(A/N – Well, Here I am in the CAHS Library typing chapter two with Jack! He's playing Motor Cross Mania just like all the other guys… -rolls eyes-… Well, enjoy this chapter!)

Oh hail, the majestic Reviewers!

x) Choco Donut - OMG! I miss you s0o0o0o0o much! I'm glad you've started reading! It might be a bumpy next few weeks though with the musical, but good news! I have today off! lol... I should get far into ch.3 or even done with it! Thanks so much! Again, glad to have you back for this one!

x) pirate tomboy - Hey! haha... how have you been? You've started to read this one, too:) I'm so happy, lol. Thanks for reviewing!

.: I feel like Mardi Gras! Woot! –throws beads to everyone:.

CLE – "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional

- Look! Another Disclaimer! Bo0o0o0o0o0o….

- The Steelers may have lost to the Pats, but the Pats still SUCK. And I own ppl: Lindsay, Jessica, Holly, Paige Castrella Madrine (Lillian Paige Barbossa), Miss Isabelle Garrett, Thomas Pikes, and a few more soon! (More will come later; new and old!) Sorry Patriot fans, but you're goin' DOWN.

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CHAPTER TWO: "What about me?"

I just woke up, eyes not open yet. Had a good sleep til I remembered last night. I scrunched up my face and rubbed it. Well, now what?

I opened my eyes, and my face was about three inches from… hey! Jack! I screamed and he sat up as I jumped into a sitting position. He chuckled, and Stewie appeared behind his shoulder laughing.

"God, Stewie! Give me a heart attack!" I said, clutching my chest.

She just laughed as Lindsay moaned and sat up off the couch.

"Geez, Erica, you have a big mouth…" she said, rubbing her eyes.

"Jack and Will are back," I said, blinking to overcome my surprise wakeup.

I looked beside me and found that Elizabeth and Paige weren't there. And it suddenly dawned on me that Will wasn't in the room either.

"Where are they, Jess?" I asked.

"In the kitchen making breakfast," she said, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. At this, Lindsay sprang off the couch and ran like lightning into the kitchen tripping over the sleeping bags and blankets.

"They can't cook, Stewie!" she yelled as she did this.

"Well they gotta learn sometime!" Jessica laughed.

I went to get up, and Jack extended a helpful hand to me. I smiled and took it (of course). When I was up, I hugged him tightly.

"Ho, what is it?" he asked.

"It's a hug," I said. "You know-"

"Aye," he said, sighing. "But It's only been a right five months…"

"Four and half," Jess said, coming up to us, "but who's counting?"

I laughed, and to me surprise, Jack gave me an awkward one-armed hug.

"Missed ye, Grace," he said.

"What about me?" Jessica asked Jack.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her.

"What about ye?" he asked.

Jess dropped he shoulders, and Jack laughed.

"Ye're a trip, Mary…"

CRASH!

"No!" we heard Lindsay moan from in the kitchen.

"Boy I sure do miss you guys," I said sarcastically to Jack as I started for the kitchen shaking my head. Jessica was right behind me as we rounded the corner, and Jack peered around over us.

I – busted – a – gut. Elizabeth was covered from head to toe in Bisquick batter as Paige sprayed her with the sink sprayer; cat food was all over the floor along with a spilled jug of milk, and Will was spinning around clueless in a pink lacey apron covered in flour with a spatula in his hand. Lindsay was running around like a nutter. She took the sink sprayer from Paige after she got sprayed and put the fire in the skillet of sausages out and slipped in the cat food and milk, taking Elizabeth down with her after grabbing her hair as she fell.

"Holy crap, Lindsay!" I laughed as we went over to help her and Elizabeth up. "You ok?"

Lindsay got up, clutched her head, and sat in a chair at the table.

"No…" she moaned.

"Aw, come on, lassie," Jack said. "Not like he knew what he was doin'."

"None of them did and now I get stuck cleaning up this… damn mess…"

She sighed and threw a potholder on the ground in frustration, and Stewie and I took a seat on either side of her. Paige looked over at me with a frown, but then her face lit up. She went over and grabbed Will's arm bringing him over slowly to the table.

"Jane, have you seen Will lately?" she asked. "He's obviously not feeling well…" Lindsay looked up at the flour-covered pink-aproned Will and let out a laugh.

"I give up!" she said, standing up. "You pirates are too much…"

"You mean not enough," Elizabeth said with a smile.

Lindsay moaned pathetically and went over to the closet and started pulling out mops, brooms, stuff like that.

"Well, let's get to it," she said, tossing me the mop. "Then we can have breakfast." She thrusted the broom into Jack's hands and he eyed it. Then he looked up at her as she gave Will the rags and cleaner.

"Err… not to be rude…" Jack began, walking up to Lindsay, "But- oof!"

CRUNCH!

"Oops… sorry, Jack," Lindsay said, after spinning around and knocking him to the floor with all the milk and cat food. "Now! Some rules… Rule one! These items are not edible. Rule Two! We are cleaning, not making more of a mess. Rule Three! Well… there is no rule three. So, any questions?"

"Aye-"

"Raise your hand!"

Jack bent his brow and Stewie and I showed him how and he nodded, raising his hand.

"Yes, Jack?" Lindsay asked.

"Got any rum?"

"No. No rum. Now get to work!"

Jack scowled and started muttering under his breath as he swept. Then he gave a big sweep that hit Lindsay and she spun around, and when she did, Jack only looked the other way.

- 30 min later -

As we cleaned, Jack, Will, Elizabeth, and Paige went on explaining all about the Governor and that…

"So when the snots get their pants all up in bunch 'bout it, all eyes are suddenly on meself and Lily," Jack said.

"Did Norrington say anything?" I asked. "I mean, after this summer, you two've hit it off as friends, right?"

"Don't say his name," Jack said sharply.

"What!" I asked.

"Jack still doesn't like the idea of Norrington saving him," Paige whispered to Lindsay, Jess, and me. We smiled, but Jack kept sweeping.

"We did think of going to him, but everyone would've overruled their innocence," Will said.

"That sucks," Lindsay said.

"Big time," Elizabeth said heavily. "So, we decided to get Jack and Paige out of here, leave the Pearl with Anamaria, Gibbs, and Thomas, and leave Arielle in the care of Estella."

"Norrington know you went hiding?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, but we didn't tell anyone where," Will said.

It was quiet a bit longer as we finished up.

"Cool, we're done," Lindsay said, putting the mop in the closet.

"So now what?" Will asked.

"We eat," Paige said. "But since we sort of destroyed your kitchen… which we're sorry about by the way…"

"Not a problem," Lindsay said. "We're sort of used to it since these clowns showed up. Heck, we even missed it."

"Clowns?" Elizabeth asked.

"Don't read too much into it," I whispered to her.

"What were you saying?" Stewie asked Paige.

"Oh, well… we could go to a tavern or whatever you have here?" Paige suggested.

"A restaurant?" Will asked. "Like that one place from last summer?"

"Haha… Wendy's…" Stewie laughed.

"Well, we could, but why don't we just get stuff at Mark's and eat at the playground?" I asked. "We do it all the time, so why change it now?"

"Erica, we get junk at Marky's to eat," Lindsay said. "We don't get meals."

"So? It's just food…" Jessica said.

"Oh, come on," I said. "It's cold, but we can still walk."

"Walk? Cold? How cold?" Jack asked as we went to get them changed. "How cold? Hey! I'm talkin' to ye, Grace!"

- 20 min later -

After Elizabeth, Paige, and Will got into some normal clothes (according to our definition of the word 'normal'), I grabbed my car keys (since Jack's a big baby) and we left for Mark's to grab a few snacks, and then to the playground to reunite Jack, Will, and Elizabeth with a little friend…

The car wasn't even stopped when Jack and Will got out of the car staring in disbelief. I knew this was pandemonium and totally sheer stupidity on their behalf, but we seemed to be making some sort of sport or tradition out it. Paige was a bit clueless on the subject of Jack, Will, and the 'Demon of Barbossa,' but Elizabeth, Lindsay, Stewie, and I had to say little before she laughed and understood.

"It's a metal squirrel?" Paige laughed as we got out of the car.

"Yep," I said. "Pitiful, isn't it?"

"And you found the ruby in the squirrel?"

"Yeppers," Lindsay said. "But this is a new one the playground put back in after they mutilated the first one." We made for the picnic table that was covered by a small old roof. We threw our 'rum' jug out of the bag along with the salt and vinegar Pringles and Combos cream cheese. Those are what make our world go round.

"Most of our memories are here," I told Paige.

I looked over at Lindsay and Stewie who nodded as Elizabeth leaned against the one post laughing.

"What is it?" Jessica asked.

"The Demons Jack and Will are about to open fire on your rocky squirrel," Elizabeth said as we walked up beside her.

"Better seats!" Lindsay yelled, bounding over to the blue swirly slide with the three of us quickly on her heals. She climbed to the top with Stewie, Paige, and I behind her as we pushed her forward to see more, but Elizabeth just sat on the bottom edge of it while smiling up at us.

"How's Thomas been?" Lindsay asked suddenly. Oops… I sort of forgot about him… lol…

"Oh, he's been on the ship with us," Paige said.

"Has he been bad?" Lindsay asked with a half-frown, half-grin smile.

"Huh?"

"Has he been seeing other girls?" Stewie clarified. "Like, romantic like."

"No, of course not," Paige said. "We should've brought him back, but I guess we sort of forgot."

"Can-"

"AHH! It's rebelling!"

We looked over at Jack's cry to see Will rolling on the ground try to pull it out of the ground by its head as Jack bashed it on the head with his sword, but then we just kept on ignoring them.

"Can he come back?" Lindsay asked.

"Dunno," Paige said.

"Let's wait a bit," I said. "We'll go get our dresses for the Christmas dance tomorrow night, then we'll go and get him."

"Sounds good," Jessica said. We spent a few minutes clueing Paige in on what the Christmas dance was, and she was so excited to hear that she was going with us.

"We're gonna get all of you nice and dolled-up for tomorrow," Lindsay said. "You'll look great!"

"Yeah, but then there's Jack…" I said looking back over at them. They had it ripped out of the ground now, and were giving a few more effortless beats as they skulked back over to us looking quite exhausted.

"So, you think he's gone for good?" I asked with a laugh as Jack sat on the ground with Will beside Elizabeth.

"Aye, Grace, I do," he panted.

Then Stewie started tapping my arm fast and gesticulating as she always did when she had an idea.

"Oh, Jess wants to tell us something!" Lindsay said. "What is it, Stewie?"

"Let's show 'em the tree!"

"Which one?" I asked.

Jessica sighed hopelessly at me.

"Our tree!" she yelled, about to fall off the slide.

"What?" Paige asked in confusion.

"Oh! Okay…" I said.

"Look out, Lizzie! We're coming through!" Lindsay said.

The four of us went down the slide, and Lindsay, Jessica, and I bolted around the tennis court over to our tree with the others close behind.

"Do ye ever… not run?" Will asked, leaning against the tree.

"Yeah, but we're hyper right now," Jessica said, starting up. "Duh!"

"Welcome to Tree de Little!" Lindsay said loudly as she began up.

"How did ye get a name like that?" Jack asked, watching Stewie and Lindsay climb.

"Well, Isle de Muerta is French for 'Island of Death,' so Tree de Little is 'Tree of the Littles," I said.

"Ah… French are evil!" Jack spat.

"Désolé, je ne parle pas l'anglais!" Lindsay yelled down as I went up into the tree after Paige. I laughed, but Jack just stood there clueless.

"What?"

"She doesn't speak English," Will said, coming up next. Jack's jaw dropped.

"I always knew ye were a eunuch, Will!" he yelled.

"Oh, shut up and come up," Jessica said from her high branch. Jack rolled his eyes and allowed Lizzie to go before him, and dang! I didn't think this tree could fit so many people in it comfortably!

"Don't see too many trees like this round our parts," Elizabeth said.

"Nope," I said. "Don't see many things anywhere that you see here."

"It's freezing cold," Paige said, clutching Lindsay's coat closer to her. "How do you stand it?"

"It's our little secret," I said.

"Aren't we supposed to get snow tomorrow?" Lindsay asked. "Like, enough to cancel the dance?"

"Nah," Jessica said. "Snow won't start til the dance is at least halfway over…"

"Snow?" Elizabeth asked. "I haven't seen snow in such a long time…"

"Oh, believe me," I said, "it either snows like crazy or snows one inch."

"Which sucks since we don't get school cancelled unless there's a lot," Lindsay said. "And that only happens every two years…"

"Yeah, but we've been doing pretty good lately," Jess said.

"Well, good or not, this blacksmith is pretty hungry," Will said. "I could go for some decent food other than… that stuff…"

Lindsay glared at him, quite offended.

"It's not stuff!"

"Yes it is…"

"Butt out, Jack!"

"No, so nyaeh!"

"I'm getting out of here…"

"No! That branch isn't!"

CRACK!

"Will!"

THUD!

"Ow…"

"-sturdy!"

"Shut UP, Jane…"

Lindsay and Stewie turned to go back down out of the tree with Elizabeth and Paige right behind her. Jack jumped out being the impatient little thing he is, but I left with the other girls.

"You didn't break anything, did you?" Lindsay asked as we walked over to Will. "Arm? Leg?"

"I'm fine…" he moaned.

"No, cuz ye're still a eunuch," Jack said. "Evil French gits…"

"Ooo…" Stewie groaned. "I'm craving French fries…"

"Well, it looks like we should be off to Bigham's then!" Lindsay said.

"Uh, Lindsay? Do you remember the last time we took them there?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but Paige hasn't been there yet and they might like to see the new game room!" she said. Oh, that is a good thing…

Maybe…

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- Anyone remember Bigham's? lol…

Time for sleep… yes, in the middle of 3rd period! zZzZz…

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