First Date Fail
a JackxSally
With every step she jerkily ascended, Sally's silent mantra intensified: I will not throw up. I will not throw up. Her sutures burned as she gripped the iron railing and hauled herself onto the front step. Safely arrived, the wan redhead sank down to the unwelcome mat and took several deep breaths, more to calm down than to recover from the trip up. As she rose up and adjusted her gothic black skirt and jeggings, it took every ounce of her fortitude to remain standing where she was. Nerves shot through her every dried-out vein. If she slid down the railing, she could be in those poisonberry bushes in just over thirty seconds, entombed in their scratchy embrace.
A minute, and she could duck behind the gate and stay there until she could sneak out under the cover of darkness. It would only take four seconds to climb over the railing and jump, and a fraction of a second to wing up a silent prayer that she'd land in the nice soft compost pile. Sally bit her lip, took a deep breath, and tentatively extended one hand. She could feel the stares of a dozen pairs of eyeballs following her every move. Nausea twisted her insides into a ball. Then, as much to her own surprise as the onlookers', she grasped the ornamental spider next to the door and gave it a decisive pull.
A tinny scream reverberated through the house as soon as her tiny hand released the spider. There was an eternal moment of silence following the shriek. Then Zero started to bark. She wondered if the wispy dog was sticking close to his master's side, as was the norm, or if said master was caught up in the adjacent tower. Sally fervently hoped for the former. The pretty lab experiment felt like all her courage was leaching out with every knock of her unevenly-placed kneecaps. Why? She wondered, closing her eyes tightly, Why do people put themselves through this? The door ominously creaked open while she was in the middle of anguishing. Jack Skellington stood before her in a crisp, flawless black suit and an enormous smile. She barely had time to smile back before he wrapped her up in a hug.
Ah, yes…now she remembered why…When they reluctantly parted, Jack was still smiling. "Hello, Sally." 'Hi, Jack," she replied, sure that she would be blushing furiously had there been even a single drop of blood in her body. His hands still rested on her shoulders. "You look stunning." At his praise, Sally smiled bigger and looked down. She'd inched even further out of her comfort zone by picking an outfit that differed drastically from her usual wardrobe. Instead of one of her homemade dresses, Sally had chosen to wear a skirt, jeggings, and a ruffled black-and-white top that hugged her just enough to be flattering without looking like she was trying too hard. She'd done her hair in a braid but hadn't liked it and undone said braid, leaving her ginger locks pleasantly wavy.
Several townspeople hadn't recognized her. Lock, Shock, and Barrel had- and Barrel had cheerily told her that she looked like a maid. The petite ragdoll had almost gone back and changed, but now that she was here she was glad that she hadn't. Her hand and Jack's slid together at the same time. As the pair approached the steps, Jack touched his free hand to Sally's waist. "May I?" Barely able to hold his gaze, Sally nodded. He scooped her into his arms, and she thought she would fall apart. Again. Zero wreathed around Jack, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. His luminous nose quivered as it processed Sally's scent and pushed into her near-perfect hair. Sally scratched his ear. "Hi, Zero!" The weightless dog went off high alert and wagged his wavy tail. He yipped happily, turned a few flips in the air, and licked Sally's ear. "Down, boy," Jack ordered. "He's okay," Sally reassured. Zero trailed after them as Jack effortlessly carried his sweetheart down the steps and through his front gates. Once they were out in the street, the king of Halloween set Sally down. The two kept their arms linked and their hands intertwined.
"How was your day?" Sally inquired. Jack squeezed her hand. "Busy! How about yours?" The exact opposite, Sally was tempted to reply. "About the usual," she told him instead, squeezing back. She adored the feeling of his twiggy fingerbones neatly fitting between her tiny fingers. The intelligent experiment also reveled in the knowledge that her outfit complimented Jack's. It was a longtime secret admirer's dream come true. This sense of glowing wellbeing lasted maybe thirty seconds. Then the Hanging Tree bent down, recognizing the wallflower who sat on it for town meetings. "Hey, Jack!" hailed the nearest skeleton, "And hey, uh…" "Sally." Sally prompted. "Right! Are you two headed out?" "Just for a bit of lunch," Jack informed, bony chest swelling with pride.
"For lunch?" "A date?" Curious squawks, shrieks, and gurgles thronged the greasy air. Denizens of Halloween Town crowded in on every side with blinding camera flashes in their arsenal. Unused to being the subject of so much attention, Sally started to hyperventilate. Jack drew her closer. "Now, now, everyone- give us a little breathing room." Us. He said 'us'. The pit of Sally's chest glowed. Her knees felt a little bit steadier. Jack had to fend off scads of onlookers with no concept of a personal bubble despite increasingly passionate entreaties for enough space to walk. Happily, he and Sally ducked into the woods and lost their pursuers in a bank of mist.
"I am SO glad that you brough that fog juice with you," Jack chirped. Sally smiled as she tucked the purse-size bottle back into her handbag. "That makes two of us." Her toes curled happily when she said the word, too. They held hands all the way rhough the woods, taking turns with their free hands to throw one of Jack's ribs for Zero. At length, they came to the end of the shortcut and came to the circle of holiday trees. Jack held open the doors for his date and helped slow her falls each time. They stopped first in Thanksgiving Town, where there was more turkey and cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes than Sally had seen in her existence.
Jack ate like he hadn't seen food for a week. Sally stopped before her stomach stuck out- her outfit was fairly tight, and she already felt a little queasy. The pretty ragdoll DID have a small mountain of buttery, melt-on-your-tongue mashed potatoes, however. They were just so good!
After lunch, Jack led the way to St. Patrick's Town, where they were treated to heaping bowls of Lucky Charms. Jack picked all the marshmallows out of his sizable portions and ate them first. Sally had a stomachache by then, but she tried some so Jack wouldn't have to eat by himself and feel awkward. The cereal was a bit too sweet for her liking and left a chalky feeling in the back of her throat. Still, she managed to focus on the conversation and even add a little to it. The gentle ragdoll actually made Jack laugh several times!
And, of course, he made her pop a few stitches. Just when she'd calmed down from cracking up, he would say or do something else unbearably cute or funny. They returned to Halloween Town in high spirits. The mayor greeted them at the entrance to the town hall. After getting a few quotes about their date for the town paper, the moody politician gushed, "You're just in time for the party!" Sally's smile slipped. "A...a party?" Jack grinned. "Everyone's excited about the full moon tonight. And, as long as we're here, it'll be a great opportunity for some of them to get to meet you!" "Oh," Sally faintly replied. Socializing with several people at once made her weak in the knees, and not in the good way. Caught up in his happiness, Jack obliviously tugged her after him and into the bowels of the town party. ****
If you have never played Sorry with zombies and werewolves, don't. Both Jack and Sally had to reattach their hands and fingers several times before the first overspirited round was out. By the third round, everyone's blood was racing. It took Sally well into several rounds of the next game to find her left arm. Jack, being sweet, helped her look. But even his adorableness couldn't quell the nausea that Sally felt when the others started grilling her... "Your name's Suzy, right?" asked the wolfman. "Sally." "Have you lived here long?" squawked a witch. "Twenty-two years," Sally replied. The witch was a little surprised at that. She whispered with her sisters as the other goblins and ghouls demanded to know how long Sally had known Jack, how he'd asked her out, had she ever dated before, and who her parents were. Mercifully, most everyone shut up when the guy with the axe in his head suggested they play truth or dare.
The dares typically involved knocking on haunted crypts and running, going for a dip in the slime fountain, or hugging townspeople that had their own protective ooze coats. The truth sessions proved no less daunting. The mayor was forced to admit that he sometimes sucked his thumb at night. One of the vampires had to confess that he sparkled in full sunlight. Both Jack and his date found out far more about their friends and acquaintances than either had ever really wanted to. Jack still managed to have a great time. He loved dares and had the authority to keep his really deep secrets dark. When a member of the town band dared Jack to stand on his skull from the top of a tower of chairs and sing 'This is Halloween' forwards and backwards, the Pumpkin King did it with ease.
Sally silently chewed her nails, fighting off(but just barely) the urge to smack her forehead or urge him to ask for a truth instead. But Jack flipped down, no harm done, to thunderous applause. Once he'd bowed a few times, the master of fright plopped down next to Sally and hugged her. For once, Sally wished that he wouldn't hold her quite so close. His arms had no give and squeezed her more than he meant to, and that really wasn't helping her stomach. She was glad enough for the comfort of his arms when her turn came, though. Lock, Shock, and Barrel whispered amongst themselves, occasionally pinching or whacking each other hard enough to elicit a squawk from the offended person. They'd been eyeballing Sally all afternoon, and the clever creation wasn't sure that she liked the way that they were taking so much time to plan for her turn. When all three turned to her with identical ghoulish grins, Sally held Jack's arm a little tighter.
"Truth or dare?" Lock purred. "Hey, I wanted to say it!" protested Barrel. "Too bad," Lock sneered. Sally cut short their squabble. Really, the choice was obvious. A dare from the happily late Oogie Boogie's lackeys would doubtlessly go beyond any dare that had been posed so far today. And, try as she might(and she did rack her brains), Sally couldn't think of any secret that she had that would come across as juicy to the lurid citizens of Halloween Town. Sure, she'd drugged her master a few times, but what teenager hadn't? She wouldn't mind admitting to that. All in all, Sally had led a fairly uneventful life. With a touch of confidence, she faced the trio. "Truth." Shock's catlike eyes glowed, and Sally got the horrible feeling that that was exactly what the three had wanted all along. The little witch girl leaned halfway across the circle and leered at Sally. "Then why don't you tell Jack what you used to do because you were too shy to talk to him?" Lock and Barrel rolled on the floor, cackling. The patchwork redhead's round eyes flew open as her hands flew to her mouth. Oh, no! This couldn't be HAPPENING! How could Shock know that she'd followed Jack around? Shock smirked wickedly, waiting. The whole town waited with her. Jack regarded her with innocent curiosity and just a hint of confusion in his sockets. Maybe it was all the mashed potatoes. Maybe it was the saccharine Lucky Charms. Perhaps it was a combination of both, churned up with a potent case of first date nerves. Whatever the cause, Sally scrambled to her feet just in time to throw up in front of the entire town.
Pok pok pok pok
Knucklebones rapped on the bathroom door. "Sally..Sally, are you okay?" The living ragdoll pretended not to hear her date. She sat shivering next to the toilet, patchy knees drawn up to her chin. Tears glistened in her eyes. There was no way that she could go out and face everyone now. Her head pounded, and she felt dizzy. At least the awful stomachache was gone. Alas, that fact was of little comfort just at the moment. Zero wreathed through the door and wound himself around Sally's neck. He whimpered and nuzzled her clammy cheek with his nose. Clasped in his mouth was a roll of pumpkin-flavored Tums. "Thanks, boy," Sally croaked, stroking his head. Zero curled up on her knees and perfectly mirrored her mournful expression. Once she was sure that she wouldn't get sick again, Sally hefted herself up onto unsteady feet and stumbled towards the door. Jack met her with a gaze of utmost concern. Behind him, the chaos of the party continued unabated. "Do you want me to take you home now?" "Yes, please."
The two took a detour through Jack's pumpkin patch, savoring the crisp autumn air. Physically, Sally felt much better, but shame kept her eyes glued to the ground. Eventually, Jack gently asked, "Is something wrong?" "I'm so sorry!" she blurted out, "For ruining our date." Jack looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?" Zero tipped his head to one side as if he too was confused. At a loss, Sally reminded them, "I got sick...in front of everyone!" "Oh- is that all?" Jack stroked her hair, and she shivered with the good kind of shiver. "Sally, that wasn't your fault," the hero of Halloween insisted. Still, she couldn't bring herself to look up. Jack abruptly stopped walking. "And it didn't ruin today." That took Sally by surprise. "It didn't?" Jack's grin bristled with pointed teeth. "Of course not! Sally, I had SUCH a good time today!" "You did?" "I did. I always enjoy being with you, no matter where we are or what happens." Jack cupped her face. Sally hugged him. This time, he was gentle. "I had a wonderful time too, Jack- well, for most of today." "Then stop worrying." Sally felt that glow return to the pit of her chest. They walked on, holding hands now.
About halfway through the patch, Jack asked, "What WAS it that you were going to say to Shock?" Once again, the glow was extinguished. The patchwork creation wondered how long it would take her to bury herself among the pumpkins and burrow deep into the dead earth. "Uhm...well..." Jack waited- attentive, patient, and utterly clueless as to her inner turmoil. At great length, Sally admitted, barely whispering, "Do you remember on Halloween night when you sang that song about wanting more from life?" Jack nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I was so deep in thought, and just needed to-" Sally waited. It hit him. "Wait...how did you..?" "Because I was there," Sally admitted. Jack sat down on a particularly large pumpkin, looking confused. Unable to look higher than her feet, the lab experiment confessed, "And I was too afraid to tell you I was there." A lump in her throat worked. "Sometimes...I used to hide from you like that, Jack...or follow you... You were so brave and charismatic, and..." She searched for words to express the physical pull that drew her eyes to Jack's every graceful movement and kept her ears tuned to the sound of his voice even in the crush of a whooping, jazzed-up crowd, and the horrible empty worry that nibbled at her when she had to stay away.
"I...I wanted to be close to you like the others in the town but didn't know how. And, those days when you were singing and trying to figure out Christmas all alone in your tower.." She worried at the stitches on her skinny wrist. "You just seemed so lonely, like you needed a listening ear..." She broke off. That had sounded even more stalkerish outside her head than it had inside it, impossible as that seemed. Jack was quiet for seconds that staggered by like hours. Sally was utterly shocked when he took both her hands in his and drew her into a warm, tender kiss. "My shy, beautiful Sally," Sally worried furiously at her lip. "You were right. I WAS lonely. I needed a friend to understand, and there you were." He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingerbones. "You've always been there for me, Sally, even when I thought that I was all alone in the world." And then he self-consciously scuffed one black shoe into the pumpkin vines and told her, "And I love you."
If it was possible for rags and leaves to melt, Sally would have been reduced to a refreshing fertilizer for the pumpkins in a matter of seconds. As it was, she choked back tears and disbelief and whispered, "And I love you too, Jack." That was about the time when several previously camouflaged partygoers popped out of the pumpkin patch and started applauding, some wiping their eyes and blowing their noses. One roar from Jack sent them scrambling to plant their noses back in their own business. All things considered, though, Sally contemplated, as she joined Jack on top of the big pumpkin and cuddled under her king's lanky armbone to watch the las of the interlopers fleeing for town, today had ended on a pretty magical note.
One last surprise remained for the Pumpkin King and his date, quite possibly the most monumental of the entire day. Jack led Sally out of the pumpkin patch and asked her where she lived. Sally worried at her lip again. "It's late, Jack. You should be getting home." "Nonsense! I'm not letting you walk home alone." Well, crud. There was no putting off the truth. The smart redhead turned away from Jack and rubbed self-consciously at her left arm. "I...don't have one right now." Unsure what was going on but not liking the sadness in her voice, the Pumpkin King pressed, "Don't have what?" "A...a home." Jack's jawbone dropped. It was true. When she'd left Doctor Finklestein's, Sally had known that it was for the last time. Never again would she go back there. This newfound freedom, of course, presented its own problem: she no longer had a place to stay. Not having an abundance of close friends with whom she could bunk, Sally had taken a nomadic approach to her situation. She wandered the town by day. Some nights, she slipped into the town hall and slept there. Others she curled up in the graveyard or the pumpkin patch. Most nights, she sat by Jack's gates. This last spot was the least comfortable but was by far her favorite. Jack popped his jaw back into place and recovered from his disbelief. "You...you have no place to stay?" Sally shook her head. Her long red hair fell into her eyes. She brushed it back again, slowly.
Jack's wrinkled brow abruptly cleared. His sockets lit up. He gathered Sally's little hands into his. "You can stay with me!" Sally's eyes just about flew out of her head. "What?!" Oblivious to her shock, Jack enthusiastically planned out his idea. "I'll fix up a bed for you in the guest room. We can order breakfast together tomorrow! Won't that be fun?" "Jack," Sally protested, "You don't have to..." But the Pumpkin King would hear no objections. Until the construction crew had a new house for Sally, she was going to stay with him. Sally didn't exactly go out of her way to argue. As Jack carried her up the steps that they'd descended just hours ago, Sally laid her cheek on Jack's shoulder and got the feeling that the strangest- and happiest- was yet to come.