(11) Defeat Plus Despair Equals Merridew's World

"Ralph's here," Jack realized, seeing the teen sitting casually at the bar with the others. "Should I go over to him or continue dancing with Joe?" He glanced at his dance partner, who was looking unexplainably sexy tonight of all nights. Maybe it was the way his long blond hair was gelled back from his face, or maybe it was the way he twisted his body in smooth, sensual motions. Maybe it was because of the navy silk shirt he wore, which highlighted his attractive bod and porcelain skin.

Then again, maybe it was the alcohol talking.

'Come closer, Jack,' Joe said, coaxing Jack's attention back to him. The former danced his way closer towards Jack, until their legs were hitting each other and they had no choice but to move in unison or fall over.

Jack subconsciously placed his hands on the other's hips and moved together, though his attention was still focused on Ralph. The other teen was engaged in a seemingly intense conversation with Fred, though God only knew what they were talking about. His eyes followed the way Ralph's fingers gently stroked the neck of his beer bottle, as if testing its durability. A pang of desire shot through him and he hastily jumped away from Joe, lest the latter felt the . . . evidence of his arousal.

'I'll be back,' Jack yelled to him over the raucous music, and he hurriedly made his way towards to bar. He badly needed a drink.

'Hey,' his friends greeted him.

'Yo,' he replied, ordering a shot from the bartender. 'You guys having fun?' he asked before downing the entire contents of the glass down his throat. The alcohol burned pleasantly through his veins, effectively numbing his body.

'We're cool, Jack,' Terry replied, gulping down his drink. 'Just chillin', y'know.'

"Man, he is totally wasted," Jack thought amusedly.

'Hey, lay off the drinks a bit, buddy,' he said. 'Just sit down on the couch for a while.'

'Nah, I'm good on this stool, Jackie,' Terry responded. At that moment, he began to sway dangerously and it took four of them to hold him up. 'No, really, I'm good,' Terry said again.

'Whatever,' Jack shrugged, and he hoisted himself up onto the stool beside Ralph. 'I saw you staring when I was out there,' he said, chuckling softly.

Ralph blushed, but he still had the wits to reply, 'I noticed the action was mutual.'

Jack laughed.

'Yeah, well, I have an eye for pretty things.' He raised his eyebrows suggestively. 'I liked what I saw, but I liked even more what I didn't see, Ralph.'

If it were humanly possible, Ralph's face seemed to become even redder. To avoid an awkward response, he took a long draught from his beer bottle.

'Hey, come with me,' Jack said, tugging at Ralph's sleeve. 'Let's go dance.'

Ralph's face, which had just started to lose its abnormal colour, once again glowed like the setting sun. He had probably just recalled how Jack Merridew liked to dance.

'Um . . . Maybe later,' he said, pulling away.

'Come on!' Jack urged. 'You're not going to have any fun tonight if you keep saying, "Maybe later".'

'Hey, the kid doesn't want to dance, Jack,' Eddy cut in, stepping between them. 'You can't make him.'

'I didn't ask you,' Jack retorted before shifting his attention back to the hesitant teen. 'Come on, Ralph! Please dance with me?' Jack pleaded with large, teary-looking eyes. 'Please, please, please, please, please—'

-

Ralph rolled his eyes in obvious annoyance.

'I promise I'll make it good for you,' Jack prompted. 'I won't step on your toes or anything!'

Stepping on toes was the last thing that came to Ralph's mind, for he couldn't help but feel that there was an underlying current to this request. After all, why was Jack so keen to dance with him when there were more than a hundred-odd people in the room?

'Please, please, please, please, please!' the other begged, continuing his earlier plague.

'All right,' Ralph finally acquiesced, 'if only to shut you up.' He obligingly let Jack lead him onto the dance floor (after the latter had finished cheering and shooting triumphant looks at Eddy). Then they started to dance.

'All right,' the DJ said in his cool, mellow voice. 'We're going to tone things down for now. This is for all you lovebirds out there.'

To Ralph utter dismay, an incredibly slow song came on, one which seemed to constantly mock him. He gave Jack a mildly embarrassed (though apologetic) look and began to walk off the dance floor.

'Wait,' Jack said, catching a hold of his arm. 'You promised to dance with me. You can't back out now.'

'B-but this s-song . . .' Ralph stuttered uncomfortably.

The other teen gave him a queer look.

'You've never slow-danced with a guy before, have you, Ralph?'

'No,' Ralph replied with downcast eyes. 'Then again, my family moves around a lot, so I haven't really had very many close friends.'

"After the island incident," he mentally added to himself. "And even then my friends turned against me to join . . . you." A sudden wave of nausea hit him and he subconsciously clutched his stomach.

'Are you all right, Ralph?' Jack asked, concerned. 'If you're really that uncomfortable about dancing with me, you can just forget about it.' He seemed very down.

'No, it's not that,' Ralph said quickly.

'Oh, so you will dance with me?' Hope re-lit in the other's shining eyes.

Ralph fought his illness back and shakily nodded.

'I guess so.'

A smirk formed on Jack's lips.

'Come here.'

He nervously stepped forwards and waited for Jack to tell him what to do next.

'Now, place your hand on my shoulder,' the latter said, while he rested his hand on Ralph's waist.

Ralph licked his chapped lips, trying not to blush.

Jack flashed him a reassuring smile and took Ralph's other hand in his own. Then they started rotating in slow circles, subconsciously avoiding collision with the other dancing couples.

"This isn't so bad," Ralph thought, swirling around the dance floor with Jack. "Crazy, yes, but not too bad. If someone had told me that I would be slow-dancing the middle of a club with Jack Merridew, I would have beat the crap out of them. But look, this is really happening." He had to admit, though, it was weird being so submissive in a situation such as this. If Jack were a girl, Ralph would be leading. It was just . . . different to be the "girl". "Jack is an okay guy,' Ralph decided. 'It was rather sweet how he asked me to dance. Bizarre, but sweet."

Ralph heard Jack sigh, and it snapped him out of his reverie. Almost unconsciously, the former leaned closer to Jack to rest his head on the other teen's shoulder. His arms comfortably wrapped around Jack's neck and he pressed their bodies together. Whatever inhibitions Ralph felt had obviously vanished.

Jack seemed slightly surprised by the other's sudden change of attitude, but he adjusted his position accordingly, allowing his arms to circle Ralph's trim waist.

They danced like that for a seemingly long while, their chests pressed intimately close. And then, the song ended, terminating the special bond they had felt for those brief moments. The pair broke away, staring intently into each other's eyes.

'Thank you for the dance,' Ralph murmured.

'The pleasure was all mine,' Jack replied with a slight bow of his head. 'Care for another?'

Ralph shifted his weight nervously.

'Well . . .' he hesitated. Sure, he had enjoyed dancing with Jack, but wouldn't people start talking if they kept this up?

As if he read his mind, the latter leaned over, carefully whispering, 'If you care what other people think of us, then don't! All that matters is you and I. The rest of the world can go shit themselves and mind their own fucking business.'

A smile appeared on Ralph's face in spite of himself.

'Okay then,' he agreed. 'Let's dance!'

'Great!' Jack said.

They started to do just that.

After only a short while, however, Ralph could tell Jack's attention was shifting to something else . . . or rather, someone else. It was rather irritating how he kept staring over Ralph's shoulder at . . . RAY! An unexplainable surge of jealousy flowed through Ralph's veins as he watched Jack. The latter was looking at Ray with a mixture of interest and intensity. Not exactly a very favourable combination for Ralph.

'Why don't you just go dance with Ray then, Jack!' he screamed over the music before angrily trudging away. He was gone before Jack could catch him.

-

'Crap!' Jack exclaimed, causing several people to glance in his direction. Both annoyed and frustrated with himself, he stomped towards Ray to find out what the hell the other teen wanted. He had been waving to Jack frantically (when Ralph hadn't been looking), clearly wishing to speak to the other teen. It was very distracting, and it was obvious that Ray would only stop once he talked to Jack.

'What took you so long?' Ray asked, a rather impish smile lighting up his face.

'I was dancing,' Jack replied haughtily, flopping down into the chair beside Ray. 'What the hell do you want? It's kind of hard to dance with you about to piss yourself waving.'

Surprisingly, Ray chuckled and didn't seem all that bothered about being insulted.

'I was just observing how you and Ralph are getting along. So . . .?'

'So what?'

'So, how far have you gotten with him? Not there yet, eh, mate?'

'How the hell would you know?'

A mischievous glint appeared in Ray's eye.

'I make it my business to know, mate. Besides,' he continued, taking a sip from his glass, 'you're trying too hard for it to have already happened.'

'Oh yeah?' Jack inquired, searching his mind for a comeback. 'Well, obviously you haven't slept with him either. He would be fawning over you or something if you guys did do it.'

'And how would you know that?'

'I know Ralph,' Jack said. 'He takes everything seriously. If he fucks with someone, it'll be "making love" to him.'

'So you've actually thought about this?' Ray asked amusedly.

'No, I haven't. I just knowit's going to happen,' Jack responded. 'I know that he won't sleep with anyone unless he knows for sure that they are the one.'

'Is that so?' Ray took another sip from his glass before finally setting it down. 'Then why did you make this bet? You think you can make our object of desire fall in love with you?'

'Why not? I've done it before!' Jack replied, sounding a lot more confident than he felt.

'No, you haven't,' Ray said coolly. 'Hate to tell you this, mate, but you've only made people fall in love with the "fake" you.'

"Don't listen to him," Jack told himself. "He's just trying to taunt you."

'The guy they love is just someone who doesn't give a shit about anything and can give them a good fuck,' the other teen continued.

"Don't listen! What does he know anyway?"

'They don't care about the real you, Jack. No one does. No one.'

'SHUT UP!' Jack screamed. 'JUST SHUT UP, RAY!'

Contrary to how most normal people would react, Ray merely grinned.

'Okay, now that's he reaction I was looking for,' he said cheekily. 'You're going to need that feisty side of you before the end comes. You've been holding back, mate, but I must admit, I've been doing that, too.' He stood up and picked up the cocktail umbrella from his glass, which he proceeded to flick at Jack. 'Just remember, only four days left.'

'Five!' Jack responded, raising his chin assertively. 'The night's not over yet, Ray.'

'It will be once I'm through with Ralph.' He smiled darkly at Jack before disappearing into the crowd, clearly in search of Ralph.

"FUCK! He planned this thing the whole fucking time!" Jack suddenly realized. "He made me leave Ralph, which made Ralph mad. And now this is the perfect opening for him to interfere!" The teen hunched over and buried his head in his hands. "It's all over. He's going to win, and my rep will be all fucked up." He sniffled quietly in self-pity. "What the hell is wrong with me? If this were any other guy but Ralph, I would have him crawling on his knees by now. You suck, Jack Merridew! You lost your mojo!"

With that said, he furiously took Ray's abandoned glass and whipped it across the room. Fortunately, it didn't hit anybody. It simply hit the nearest interfering wall and shattered, just like Jack's reputation undoubtedly would.

"You can't do this, Jack!" he scolded himself. "This is one person you can't have. You fucked up royally, Merridew. You lost everything! You lost your rep, you lost the bet, and you probably even lost Ralph. Jack, you even lost your self-respect . . . How much lower can you get!"

"STOP FUCKING WALLOWING IN YOUR OWN SELF-PITY, MERRIDEW!" his more reasonable mind . . . um, reasoned. "FOCUS ON HOW YOU CAN REPAIR THE DAMAGE!"

"Yes, Jack," another (softer) voice agreed inside his head. "You are the man! There's no guy you can't get. Trust in time, and only then . . . only then can you trust yourself."

-

'Why the hell does Jack always have to fuck with my mind like that?' Ralph furiously murmured to himself as he made his way back to the others. 'He asks me to dance, but he can't look at anyone besides Ray! Argh! I'm feel so humiliated!'

'Back so soon?' Lee asked him with an odd grin on his face.

'Yeah,' Ralph replied. 'Apparently, Jack was more interested in pursuing other guys while we were dancing.'

Lee looked somewhat surprised by this, but he made no comment on the matter.

'Are you having fun tonight, Ralph?' John questioned. 'You know, despite that whole Jack thing.'

'I guess,' Ralph shrugged. 'This is certainly . . . different.'

'Yeah, I suppose that's one way of putting it.' John shrugged as well, as if contesting Ralph's ability to shrug.

Suddenly, Ralph overheard an . . . interesting conversation behind him.

'Yeah, then he just told me, "I found someone else. But, hey, if I ever need a good blow job, I'll call you."'

'That sucks, man.'

'No, it blows.'

There was laughter. Then, 'I still remember what happened on the day he broke up with me. He caught me in, like, an hour-long lip lock. Then he suddenly pulled away and said, "I don't things are working out between us anymore. Sorry, kid." He's such a heartless bastard, but he is so hot.'

'Oh yeah, he's like a walking sex machine.'

Curious, Ralph turned around to confront the teenagers behind him.

'Sorry,' he said, standing at the outer edges of their circle. 'I couldn't help but overhear you. I was just wondering, who are you guys talking about?'

'The school slut,' one of them (a redhead) replied indifferently. 'He's the last guy you'll ever see committing to anyone, but he can give you interesting sexual experiences.'

Ralph bit his lip nervously. That had been a little bit too much information.

'You better watch out, man,' another teen (a brunet) said. 'You're a pretty attractive guy, and you're obviously new. Otherwise, you would already have heard of him. I mean, everyone knows him.'

'He's the school heartthrob,' the redhead said with a dazed look on his face.

'And heartbreaker,' the blond added darkly.

'Who is this guy?' Ralph asked, impatiently tapping his foot. 'Like, what's his name?'

The group of guys stared at him for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not they should tell him.

'Why do you want to know?'

'Just curious,' Ralph shrugged. 'You guys keep talking about what a "heartthrob" and "heartbreaker" he is. I guess . . . Well, I guess I just want to know so that I could look out for him.'

His answer seemed to satisfy them, for the brunet suddenly replied, 'His name is Jack. Jack Merridew.'

'Jack?' Ralph echoed, paling noticeably.

'So you have heard of him!'

The teens suddenly seemed to notice the nasty hue of his face.

'Hey, you okay, kid? Who are you anyhow?'

Still in a state of shock, Ralph began to walk away.

'Kid?'

'My name's Ralph,' he called over his shoulder, trying not to look at them.

Their demeanor changed suddenly and they became extremely giddy.

'You're Ralph!' the redhead exclaimed. 'Oh man!'

'What?' he snarled, spinning around on his heel. 'Am I Jack's next victim or something?'

'Uh . . . Why do you ask?'

That answer was good enough for Ralph.

'Er . . . Thanks for your help,' he remarked, turning to leave once more.

'Hey, would you mind giving us a few hints?' the blond asked. 'Like, are you going to fall for him or not?'

Ralph's only response was a hasty, 'Bye!'