Allo! I apologize in advance for some of the language in this chapter.
What can I say? Alex and his groupies are a bunch of potty-mouths. n.n()
Disclaimer: *brightens* Alex and his friends are mine! n.n Errr.... greeeeat.... o.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Friday swung around quickly. A little -too- quickly for Sarah's tastes, but there really wasn't much she could do about it. She still wasn't sure if she was entirely comfortable with the idea of going anywhere with Alex. After all, she hadn't actually spent any time with him for so long that she didn't think she knew anything about him any more. It was almost like hanging out with a complete stranger. A very persistent stranger. And she didn't know any of his friends, either, so she probably couldn't count on help from that quarter.
Sarah sat at her dressing table, toying with her hairbrush and waiting for her neighbour. Her old friends just hadn't held the same interest for her after her mother had left and her father had re-married. She really hadn't -meant- to drift away from Alex, but he just hadn't shared her increasing love for fantasy and they'd gradually started playing together less and less. Sarah lost herself in her daydreams and he took up other interests.
She sighed and reached for the Goblin King statuette sitting on her desk, absently strightening creases in the small replica's clothing. Despite her less-than-pleasant encounter with the real thing, the Labyrinth and it's king still held a special place in her heart. He had certainly lived up to her expectations, playing out the part of cold, cunning villain flawlessly. She was willing to admit to herself now that she would have been disappointed if he hadn't, even if she had been too busy trying to best him to take note of it at the time. Oh, she still thought of him as an arrogant jerk, but she expected him to be. And her obsession with the Labyrinth had been an important part of her childhood, after all.
Sarah placed the statue back on the desk with a smile. Since her experience Underground, she had come to recognize her fascination with the fantasy realm as an escape from reality when she needed a break for awhile. It didn't make her love it any less. Nor did she doubt it's existence, although she'd come to terms with the fact that it was a way of hiding from life. She supposed she'd outgrow it eventually; she had already stopped reciting lines every day, the book hidden safely away in a desk drawer. But she prayed to whoever was listening that she'd never lose that sense of magic, the childlike abandon with which she'd let her imagination run wild. She could see herself reading the story to her own children one day.
Okay, maybe not. She wouldn't want to wish anyone else away by accident. Not that the words in the book had been any good for that, but there wasn't any sense in taking chances.
"Sarah?" Her father poked his head into the room around the partially-open door. "There's a truck full of boys out front asking for you." He sounded surprised. Probably because Sarah had neglected to tell him what she was doing this weekend, hoping somewhere deep down that if she didn't admit it out loud, it would end up not happening. Oh well. She really should have known better than to think that Alex would let her off that easily.
"Just a second, I'll go deal with it," She told her father and ran downstairs, reaching for her jacket.
"Sarah, where are you going?" Karen asked in a testy voice, holding Toby in one arm.
"Out," was Sarah's vague reply as she headed for the door.
"What? Sarah, you're supposed to be watching your brother tonight!" Karen protested. "I don't even know those boys outside! What are you doing running off with a bunch of strange young men?"
"You're the one who's always telling me that I need to get out more," Sarah rounded on her stepmother in a sugary voice, "Aren't you happy that I am?"
"Well, I wish you'd tell me if you were going out!" Karen snapped, "Your father and I had plans for tonight!"
"Yeah, well now I'm telling you," Sarah threw over her shoulder as she retreated outside, letting the door slam behind her.
"Sarah!" Karen came running out after her, still holding Toby. "Sarah, you can't go! You don't have permission!"
"You're not my mother, Karen!" Sarah shot back as she clambered awkwardly into the back of a dirty, beat up old white pickup. A pair of hands grabbed her wrists to pull her all the way in as the truck lurched forward. Sarah lost her balance and fell against Alex, who grinned at her.
"Nice one, Sar," he commented. Sarah blushed and pulled away.
"It's not my fault I can't stay standing in a moving vehicle," she muttered, taking note of the bags of chips and pair of coolers beside her.
"Not that, your stepmom." He gave her a lazy smile, "She's a dyke, isn't she?" Sarah burst out laughing.
"Yeah, she's a pain," she giggled, suddenly glad that she'd decided to come. A cookout by the river was way better than staying home with her cranky brother. And it felt really good to defy Karen. "So, who's he?" She asked with a jerk of her head towards the guy seated across from her.
"I'm Jason," the redhead volunteered, reaching forward to shake Sarah's hand.
"Sarah," she said in response. She couldn't see the people inside the truck, but that was alright. She'd meet them all soon enough.
"Gotta pick up some ice, then we're set," Alex offered conversationally as Sarah dug around in one of the coolers for something to drink. Beer, beer, beer... ah-hah! She dug out the can of coke and pulled the tab. Alex laughed at the face she made when she took a sip.
"It's warm."
"Hence the ice," Alex smirked, and Sarah nodded.
"Yeah, okay, ice it is."
Having run that particular errand, they headed off for the river. It was actually fairly close to Sarah's house, only about half an hour away on foot and five minutes by truck. It had a park beside it with a bunch of scattered picnic tables, and metal fire pits with big iron grills that swung overtop them. The park doubled as a campground in the summer, and in spite of it being a bit early for tourists, Sarah spotted a camper or two as they drove down the dirt road in search of a nice spot.
They finally settled on a small clearing in the dense trees, although there wasn't enough room to drive the truck straight in and they had to park on the side of the road. Everyone climbed out and grabbed something to carry as they headed over, Alex making introductions on the way. Someone went to work on starting a fire in the pit while everyone else laughed and joked around.
Sarah snickered at something the one other girl in their group said. Her name was Kate, or something similar. In spite of her earlier misgivings, she really was enjoying herself so far. While she'd quickly learned that no one here shared her passion for fantasy, they'd all managed to find things to talk about anyway, and were getting along pretty well. She added a sarcastic comment to someone's joke and they all laughed again. Sarah felt.. included. It was a nice feeling.
"Holy shit," someone commented, "I just saw the biggest fucking owl over there."
"Really?" Sarah looked in the direction he was pointing, "Where? I don't see it."
"It -was- right over there, but it's gone now," the other boy shrugged. "Great big white thing. Had to be the size of a housecat. Never actually seen a live owl before. Creepy."
Sarah frowned thoughtfully. Big white owl? That sounded awfully familiar, she noted dryly. Mind you, they -were- in the middle of the woods, so it was unlikely that it was the same owl that hung around her neighbourhood.
"I've seen bigger. Little fuckers are all over the place around here," Alex was saying, as if reading her mind. "My old lady was complaining about how one supposedly flew in through the cat door. Weird shit, if you ask me."
"Really? The cat door? That's weird." Sarah commented, turning her attention away from the woods where the owl had allegedly been spotted.
"Yeah, don't know if I believe her, though. She's got an overactive imagination. Although the little bastards are getting braver lately, so who knows?" Alex shrugged expressively.
"Weird," Sarah repeated, casting one last glance at the trees before someone said something to make her laugh, and she firmly pushed the owl out of her mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was times like these when Jareth wished he could utter obscenities in this form. Loudly.
The house he'd hidden in days previously just -had- to belong to that damnable brat, didn't it? Jareth cursed fate. By Underground law, he couldn't physically harm the little wretch now. His life had been spared by taking shelter there, and he was indebted to the house's occupants. Which meant that he was indebted to the mortal as well.
Damn it all to hell. He'd had a lovely plan in mind, now that he'd had ample time to assess the situation, as well as put his main worry to rest. To his immense relief, 'dogs' turned out to be a sort of long thin sausage, something he -was- familiar with, and his faith in Sarah was restored on that count. Not that he trusted Sarah in general. She was having entirely too much fun, in his opinion. And the rest of the boy's companions were much like Jareth expected: predictable, rebellious children with very little imagination when compared to his Sarah. Much the same he'd found in anyone he'd bothered to look at. He cared little for their petty mortal problems. After all, most problems stemmed from a lack of ideas, as Jareth was learning the hard way. If they had actually learned to use those imaginations of theirs, they'd probably be a lot better off.
Not that that applied to him. His situation was different., he assured himself.
In any case, that still left the problem of how he was going to torment the little knave. Harming him was out of the question, much as Jareth wanted to do so.
Of course, there was no rule he knew of that would prevent him from annoying the hell out of the brat, he reminded himself. He settled down comfortably on his branch and waited for an oppourtunity to present itself.
Disclaimer: *brightens* Alex and his friends are mine! n.n Errr.... greeeeat.... o.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Friday swung around quickly. A little -too- quickly for Sarah's tastes, but there really wasn't much she could do about it. She still wasn't sure if she was entirely comfortable with the idea of going anywhere with Alex. After all, she hadn't actually spent any time with him for so long that she didn't think she knew anything about him any more. It was almost like hanging out with a complete stranger. A very persistent stranger. And she didn't know any of his friends, either, so she probably couldn't count on help from that quarter.
Sarah sat at her dressing table, toying with her hairbrush and waiting for her neighbour. Her old friends just hadn't held the same interest for her after her mother had left and her father had re-married. She really hadn't -meant- to drift away from Alex, but he just hadn't shared her increasing love for fantasy and they'd gradually started playing together less and less. Sarah lost herself in her daydreams and he took up other interests.
She sighed and reached for the Goblin King statuette sitting on her desk, absently strightening creases in the small replica's clothing. Despite her less-than-pleasant encounter with the real thing, the Labyrinth and it's king still held a special place in her heart. He had certainly lived up to her expectations, playing out the part of cold, cunning villain flawlessly. She was willing to admit to herself now that she would have been disappointed if he hadn't, even if she had been too busy trying to best him to take note of it at the time. Oh, she still thought of him as an arrogant jerk, but she expected him to be. And her obsession with the Labyrinth had been an important part of her childhood, after all.
Sarah placed the statue back on the desk with a smile. Since her experience Underground, she had come to recognize her fascination with the fantasy realm as an escape from reality when she needed a break for awhile. It didn't make her love it any less. Nor did she doubt it's existence, although she'd come to terms with the fact that it was a way of hiding from life. She supposed she'd outgrow it eventually; she had already stopped reciting lines every day, the book hidden safely away in a desk drawer. But she prayed to whoever was listening that she'd never lose that sense of magic, the childlike abandon with which she'd let her imagination run wild. She could see herself reading the story to her own children one day.
Okay, maybe not. She wouldn't want to wish anyone else away by accident. Not that the words in the book had been any good for that, but there wasn't any sense in taking chances.
"Sarah?" Her father poked his head into the room around the partially-open door. "There's a truck full of boys out front asking for you." He sounded surprised. Probably because Sarah had neglected to tell him what she was doing this weekend, hoping somewhere deep down that if she didn't admit it out loud, it would end up not happening. Oh well. She really should have known better than to think that Alex would let her off that easily.
"Just a second, I'll go deal with it," She told her father and ran downstairs, reaching for her jacket.
"Sarah, where are you going?" Karen asked in a testy voice, holding Toby in one arm.
"Out," was Sarah's vague reply as she headed for the door.
"What? Sarah, you're supposed to be watching your brother tonight!" Karen protested. "I don't even know those boys outside! What are you doing running off with a bunch of strange young men?"
"You're the one who's always telling me that I need to get out more," Sarah rounded on her stepmother in a sugary voice, "Aren't you happy that I am?"
"Well, I wish you'd tell me if you were going out!" Karen snapped, "Your father and I had plans for tonight!"
"Yeah, well now I'm telling you," Sarah threw over her shoulder as she retreated outside, letting the door slam behind her.
"Sarah!" Karen came running out after her, still holding Toby. "Sarah, you can't go! You don't have permission!"
"You're not my mother, Karen!" Sarah shot back as she clambered awkwardly into the back of a dirty, beat up old white pickup. A pair of hands grabbed her wrists to pull her all the way in as the truck lurched forward. Sarah lost her balance and fell against Alex, who grinned at her.
"Nice one, Sar," he commented. Sarah blushed and pulled away.
"It's not my fault I can't stay standing in a moving vehicle," she muttered, taking note of the bags of chips and pair of coolers beside her.
"Not that, your stepmom." He gave her a lazy smile, "She's a dyke, isn't she?" Sarah burst out laughing.
"Yeah, she's a pain," she giggled, suddenly glad that she'd decided to come. A cookout by the river was way better than staying home with her cranky brother. And it felt really good to defy Karen. "So, who's he?" She asked with a jerk of her head towards the guy seated across from her.
"I'm Jason," the redhead volunteered, reaching forward to shake Sarah's hand.
"Sarah," she said in response. She couldn't see the people inside the truck, but that was alright. She'd meet them all soon enough.
"Gotta pick up some ice, then we're set," Alex offered conversationally as Sarah dug around in one of the coolers for something to drink. Beer, beer, beer... ah-hah! She dug out the can of coke and pulled the tab. Alex laughed at the face she made when she took a sip.
"It's warm."
"Hence the ice," Alex smirked, and Sarah nodded.
"Yeah, okay, ice it is."
Having run that particular errand, they headed off for the river. It was actually fairly close to Sarah's house, only about half an hour away on foot and five minutes by truck. It had a park beside it with a bunch of scattered picnic tables, and metal fire pits with big iron grills that swung overtop them. The park doubled as a campground in the summer, and in spite of it being a bit early for tourists, Sarah spotted a camper or two as they drove down the dirt road in search of a nice spot.
They finally settled on a small clearing in the dense trees, although there wasn't enough room to drive the truck straight in and they had to park on the side of the road. Everyone climbed out and grabbed something to carry as they headed over, Alex making introductions on the way. Someone went to work on starting a fire in the pit while everyone else laughed and joked around.
Sarah snickered at something the one other girl in their group said. Her name was Kate, or something similar. In spite of her earlier misgivings, she really was enjoying herself so far. While she'd quickly learned that no one here shared her passion for fantasy, they'd all managed to find things to talk about anyway, and were getting along pretty well. She added a sarcastic comment to someone's joke and they all laughed again. Sarah felt.. included. It was a nice feeling.
"Holy shit," someone commented, "I just saw the biggest fucking owl over there."
"Really?" Sarah looked in the direction he was pointing, "Where? I don't see it."
"It -was- right over there, but it's gone now," the other boy shrugged. "Great big white thing. Had to be the size of a housecat. Never actually seen a live owl before. Creepy."
Sarah frowned thoughtfully. Big white owl? That sounded awfully familiar, she noted dryly. Mind you, they -were- in the middle of the woods, so it was unlikely that it was the same owl that hung around her neighbourhood.
"I've seen bigger. Little fuckers are all over the place around here," Alex was saying, as if reading her mind. "My old lady was complaining about how one supposedly flew in through the cat door. Weird shit, if you ask me."
"Really? The cat door? That's weird." Sarah commented, turning her attention away from the woods where the owl had allegedly been spotted.
"Yeah, don't know if I believe her, though. She's got an overactive imagination. Although the little bastards are getting braver lately, so who knows?" Alex shrugged expressively.
"Weird," Sarah repeated, casting one last glance at the trees before someone said something to make her laugh, and she firmly pushed the owl out of her mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was times like these when Jareth wished he could utter obscenities in this form. Loudly.
The house he'd hidden in days previously just -had- to belong to that damnable brat, didn't it? Jareth cursed fate. By Underground law, he couldn't physically harm the little wretch now. His life had been spared by taking shelter there, and he was indebted to the house's occupants. Which meant that he was indebted to the mortal as well.
Damn it all to hell. He'd had a lovely plan in mind, now that he'd had ample time to assess the situation, as well as put his main worry to rest. To his immense relief, 'dogs' turned out to be a sort of long thin sausage, something he -was- familiar with, and his faith in Sarah was restored on that count. Not that he trusted Sarah in general. She was having entirely too much fun, in his opinion. And the rest of the boy's companions were much like Jareth expected: predictable, rebellious children with very little imagination when compared to his Sarah. Much the same he'd found in anyone he'd bothered to look at. He cared little for their petty mortal problems. After all, most problems stemmed from a lack of ideas, as Jareth was learning the hard way. If they had actually learned to use those imaginations of theirs, they'd probably be a lot better off.
Not that that applied to him. His situation was different., he assured himself.
In any case, that still left the problem of how he was going to torment the little knave. Harming him was out of the question, much as Jareth wanted to do so.
Of course, there was no rule he knew of that would prevent him from annoying the hell out of the brat, he reminded himself. He settled down comfortably on his branch and waited for an oppourtunity to present itself.