BESTFRIENDS, OR SOMETHING MORE.
So this is an idea that I've been thinking about for a while, and FINALLY I found some time to write! I LOOOOVE Jack and Emily (Amanda) so much, and there's really not that much Jemily stories out here. So here's at least one new! :)
Summary: What if… David never got arrested, or framed by the Grayson's, what if Amanda never changed her identity, and went on «revenge camp», and what if she and Jack never got separated as kids… Follow Jack and Amanda in high school as they try to deal with the growing feelings between them, alongside some drama.
NOTES:
- Since there was no framing of David Clarke, he and the "old gang" is still working for Grayson Global.
- David was never in love with Victoria as on the show, they just had a fling… When David found out how Victoria treated Amanda, he dumped her sorry ass.
- In this story both Jack, Amanda, Charlotte and Daniel are the same age (17) and in the same class in high school together.
- Charlotte is not Amanda's sister, or Victoria's daughter. Michael and Lydia Davis are her parents.
- Daniel is the only child of Victoria and Conrad.
CHAPTER 1: The end of junior year.
Amanda glanced at the clock on the wall: 2:00 PM. Only an hour left before the clock in the hall would ring, and then it would officially be summer.
58 minutes,
57…
Why did they have to have a lesson of calculus the last school day before summer? What was the point anyway, it was not like they would have a test before the day ended. Apparently, that was not something the teachers seemed to have any problem with.
She glanced over at Jack, her best friend since she was 9 years old. However, of course, there was no way to get his attention. He was busy with finding the answer to Mr. Ross's calculus question on the board, and Amanda had no doubt he would find it. Calculus was, after all Jack's favorite subject. And it was thanks to him, and the long and hard hours of studying with him, that she was not failing this year.
Everything else in school she had control of, but calculus was so not her thing. Luckily, she had Jack. Her very own private teacher. How he put up with all of her whining and stupid answers, she could not tell – but she was grateful that he did.
She looked at him again, and she could tell that he was about to find the answer. It was that look he got, like finding that answer was about the easiest thing in the world. Two seconds later, Jack's hand shot up, and Mr. Ross told him to come up and solve the calculation on the board.
While he was writing, Amanda could not help but smile. He was so smart, but never seemed to care about the fact that half of the class thought of him as a "math genius". She constantly reminded Jack that she thought that he should become a math teacher when he grew up, because there was simply a lack of good teachers out there. And every time Jack would laugh at her, and tell her that she knew what he's dream was.
Yes, Jack's big dream was to sail away and help people that needed it. Like doctors without borders or something. "I need some adventure in my life". That was what Jack used to say about that topic, when she started to list up all the mysterious diseases and viruses he could get, by travelling to those kind of countries. It was not that she didn't want to explore other continent's, but the thought of him being around sick and injured people made her worried. Not to mention the war, what if he got shot, or got hit by a bomb or something?
No, the safest thing was definitely to become a math teacher.
"Amanda". "Amanda!" She looked up, startled. Mr. Ross was standing beside her desk. Shit. "Could you please come up to the board, and show us how you want to solve this calculation?" Damn. Had she not been so lost in her thoughts, maybe Mr. Ross would have picked some other student. There was no way out of this, she knew. Mr. Ross was that kind of teacher that never seemed to take no for an answer.
She found herself helpless at the front of the class, looking at the numbers on the board. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jack giving her a supportive nod, and then it clicked. She looked at the numbers again. This was what she and Jack had been studying last week. If she could only wrap her brain around, and remember what he had said. It was something about putting all the numbers together, and then adding two more. But how would she know which two new numbers to add in?
Oh, right!
She could feel Mr. Ross staring hard on her as she got the answer she knew was right. "Well, Miss Clarke, it seems like you got the answer right after all. Good work".
As she walked down to take her seat, she saw Jack giving her a "thumbs up", and all she could do was roll her eyes at him.
Then, the clock in the hall rang.
"I guess it was a god thing that we went over that subject last week", Jack said, as he caught up with Amanda in the hallway. "Yeah, you're a real lifesaver, Jack". Amanda said, smiling back at him. "So, are you coming with me to Daniel's party tonight?"
Jack looked away. Ever since she told him that Daniel invited her, and that she had said yes, he had been a little disappointed in her.
"What about our tradition?" he answered. "Jack, come on. We still have time to do that later. We can hang out at the party for a while, and then go".
For as long as Jack could remember, he and Amanda had agreed on this tradition. Every year, the first night of summer vacation, after school ended, they would spend the night on the beach together – watching the stars, eating chocolate, talk, and make plans for the summer. This year, however – Amanda wanted to spend the night on a party, Daniel's party. That ass! Jack could not wrap his head around, or understand why on earth she wanted to spend time with him. She knew full-well what he thought about him. Daniel Grayson was a spoiled, rich brat with an overly large ego, and Jack could not stand the guy.
"No, thank you" he sighed, heading for the doors, "You go. Have fun".
"Jack, come on! Don't be like this", Amanda ran after him. "Please, come with me. It'll be fun", she said. "Amanda! I cannot stand the guy, ok. I thought you knew that".
"Well, yeah, but there'll be other people there too you know. You don't even have to speak to him". She was getting a bit angry, why did Jack have to make such a big deal out of this?
"I'll be at the beach, so if you decide to come, there's where I'll be".
Amanda just stood there, in the doorway, as she watched Jack walk away from her. She wanted to run after him, to give him a hug and say she was sorry she gave him such a hard time. She had to admit; asking Jack to come with her was a stupid idea. She knew that he and Daniel was not the best of friends. Actually, they never had been. They were too different, not at all on the same page. Jack was such a great guy, with good manners, and good attitude, while Daniel was the opposite.
As she walked home, alone, she thought about all the other nights she and Jack had spent on that beach, lying on blankets, looking at the stars – sharing secrets and talking about everything that was on they're mind.
Last year seemed so long ago, like she'd somehow changed. Something had changed this year. With her, and Jack too. They're relationship seemed different. They still hung out a lot, talked and all of that, but there was something else – hanging between them.
The first time she noticed it was when she got back from Christmas break. She and her dad had been to France with some relatives over the holidays, and she had not seen Jack in weeks. Therefore, when she met him at school again, she almost didn't recognize him.
Gone was the semi-long hair that she had begged him for weeks to cut, now it was shorter – but not too short. She could see that he had been working out a little more too, and had his eyes always been this intense blue? She'd just stared at him, before Jack came over to her to give her a hug. Then she'd felt it again, how good it felt to have him this close to her. And since when had Jack smelled like this? It was not some heavy perfume smell, just natural, but still oh so good.
Had she gone crazy over the holidays? This was Jack, her best friend for god's sake. The guy that knew her deepest secrets, and had seen her cry several times, he'd also seen her make a total ass of herself in class, and been the one to help her home after she'd had a little too much to drink after her 16th birthday. He always took care of her, helped her, and he had been the one to cheer her up after she and Peter broke up last summer.
A friend. Her best friend. That was what he was.
Still, she found herself staring at him. Especially in gym class. She often heard the other girls in her class talk about how hot he'd become, and how good he looked.
"I seriously don't get how you can be just friends with someone who's that hot", Charlotte used to say to her. "If I were you, I'd much rather jump on him".
And lord knew, she tried just that. For half a year now, she'd tried (in Amanda's opinion) almost everything to make Jack go out with her. Somehow, Jack didn't seem too keen on that. He found her rather annoying. "I have no intention of going out with Charlotte Davis. She's not my type", was his response.
"Good. Because everyone knows that she's just after one thing, and that is to add yet another boy to her book of conquests." Amanda reminded him.
Amanda signed. The last thing she wanted to think about was Jack having sex with Charlotte. She was just about to cross the street, when someone suddenly ran up on her side. Charlotte. Amanda signed again, what did she want?
"Amanda, wait up". She sounded a little out of breath.
"So, I heard you were coming over to Daniel's later".
"Yeah, that was the plan", Amanda answered.
"Sooo, are you bringing someone with you? Like, Jack maybe?" She said in that awful sweet voice of hers. "No, he's got some other stuff to do". She really didn't want to get into details here, at least not with Charlotte.
"Oh", she sounded disappointed. "I thought you guys did like everything together".
"No, Charlotte. Not everything". This was really annoying.
"Well, guess I could swing by his house later then".
"Charlotte, not to sound rude or anything, but don't you like, get the hint? You've been trying to go out with him since January". Amanda said, a little too fast.
"Wow, are you jealous or something?" Charlotte spit out.
"No, I just thought that you would have moved on to someone else by now".
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Charlotte was definitely growing annoyed as well.
"I mean, you've been after Jack for months, and his still not going out with you. Just thought it was time for you to find someone else to obsess about!" Amanda yelled back. Damn. Now, Charlotte definitely knew something was up.
"Okey… You seriously need to chill. I was simply asking if he would be at the party tonight, and I got my answer. Could you be a dear and say hello to Daniel for me? I suddenly have other plans". She gave Amanda a big fake smile, and then she was gone.
Amanda could feel the tears forming in her eyes, and for what. Charlotte's plans to seduce Jack? God, what was up with her! Suddenly, all she wanted to do was go home and cry. Why was she feeling like this? What an awful day this had turned into, this morning she was actually looking forward to this night. It was summer vacation for god's sake! This was supposed to be a good day. She took a deep breath, and wiped her tears away. No, she was not going to let Charlotte ruin this. She was supposed to be at Erica's house by 9:00 PM, for drinks, before heading over to that party.
She just wanted these feelings to stop. She wanted to have fun, and to stop thinking about the fact that girls these days seemed to line up to date her best friend.
I promise that I'll tyr and update soon, but what do you guys think? I would love some thoughts :)
Thanx for reading!