Chapter 7: Have yourself a merry little Christmas

"Ow, Ow, OW!" Jack moaned as McFleming dabbed the blood off his nose.

"If ye hadn't tried to climb here, this wouldn't have happened," McFleming teased, handing Jack a cold cloth. "Put this on yer nose," she instructed. Jack did as he was told for a change.

"WOAH!" Valerie said evilly as she walked into the kitchen, "What happened? Did ye have a fight with the pavement!?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Jack admitted.

Valerie burst out laughing. "I've get yer report," she said, "do ye want to see it?"

"Not really," Jack said matter of factly. Valerie threw it at him anyway. She opened her report and looked over to Jack.

"Care to compare results?"

"No," Jack said grumpily. He accepted long ago that Valerie was better, academically, than him.

"Arithmetic, A*."

"Maths, C." Jack began; it was going to be a long day,

"Biology, Chemistry, French, Further Maths and German- all A star," Valerie listed boredly.

"All Ds," Jack said grumpily, then perked up, "Apart from further maths...which I didn't take."

Valerie looked down at her list.

"Physics, A*. Rhetoric A*," she listed,

"WAIT!" Jack shouted, "You missed music!"

"Music's easy. I didn't take it," Valerie smirked,

"Well I got an A!" Jack shouted, "and you try composing a violin concerto then!" He smirked, "I got an A in shipmanship as well- practical experience comes in handy..."

"A," Valerie smirked. "No amount of experience can beat natural,God-given talent, and last but not least, writing A..." Jack waited for the star but none came. Both cousions looked at each other, mouths hanging open,

"A? Just plain A?" Jack asked.

Valerie nodded.

For once Jack's ability to mock Valerie had left him, it was just too shocking.

Suddenly she burst into tears. "I got an A! An A in writing!" she sobbed.

"It's just an A! It's not like it's a B or anything, look, I bet you did better than me! I got an...A!" Jack was stunned, then: "I got an A in English! I got an A in English!" He whooped running around the kitchen screaming.

Valerie started screaming with anger. "I'M ONLY AS GOOD AS YOU! AND YOU'RE ILLITERATE!" she shrieked, then she stopped, and a malevolent smile came on Valerie's face. "Teague is going to kill you."

Jack's face fell and all colour drained from him. He quickly scanned the page for the only grade that could make up for English, Law. If that was good, he'd be safe. Then he saw Doom stare him in the face...Law- U. He gulped. He started to walk towards the kitchen door.

"Where are ye going?" McFleming asked.

"To barricade the door to my room!" he shouted.

"Before you go," Mcfleming threw a cloth at Jack, "keep that pressed against yer nose!" she instructed. Jack rolled his eyes but again didn't protest, but just as he started to walk out of the kitchen, he heard the door slamming. His eyes widened in terror.

"Run!" Mcfleming shouted, Jack walked as casually and quickly as was possible and managed to get halfway up the stairs before,

"Jack!" Teague panted, he'd obviously been running, "Ye escaped Cathy...How?"

Jack turned to show his bruised and bloody face.

"What happened!" Teague gasped, suddenly worried.

"I...was...attacked?" Jack questioned, "Yeah let's go with that," he muttered. "By a... a bear?"

"A bear?" Teague asked confused.

Valerie giggled.

"Yeah! Well I wasn't! There was this little girl who walked out of an alley and the bear was running towards her! So I decided to play the hero! I leapt onto the bear's back and stabbed it in the arm. It slammed me to the floor but I managed to throw it off! Seriously if you think I look bad, you should see the bear!" Jack said proudly putting his chin in the air.

"That is not what happened!" Valerie laughed, then she turned to Teague, "He was trying to escape from Cathy by cleverly, and I use the word very loosely, jumping onto the laundry lines and swinging away from her, only his little scenario didn't work out and just as he jumped, because of the uh height issue, he couldn't reach so he fell, head first, onto the pavement where a few of your drunk friends found him and kindly deposited him home!"

Jack turned bright red. Teague looked at him questioningly.

"Oh and by the way, here's his school report," Valerie smirked,

"I hate you." Jack stated just before Valerie walked out. Teague read the report. Growing paler, he read it again. He turned it upside down as if it might change the results.

"What," Teague spat, "do you have to say for yourself?"

Jack gulped, thinking quickly, he'd have to use his best weapon, big brown eyes. So, giving Teague his best 'I'm innocent in all this' look Jack looked Teague into his eyes and said,"I wove woo daddy?" he lisped.

Teague's fists clenched as if he was about to pound Jack into a pulp, "My own son...a...a nerd." The word hung in the air between them.

"It's just ...an A?"

"In writing of all subjects, of all the awful things you are Jack I never thought I'd be cursed with a...a wussy for a son. A nerd, a swat, a keener."

"I am NOT a keener, look at all those Ds and that U- maybe don't look at the U. I can't help being eloquent with words!"

Teague's eyes scanned to the U. "My own son, my heir...I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!" Teague ran at Jack, his face full of anger and rage.

Jack screamed and ran, once again, for his life.