Inside Jack's Mind
I roll over to grab my phone, my alarm going off. I groan and drag my ass out of bed to collect my clothes for the day and take a quick shower.
As soon as I'm dressed, I head down stairs to where mom has breakfast made. Mom isn't really "mom" but she is, you know? I was adopted by Shawn and Juliet Spencer soon after their marriage. They wanted to try for kids, but Shawn's sterile. They decided to adopt, and they found me when I was ten years old at a shitty orphanage. I have no real memory of my biological parents. I can only guess as to why they gave me up.
"Morning, mom!" I greet Juliet cheerfully. Her job is super high stress, but she always does her best to be an incredibly loving wife and mom. She's great at it.
"Morning, Jack," Juliet smiles.
"Morning, buddy!" Shawn smiles at me from over his paper. He pretty much just reads the funny. Juliet tells him anything he'd actually need yo know. She's a detective and Shawn's a private investigator. Money isn't really a problem for us, but we're not loaded. That brings us to our next subject.
"Mom, dad... do you guys have a second?" I really don't know how to pose this.
"Sure honey, what's up?" Juliet asks, her brow furrowed and her hands wrapping around her coffee cup.
"It's about Kim," I begin.
"Did that Brett loser hurt her?" Shawn jumps to conclusions. "Jules baby, lend me your gun."
"No, it's not that," I roll my eyes at Shawn being just... Shawn. "It's her dad."
"Oh no," Juliet's hand clasps over her mouth. She can be overdramatic like that when it comes to ones she cares about. Her and Shawn dead people all the time, but family and friends is a no fly zone for them. "Is she okay? Is she hurt?" Juliet keeps going.
"I won't really know until I see her this morning, but I do know..." I pause, trying to find the best way to word this, "that she left."
"Left as in 'left for school' left or 'flew the coop' left?" Shawn asks. I'm pretty sure he knows what I mean, but he's covering all the bases in his own way.
"As in 'middle of the night,' 'gone for good' left," I clarify.
"Where is she? Is she safe? Does she have a place to stay?" Juliet keeps her voice calm, but her eyes are filled with that natural mother love that tells me she's going to explode at the wrong answer.
"She's at Lusa's for now, but that's not the best place for her to stay. You know Lusa's conditions. They can't support Kim, too," I point out what they already know.
"But we can!" Shawn says excitedly. "We even have a spare bedroom. She can totally stay with us, right Jules?" All eyes shoot over to Juliet.
"I've always liked Kim. We'll have to work on getting her emancipated, but I think her living with us may be the best course of action," Juliet agrees with us and takes another sip of her morning coffee. She takes less in it than Shawn. Shawn doesn't even like coffee, he just thinks it's something he has to do as an adult.
"How soon can she come?" This is Kim I'm talking about here. She's one of my best friends in the world. She's in some really hard times and I need her to be okay. I need her to be fed and to know she's cared for, that she's worth something, a lot, actually.
"We'll stop at Luse's after school to grab her stuff. Let her know at school that she can stay with us as long as she needs," Shawn tells me, an out of character moment of seriousness. "It'll be like a long as hell sleepover." And now he's back.
"You guys are the best!" I smile at them both as I gulp down the last of my milk and head for the door, Juliet right behind me.
"Have a good one, Jack. Stay out of trouble with the Black Lizards!" Shawn calls after me. I just shake my head with a smile. That's my adoptive dad for you.
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"Alright, Jack. Have a great day and remember to word it carefully to Kim. She's a strong girl, so you don't want to challenge her pride," Juliet tells me as if I didn't know her!
"Mom, I got this," I assure her because really, it's not a big deal. It shouldn't be hard to get Kim to see why this is the best move for her. Kim is definitely prideful, but the girl isn't stupid.
"I know. I just want you and her to know that Shawn and I care about her very deeply. She's been a great friend to you since we moved here, and we're more than happy to have her back," Juliet tells me with a winning smile.
"Thanks, mom. That means a lot to me. I'll see you after school. Love you!" I finish up as I open the door to take off.
"Love you too, mister," Juliet tells me back but not loud enough for any other students getting dropped off to hear. That's the last thing I need a Black Dragon to hear. They already give me enough crap about my adoptive mom's body. According to gossip, Juliet is 'Seaford's hottest mom.' It took Kim and Milton to hold me back from killing Jerry when he agreed.
Milton starts running to me as soon as he gets out of his car, so I wait up for the little brainy ginger. "Hey man," I greet him with a fist bump when he catches up.
"Good morning, Jack," Milton greets me with a tight lipped smile. "What's up?"
"Same story, different day, dude," I chuckle as I open the door for him. I see Jerry already sitting by our lockers, his music in and the rest of the world out. I think I'll just let him be for now. Maybe I'll let him know when the bell rings...
"There's Kim and Brett," Milton alerts me with a half nod. They're up against their lockers, Brett staring off into space and Kim's head on his shoulder, looking like she's about to... oh please don't cry!
She's rubbing circles on the back of Brett's hand with her thumb in a soothing motion like he needs it instead of her. He won't even curl his fingers to entwine their fingers. He's completely void of affection to her! She just ran away from home last night and he doesn't give a shit! He should have offered to skip school and do all the fun things she loves. It's not responsible, but who wouldn't need a personal day?
"Jack, are you okay?" Milton asks, snapping me out of it.
"Yeah dude, why?" I ask, lying my ass off.
"Because your face is turning red and your knuckles are white," Milton tells me, picking up on details you don't need to be Shawn Spencer to catch.
"Yeah, just had a rough night, I guess." That was true. I couldn't get any sleep after thinking about Kim's situation.
"Do you need to talk about anything?" Milton asks and I just stare at him.
"When was the last time I ever 'needed to talk?'" I'm not a touchy feely guy. I like to give advice, but I keep to myself in person matters. Like a rock.
"When Mr. Martin died," Milton throws out bluntly. Well damn. That, I did talk about. I want to scream and hurt something every time I see Kim like this, though.
"What do you... she does look a little forlorn. You're right. What's wrong with her?"
"Why would you ask me, dude?" I ask Milton, not sounding overly defensive. I do know, obviously, but I won't tell him Kim's secret.
"Because Jerry and I know that Kim tells you everything."
"It's true, yo," Jerry adds in outta nowhere. "We could ask you her bra size and you'd probably know."
I just glare at the boy, letting him know that's not okay. "Jerry, go back by your locker before I put you in your locker," I growl and Jerry shrinks back, his hands raised by his head. I love the guy, but he doesn't always know when to think instead of speak.
The bell rings and I have first hour with Kim, but Brett doesn't. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I have Brett in my asking consideration.
I say bye to the guys and grab my first hour books before heading off to Kim, who I'm just in time to see kiss Brett on the forehead. Brett made no attempt to reciprocate or actually kiss her.
"Hey Kim!" I greet happily as I catch her at locker, grabbing her books.
"Morning, Jack," Kim smiles but her eyes are still tired and her smile isn't in her usual place on her lips. The corners are a little too low. "How are you?"
"I'm alright, you?" I reply like last night didn't happen as we begin walking to anatomy class.
Kim shrugs. She doesn't want to lie to me, she knows last night did happen, but she doesn't want to seem weak or down. She's so stubbornly prideful.
I reach over and playfully scratch her head for a moment and she smiles up at me, a real smile this time. She knows I won't pry, but also that I'm here.
"Thanks, Jack," she says in a little brighter mood. She's about to enter the classroom, but I gently take a hold of her arm, getting her attention without making a scene. "What's up?" she asks, a look of worry on her face. She must be able to see my nerves.
"Kim, we both know you can't stay at Luse's for long," I begin and I see the change on her face.
"Jack, I..." Kim tries but I step in.
"No, Kim. You need a place until you can take care of yourself. I talked to Shawn and Juliet this morning. They're both on board with this. We have a spare room. You can even have a TV in there. We want to help you out, okay?" There. It's all on the table. She just has to say yes.
Kim bites her lip and stares at her feet, really turning it over. "Can I have some time to think about it?" Kim asks hesitantly, as if I'd retract the offer.
"Of course," I smile softly and let go of her arm, realizing I'm still holding her.
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Lunch rolls around and Kim has been oddly quiet towards me all morning. I really hope I didn't mess anything up between us by asking her such a huge question. She's been through a lot, so I want to ask her much more of anything today, but it's killing me to think I hurt our friendship. Asking her was the right thing to do, wasn't it?
I just went through the lunch line without even thinking about it. That's how automatic this hell hole is and how wrapped up in Kim's situation I am.
I walk out of the cafeteria to the tables in the commons to see my table full of the usual customers. My Wasabi crew and a handful of Kim's friends, including Lusa. No Kim, though. She must be eating with Brett.
I find a spot at the table just when I see Kim sitting alone on a table across the commons. Nobody seems to see her, nobody seems to notice or care. Milton and Jerry aren't even taking notice.
I haven't sat down yet, and as I debate myself on whether or not to go sit with Kim, she looks up and makes quick eye contact. I don't remember her eyes being that dark. She smiles, trying to pretend she's okay but I know better.
I take my tray and forsake my table to be with Kim for a bit. I think she needs me more than the lunch table.
"Hey," Kim says quietly and gives me a real smile. Small, but real.
"What are you doing all alone over here?" I ask her in a hushed tone.
"I just felt like a quiet lunch today, I guess. I need to think about some stuff, and that's a hard table to focus at, you know?" Kim laughs a little like something's funny. "What about you? What brought you over?" she asks curiously, honestly sounding like she doesn't have a guess.
"You do," I answer plainly and she just looks at me, shocked maybe. "What?" I ask with a chuckle.
"You're giving up lunch with the table to sit with me and eat in silence?" Kim sounds disbelieving.
"There's enough people over there, but you were alone here. What kind of friend would I be if I ignored you, didn't try to sit with you. I can't leave you alone."
"Jack, it's okay," Kim tries to tell me, looking at how close our hands are but aren't quite touching.
"You're not, though. I don't expect you to be. I don't expect you to be able to talk about it right now, but when you need a friend and ear, I got that covered."
Kim pauses and says nothing for a time. Finally, she looks at me and it looks like she needs to say something, but she either can't find the words or it's going to be hard for her to say. I keep eye contact and smile at her reassuringly. I want her to know she can tell me anything.
"I'll have my own room and TV?"
"You'll have a TV, a room. You'll have consistent heat and power. Breakfast and dinner," my eyes drop to the floor because I don't know if I should go this far, but, "Shawn and Juliet will take care of you because they want to. We want you there, Kim."
Kim looks at me, and her face is a total blank slate. I can't even read her eyes which are usually so expressive. It's like she's frozen.
"Kim?"