Chapter 3 - ("I don't want my fears to control me")

Grace hadn't seen or heard from Jack since Monday and she was getting very worried. It was Friday now, and she had sent him numerous texts and calls asking him where he was. He wouldn't answer her. School was already over and she was at home helping her mom cook some dinner to celebrate her engagement to George. Grace still couldn't believe that her mother was marrying George again, but she had grown to accept it. As she sliced up tomatoes she found herself getting lost quickly in her thoughts. She wondered what Jack was doing. She'd called just about every person she knew and they said they hadn't heard from him. She had even tried calling his parents but they told her that they hadn't seen them either. They were immediately worried when Grace asked this question, but she covered for him. She had to. Or at least she felt like she did. As she sunk herself deeper into her thoughts she felt a nerve go off in her finger and she let go of the knife.

"Crap!" She looked down and noticed that she had cut herself with the knife. Red blood was oozing and she quickly applied pressure to it with her other hand. Her mother walked over to her quickly with concern.

"Grace? Are you alright?"

Grace looked at her mother with a knowing look. Of course she wasn't alright. This whole week had been bad for her. She was still trying to recover from what had happened to Jack while he was just trying to avoid the matter at hand. She sighed as she felt tears burning in her eyes because of the cut.

"I'm going to go put a band-aid on this." With that she rushed off to the bathroom and looked in the medicine cabinet for a band-aid. She almost found herself smiling when she opened up an old box of Hello Kitty band-aids. She wondered how long the family had had these. She placed the band-aid on her finger and then she thought of something. There was just one person that she hadn't tried calling yet. She figured he'd never be there, but she had to try.

She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts list when she found Amy Jurgens' name. Nervously she dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.

One ring...

Two rings...

Three rings...

"Hello?"

Grace was just about to blurt out her question when she noticed that the person she was about to answer wasn't Amy. Her eyes widened, "Ricky?"

"Grace?"

"Yeah, it's me. What are you doing answering Amy's phone?"

"Uh, she left it here. She's with John at the park right now and I couldn't get to her fast enough to tell her. Is there something you need?"

She bit her bottom lip as she struggled with the idea of telling Ricky about this.

"Well um...I was just going to ask Amy something, about Jack."

"..."

"Ricky? Are you still there?"

"Oh yeah! Yeah I'm here. You were going to ask Amy something...about Jack? Why?"

"Well he's been staying at my mom's house for some weeks now but I haven't seen him since Monday. Have you seen him?"

"..."

"Ricky!"

"What? No! No I haven't seen him. But Grace I'll let you know if I do."

"Alright Ricky, thank you so much!"

"No problem, it was nice talking to you again."

She smiled, "You too."

Click. Grace stared at the phone with a confused look on her face but then she just shrugged her shoulders. Ricky must have just been a little busy. She put the box of band-aids away and then made her way back to the kitchen.

...

"Thanks dude, I owe you."

Ricky glared at Jack and then sighed as he took a seat next to Jack on the couch in his apartment. Jack had come knocking on Ricky's door on Tuesday asking if he could stay for a while. Ricky had hesitantly let him in but he had no idea that Jack intended to stay for more than a day. He was honestly tired of Jack being there. Jack and Ricky weren't exactly close friends, and an apartment in a butcher shop wasn't exactly the biggest place in the world. Not to mention Ricky had to quiet down Jack's screams from time to time so that John wouldn't wake up. It finally got to the point where Amy had to take John over to her parents house for the most part.

"Jack...you can't stay here, you know that right? I don't want to have to lie to Grace again and Amy's tired of having to avoid Grace at school just to make sure she doesn't say anything."

Jack placed his head in between his legs and his hands over his head. He sighed, "I know Ricky. I get it."

"Then you need to go back Jack. Now."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"Why can't you go stay with your parents?"

"Because...they'll want me to get some type of help if they hear me scream again."

"Then maybe that's what you need to do. Or maybe you need to go back to the Bowman's house. Look Jack I'm sorry about what you went through, I really am but you can't stay here. You need to leave tonight."

Jack sighed as he watched Ricky leave the room. He didn't know where to go from here.

...

Once the dinner had been made, Grace retired to her room and told her mom to call her when George came. Tom was out for the night, doing only God knew what, and Grace was alone with her thoughts once again. She just didn't understand it. Jack had said a lot of hurtful things to her, but she had never seen him so angry. She knew it had something to do with what happened to him, but she wondered why he wouldn't face it. Was he scared? Was he trying to look tough for her? She just didn't get it. Interrupting her thoughts she heard her phone ring and she sighed as she answered it.

It was Adrian.

"Hey Adrian."

"Hey Grace. How is everything?"

Grace rolled her eyes, "It's just terrible. I mean school wise I guess it's ok. Jason and I managed to finish the project and my grade in Calculus went up. But I've called just about everyone and there's no sign of Jack!"

"Have you told your mom?"

She sighed, "No. I just told her that he decided to stay at his parents house. And I feel horrible about lying about it but I feel like he left for a reason. He doesn't want anyone to look for him. I'm just trying to give him his space."

"I wonder if this is about what I said."

Grace paused for a moment, "What are you talking about Adrian?"

"Well...I kind of said some things to him."

"Some things?"

Adrian sighed as she explained over the phone everything that happened at school that Monday. Grace found herself gasping in shock, "Adrian! That's kind of harsh don't you think? Especially after everything you've been through, why would you say that to him!"

"I know it was harsh but look...you were too chicken to say anything so I had to do something about it! I don't want him to end up like me Grace. I feel like I ruined my past relationships because I let everything in my life control me. That's the reason Ricky never respected me, and that's the reason why Ben and I didn't last. I really don't want to see that happen to you two."

Grace was a little upset t but she couldn't help but smile. Adrian was always looking out for her and she really appreciated it. That was the main reason that Grace and Adrian had stayed friends for so long. They both looked out for each other and brought out the best in each other.

"Thanks Adrian."

"No problem. And I really hope he turns up Grace. Just give it another day, I'm sure he's somewhere safe."

"I hope so. Bye Adrian."

"Bye Grace."

Click.

Grace could hear the the sound of the doorbell and she secretly hoped that it was Jack. She made her way downstairs only to be disappointed. It was just George coming for dinner.

...

By 9:00 Jack had left Ricky's house, unsure of where to go. He thought about going back to Kathleen's house but then that would mean facing Grace and right now he really didn't want to. He felt guilty about saying the things he had to her. He knew that she hadn't done anything wrong, but right now his emotions were all over the place, and it wasn't good for him to be around anyone. He decided to head to a bar for the night. It was a stupid decision on his part, but it was the only decision that left him free of guilt at least for the night.

Once he made his way to the closest bar, he opened the door and stepped inside. He had enough money for two beers so he quickly ordered that. The bartender grabbed the beers for him and set them down on the counter for him. He looked at Jack, wide-eyed, and Jack raised an eyebrow at the guy. He couldn't remember ever meeting him before. No, he was just some bartender. He was probably in his thirties, with a short beard and a bald head. He looked a little Italian too. He kept looking at Jack and Jack immediately felt self-conscious.

"You're that kid aren't you? Jack Papas am I correct?"

Jack nodded slowly, a little surprised that this random bartender knew his name,"Yeah, how do you know that exactly?" He took a sip of his beer and the bartender started talking.

"I heard about you on the news. You saved that prostitute and then you got beaten by that pimp right?"

Jack gulped. He really didn't want to discuss that, "Uh yeah."

"I felt so bad when I heard about it. I thought if the only the kid knew how to protect himself."

"Protect myself?"

Now the guy lowered his voice as he leaned in a little closer to Jack, "There's this place. They teach you how to fight and then you get into the ring kid. First time I got beaten by some gang member, I found out about it, it changed my life."

Jack knew it was ridiculous but he found himself asking questions, "So the fighting...is it legal?"

"Yeah, as long as you don't get caught."

"How did you feel afterwards? After your first fight there."

"Like I was on top of the world. I wasn't afraid anymore kid. Even when I saw a gang member walk past me on the street, I knew that I could take him, I could take the whole group if I wanted to. Once you start fighting, you get over that fear. You don't have to turn your back every five seconds and wonder if someone's gonna jump you. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Jack's heart was racing as he took another sip of beer, "Where is this place anyway?"

The guy grabbed a pen from his pocket and used his notepad to write down the address. He ripped the paper off and then handed it to Jack, "Here you go kid. I hope it works for you like it did for me."

"Thanks. What was your name?"

"Joe...Joe Young."

"Thanks Joe." He finished up his beer quickly and then decided to stay at his parents house that night. He wouldn't be having any nightmares this time. Instead he would be having sweet dreams about what this place Joe had told him about would be for him. He imagined himself never being afraid anymore. He would be able to face the pimp that beat him if he wanted too. At this Jack smiled.

A/N: I actually have no words for this chapter...But anyway, I don't know if I'll be on much next week so I decided to go ahead and post the next chapter. Thank you guys for your reviews! It really means a lot to me.