TITLE:Patchwork.
FANDOM: Skins
CHARACTERS: Jal, Chris, Michelle, Angie, Tony, Maxxie, Anwar, Ronnie, Lynton, Ace, Kenneth, Sammy and Mary.
MAJOR THEMES: Jal-centric, Jal/Chris (friendship), Jal/Chris (romance), Jal/Michelle (friendship), Jal/group (friendship), Jal/Father (family dynamics), Jal/Mother (family dynamic), Jal/Brothers (family dynamic), and others.
RATING:PG-13
NUMBER ONE.
When she was a baby her lullabies were Gershwin songs.
The only difference between then and now is that she plays them to herself. Her mother isn't around to sing them to her anymore.
When she presses her clarinet to her mouth and begins to play the familiar notes and rhythms, they sooth and calm her like nothing else can.
NUMBER TWO.
Sometimes she wonders why Michelle is her best friend. It never takes long for her to remember that it's because once upon a time they hadn't been interested in boys and they'd known each other most of their lives.
It's another Friday night involving broken plans and once again it's Tony's fault.
It's been this way for years and she knows that she should know better but she thought after everything Tony put her through things might be different this time around.
She doesn't answer when her mobile rings out a familiar Klaxon tune but instead lets it go to voicemail.
When she listens to it a few minutes later, Michelle is complaining about another argument with Tony. Michelle wants attention now that there is trouble in her life.
For once, she decides to take some advice from a friend and give Michelle a dose of her own medicine. She ignores the message and texts Chris to walk with her to Anwar's place for Midnight Curry with the Boys.
NUMBER THREE.
Cassie has the brilliant smile and personality. Michelle has all the good looks.
Sometimes she feels like she doesn't have anything. Neither of them ever seem to have trouble getting the opposite sex interested in them but she could get was the eye of Posh Kenneth who isn't her type.
She tells herself that she just hasn't met the right one. She's holding off for better things. She argues that she's goal oriented and independent.
Deep down she knows what her type is; It's tall, white, and a bit mental.
She doesn't want anyone else to know.
NUMBER FOUR.
Everyone says that she is just like her mother.
She wishes her mother were there to nurture her.
Unlike Lynton and Ace, she lacks the ability to share her feelings openly. She's closed off like her father and she knows it. She is not sure if it is because her mother died when she was so young and her brothers had more time with her or if she's just socially damaged.
Sometimes she stares for hours in the mirror sometimes just trying to find her mother there inside of herself. Usually all she finds are her imperfections.
NUMBER FIVE.
"—I just can't do it," a panicked Angie says pacing the space of her classroom. "I'm going to lose my job. You have to tell him to stop coming over and standing outside my window. The neighbors are talking."
Jal had only lingered after class to ask a question about an assignment. She did not want to talk to Angie about this though. She breathed heavily trying to hold back the anger she had with her.
She was supposed to be a teacher and she'd crossed the line. She'd hurt Chris and now she thought that she had a right to talk to her about it? It wasn't going to fly.
She's quiet for a long moment before she can't hold back and goes off the handle. The assignment completely exiting her mind as her resentment for her teacher overwhelmed her senses.
"You have no right to ask me to help you with this. You have no right to even talk to me about this. You're the one who shagged your student. Now you can bloody deal with it," she said a little loudly.
She doesn't even hear the door open. She's blinded by her own frustrations as she turned on heel and pushed her way out the door into the hall.
She didn't take notice to the Department Head with his mouth ajar nearby.
NUMBER SIX
Chris didn't speak to her for a week even though she was the only one with a spare room for him to stay after he is expelled and kicked out of the dormitories.
He's just down the hall but he never comes out of his room unless it's to leave or hang out with her brothers.
At breakfast, he is as polite and friendly he won't respond to her even when spoken to.
She had never been more miserable in her life.
NUMBER SEVEN.
When her braces are removed, she feels like a different person. It's almost like she can do anything. She stops pulling her hair up most of the time and puts an effort into actually wearing makeup.
People notice.
NUMBER EIGHT.
Paint belongs on walls not people but that didn't stop the paint war that began when the gang convened at Chris's new place. They were supposed to be sprucing it up but the bright, multi-colored paint for the walls was too much for them to resist.
She learned a valuable lesson that night drinking and painting do not go hand-in-hand.
She'd never laughed harder in her life than when she woke up the next morning in a body pile of her friends with dried paint in her hair though.
NUMBER NINE.
There is a knock at her door and she doesn't know what to make of it. Her father lets himself in before she can tell him otherwise. She can't remember the last time he actually bothered to come there but something about the look on his face says that there is something important that he needs to tell her.
"- Jalander," he says calling her by her full first name. It makes her insides turn inside out. She's been staying out later these days mostly over at Chris's new flat. It's all perfectly innocent eating microwave meals and watching the telly once he finishes his shift at her Father's Club but she knows how it looks when she doesn't come home until the next day.
There is an awkward moment of silence between her and her father but when he speaks there isn't anything harsh to it at all. "—I just wanted to tell you that – Chris -- has turned out to be a good employee," he said.
It wasn't what she was expecting and she can't help but let out the breath she'd been holding in. Perhaps she relaxed too soon. "—If he gets your pregnant losing his job is the last thing he'll have to worry about. They won't find the body," he says in a completely over protective fatherly tone that sound foreign to her ears. It makes her cheeks burn to hear her father talking like that to her though.
"We're just friends," she insists and they leave it at that.
NUMBER TEN.
She sent Michelle a text at mid-morning to let her know that she was not going to be in class. She wasn't sick but it was the anniversary of her mum's death and for some reason she just doesn't fill like crawling out of bed.
Her father was out of town recording with another artist and it wasn't as if her brothers would rat her out for skipping once for once in her life.
She settled in under the blankets blocking out the world and happy to do such. She was just about to nod off to the land of dreams when she felt a lump on the edge of her bed and a gentle push at her shoulders.
" Michelle told me you were playing hooky," a friendly voice tells her before pulling up the covers and climbing right in with her. "I decided that I would play hooky too." That was Maxxie. He was always there for a good cuddle when you needed it the most.
He gives her a look that tells her in an instant that he knows what today is. She was glad that she didn't have to tell him.
NUMBER ELEVEN.
For a while everyone thought Tony had changed. It was on her birthday that he decided to reveal that he was back to his old ways that often included ruining their small group parties. Nothing had changed at all.
This time she was the target.
They were all having fun playing Shots and Scrabble, a spin off of the original board game with the addition of booze, when the prat opened his mouth. She was picking on Chris his word, arguing over whether or not it was an actually a legal word but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard what came out of Tony's mouth.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" he started elbowing Chris beside him. "Can we finish the game before you two get all hot and heavy? I need a free hand to wank off with when I watch. I vote for Jal on top for the birthday shag. She's got great tits."
"Whatcha talking about mate?" was the return with a laugh. Chris was oblivious to Jal's mortification or any insinuation that was being made and she could see it.
Michelle gave Tony a sharp hit in the shoulder. Even Cassie seemed to be looking at him with a headshake. It was completely inappropriate what he saying. Jal never saw any of that though.
She was too busy climbing to her feet and scampered off to the kitchen muttering something about getting more cake.
NUMBER TWELVE
Mary called. She was in a bind. The normal baby sitter couldn't keep Sammy and they were set for a romantic holiday. Calling it off wasn't an option but neither was telling Chris's father who the back-up sitter was.
Mary looked Jal up after the visit and the two took to each other in a strange way. Mary might not have really known Chris before she wanted to and she tried to get to know him through Jal.
Telling Chris in the past few months about this relationship had never been an option in her head though. She didn't know how he'd take to it.
It felt unavoidable this time though. Mary wanted her to keep the baby for the weekend and she couldn't say no.
When Chris called wanting to go hang out, she lied and told him that she had got family things to do. He seemed to have bought it.
When she played with Sammy, she couldn't help but notice just how much the tiny features reminded her of Chris. Sitting with Sammy she began to see that Chris didn't just need Mary in his life to be the mum he'd never really had but he needed also Sammy. It was his turn to be a big brother. Just like Peter had been to him.
'When the time is right,' she promised herself. She'd bring the two together.
NUMBER THIRTEEN
She has a headache.She'd promised she'd go out to a club outside of Bristol with Maxxie and Anwar. It was mostly Maxxie who wanted to go. It was a new gay club and it was supposed to be lots of fun. She was okay with dancing and Anwar heard there would be loads of hot women around. The boys do seem to be enjoying themselves but she the music is loud and there is nothing enjoyable about it.
When she gets home and wants to sleep it off, Lynton and Ace are at it again. Another day and more rubbish lyrics that she seriously doubts they even know what they're saying when they rap.
"Stop it with the racket," she screams down the hall toward them. It's really to no avail.
She doubles her dose of medication and finds relief when it puts her unconscious.
NUMBER FOURTEEN.
One minute they're laughing their heads off over some cornball comment that Chris had made and the next he's leaning toward her. The moment had finally come and she braces herself for their first tentative kiss.
When a knock on the door interrupts before lip meets lip, she inwardly curses. She is stung as he jumps all too quickly to answer the door.
Maybe he didn't want to kiss her anyways.
NUMBER FIFTEEN.
Maxxie and Michelle are on either side of her and they all have bowls of fresh ice cream. She and Michelle are PMSing and Maxxie is just having a shitty week. They told the others to go the away. There is comfort in ice cream and sappy old black and whites movies.
"Men suck," is the anthem for the evening.
NUMBER SIXTEEN.
This time it's a red head. Her father has another girl every week and it's getting harder and harder to remember all of their names. It's pathetic really but what is she supposed to do about it.
Either way, she can deal with this more than him getting married again. That doesn't stop her and her brothers from being just as mean to her as any other woman who entered the house.
NUMBER SEVENTEEN.
She's stumbly and half-drunk but she can't stay with Michelle. Her mum is supposed to be in around eleven from a date with her new boyfriend. Malcolm hadn't lasted that long after all.
The group disburses in the street heading in their own general direction and she's not surprised when Chris decides to catch her by the arm and help her get home.
They're silent but that's the way it's been lately. Nothing more than what needs to be said is offered. Nothing is different but it is different. They both know it.
"Goodnight," she offered with an assumption of goodbyes.
When she reaches unlock the door to let herself in, he tugs her back, spinning her with his arm until theyare face to face again and he doesn't hesitate this time to close the distance.