find out until after that, though, that I was pregnant with you. I didn't have the heart to tell him, because he would leave the farm to stay with us. He loved that farm, Jackie. It was his life's work. Please don't hate him.

She always said that. Don't hate him. I couldn't help but hate him, though. I didn't know why-I just couldn't stand the man.

And now, here I was, standing on my father's doorstep.

Here goes nothin'.

I lifted my hand and rapped on the door.

Half an hour later, I sat stiffly at Jon White's kitchen table. His face, darkened from sun, was a copy of mine. In fact, it was almost like we were clones. Mom, you weren't kiddin'.

"So," Jon said, voice cracked. "Jenny died?"

"Yeah." I replied. "Just a month ago, actually."

"And, you're our son?"

"Yes. Because I'm underaged, the court sent me here to live with you."

"I see."

Before he could speak again, I said, "Let's just get one thing straight, Jon. I have no intention of letting you be my father. If you loved Mom so much, you should have contacted her years ago. You're not my father. I don't have one. I'm Jack Robert Ernstine, and I always will be." With that, I stood up, taking my black duffel bag with me. "Just so you know, you gotta sign me up for school. Mom would kill me if I didn't graduate."

My room wasn't exactly a room-since no one had told Jon about me, he didn't have a room prepared. Therefore, I had to sleep in an old tool shed. I dropped my duffel in a corner and began rolling out a futon when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" I called.

An older man walked into the shed, face lined with wrinkles. "Hey, kiddo." he said awkwardly. "I'm Takakura, your Pa's friend."

"Jack." I replied. "You don't have to try to be 'cool' or anything, Takakura. Just be who you normally are, please. It'd be wierd."

He let out a breath of relief. "That's exactly what Jon said to me when we first met. It's nice to meet you, Jack. It...It'll be nice to have another helping hand around here."

Well, that's the first chapter. If you didn't get it, It's basiclly what would happen if it was Jack's mom that died in the beginning instead of his dad, and he was only seventeen at the time. No AU/AW.