If you were upset with me for making Bobby the fic's mainfocus than I will be recieving your applause after your done reading this chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 3- If you don't know me by now
Krystal Peterson's house-
Krystal stared up at her pink colored ceiling when she woke up the next morning. It had been the same color since she moved their thirteen years ago. The Mercer boys would tease her about it because she acted so tough, but having a pink room was girly and she secretly liked being girly despite their taunts. She thought about the other night that she spent over the Mercer's. Sparks had developed between her and Bobby the past two days, but last night she would've needed the whole Detroit fire department to put out the massive fire that would've erupted if she hadn't left the house when she did. She knew she had feelings for Bobby but wasn't sure how deep. Then there was Jack, how would he feel? Even though she had no romantic feelings toward him, could she really start hanging out over there with Bobby, making out and maybe even…No she thought she wouldn't be able to do that in front of Jack. She treated him so terribly when they were kids and teenagers that she wanted to make it up to him, but he wouldn't let her. He wanted nothing to do with her and how could she blame him?
"I'm different now," she said to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted when her cell phone rang.
"Hello," she answered sitting straight on her bed.
"Hey girl!" her best friend Sara Cruz yelled through the phone.
"What's up?" she asked confused by her friend's tone.
"I heard that you and Bobby…" she began to say until Krystal stopped her.
"Me and Bobby what? There is no me and Bobby, nothing," she shouted, not really angry but surprised.
"Well that's not what I heard," Sara said.
"Well what did you hear, and from who?" Krystal asked moving over to her computer desk.
"I was talking to Shannon, whose best friend is Lisa. Well Lisa's boyfriend, Keenan, was talking to his older brother Marcus, who hangs out with Angel," Sara rambled in her thick Spanish accent.
"Ok? And?" Krystal asked not remembering the order of the chain of people Sara had rattled off.
"Anyway, I guess Bobby told Angel you guys did stuff. Everyone's talking bout how you guys shoulda done this years ago" Sara laughed.
"We didn't do nothin, I swear. He's like thirty," Krystal said reading her emails.
"Ok, if you say so. Look I gotta go, talk to you later mami," Sara said and then she hung up.
Krystal sat on her computer completely aggravated. "How could Bobby tell Angel that he did stuff with her? What does Angel think about it? Is he jealous?" she thought to herself.
"Only way to find out is to get it from the source," she said throwing on her Baby Phat brown winter coat.
Mercer House-
"Bobby!" Krystal banged on the door ten times after no answer.
"Bobby! Get out here right now you coward!" she screamed.
Jack opened the door with a frown on his face, "What do you want?"
"Where's Bobby?" she demanded.
"He's not here, look," Jack said pointing to the empty driveway.
"Oh, I'm sorry, were sleepin?" she asked.
"No," he said leaving the door open and walking into the living room to sit down.
Krystal followed him into the empty house.
"Do ya know when he'll be back?" she asked him standing up, not wanting to invade his personal space.
"I don't know," he said rubbing his head.
"Ok," she said not knowing what to say next.
"You can leave now," Jack said turning around to face her.
She was about to until she realized the rudeness in his voice, "Cuse me?" she asked turning back around.
"Leave," he said turning back to the TV.
"Oh no, I know you don't wanna to go there," she said placing one hand on her hip.
"Do you always have to have the last word?" Jack asked her.
"When someone's bein rude to me, yeah," she said inching forward.
"Rude? I'm rude? I'm sorry, since I know you're the queen of courteousness, I must be offending you," Jack said sarcastically standing up to face her.
She laughed.
"What's so funny?" he asked wondering why she laughed, when normally she'd be smacking him in the back of the head by now.
"It's just, nice," she said making tiny circles in the rug with her black fur high heeled boots.
"What's nice?"
"That you stood up to me," she said moving forward.
This was the first time he talked back to her. He always let her have the last word, and he always let her walk all over him.
"We'll I'm not some dog you can talk down to," Jack said feeling a smile ready to show on his face but he hid it.
"I know ya not. A lot has changed hasn't it?" she asked him with a slight grin.
"Yeah," he said finally letting the smile show.
"It's nice to have ya back, Blackie Jackie," she said leaning in to hug him.
"Nice to see ya Red," he said enjoying the first hug they ever shared.
"Ok so now that that's over, you wanna do somethin?" she asked him.
"Like what," he asked surprised.
"I dun know? We could go ova to Johnny G's and play pool," she said knowing Jack loved to play pool.
"Yeah, sounds fun," he said cheerfully.
"Then let's go," she said grabbing her car keys out of her tan Coach purse.
The drive to Johnny's G's was unbearable. Krystal had never had more than a one minute conversation with Jack, a real conversation. They sat in silence, both of them trying to think of something they could talk about.
"So how long have you been here?" Jack asked playing with his thumbs.
"Three days? Maybe four, can't rememba," she said keeping her eyes on the road.
"How long were you in the hospital?" Krystal asked compassionately.
"Month and a half," Jack said.
"I heard what happened. I'm sorry, and about your mom too," she said watching Jack's head lower.
"Thanks," he cleared his throat, "How are your parents?"
"My dad is doin good I guess. I have to take care of him a lot of the time. My mom died last year," she said feeling a tear well up in her eye.
"Really? Ma never told me," he said.
"Yeah, it was breast cancer. She never told anyone," she said parking in a spot right in front of Johnny's.
"Sorry," he said outside on the other side of the car.
They walked in, found and table and started to play pool.
"I haven't played in a while," Krystal said after missing a shot.
"Like I was playing in the hospital?" he said sarcastically.
"Fine, then we both can suck a little bit, until we get our skills back," she said leaning against a jute box.
Jack sunk three shots in a row and laughed as Krystal gave him dirty looks, "What ever, you got three quarters?" she asked him.
He jiggled through his leather jacket pocket and pulled out three quarters.
"Thanks," she said placing them inside the jute box.
Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" came streaming out the speakers.
"I love this song," she said swaying lightly.
"So you like more than just rap and hip hop?" Jack joked.
"Of course! These are songs are classics," she giggled as Jack shot the white ball of the table, making it her turn.
He picked it back up and handed it to her.
"The object is to keep the 'white ball' on the table," she smirked.
"You suggestin somethin?" Jack asked her cunningly, standing by the corner pocket looking down at his package.
"No," she said as she shot the nine ball hard into the corner pocket which made Jack jump.
"What happens if that had hit me?" Jack asked her.
She shrugged and walked around him to rack the balls back up.
Out of nowhere Jack asked her, "Are you sleeping with Bobby?"
She stopped and turned to face him, four guys at the bar had heard Jack and they all knew Bobby and Krystal fairly well.
"What the hell is the matta wit you?" she asked him looking around the bar.
He didn't think she'd get that upset so he didn't answer.
"Why would you ask me that? You think I'm like that?" she asked him raging with anger.
"No, but," he started to say until she slapped him in the face.
"How dare you! What if I was sleepin wit Bobby? How the hell is that any of ya business?" she ranted.
"I'm sorry," he said feeling like he was standing in that sandbox from twelve years ago.
Krystal composed herself for a minute and then she apologized, "I didn't mean to go off on you, but I heard somethin like dat today and dat's why I came over to talk to Bobby," she said watching as Jack face turned red with embarrassment.
"I shouldn't have asked," he said scratching his head.
"Don't apologize," she said, "Remember your not seven year old Jack Mercer anymore."
"But I was rude to assume that," he said.
"Wanna play anotha game?" she asked him, getting off the subject of her and Bobby.
"Sure," he said happily.
They spent two hours playing pool and having what seemed to Jack as a wonderful time compared to what his time with Krystal was usually like. She was having fun too, but she couldn't get her mind off Bobby. She really wanted to go back to the house and just knock him over the head with a wooden baseball bat.
"Ready?" Krystal asked Jack, who was sipping on a beer that Johnny G. himself gave to him. Jack drank there all the time with his brothers, so Johnny looked the other way when it came to Jack only being nineteen.
The car ride home was a lot more pleasant. They lightly joked about all the times Krystal made fun of Jack.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry bout that one," she said lightheartedly.
"It's ok, I didn't break too bad," he said.
"But I shoulda neva said dat."
"Well I guess you didn't want to be my Valentine," Jack said pretending to shed a tear.
"Aw, but I told you it was cause you were white," she started to burst out into laughter.
"Yeah and you pushed me into the chalk board and my back read ass all day and no one told me," he said laughing with her.
"It ain't my fault that ya landed on the word assignments and only got the ass part on your black hoodie," she said pulling up to his house.
"Wanna come in?" he asked her politely.
"Sure," she said turning off the car.
When they got inside they could hear Angel and Sofi arguing upstairs.
"I'll take your coat," Jack said taking off his own to reveal his black sleeveless t-shirt.
Krystal looked at his tattoos admirably. Not only was she staring at his tattoos but the huge bi and triceps that they lay on.
"Don't make fun of my tattoos please," he said touching the large cross on his shoulder.
"I wasn't. I actually like em," she said still staring.
"Don't you have one?" he asked her trying to remember where it was.
"Yeah," she said blushing.
He chuckled and said, "Well, where is it?"
"Ya sure you wanna see it?" she asked teasingly.
He folded his arms and looked down at her waiting.
"Ok, well I have two, first one," she said taking off her boots which made her even shorter. She was five foot three with boots on, she wore them all the time, but without them she was like five foot even.
"Come on Little Red," Jack said emphasizing the word little.
"Shut up," she said grabbing his arm to balance herself.
He had to look down even further because the tattoo was on her ankle.
"It's a pink breast cancer ribbon," he said.
"I got it right after my mom pasted away," she said putting her boots back on.
"I love it," he said.
"Thanks. Ok, the next you have to brace yaself," she said unzipping her jeans.
"Ok," he gulped and his face flushed red.
She held down the right flap of her jeans which exposed her lacey red thong. Jack stopped breathing for a second and then he coughed. She was staring down at her tattoo so she couldn't see his reaction.
"It's a buttafly," she snickered.
"Cute," was all he could say without sounding completely love struck.
They heard the front door slam and Bobby entered the room.
"Am I interruptin somethin?" Bobby asked angrily.
Krystal zippered her jeans back up and walked over to Bobby.
She shoved him and said, "Who the fuck do you think you are goin round telling people we did shit?" she yelled.
"What does it matta? Looks like you and Jack were bout to get down anyway. Seems like you like messin wit guys heads," Bobby yelled back at her.
This infuriated her and then she punched Bobby dead in the face, "Your such a fuckin bastard Bobby, you know we didn't do shit!" she said continuing the rest in Spanish and then she left the house.