frengers

i'm caught in the symmetry of your mind
but i'm not happier than you
did i really see you…
or was it a dream?

Jack Kelly never thought he'd end up pumping gas

He'd never even considered that he'd be one of those people that would peak in high school, but here he was: twenty years old, hair greasy and hands filthy, over a year's worth of oil taking permanent residence under his fingernails. The princess in the silver BMW wrinkled her nose and made a noise of unmistakable disgust as he reached out to take her credit card from her perfectly manicured hands.

He felt a pang, just like he did every time someone he would have been friends with in high school came by. In fact, in high school he probably would have dated this girl. They would have hung out with the same crowd, he would have been driving her around in her hot little car, and together they would look down at the pathetic slob who was making a living pumping gas.

"Fill it with premium," she said absently, checking her platinum hair in the rearview mirror. Now…now this girl who would have loved him in high school refused to even look at him. "Well?" she spat when he didn't move.

"Miss, you need to open your fuel door."

"Are you serious? Can't you do it yourself? No… never mind. There's obviously a reason that you are pumping my gas." She made a big dramatic show of reaching down and popping open the fuel door. Jack rolled his eyes. "There," she said, tilting down her sunglasses and staring at him coldly with impossibly green eyes, "Can you hurry up now? I'm in a ru-- ohmigod!" She cut herself off with a painfully loud squeal and stared at him, her mouth gaping.

"Is there a problem, Miss?" he gritted his teeth.

"Wait, you, come back over here for a second."

He obediently walked back over, nozzle in hand.

"You're not by any chance… Jack Kelly, are you?" She took off her sunglasses peered at him curiously. Yeah, there was no way that was her natural eye color.

"Who's asking?"

"Oh my God, you don't remember me do you?"

"…Sorry?"

"Ashley Kellman!" He shrugged, "Oh come on, Jack. My name came right before yours in the alphabet. Our lockerswere right next to each other all four years. I walked in front of you at graduation. Ringing a bell…?"

He stared at her, stunned. The Ashley Kellman he'd gone to high school with had mousy brown hair, weighed about 300 pounds and never said a mean thing to anyone. There was no way that this gorgeous blonde with the expensive car and the holier-than-thou attitude was the same girl. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, not quite sure what to say to her.

She smiled at him expectantly. It was nice to know that his high school power could still get him somewhere at least.

"You look… uh… different," he said finally.

She laughed and shrugged dismissively. "Well, some of us are just late bloomers, I suppose. Not that you would know about that Mr. Homecoming-King-Three-Years-in-a-Row."

He grunted a noncommittal noise, watching the numbers on the display spin by at a painfully slow rate while Ashley chattered on. Not too soon, the pump clicked to let him know the tank was finally full and he busied himself with removing the nozzle, hoping that this conversation was over.

He should have known it wasn't; nothing ever went the way he liked anymore.

"College has been wonderful for me," Ashley was saying, "I ended up with nearly a full ride to Temple, you know, in Philly? Daddy was so proud and so happy he didn't have to pay that he bought me this car and, you know, good things just kept happening for me after that. You know?"

She giggled and fluffed her hair. Despite himself Jack couldn't help but stare; she was pretty damn hot now.

"It wasn't easy, but you know, I was able to drop the weight, had a little rhinoplasty, a brow lift and… well, a few other minor procedures, and well, now I know how you felt back in High School!"

"Um… yeah. That's great for you." He shoved her card roughly into her hand. "It was great catch-"

"Thanks," she slipped her credit card into her wallet and kept talking as though he hadn't said anything. "And then I joined a sorority, it's a local on campus but that's soooo much better because we don't have any stupid old people breathing down our necks about stupid things like standards and I get to hang out with fraternity boys! Are you in a frat, Jack? You totally are the type!"

"No."

"Really? That's too bad! Oh well, tell me about your life, Jack. We haven't spoken at all since high school!"

He almost laughed out loud. They never spoke in high school either.

"You know, I would love to but I really have to work." He said in what he hoped sounded like an apologetic tone.

"Oh, don't be silly, Jack," she waved him off. "I'm the only car here, what other work do you have to do? Now, I want to hear about you Jack Kelly. I'm sure you're living a fabulously exciting life. Last I heard you were at school in New Mexico?"

"Yeah."

"That's so far away!"

"Yeah." He stared desperately at the main road, praying for someone to save him from this embarrassing discussion.

"Are you on break?"

"You could say that."

She pursed her lips and he could tell that she was trying to decide which of the many questions that had popped into her overly bleached head she wanted to ask first.

"Really Ashley," he butted in before she could say anything, "my boss is probably watching and he hates it when I'm not efficient, so…"

"You know," she said quietly, reminding him more of the Ashley he'd known in high school, "financial problems are nothing to be ashamed of. You can tell me if you want, I won't say anything."

He'd take that; it was better than the truth.

"Yeah," he shrugged and sighed for good effect, "We had to put my grandmother in a nursing home and there wasn't enough money, so I decided to sacri--"

He was interrupted by a loud blast of music.

"Oh, you know what, that's me. I'm so sorry, hold on," Ashley said. "Hello?"

Jack was slightly miffed. The one part of the conversation he didn't mind-- the part where he was able to save a little face with the rumor mill-- was the one part that was interrupted.

"Oh yeah, I'm on my way, I just had to stop for gas," Hot Blonde Princess Ashley was saying in her new haughty tone. "Yeah and you'll never believe who is working here now! Yes, it's quite a story." Pause "Yup! He looks hot as ever!" Pause "I'll be there soon, darling. You couldn't expect me not to talk to him, right? Okay, Ciao.

"Oh, Jack," she said, putting her phone away, "it looks as though I lost track of time, but we should continue this! I'll get your number from someone! Bye!" She drove off without even giving him a chance to answer.

It was probably better that way.

The silver convertible carrying Fate's idea of a joke sped off in a cloud of fumes and exhaust. Cursing colorfully under his breath, Jack slumped to the ground, leaning against one of the pumps. He pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and lit up, pointedly ignoring the two dozen signs posted around the gas station forbidding smoking. Right now he needed it.

Fate was cruel; ridiculously fucking cruel. Fat losers like Ashley Kellman shouldn't be allowed to be rich, pretty and…fucking happy like that while he: confident, popular, three-time-homecoming-king-should-have-been-prom-king-thankyouverymuch, captain of the soccer team Jack Kelly was a perpetually greasy mess who couldn't even make it through one semester of college.

He should have known that it was a bad sign when his suitemates, who liked getting drunk and partying as much as the next college kid, were telling him to slow down. He should have known that the fact that Santa Fe didn't card him like Jersey did meant he could go out and get black out drunk six days a week. Or maybe someone should have told him.

He lit up his fourth cigarette. He could really use a drink right now, actually. Big Bubba had left for the day and told Jack that he was in charge. It was a slow day and the liquor store was well within walking distance, if he left now he'd have enough time to pick up a six pack and probably not lose any business. And it wasn't like being drunk on the job would be difficult or anything, he pumped gas for Christ sake. He could do that in his sleep.

"Hey jackass, wanna make yourself useful?"

He was so lost in his musing that he hadn't even noticed the beat up Accord pull up to the pump he was slouched against.

"Not particularly," he mumbled, stubbing out the filter of his cigarette.

"Man, I'm glad my tax dollars are going to you," the guy sneered. "So come on, dead beat, get up and pump my fucking gas."

Jack stood up wearily. "You ever heard of respect, dude?"

"No."

Okay, he wasn't expecting that one.

"Well maybe you should try it some time." He shoved the nozzle into the car much harder than necessary.

"Watch the car."

"Yeah, whatever." He jostled it a little just to piss the guy off.

"Stop it"

"Or what?"

The guy got out of the car. He was a big guy; much bigger than Jack now that he was standing up. Jack tensed. What had he just gotten himself into?

"I'm calling your boss."

"You got fired from a gas station," Sebastian Conlon said flatly, staring in amazement at his roommate.

Jack just shrugged, not taking his eyes off of the video game he was playing.

"Jesus Christ, you are such a fucking loser."

He shrugged again, and blew some guy's head off.

"People don't get fired from gas stations. That's the job you get when you're fired from every other damn job in the world."

"Thanks for that, 'cause, you know, I was feeling pretty good about myself until you started talking." His character died. He cursed loudly and threw the controller across the room, just missing the TV.

"Oh, I'm not done, Kelly. Not even close. And that?" He gestured to the wall where there was now a black mark and a small dent from the controller, "is coming out of your security deposit."

"I can get it out."

"Yeah, you better." Sebastian exhaled slowly, "I can't believe you, Jack. You pick a fight with a customer--"

"How was I supposed to know that that guy was Big Bubba's brother?"

"--you chain smoke a pack of cigarettes while practically sitting in a puddle of gas… you're lucky you're not dead! What the fuck are you? Stupid?"

"I think the fact that I'm not in school makes that one pretty obvious

"And did you even think about the fact that there are security cameras there? Even if that guy wasn't related to Big Bubba, you would have been screwed. What were you thinking? Did you actually expect to not get fired?"

"I fucked up, okay? I know that. You don't have to tell me." He'd never seen Sebastian so angry before.

"Yeah you fucked up. You have trouble with your half of the rent even when you have a fucking job. I can't keep paying for you, Jack. I have expenses too!"

Jack raked a hand through his hair, "Look, Seb, I'll get the money. I promise. I'll ask my dad again… or maybe this time he'll let me move back in…"

"No way. There is not a chance in hell that you are sticking me with this place and no roommate. I can't afford that."

"…I'll get another job?"

"Damn right you will. Feel free to start looking now." Sebastian threw the employment listings section of the paper at him and stalked off. Seconds later, the front door slammed.

Jack leaned back against the couch and stared at the wall for the next half hour feeling very, very sorry for himself.

-

…never hope to be
as benign as me
funny how you
always get through
but ironically
you will always be
belle of the ball
at least to me…

Alex's Notes:

Over a year hiatus, I am back. I don't know if anyone except the NJL kids remember me, but I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. It's not a one shot, and as time and dedication permits, I will be trying to make this a long, plotful (it's a word now, k) story.

Thanks go to Kezalicious and Dflizzle for betaing this for me and to Sinhe for answering my questions about gas station technology. I am from New Jersey. The most I know about pumping gas is what kind to ask for, so…

I also have no idea what Temple's Greek Life is like. Also, there is no Santa Fe University. There's a Santa Fe Institute, but their website confused me and I don't think it's a real college type thing. Also, by the way, in case you were wondering, I don't own the Newsies.

Title is a mesh of the words 'friends' and 'strangers' and is taken from the Mew album of the same title. Lyrics, both at the beginning and the end, are also by Mew, from the song "Symmetry" on the Frengers album. I highly suggest giving them a listen as they are phenomenal and even better live.

Jack can totally pump my gas any day.