Chapter 3

Jack carefully unrolled a sleeping bag. I rolled my eyes and unzipped my jacket. I hung it over a branch of a tree and lay down, closing my eyes.

"Night, Jack." I said, turning onto my side.

"Goodnight." Jack said, zipping up his sleeping bag.

Jack:

Rori was asleep, I glanced down at her. Some would consider her pretty. With her brown eyes, spiky chocolate coloured hair reaching just above her shoulders, curvy figure and long legs; she would probably be thought of as extremely attractive by many people. But not me. I only ever have platonic relationships.

And, come on, how many relationships am I going to have stuck in a house for sixteen years?

My mother went missing when I was seven, my father presumed she was dead and married again. My stepmother suddenly considered me a genius one day and insisted to my father that I needed to be kept away from everyone else to enhance my skills as much as possible. My father reluctantly agreed because he only wanted the best for me, so next thing I knew I was shoved into the house.

I got food and the house was cleaned once a month but eventually these things stopped, as did the letters from my father. He sent me Cashew as an egg and two more letters and nothing else.

I hugged my knees inside my sleeping bag, looking over at Cashew who was looking between Rori and I with a suspicious expression. I rolled my eyes at her, always so mistrustful of everybody. Especially my mother. I had to put Cashew in a cage everytime my mother came to check on me, or else she might claw her eyes out. Well trained as Cashew is, I cannot trust her to be around my mother in a confined space.

Rori:

I woke up and stretched, my arms and legs a little painful from the cold but I was well used to it. I couldn't even begin to count the times I'd slept outside, on the street.

I glanced at Jack, who was still fast asleep like a baby. I rolled my eyes and started to read my book.
I stood up and walked until I found a small village nearby. I grabbed some bread and other food from a market while no one was looking and ran back to the clearing.

Jack pulled his jacket on and looked up, looking slightly relieved.

"I thought you'd run off." He said, standing up.

"Me? No way." I tried to smile convincingly but a voice in the back of my mind said, "You would though, you ass hole."
I sighed and threw the bread to Jack, he caught it one-handed, barely looking up.

I raised an eyebrow, "How did you do that?"

Jack looked at the bread in his hand, a little surprised. "Practice."

"Wow!" Jack ran to something and picked it up. He turned around and held it out to me. "Isn't this fascinating?"

I looked from the thing in his hands to his fascinated expression, one eyebrow raised. "Jack, it's just leaf."

"Yes, but look at it! Look at the way the light shines on it from the east, the details on it, the rich red colour." Jack said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah. It's a pretty leaf." I said, throwing down some old newspapers I'd collected and setting them on fire with my cigarette lighter.

Jack sighed contentedly and sat down beside the fire with his legs crossed.

I envied his fascination with everything. I had seen everything, so nothing was ever new or amazing to me anymore. To Jack, all of it was new and exciting.

I took out my phone and discovered 382 new messages and 136 missed calls. Oh, look at that, I'm popular.
Most of them were from Chandler and his mates, wanting the ruby. A few were from old intimacy pals wondering why I never call and would I like to come over to their place?

If I were completely honest I would say yes, but how to explain this to Jack? I wouldn't want to shock his virgin mind with the truth, poor little flower. He might pass out.
I'm sure the sort of relationships I have wouldn't be in any book he read in that house.

I gave up, unable to think of a way to explain and lay down, letting my book fall open in my hands.

Jack glanced over at the book, "Ah, I've read that."

"Oh?" I said, trying to continue reading.

"You know, it's an awful shame that his mother died in the end. And his wife turned out to be his mistress. And his mistress turned out to be his daughter. And her sister was really his cousin."

I looked at him in disbelief, "Are you freaking serious?"