I am a bit unsure about this chapter. It's pretty intense for a chapter 2 but I thought I'd try the idea out. If ya'll don't like it let me know please. I hope ya'll enjoy. R&R PLEASE!
Chapter 2: Oblivion
I was awakened by a gentle nudge at my shoulder. My eyes slowly fluttered open and Jack's hovering figure slowly became clear. I smiled. This was our daily morning ritual now. I'd been there for only 2 1/2 weeks and we already had a routine.
"Come on. Ya gotta get up babe. It's time ta go ta woik." he said gently trying to wake me.
"If I roll out...Will you catch me?" I mumbled groggily, not wanting to stand.
He laughed and nodded.
That smile, it was so gorgious. I slowly rolled myself off of the bunk and landed in his arms. He caught me softly, so as not to jolt me too badly.
I smiled as he tickled me slightly and gently set me down on my feet. I nearly fell over and he caught me once more, dipping me as he did so. It was very romantic.
I smiled and threw my head back in laughter.
"I'll nevah drop ya." he whisper into my ear.
My heart skipped several beats. Butterflies suddenly arose in my stomach and fluttered their wings. Chills went through my body as his hot breath rushed across my neck. I pulled my head up and looked deep into his caring, hazel eyes, melting in his arms.
His eyes didn't leave mine as he pulled me up and once again placed me gently on my feet.
"Thank you." I said quietly. I couldn't break my eyes away. They seemed to be locked on his gaze. "I should probably go get ready." I said, finally getting the strength to break our gaze.
He just nodded and said, "I'll be waiting right heah," and sat down on my bunk.
I sighed as I closed the bathroom door. The other boys had already left, so I had the entire bathroom to myself. I quickly took a shower and got dressed in my flowy, ankle-length white skirt and put on a baby blue tank top. I placed my key around my neck and left my hair down to air-dry as usual. When I walked out, his stare caught mine once more, but this time it was a different kind of stare.
It was a stare of longing; a look of desire.
As I stood in front of him, I saw that the feeling of the hot summer heat was causing a sweat to form on the sides of his face and just above his brow. I could also see sweat forming on his bare chest that was showing through the top of his partially unbuttoned shirt. He was the most gorgeous creature I'd ever seen.
He stood. I was now looking up at him. "Hey um...Liz?" He sounded very nervous and he lost the sudden seductiveness he had not only 2 seconds ago possessed.
I smiled at the fact that I could make him nervous. "Yea Jack?"
"Would ya um...be my date ta medda's? To da dance next week?" He twitched in anticipation and uneasiness.
I pretended like I wasn't sure, making it seem as if I was thinking. "I don't know Jack. It is such short notice. And I already had another person in mind and..." I stopped as I saw the look of utter disappointment across his face.
"Oh." he muttered.
"JACK! I'm just kidding! Of course! I would love to go with you!" I squealed in happiness and wrapped my arms around his neck.
I felt his go around my waist and pull me closer. His face suddenly lit up as I gave him my real answer.
"Why'd ya do dat? Dat wasn't very nice. And ya make yaself out to be an angel." he said only hugging me closer.
"No Jack. That's how you make me out to be." I said laughing and smiling.
"Oh yea." he remembered. "Well dat's only 'cuz you are an angel. You'ah my angel from da rain." he whispered against my neck as he pulled me closer into his body.
Chills raced up and down my spine and shot through my entire body as his breath once again rushed across my neck. My voice was shaky and I began to tremble. "I'm no angel." I said, barely above a whisper.
"Yes you ah. I dunno wheah I would be headedright now if it woin't fa you comin into my life." he said. He kissed my neck, his mouth hot against my skin.
"Jack, I..."
"Please don't make me stop." he whispered.
"Jack, I think we better go before all the papes are gone." I whispered, as I ran my fingers through his sandy blonde hair.
He sighed and pulled away. "Alright." he said in disappointment and defeat.
LATER
"Eya Jack, South. What took ya'll so long to get out to da papes today?" Race asked, a wide smirk on his face.
Jack smacked the back of his head and then gave an apologetic look in my direction.
I simply smiled. I knew he didn't mean for him to say that.
"Well sorry. It's not my fault dat's what I thought. I mean Jack lik..."
Jack hit Race again before he could finish his sentence.
I knew what Race was gonna say. Jack likes her. Which is true. He did. I knew he did and he made it completely clear to me. But he didn't want everyone knowing. He was their leader and if they saw him going soft for some southern blonde other boroughs might not think the same.
As we were all walking out, Jack next to me on one side and Race on the other, Race suddenly pulled me aside and away from Jack. "So what's ya dress look like?" he said in honest curiosity.
"Um...I don't have one." I said, looking down to the ground in embarassment.
"Well...my goil might have something. Ya both bout da same size. I'll talk to her." he said.
"Thanks Race. You're the best." I whispered before kissing his cheek and returning to my place next to Jack. Jack, Race and me were in the front of the group.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a rough hand grabbed my arm and yanked me into the ally, followed by a fist flying into Jack's jaw.
"LIZ!" he had screamed before he'd been punched.
Race had followed in after me, throwing hard punches into the guy holding and groping me. I was flung to the ground in the panick and crawled into the corner of the ally, holding my knees tight against my chest. As I watched in horror as more guys came in behind, closing us all into the ally. I tried as hard as I could to make myself invisible, and, when I couldn't hold my cries any longer, I kept them quiet.
Jack had the guy who'd grabbed me up against the wall, and then slung him to the ground. "Liz get outta here!" he screamed in desparation, trying to get me away from harm.
I nodded and stood, covering my face as my brother had trained me to do. 'My Brother!' I suddenly thought. I felt for my necklace only to find it gone. "My necklace!" I yelled. I turned quickly, running back to where I'd first been pulled into the ally.
"Liz! What ah ya doin'! Get outta heah!" Jack and Race both yelled.
"Not until I find my necklace!" I yelled back. I fell to my knees, looking desparately for any sign of the chain. I finally found it, only to have it slung from my hand.
A boy had caught me by the hair from behind and yanked me to my feet. I let out a scream as he did so. He pushed me hard into the brick wall, causing me to knock the back of my head against it. My vision blurred slightly and the dark ally got darker. "Jack." I said, the volume only rising to a whisper, as the boy kissed and bit my neck.
Somehow he heard me though. "Liz!" he punched a guy hard in the stomach, trying to make his way to me. "Keep ya doity hands the Hell off her you son of a..." A guy tackled him to te ground, punching him hard in the face.
The boy groped the upper half of my body with one hand, while holding my wrists with the other. I did everything I could to get him off of me. I bit him; I kicked; I screamed; I wriggled. Nothing I did could get him off of me. He ripped the top of my shirt trying to get it off. He pulled my flowy skirt up and pushed his hip into mine hard against the wall. It was hard for me to breathe. He forced his mouth onto mine and attempted to push his tongue in, but I bit it.
He screamed in pain and swung his fist hard into my stomach. I cried out and fell to my knees. He began to kick me and scream. "You slut! How dare you do that to me! You've got a lot of nerve you little whore! I'll make you pay!" he screamed as he kicked me repeatedly. I could only do what my brother had taught me and covered as much as I could in defense. He then jumped on top of me, ripping my shirt completely open and pulling my skirt completely up.
I screamed as loud as I could as he did so and covered myself, kicking and flailing my arms in a desparate attempt to get him off of me. I could see and hear my boys trying to get to me, but they kept being held back or punched or something of the sort, enabling them to get to me. I could see Jack going through the guys as he tried to get to me, flipping one guy this way, punching another guy into that wall.
"JACK!" I screamed as the guy began to pull my underwear down while trying to shove his mouth on me. By the time Jack got to me the guy had my underwear down to my knees.
Jack grabbed the guy by both sides of his collar and yanked him up, throwing him into the wall next to me.
As I was trying to cover myself, Race and Blink came over to me. Race picked me up, as I cried harder than ever into his chest, and began to carry me out of the ally. I could see a blury vision of Jack beating the crap out of the guy who attacked me. The rest of the 'Hattan guys surrounded me until I was out so that the other boys that were still conscious wouldn't touch me or Race or Blink. They took me all the way back to the L.H., carried me upstairs, Kloppman following with First Aid. Blink had put his shirt over me to cover me up.
They gently laid me down on my bunk. "Get out. Both of ya. Let me take ca'ah of her." Kloppman fussed. I groaned as he then put his hand on my ribcage. "I'm gonna have to take your shirt off to check out your injuries. Is that ok?" he asked, not wanting to alarm me.
I managed a nod and then another groan as he placed his cold hands on my ribcage. "Dat's definitely broken. 2 or 3 at least." he said, shaking his head. "Who would do such a thing to such a nice goil is beyond me."
He patched up the cuts on my cheek and jaw and put ice on my ribs and stomach. He pulled the cover over me and left me to sleep.
I heard him meet Race and the other boys out in the lobby. He was yelling at them.
"What happened?" he asked sternly.
Someone stepped up and began to talk. It was Jack. He told Kloppman everything that he saw and waited.
"How could you boys let dis happen to her! You should've been paying attention. Don't you know nasty guys like that are just waiting to grab a beautiful goil like her?" Kloppman yelled as they hung their heads in shame at their ignorance and oblivion. "I'll have to call a doctah tomorrah. Go on up but don't wake her up. And don't pester her." Kloppman said, his voice hard and stern at the boys.
I heard them slowly and quietly coming up the stairs. I closed my eyes as I saw the first head poke out of the top of the stairs.
They all quietly walked in and went to their bunks. Jack slowly made his way over to his. He stood next to my bunk for a while.
I then pretended to wake at his presence next to me. I rolled onto my back and mumbled, "Jack? Is that you? Where ya been?" I rubbed my eyes and my eyes slowly opened to see him standing above me.
"Yea Liz. It's me." he whispered. He knealt down next to my bed, now eye-level with me.
I smiled at the comforting sight of his face, his eyes.
"I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time Liz." he whispered. He took my hand in his and began to rub my knuckles in nervousness and upsetness(A/N: Not sure if that's a word or not, but I couldn't think of another way to put that. Sorry!).
"Jack. Don't apologize for something you couldn't help. It's not your fault you couldn't get to me. You tried and thats the point." I whispered back. "I know you tried. I know you wanted to help me."
I saw tears forming in his eyes. They shined in the moonlight as they slowly and quietly began to fall.
"Oh Jack. It's alright. Really. Don't worry about it. It could've been much worse. You couldn't do anything more than you did. I sdon't think any less of you for not getting there sooner. I..."
"No. It's not ok. Kloppman's right. I should've been payin attention. I knew bettah. I let dis happen to ya. I could'a done so much more. I shoulda done so much more." he said, his voice now angry.
"Jack...come here." I whispered as I pulled him onto the bed. I laid my head on his chest and he hugged me tight as he held him close in an attempt to comfort me. I began to cry into his chest and he ran my fingers through my hair and stroked my arms and neck.
"I'm so sorry Liz." he said as he held me in his arms. "I should've been there to help you. I'm so sorry." That's all he could say. He kissed the top of my head and continued stroking my arms and neck.
"I'm just glad you got there when you did Jack." I whispered oonce I'd calmed myself, now only hiccuping.
"Me too." he said into my hair. "I dunno what I woulda done if I hadn't gotten to ya in time. I'da killed dat guy if he'da done dat to you." He gripped me closer, hugging me tighter.
I buried my face into his chest and we fell asleep that way.
Hope ya'll liked this one. I know it was pretty intense for so early in the story, but I hope you liked it just the same. Please R&R!