Ok, this is my first fic, so be nice:OD It starts in a high school setting, but it is not a high school fic. It is, however, a totally alternate reality, no mention of a Stargate.

Disclaimer: I don't own them (although I kinda wish I did), so don't sue!

Age restriction. I'll give it a 'for 12yrs or over' rating, I think the American equivalent is PG-13. That's just for a little bad language.

Enjoy!

Prologue: The ultimate cure.

He was ambling across the sports field, heading for the bike shed when he saw her. She was sitting at the bottom of the stands, knees tucked beneath her chin. Her short blonde hair was sticking up everywhere, as if she had forgotten to comb it that morning. Her hands were clenched in tight fists, and her face was buried behind her knees. But that's not what he noticed. It was they way her shoulders shook with silent, heaving sobs. The saddest sight he had ever seen in his seventeen years.

Wrenching his eyes from the girl, he took another step towards the bike shed, before making a decision. Hesitantly, he turned and started to walk towards her. As the sound of his footsteps reached her ears, she stiffened. When she looked up he noted that her eyes were startlingly blue, but raw red from the tears.

"Oh, it's you," were her unexpected words. He raised an eyebrow, knowing he had never seen this girl in his life before.

"I'm sorry, am I supposed to know you?"

"Nah. I suppose he never would've even mentioned me, would he?" Now he was even more confused.

"What? Who?" To his amusement, she huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Malcolm O'Neill. Your cousin, you know? The bastard." Jack winced. His cousin had quite the reputation when it came to girls. They always seemed to fall at his feet, and in return, Malcolm had a bad habit of trying to date all of said girls at once. Sighing, he sat himself next to the blonde, smiling slightly.

"He got to you then, did he? He's never been a one girl kinda guy, yah know."

"Yes, I do know. That's why I'm so damned annoyed that he got to me anyway." He eyed her speculatively. How had he never met her before?

"So why haven't I ever seen ya around before?" The corner of her mouth tipped up, blue eyes clashed with brown for a split second before both sets turned to the ground again.

"I only moved here about 2 months ago. I'm four years younger than you, so it's doubtful I'm in any of you classes. And as for social activities, I'm on the girls' track team and in the science club. Again, two places where it's very doubtful I'd come across you."

"Then how did you meet Malcolm? If you're only 13, then how come….I mean he's only a year younger than me."

"Yeah. He was at the science club."

"Malcolm. At a science club?" His mind reeled at the idea. It was more likely that he himself would turn geek before the year was out.

"Yeah. I thought he was there coz he liked me. I was wrong apparently. I was just a bit of fun until he could get his hands on Betty Green," she sniffed half heartedly.

"Ah," he didn't really know what else to say.

"Thanks for coming over. But I'm OK, really. I'll be fine in a bit," she rubbed at her eyes, making them even redder.

"Nah, s'ok. I'll stay for a bit, if you don't mind. Hey, if I've never had a chance to meet you, how come you know me?" She gave him the little tilt of her mouth again, as if she was trying to figure him out.

"Everybody knows you." Ok, now he was confused.

"Huh?" As the tilt became a cheeky little grin, he got the distinct feeling he was being teased. He frowned, ignoring the way his stomach gave a little flip.

"Think of it this way. All the guys know you because you always beat the crap out of any opposing team when it comes to hockey, football or baseball. God knows how you find the time to practice for all three sports." She was still smirking at him. He kept the frown on his face, trying his best not to smirk right back.

"Weeeell….I just like sport I guess. I don't really do much else apart from play sport…." he trailed off uncomfortably. He was just glad that his ability to play those sports distracted people from the fact that all his other classes bored him half to death. The consequences of that were the clearly lower marks. Especially in science. Which was why he usually avoided the company of science geeks at all costs. But not when it came to cute blonde ones apparently. Suddenly he realised that she was speaking again.

"And the girls, well, as good a hockey player as you are, it's doubtful that they like you just for that. You're even cuter than your cousin you know, especially since you've never been known to treat girls like sh-"

"You know, you're language is worse than mine, and that's saying something!" He really needed to change the subject. He noticed that a little redness was tingeing her cheeks.

"You think you'll ever get over that cousin of mine?" He regretted the question immediately. Her blue eyes flicked from his face and back to the ground again.

"Well, I'm sure I can work on that. He's the first guy I've ever really liked, you know. But…."

"Hey, it's ok. I know the perfect cure for heartbreak." Her eyes met his.

"You do?" Her tone was doubtful. He felt a surge of protectiveness that he couldn't explain. He had a sister the same age as her, maybe that was it, he told himself. This was the big brother in him that wanted to help this egg head.

"Yep. Cake." She laughed outright at that, a giggly, girly sound that had him grinning from ear to ear in return. He stood, stretching his arms above his head. Looking down at the hopeful young face, mirth still shining in blue orbs. He held out his hand.

Taking his outstretched hand and letting him help her up, she spoke;

"My name's Sam, by the way. And are you sure that cake cures heartbreak?"

"My name's Jack, but then you already knew that. And yes I'm sure, I know for a fact that cake cures everything."

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Hope u liked! Constructive criticism - positive and negative - is welcome, but no flames!

Thanks, next chapter is already written, so it will be up in a bit.