Author's Note: Okay, slight turn-back in time now. Rewind to the part when Jack and Cristóbal are kissing, kk?

(18) Revelation

". . . I know you; the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam . . ." —song from "Sleeping Beauty"

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Ralph couldn't believe his eyes.

Jack—his Jack—was kissing another guy, out of his own free will!

The revelation was sickening. He would have run out of the school and taken the first train home if Jack and his new lover (Ralph desolately realized) weren't standing by the only exit. So, Ralph was basically trapped inside the gymnasium until they would kindly decide to move out of the way.

'You have to face facts, Ralph,' the teen muttered to himself, feeling the beginning of hot tears making their way to his eyes. 'Jack Merridew doesn't love you. He doesn't know the meaning of love.'

He desperately fought back the urge to scream.

Not that it mattered too much, for just then, the rest of the world decided to scream for him. Having been so caught up with his thoughts of Jack, Ralph had missed JD—the leader of the student council—make the announcement that it was now midnight and everyone was to reveal themselves. The crowds had cheered rowdily in response.

Ralph glanced through the small window on the gym door, the same window that he had been using to watch Jack.

"The coast is clear—they must have left a while ago," he realized, seeing neither hide nor hair of Jack and his . . . lover!

Believing that he would not easily be missed from such a crazy group, he attempted to dodge out the door.

'Wait a minute,' someone said, grabbing a hold of his arm.

The teen's entire body stiffened when he saw whom it was that had grabbed him.

'And just where do you think you're going?' Lee, his face free of his mask, asked.

'The dance is over,' Ralph replied impatiently.

'Yes, I know, so why do you still have your mask on?' Lee asked playfully. 'You know the rules, bro. Lose the mask.' And he reached up to take Ralph's mask off.

'No! Wait!' Ralph protested.

But it was too late; his mask was gone.

'RALPH!'

'Let me go, Lee!' Ralph demanded in response. Unsuccessfully fighting back the tears that had threatened to overwhelm him, he tried to free his arm from Lee's now-ruthless grasp.

'What are you doing here?' Lee asked.

'Let me go!' Ralph said again.

The other teen's face hardened slightly.

'Does Jack know that you're here?'

For a moment, Ralph ceased his struggles.

'No,' he said honestly, although he was unable to meet Lee's sharp gaze. 'At least, I don't think so.' Then he glanced up at the other with tear-filled eyes. 'Don't tell him, Lee. Please, don't tell him!'

'I am not going to lie to my friend.'

Knowing that the battle was lost before it had barely begun, Ralph conceded his defeat.

'Fine, tell him,' he murmured darkly. 'But don't think that it'll make things better between us. He has a new boyfriend,' Ralph spat. 'By the way, since you're going to look for him anyway—' The teen pulled at the chain on his neck, easily snapping it. '—return this to him.' He deposited the necklace and the gold ring into Lee's hand and tried to free his arm once more.

'Wait, you can't just leave like that,' Lee said. 'You have to talk to Jack.'

'I have nothing more to say to him,' Ralph said harshly, now-violently attempting to liberate his sleeve from the other teen's grip.

This time, Lee let him go.

"It hurts," Ralph thought, pushing open the gym door and making his escape. "It hurts so much that I can barely breathe. Things have changed so much—it really is over between us now."

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Jack, approaching him on the bus . . .

Jack, singing karaoke . . .

Jack, wearing a bathrobe and a shower, cap . . .

Jack, smiling . . .

Jack, laughing . . .

Jack, loving . . .

Jack . . . Jack . . . Jack . . .

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Then . . .

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'Do you think I'm attractive?'

'No, I think you're beautiful.'

'Am I in your heart?'

'No, you are my heart.'

'Would you cry if I walked away forever?'

'No, I would die!'

'And do you love me?'

'Yes, Ralph Macpherson. I will love you until the day that I die, and even then I will refuse to rest until I find you and we are together again.'

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The recollections added to the pain in Ralph's already-broken heart.

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Jack, killing a pig . . .

Jack, killing Simon . . .

Jack, killing Piggy . . .

Jack, attempting to kill Ralph . . .

. . . Jack . . . kissing another . . .

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It was perhaps the last one that pained the teen the most to remember.

Ralph strolled down the front steps of the school with a heavy heart. He had not even bothered to retrieve his bag. Why bother? It wouldn't take away his pain. It wouldn't even ease it. He had his wallet. He had his return ticket.

He was going home.

'Once a whore, always a whore.'

Suddenly, another memory entered his mind.

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'Things are not always as they appear to be,' Ray said. 'Patience and love can help you get through these things. Search inside yourself.'

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Ralph let out a bitter laugh.

'That's fucking bullshit, Ray.'

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The dance had been over for a while now, and Lee realized that Jack had not yet returned.

"I wonder where he is," the teen thought, growing slightly worried. "I have to tell him about Ralph."

Lee was not the only anxious one.

Although still raving about how great the masquerade had been, it was clear to Lee that his friends were also worried about Jack. It wasn't like him to just disappear like that, especially during a party.

'Maybe he left,' Terry suggested, trying to ease the tension in the group. Sometimes, he wasn't just a big, stupid lug after all.

'Yeah, maybe,' Lee responded dazedly, 'but we don't know for sure.'

'Then maybe it's about time that we go and look for him,' John suggested.

The others nodded in agreement.

'Let's go then,' Lee said. 'Fred, you take Wendy home. It's not fair to her.'

'But I want to help,' Wendy protested, yawning not a second later.

Lee grinned.

'That's all right. Thanks for the offer, though.'

Wendy smiled.

'Okay, but have Fred call me if you find him, or I'll be worried sick all night that I'll never get to sleep.'

'No problem.'

'Come on then, Wendy,' Fred said, courteously taking her arm and leading her away.

'So . . . where should be start, guys?' John asked, clapping his hands together.

'Maybe he left,' Terry said again.

'It's a definite possibility,' Lee conceded. 'Okay, big guy, go to the pay phone and call up his house then.' He tossed Terry a quarter.

'I'm on it.'

And he left.

Lee looked at John.

'Any other ideas?' the latter asked.

'I think that he might still be around here,' Lee said. He glanced around at the people who were still hanging about, trying to spot Jack amongst them. Unfortunately, he saw no one who even vaguely resembled the other teen.

Neither did John.

'Okay,' he said. 'I'll ask around to find out if anyone had seen him.'

Then John left as well before Lee could say another word.

Lee stayed where he was, contemplating the situation. It was unlike Jack to miss the climax of such a grand party, so that meant . . . that something must be wrong.

"Maybe he saw Ralph . . . No, because then he'd be happy, not sad . . ." Lee thought. "Maybe he didn't realize what time it was and went to get something from his locker . . . No, even I don't believe that one . . . Maybe he ate something nasty and got sick . . . It's a long shot, but it's better than nothing."

So Lee made his way to the restroom, unaware that his idea of Jack being "sick" was closer to the truth than he realized.

Just as he made it to the gym door, however, someone halted his progress.

'Cristóbal, please move,' Lee stated, not unpolitely.

'Lee, can you please give this back to Jack for me?' the Spaniard asked, placing a mask into Lee's hand.

"Ah, so he was there during the unveiling," he thought. ". . . Maybe."

'Why do you have it?' Lee questioned in return.

'Long story, but . . . erm . . . also . . . tell him that I'm sorry.'

And he left.

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Jack hadn't moved from position since he heard the gym erupt with cries of glee. He was still curled up into himself, trying to fight off his demons.

It wasn't until he heard the resounding creak of the door in the near-silence that he found the mind to realize his surroundings once more.

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"Oh, good, I found him!" Lee thought happily.

'Hey, Jack-in-the-Box,' he teased, but it was not long before his fake smile dropped. 'What the hell is that odour? It smells like a sick ward in here.'

'I'm not,' Jack mumbled.

'Sorry? What was that?'

'I'm not Jack-in-the-Box,' Jack said.

'I was just teasing,' Lee responded, but Jack replied as if he hadn't heard him.

'I'm not Jack-in-the-Box,' he repeated. 'I don't want to be Jack-in-the-Box anymore. I want to be Jack Merridew again, but I want to spell "Merridew" with only one "r".'

'You're not making any sense, Jack.' Although he was apparently confused, Lee allowed his friend to rant.

'I want to spell my name, "Jack Merridew", with only one "r". And why?' Jack asked aloud. 'Because I'm missing an "r". "R" is a significant part of my name, of my life, and I'm missing it, Lee!'

'Jack,' Lee said reasonably, 'just now, you're the one who decided to use only "r", so you can't really say that you're "missing" it, can you?'

'But I didn't decide this,' Jack babbled on. 'You did! You put my relationship with Ralph into balance when you forced me to break up with him!'

This time, Lee remained silent.

'"R" is a significant letter in my name; Ralph is a significant part of my life.' He sighed. 'I am Jack Meridew, "Meridew" with one "r" (1). I am no longer Jack-in-the-Box, Lee. I don't want to be "in the box" anymore. I will not be taken advantage of any longer.'

Somehow, Lee had the feeling that Jack's words were no longer directed from his vision of Ralph.

'What happened?' the teen asked seriously.

'I acted like a fool,' Jack replied.

And that was that; he said nothing else.

'You said that you don't want to be "in the box" anymore," Lee said, earning a confirming look from his friend, 'then don't be. Go to him. Go to Ralph.'

'But what about the whole "two weeks" thing?' Jack inquired.

Lee shrugged.

'Forget about it. It doesn't matter anymore; I know how you two feel about each other now. I was the fool, not you.' And he dropped the mask onto the floor beside Jack. 'This, is from Cristóbal,' he said, 'along with an apology.'

Jack blanched.

'Don't worry. He didn't tell me anything,' Lee reassured him. 'And if you don't want to tell me either, then I won't pry. It's your business.' Then he pulled out the ring, which he had slipped into his pocket earlier. 'And this . . . is from Ralph.'

Jack's face paled further.

'Ralph? Ralph Macpherson? Are we talking about the same Ralph here?' he asked, shooting one rapid question after another.

Lee nodded.

Jack took the ring from him and surveyed it closely.

"For Ralph."

After taking a deep breath, he asked his friend, 'By any chance, Lee, did the ring have anything else along with it?'

'Yes. As a matter of fact, it did.' And Lee pulled out the chain necklace.

Jack fainted.

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(1) Hehe, this part sounded so funny to me. The underlying layer is pretty sad, but the humour of "Jack Meridew with one 'r'" kind of kills it. LoL.