"So you don't talk too much, do you?" Claire asked as they made their way down the street.
"Actually I talk a whole mess once you get to know me." He gave her a sheepish smile. Claire returned it.
"So what school do you go to?" She asked, interested.
"Actually, I'm working." Jack sighed as he started taking in the sights of the New York City nightlife.
"Really?" Ooo! Cute and hard working! "What do you do?"
"I have a bit of a job at my local observatory. It's a janitorial job but…it's worth it. One of the astronomers who does his research there is in the graveyard shift when I come in, so we talk often. He teaches me things."
"About the stars." Claire finished for him. Jack nodded with a lopsided smile. "So are you going to study astronomy in college?" She inquired.
Jack suddenly found the ground very interesting. "I don't have enough money for college. I'm um…I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to join the military."
"No!" Claire suddenly jumped in, "Don't do that! They'll send you to Vietnam! You'll get killed!" Jack stared at the face of the angel who suddenly started walking backwards in front of him, surprised at her sudden outburst. "Sorry." She said apologetically. "I'm anti-military." Jack smiled and nodded reassuringly.
"Well I don't really have a choice." Jack said sadly, "Before I turned eighteen I was an independent minor for two years. Then, I could just barely balance my job and my schoolwork. I thought after I graduated, it was going to get easier. But…" He played with the dirt with his foot. Another nervous gesture, Claire noted, "Then our apartment manager up-ed the rent Now I can barely pay the bills, much worse get food in my stomach." He chuckled nervously. "But I'll live." Their eyes met. "I always do."
Claire's heart went out to this guy. He learned the harshness of life long before he was expected to. An independent minor? My gods! She complained when her parents didn't give her enough money to go out with her friends; and here this guy was- making his own money, not expecting anyone to give it to him. "I'm sorry." Was all she could say. The rest of her feelings were conveyed through silent conversations between their eyes.
"Hey, you two!" Michael called to Claire and Jack. Claire turned to see the guy known as Michael holding a home movie camera and aiming it in their direction. "I'm making home movies of the whole gang for the kids one day! Wanna make a donation to the future?" He said in his cryptic sort of way. Claire looked confused, but Jack knew what it meant. After all, he and Michael were childhood friends.
Jack gave Claire another one of the boyish grins she was beginning to love. "He means say something." He gave a slight laugh and Claire laughed with him.
"Hi!" She waved at the camera like a ten-year-old. "My name's Claire Ballard, and we're in New York City! The Big Apple! Whoo!" She rose bother her hands up as she continued to shout the introductions. "And our two," she held up two fingers, "groups just met at that lovely hotel over there." She pointed to the hotel sign and Michael lifted the camera so the sign could be seen, disappearing in the distance. He, then, returned his camera towards Claire and Jack. As Claire kept talking like a hyperactive madwoman, Jack just kept quiet, grinned shyly at the camera, and occasionally looked up from his vigil on the ground. "And we're all on our way to the restaurant right now. That is where we're going to spend our first night on the town in this amazing city!" She looked up at the sky and laughed joyfully. Jack couldn't help but chuckle at her cheerfulness. She glanced at him and resumed her speaking, "Oh! As you can see we're all enjoying ourselves. Turn around!" She whispered that last part to Michael. He did so and aimed the camera at the rest of the group, "Everybody say hi!" Claire could be heard in the background
"HI!!" Came the voices of ten other people as they all waved to the camera. Michael turned back around and focused on Claire and Jack.
"By the way, for the party, we're all paired up, and I'd like you to meet my shy little partner." Jack grinned at the ground. Claire put her arm around one of his arms and tilted her head towards him, "His name's Jack O'Neill!" She said with a smile on her face. "Jack, say hi!" She told him as she leaned on his shoulder.
"Hi!" He said and waved sloppily with his free hand, his eyes never leaving the ground.
"Come on, Jack, look up." She said low in his ear. "Please?" Giving him the most innocent smile she could muster, she tried again, "Please??" Jack kept on shaking his head and grinning at the ground. Trying another trick, Claire leaned down and placed her head under his so while he was looking down, she was looking up at his. "What's so interesting down there?!" She cried with a smile. Jack laughed and finally gave in, looking up at Michael's camera. He gave it a lopsided smile and turned his head towards Claire, who was leaning her head on his shoulder, her first familiar touch barely registering in his mind. Aren't we outside? Isn't it Fall? Why is it so damn hot?! He was about to pull away when her blue eyes met his brown ones. They soothed his rapidly beating heart and he suddenly felt at ease. As she once again turned and grinned at the camera, Jack lazily leaned his head onto hers.
"How much film you got, Mickey?" Jack asked, saying something other than 'Hi' for the first time.
"So much that even if I taped us sleeping all the way through, we would still have some left over in the end."
"Damn Mickey!" Tommy could be heard from the front of the group. "You bought all that film?!"
Michael swung around to face Tommy, taking the camera with him. "No. My dad owns the store where they sell these things. We have excess every month. I get them for free!" He grinned and continued shooting.
The film inside the camera saw many an adorable site. All the boys walked by, talked with, and some even had their arm around their respective girl. From Tommy's point of view, the evening was going well so far. He made no effort to hide this from Amy. "Seems like everything's going well." He whispered in her ear. She turned around and nodded in agreement. Looking around for a moment, she spotted a subject of interest and grabbed Tommy's arm.
"Look at Claire! I've never seen her this animate around a guy since…" She thought for a moment. "Well, she's never been this animate around a guy!" She pointed towards the back of the group where Claire and Jack were talking.
"She and Jack should get along fine then." Tommy agreed. "Jack's not comfortable around girls. Not since he hit puberty." He laughed.
Amy took his hand and they all continued down the street. "Really? You never told me that."
"Yeah, most of the guys don't know it either. Jack likes to keeps a kind of 'macho man' image but the guy's a definite softie. Trust me. I've known that man since he was negative nine months old. He could never hide things from me."
"But you hide stuff from the other guys."
Tommy sighed, "Jack's one of those image sensitive guys who likes to appear stupid when he's really one of the smartest guys in class. But he just drops the whole façade in front any girl he's attracted to." They waited to cross yet another street in their five-block trek to the restaurant.
"Any girl?" Amy raised an eyebrow.
"Well, actually, not any girl, per se. Jack, surprisingly, is only attracted to a limited number of girls. I mean, the guy has strict requirements."
"Are you serious?" Amy asked, surprised a handsome guy like Jack would limit himself to such a small number of ladies.
"Yep! She has to be cute, smart, supportive, easy-going, intellectual, and- and this is not a definite requirement, but a plus- blonde."
"Oh! He has a thing for blondes, huh?" Amy grinned. Jack and Claire were a perfect match. "Has all his other girlfriends been blondes?"
Tommy paused, "Jack's never had any girlfriends." He said, looking at her wearily.
Amy looked back, completely surprised. "Jack's never had any girlfriends?! Never?! As in no first kiss? As in he's still a virgin? As in he's NEVER had a girl?"
"Yes" Tommy answered.
"That's sad!" Amy commented as she leaned on his arm. "Why not?"
"Jack was…" Tommy searched for the right words. "…he was forced to grow up before his time."
"What do you mean?" She asked, sincerely.
"It's a long story, trust me. You hate sad stories so…you definitely don't want to hear it."
"It's sad?" She repeated, a tone of sympathy in her voice.
"It's very sad." Tommy nodded, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the camera made its way from the front the group, around to individual couples having their own conversations, and eventually it found its way to the back. Michael decided he wanted to keep the camera rolling all the way to the restaurant. So, he made his back face directly towards Claire and Jack and set the camera on his shoulder, facing directly in their direction. From there, they continued on, Claire and Jack oblivious to the recording device as they engaged in their own conversations.