Chapter 5 - ("I need control of my life")

Kathleen as well as Jack's parents were still unaware of where Jack had really been staying all those times he didn't make it home. Kathleen was told that he was staying at his parents house while Jack's parents were told that he was staying at the Bowman's house. None of that seemed to matter anymore though. Grace and Jack looked like the ideal couple once again. After they talked everything through Jack decided to spend as much time with Grace as possible before she left. Now it was Tuesday morning. He would usually be on his way to school today, but he wanted to wait so that he could say goodbye to Grace.

Jack smiled as Grace walked down the stairs, holding some bags in her hand with a smile on her face. Jack couldn't help but smile when Grace looked like this. For once she was happy. She was doing what she wanted to do and she had never looked more at peace.

Kathleen got to Grace first, pulling her into a hug and grinning at her daughter. She had definitely come a long way, "I'm really happy for you Grace. Although I wish I would have gotten the message about this field trip sooner."

Grace laughed, "Sorry it just kind of...happened."

"It's fine."

Grace turned towards Jack and he immediately pulled her into a hug. The couple stayed like that for a while and Kathleen found herself smiling.

She busied herself with cleaning the kitchen but every few seconds she would glance at them and she couldn't help but be happy. She definitely had doubts about their relationship in the beginning, but seeing them now, she was genuinely happy for them. The two of them had been through so much and they finally looked like they were trying to work out a real relationship, and not just one based on sex.

"I'm just so excited for this!" Grace let out a toothy grin and Jack smiled.

"I'm excited for you Grace."

"I'll be back soon," she said.

Jack playfully rolled his eyes, "How will I ever go on?"

She chuckled and then he leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him, unaware of the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Ew! Get...a room!" Tom jokingly covered his eyes when he saw them and Grace let go of Jack and laughed.

"Bye Tom! I'll see you soon!" She hugged him and then she turned towards the door, quickly making her way towards it. Her hand reached the door knob when she turned back to look at Jack again. She blew him a kiss and winked and Tom rolled his eyes.

"Get to skool!"

Grace rolled her eyes, "Oh whatever Tom! Love you! Bye!" And with that she made her way towards Grant High, eager to leave with the group.

...

Jack's mood was lifted even as he entered school that morning. He was more so excited for the night ahead of him. He would be going to that place that Joe Young spoke of, but he wasn't sure how much he would be able to do. After all, he was still wearing these stupid cast and it would be ridiculous practicing punches with one arm. As he walked inside he noticed that he was a little early so he decided to make a trip to the cafe and grab a latte.

"Hey Jack!" Clementine said in a cheerful manner.

Jack smiled, "Hey! I'll take a caramel latte."

Her smile was contagious as the two stood there. He watched her carefully as she grabbed his order and in minutes it was done, "Here you go."

He handed her the money and she gave him back his change.

"You seem a little better today. You seem really happy actually."

He chuckled, "Must be the amazing feeling of these restricting casts."

She found herself laughing at his humor, "Or maybe it's a special someone?"

He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face, "Yeah...Grace."

She was a little surprised, "So you and Grace are back together huh?"

He nodded, "Yeah it's a rough road but we're doing it."

"Well my advice Jack, don't let that girl go. I mean if she took you back after we...did what we did, she's obviously a keeper."

He chuckled, "Yeah I'm starting to realize that. Thanks."

He started making his way towards the classroom with his latte in his hand when he bumped into Adrian.

"Oh hey Adrian."

"Hey, did Grace tell you she was leaving?"

"Of course. I said goodbye to her this morning. She's really excited." As they made their way to their first period English class, Adrian sighed.

"Look about what I said last time-"

"Forget it Adrian. I know you were just trying to help."

She smiled, "Alright. Let's get to class."

"And deal with Mrs. Grendel and her exciting introduction to metaphors?"

Adrian chuckled, "Exactly."

...

Mrs. O'Malley went through the list of people that were going to be on the field trip rather quickly and then they were escorted on a bus with one of the teachers at Grant High. Grace was so excited she could hardly contain her excitement. Even as she sat on the bus she was bouncing up and down with cheerfulness.

"Grace calm down," Jason said, chuckling slightly at Grace.

"Sorry! I just...I can't believe this is happening to me you know?"

"Why not? You're smart, you always have been."

She smiled at this as she stared at her hands, "Well I mean...you know I got kicked out of Med Camp."

"You made a mistake, everybody makes mistakes."

"You're right, and now I'm getting a second chance at it. I just hope I don't screw this up."

Sitting across from Grace on the bus was Grant. He was staring at her and she didn't notice until Jason nudged her.

"What's up?"

"I think that guy wants to talk to you Grace."

She turned around and saw Grant looking at her and she rolled her eyes, "Well he's just going to have to wait. I'm not in the mood to deal with him."

"Something happen between you two?"

Grace gave Jason a knowing look, "He's my ex, and he seemed pretty set on me coming here."

The bus driver was just starting up the engine when another girl came inside. She had short red hair and light skin and Grace noticed her right away. She hadn't talked to her personally, but she remembered Amy and Ben telling her something about her. Oh if only she could remember her name. What was it?

As the girl came closer her eyes widened in realization, "Heather?"

Heather looked over at the girl with blonde hair, unable to recognize her, "Um...hi?"

She remembered Heather because Heather had been pregnant too. The rumor around the school was that her parents kicked her out of the house and she didn't have a dime to her name. She had tried to talk to Ben because she thought that he had a 'thing' for pregnant girls, but she realized that that wasn't the case.

Grace turned to Jason, "Hey do you mind if she steals your seat real quick?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders, "No, no problem."

Jason went and took a seat next to Grant and he hadn't muttered a word until Grant said something.

"Hey you seem like you're pretty good friends with Grace."

"I guess you can say that."

"Well do you know what her relationship is like with Jack?"

Jason rolled his eyes, ignoring Grant's comment. He didn't come here for gossip, he just wanted a chance at learning more medical work. He put his ear phones on and Grant sighed, taking the hint.

Heather quietly took a seat next to Grace, "Do I know you?"

"Oh right sorry! I'm Grace Bowman. We never really talked or anything. I'm a friend of Amy's, and Ben's."

Heather smiled, "Oh I see. So I guess you heard all about me right?"

"Well maybe not all about you. I had no idea that you were looking to get into the medical field."

"Yeah that's typically not something rumor worthy. I bet you heard that I got knocked up though right? You probably think I'm some type of idiot who couldn't say no." Heather was suddenly on the defensive and Grace had to pause for a moment.

"I didn't think Amy was an idiot for not saying no and I certainly don't think you are. I really was just interested in the fact that you're here right now. I mean honestly, it's nice having a girl go on this trip with me. You see that guy over there? He's my ex."

"Why? He's so attractive. He has the whole tall, dark, and handsome thing going on." Heather smiled as she glanced at Jason for a second.

Grace laughed, "What? No, I wasn't talking about Jason. I was talking about the other guy."

Heather shrugged her shoulders, "Oh. I guess he's alright too."

The two girls laughed and then continued talking.

...

Class ended around four and Jack made his way outside when his phone started ringing. He glanced down, expecting it to be Grace but it wasn't.

It was Madison.

He answered his phone, a little surprised, "Madison?"

"Hey Jack! How are you?"

"I'm...as good as I can be I guess. Why did you call?"

"Well we are friends right? I just wanted to check up on you."

He smiled, "Oh right of course. Well thanks. I'm fine though really."

"I heard Grace left to go to some field trip today."

"Yeah she did. She'll be gone for about a week."

"So..."

"So what?"

"Maybe we could hang out or something."

"Or something?"

He could practically envision her rolling her eyes at this point, "Don't get too excited Jack. I just meant that since Grace isn't here we could hang out, like we used to."

"Well...I've been pretty busy lately."

"Well when you're not busy call me alright?"

"Uh yeah...alright sure."

"Bye Jack!"

"Bye Madison."

When Jack hung up he let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding in. As he continued to walk to his car he muttered under his breath, "That girl is nuts."

...

Grace and Heather seemed to get along extremely well but once they got off the bus Heather took the time to try and talk to Jason. Grace huffed as she walked a little length behind them, and Grant walked at her pace.

"So you decided to come after all." Grant smiled.

"Well it was a good opportunity...And I hope you know that my decision to come here had nothing to do with what you said." Ok maybe that was a lie. Something Grant said had definitely gotten to her, but she refused to admit that to him.

"Well either way, I'm just happy that you're here."

"Look Grant, just because we're both on this field trip, doesn't mean we have to talk."

He laughed as she tried to quicken her pace. When they finally arrived at the building Grant grabbed her arm gently and turned her around, "I think you're just scared."

She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. This guy was seriously killing her mood, "And why would I be scared to talk to you Grant? You sound ridiculous!"

"Maybe you're afraid that if we hang out like we used to you'll realize why we got together in the first place, and your little relationship with Jack will be ruined."

She scoffed as she heard this, but she had no time to respond. The teacher was calling everyone and she made her way towards her.

"Alright you guys. We're going to get you guys situated in your hotels. Jason and Grant you guys will be in one room, and Heather and Grace will be in the other room. Tomorrow we're going to talk with some of the best doctors in Valley Glen and they're going to tell you guys exactly what classes you should take in college to become a great doctor."

...

Jack seemed to drive around for an eternity until he finally decided that to put the address in his GPS and make his way towards the place Joe had talked to him about. He kept praying and praying and asking God if this was the right decision but he ignored the answer that he got because it didn't fit his plan. As he stepped out of the car he noticed just how dark it was outside. He wondered how long he had actually been driving. He inched his way towards the place and he couldn't help but notice how cheap it looked. The building practically looked like it was going to fall apart. The inside of it looked like a garage, but it had tons of equipment. There were punching bags, boxing gloves, everything.

Standing in front of him was Joe, the guy he had talked to in the bar. He was surprised to see him here.

"Joe?"

"Hey kid." Joe turned towards his friend who Jack assumed owned the place, "Hey Raymond, this is the guy that I was telling you about."

Raymond looked the kid up and down but he didn't smile. He crossed his arms as he stared him down, "How old?"

"What?"

"I said how old are ya kid?"

"Oh right...I'm 19. Do you need my ID or something?"

Joe found himself laughing at this, "ID? Kid this is illegal."

"We do need to take anything you have in your pockets that could get us arrested," Joe said.

Raymond checked his pockets, his shoes, and everything. He took away his phone and his wallet, "You'll get this stuff back when you're done here."

Jack nodded as Joe grabbed his belongings and walked off.

"And I guess you're just here to watch then?" Raymond looked down at his cast.

"Uh yeah I guess so."

"And once the casts come off you plan to fight?"

Jack nodded eagerly, "Yeah."

Raymond smiled, "Alright then, let me show you a few of our regulars and then you can decide if this is what you want to do."

Jack eyed a man with too many muscles to count and a bald head. He was African American and just as tall as Jack. Jack had to stop his eyes from widening. The other guy wasn't nearly as big as him, but he wasn't small either. He was more lean than muscular, but he moved really fast.

"They come about once a week for training. Today they're gonna fight. I usually have people pay to watch as well as train, but it's your first day, so I'll let you off easy alright?"

"Thanks."

Now Jack payed attention to the two fighters. More people started pouring in as they watched the fights eagerly. Of course no one could video tape it because everything was taken away from them.

"What are the rules?"

Raymond laughed until he realized that Jack was serious, "That's why this is illegal kid, there are no rules. Some people bring sticks and whatever weapons they can find. Of course there's the obvious like no guns, no stabbing, no eye gouging, but don't worry you won't find anyone here doing that unless they want to get busted. We're as safe as we can be for illegal fighting."

Jack swallowed a lump in his throat as he nodded. No rules. That part frightened him. That meant no protection, no one could save him, but then he realized just how realistic that was. No one could save him when he got beat by that pimp Mike. No could protect him, not even himself. This was as close to real as he was going to get.

A tiny bell rang and the two just went at it. The muscular guy sent the other guy flying with a punch to the face, and when he fell to the ground he didn't stop. He just kept hitting him and hitting him, and it reminded Jack of when Mike kept hitting him. The guy's nose was bloody but that didn't stop him. He kicked him in the gut and the African American guy doubled over in pain. The other man took that opportunity to knee him in the face.

The fighting was crazy and erratic. Neither one of them showed any mercy. In the end both of them were bloody, with cuts and bruises all over their bodies. Jack couldn't imagine himself doing something like that, but he never imagined himself in cast or getting beaten up either. He drew in a deep breath as he looked at Raymond, who was deeply amused.

"So do you think you can handle this kid?"

It was now or never for Jack.

"Yes."

Raymond smiled at his answer, "Good, you come back when those cast are healed, and I'll make you a champion."

A/N: Sorry if this chapter was a little boring! I was going to have Jack practice fighting right away when I realized that he was still wearing his casts ahaha. So what do you guys think will happen next? Thanks for reading!