The whole day had been like walking on egg shells. No one talked to him. Everyone was too afraid. A part of Jack did not blame them, and another part resented them. Chemistry was only the half-way point in his day but already he was ready to either collapse under the tension or just plain punch someone. Knowing the latter would likely put into more trouble he decided the collapsing was better.
And that was what he did, right into his seat in chemistry. He sat next to Pitch, more out of habit than anything, but was instantly happy that he had. He needed some comfort right now, and going two weeks without his best friend had taken its toll on him.
He smiled brightly, turning to regard the taller boy, but was met with a cold shoulder and an indifferent face. The smile on his face dropped as if someone had clipped bricks to his lips. Their discussion before break came flooding back. He felt the disgust that he had been fighting with since that day bubble up to the surface again.
Along with came a series of thoughts that fell together like some bizarre connect-the-dots. He sat ramrod straight, his fists balling. He tried not to gasp out loud but the intensity of his epiphany was so strong that he was not sure if he had succeeded or not. He felt more than saw Pitch glance at him from the corner of his eye.
"It was you, wasn't it?" he whispered fiercely.
Who else could it be? Who else was mad enough at Jack to do such a thing? Pitch had motive, he was butt-hurt over the sour way things had ended. He was also one of the smartest, most resourceful guys that Jack knew. He could have easily pulled it off and no one would even suspect him.
"What are you talking about?"
Jack turned on him, seeing red for a moment. "You froze the squirrel, didn't you?"
Pitch snorted, regarding the other boy as if he were a child that had spoken terribly out of turn. "Why would I freeze a squirrel, Jack? To get back at you? Do you really think I'm that vindictive?"
"Yes." Pitch could, in fact, be that vengeful. That was perfectly in his character to try and get back at Jack in some way that would really hurt him. Jack had hoped that because they had been friends for so long that Pitch would spare Jack his wrath.
Pitch chuckled lightly, a simple stuttered exhale that seemed so relaxed and confident that it made Jack doubt his own conviction. "Jack, think about it for a minute, would you?" He seemed so friendly, not condescending. He was just trying to get Jack to see it his way and his tone alone made Jack's temper cool. "You can tell on me at any time, can't you? You could go to that officer and tell him all about the bad stuff I'm doing. Why would I jeopardize myself by angering you? Over some petty revenge? I doubt that greatly." He leaned forward, his face getting close to Jack. "You've been my closest friend for three years, Jack, why would I try to wreck what we had any further?"
Jack stared long and hard into Pitch's eyes. Something flickered there, some unreadable emotion that Jack was unsure of. "I don't know," he answered finally. Pitch was the vindictive type, yes, but he was also rather sentimental. Whether it was good or bad, he held onto it. He held grudges but did not usually act on them. Jack used to call him sentimental all the time, especially when they'd been younger and while Jack was trying to forget his misfortune, Pitch had been trying to eternalize it. Perhaps Pitch would not try to hurt Jack.
"Who else could it be?" He was asking more himself than Pitch but the other boy answered anyway.
"I don't know, Jack. I thought I saw Bunny taking the stupid thing home on that day. We both know he doesn't like you and has been trying to prove to everyone that you're dangerous ever since you froze his precious paint set." He gave Jack a side long glance, calculating and observant. "Maybe he did it."
Jack considered him for a moment. Bunny was a bit of a pacifist. Any other circumstances and he and Jack would have gotten along swimmingly. The fact of the matter was that Aster liked rules and Jack did not. But then again, Aster had threatened to hurt Jack, or get back at Jack in some way. Maybe this was pay back for the Jack painting his bug blue. But would Aster go so far as to actually kill something?
Aster was a vegetarian. He hated killing things. He was with PETA and everything. Jack was the same way; he just did not advertise it because he did not want to be recruited by the hipster clique. Maybe Aster was not as animal-friendly as Jack had initially thought. The kid could be pretty violent. He had been known in his freshman year for starting fights with a lot of the junior football players, and winning most of those confrontations.
The more Jack thought about it, the more he realized how logically sound it was. The only problem was that Aster had been tasked with taking care of the squirrel over winter break. There was a new student to do it over every weekend, but the school would give the student who did it over long holidays community service credit, so it was usually an ASB senior who did it.
If he had brought it to school like that, because students were not allowed to put him in his case, which was for school administration, someone would have noticed that the squirrel was dead and they would have blamed Aster. So it must have happened after he brought it to school. Even still, they would have gone straight to Aster anyway, because he had been the one to be taking care of it. They must have talked to him before hand, right? So they had cleared that he was not the one that had done it.
Either that or the administration had believed that because Aster had already brought the animal to school he was no longer responsible for it, and thus did not even think that it could have been him, automatically going straight to thinking it was Jack.
The fact of the matter was that Aster knew how to get into Monty's case in the main hall. He had been there while the janitor or whoever was in charge of putting the squirrel away had done it. Jack, on the other hand, had no idea how to do that.
Jack turned to say something to Pitch about his thoughts on the whole thing but before he could, Mr. Price stood from his desk to start the lecture. Jack gave one last glance at Pitch, taking note of the small smile on his lips. He wondered for a moment what he was so happy about before the thought was whisked away as he started taking notes.
Jack slid into the passenger seat and closed the door and proceeded to sit ramrod straight. The tension in the car could be cut with a knife and it hurt his chest to breath, to be frank.
"You did do it, didn't you." Boris was leaning toward him over the console, giving him a look that made Jack's skin itch.
"No! I've told everyone, it wasn't me."
"Jack, please, for the love of God, do not lie to me."
"I'm not lying!"
Boris leaned away, sighing heavily. He pulled away from the curb before the people behind him got antsy. There were no more words between the two of them until they were well away from the school.
"I don't get paid enough for this," he heard Boris mutter under his breath.
Just like that, all the frustration, all the tension that had been building up for months suddenly broke the dam. He whipped toward Boris in his seat, nearly hitting the old gentleman. "I'd ask my dad for a raise and all, but in case you haven't noticed, he's not here! I've tried calling him but he didn't answer. I haven't talked to him since Thanksgiving! I know what you're thinking, so don't waste your energy saying it. I'm only doing this to get his attention. You think that if I really wanted his attention, I would freeze a squirrel!? Why wouldn't I just run away? Don't you think I haven't thought about this? Do even realize how many times I've seriously considered just getting on a plane and finding him myself. I could do it. I have plenty of money! Why do you think I haven't gotten a car yet? Because when I graduate, I want to go find him and tell him personally that he can stop pretending to feel bad about being a bad dad because I've decided I don't need him anymore. I'll be eighteen in two months, then you won't have to be going crazy trying to look after me, because I don't need anyone after that, and you can just leave me alone-"
He felt his throat block up and he was forced to take a choking gasp. His eyes burned and his fingered shook. That was what he wanted, right? He wanted to be by himself, so that people would stop looking at him like he was someone that needed pity. So what if he did not have any family? That did not matter. He was going to college in less than a year, and then he could be anyone he wanted. If he wanted to be the kid with more family than he could remember, then he would be and no one would ever know. He would not have to be an orphan forever. Hell, he could even decide that he did not want any friends because he did not need them. He needed no one, and he had certainly did not need anyone's condescending looks or pity filled gazes.
So why was the thought of being alone constricting his chest and making it hard to breathe? Why was that thought so horribly painful?
He turned away and scrambled for the door, making Boris swerve to the side of the road when he saw what Jack was about to do.
He almost tripped when his feet touched the still moving ground outside the car, but Boris had slowed enough that he was able to catch his balance. He left his bag in the car and slammed the door shut behind him, even with Boris yelling after him. They were out of town, but still among the orchards that lined the road from town to the higher end residential district. He hopped the wooden fence and sprinted through the trees, ignoring Boris's yells for him to come back. He ran until all he could hear was his own ragged breathing and the pounding of his heart in his ears.
He collapsed on the ground, beneath the crowded citrus trees and finally let himself cry. He was an adult and he would not allow himself to be seen acting like a child, but the trees were his only witness and he knew they would not tell anyone.
Afterword: I feel like this chapter ended awkwardly but I don't know how else to put it. I also feel like there shouldn't be an author's note, but meh. Anyway, a day early because I found some time and tomorrow I will not be willing to do anything but watch Trigun (my newest obsession, why haven't I heard about this earlier? This anime will murder me with feels. No spoilers I'm only on episode 15. I really want to finish it, you guys have no idea, but I have so much homework that it hurts me) and play videogames until I am in a catatonic state. Also, homework. Week 1, I was like, I could totally handle this much homework. Week 2 and I'm starting to sweat.
Anyway, reviews are love and I like feeling loved every now and then. :)
