Chapter 5 – Sing a sad song
The last day of school was supposed to be a joyous occasion. The Tun Si Academy was famous for the love each student had for the school, and even here the halls were filled with young apprentices awaiting the end of the day. Amongst them was Jack; however she didn't share the smiles of her classmates. The day had started as usual, hadn't it? No, not quite. Now Jack thought perhaps she might understand where things had begun to go wrong.
Although she lived at the academy her dormitory was at the far end of campus, as usual she had walked to the main halls with her friends. A small group of closely webbed girls, of them the only ones she could truly class as friends at all were Cathy and Holly. Even they were not as close as they had once been and Jack began to realise just how far out of social comfort she actually existed.
Most days her boyfriend Damien would walk with them, she loved the feel of his arm around her waist and the comforting warmth that came when he took her hand in his. Damien was a year older and specialised in old world martial arts. Today he had gone on ahead without her; she had considered using her com to message him but decided not to bother as she was tired from a late night of study.
Then when she had arrived at the main halls Damien had not come to greet her with soft kisses and a protective embrace. Instead he remained with his friends, Jack began to walk over assuming he hadn't seen her, she didn't like Damien's friends, they were dull characters that often acted rather strangely. He was stood in the centre of them and now as she approached she saw that Damien was talking to a girl, one of his friends.
Anger had surged through Jack and she has stalked off quickly to hide in a large group of her makeshift companions. That was how the bad day had started.
Information Tech was Jack's favourite non-combatant subject, though today it had been torturous. She sat next to Damien and it was their routine to talk and tease each other. On this day Damien had moved away to sit with the girl he had been talking to. When Jack had tried to talk to him he had turned and startled her by hissing,
"We are busy here!"
It was the 'we' that hurt the most.
Now whilst everybody else was packing and sharing their holiday plans she wondered aimlessly sulking. She knew she had to find Damien, he was supposed to be coming back to New Mecca with her. They had been going out for over a year now and Jack had almost lost her once intense passion for a life of adventure now that she believed she would spend it with Damien.
Oh no, please no.
She could see him now, stood with the same girl again. Jack could feel the tension between the two of them, noted how their hands brushed idly against each other and both flinched at the impact.
She likes him. Not just that, he likes her as well, he doesn't love me, he's bored of me, what did I do wrong? Nothing! This thought was so strong it cancelled out her worries; she had done nothing to deserve this.
He had seen her coming, and began to move towards her,
"Jack, I...I really need to talk to you." Her face softened slightly, he sounded genuinely sorry,
He's not doing it to hurt me; it's not his fault I guess.
She vowed not to get upset, before the words left his mouth,
"I don't love you anymore. I'm so...I'm sorry."
"I doubt you ever did!"
"Don't say that Jack, I did,"
"How can you say that, you're just a stupid boy? What can you know of love!"
At this Jack turned and marched away. The walk home was long and anger filled inside her to replace misery. She felt her blood pound and she screamed curses at the sky to hide her despair. There was nobody to help her through this, no friends to support her; she had nothing to do to take her mind of it.
What kind of pathetic life am I living? Should have just died back on...No I can't ever think that, not ever.
Instead she took her anger out on her school folder, smashing it to the floor and kicking it again and again until she felt light headed and sat down heavily against a wall.
To her surprise her com started to buzz,
Anger started to swell in her again, if that's that jerk...
"Hello?"
"Hello young Jack!"
"Imam, hey, I can't really talk right now, I..."
"Ah, but I have a surprise for you, Allah has brought a gift, there is someone who wishes to see you when you return."
