It was a decent song, but nothing special.
Just an electronic dance tune mixed by some flavor-of-the-moment house DJ who faded into obscurity in about a month's time.
The DJ faded...but not the song. It was catchy enough that it kept popping up in clubs and on the radio for weeks...months...years after its debut. Many people were familiar with it, but didn't give it much regard. Those that heard it considered it, if they thought of it at all, as little more than mildly entertaining background noise.
Except in the town of Seaford, California. There the song was infamous, at least among the students at Seaford High. For whenever they heard the opening notes, many of them looked around in dread...to see if a girl named Kim was anywhere near.
Not that Kim was unpopular or disliked. Nothing could have been further from the truth. It was just that when she was present and that song started to play...
No, it was too dreadful to even think about.
Too dreadful for most at least. But not for Jack. Not anymore.
Oh, at one time he'd been just as horrified as his classmates...for he'd seen the disturbing spectacle that would result every time Kim and that song crossed paths. For whenever the pretty blonde teenager heard that bouncy tune, she inevitably would cry out six words that sent chills down the spines of those who knew her.
"AWWW YEAH! THIS IS MY JAM!"
Then she would...dance.
At least she called it dancing. Any resemblance between what she did and actual dancing was hard to detect.
On more than one occasion, people had called 911 in the belief she needed medical attention. Certainly her movements could have passed for some type of involuntary spasms.
It was painful to watch...and yet often times people couldn't turn away. It was like watching a train wreck.
But that very fact is what had changed Jack's perspective. For being around Kim as often as he was, he'd been exposed to the frightening ordeal of it all more than most. And each time he'd been unable, no matter how much he'd wished otherwise, to tear his eyes from the awful sight.
Because of that, after watching her over and over...he finally saw what everybody else always missed.
Yes, the questions had been asked before: Didn't Kim know how bad her dancing was? Didn't she realize how ridiculous she looked?
Those were the questions that had been in Jack's mind at the precise moment, during one of her dances, that's he'd managed to shift his gaze from the awkward jerking of her flailing limbs...to the expression on her face.
Those beautiful brown eyes, shining with pure joy. That dazzling smile.
Kim was a smart girl. Too smart not to be aware of what her dancing looked like. She knew.
She just didn't care.
Jack saw it in her eyes...in her smile...and he felt like a fool for never having seen it before. The respect that he had for her as a person (which had been considerable to begin with) climbed to even greater heights.
Kim didn't dance to look good. She didn't dance to impress anyone. She danced simply because she loved moving her body to the music. The music of a catchy but unspectacular song that for some reason resonated with Kim and reminded her of just how many things there were to enjoy about life.
And if her enjoyment looked stupid to others? So be it. That wasn't going to stop her.
Once Jack understood that...he also understood that her dancing wasn't something to be endured. It was something to celebrate. When that song came on, his face would wear a smile that rivalled Kim's as he'd eagerly wait to hear her excited shout.
"AWWW YEAH!"
Yes, the song had a name. A name that Jack never used.
Because in his mind, it was simply - My Girl's Jam.
author's note: Dedicated to Olivia Holt's spectacularly awesome dancing. :)