Chapter 11 PT1- ("Finding my way back to you")
Mike was inching closer towards Jack, and this time Jack couldn't move.
He was stuck there, frozen in his own fear. And the closer Mike got towards him, the more Jack felt his heart beat increase. He pulled out a shiny object, and this time it was a knife. With a wicked smile he-
"Jack! Jack! Get up!"
Jack felt somebody shake his shoulders impatiently and he struggled to open his eyes. When he finally did he saw that it was Joe. At first he was confused, and then a flood of memories from last night found its way inside his head, and he remembered why he was there in the first place.
"Joe?"
"Get up Jack! You need to get ready to train."
Jack yawned, "What time is it?"
Joe rolled his eyes, "It's 9 AM. Your phones been going off too. I take it you didn't bring any clothes with you?"
Jack shook his head.
"Well I think I have a spear of workout clothes. You're gonna need it. Aye princess," Joe looked past Jack and right into the eyes of the girl that was lying next to him. She squinted her eyes, taken off guard by the brightness of the day. He smirked, "I'm sure you two had fun last night, but it's time for you to go. Jack has some training to do alright?"
She nodded but it didn't seem like she was moving.
"Do I need to pour some water on your guys' faces?" Joe asked in annoyance.
Jack got up quickly and Joe chuckled, "That's the spirit. I'll get you some clothes, and I want that girl gone by the time I get back over here."
Joe walked off after that, and Jack turned his head and looked at Shawna in confusion.
"Did we do anything?"
"You really don't remember?" Shawna asked.
Jack shook his head, "Not a thing."
She shrugged, "Maybe it's best that you don't remember. Last night was pretty...emotional."
"But did we have sex?"
Shawna bit her bottom lip nervously, "Yeah but don't worry about it alright? We were both drunk, things just happen. I don't think it meant to much for you, since you were crying about your ex half of the time."
Jack's eyes widened, "I was?"
Shawna chuckled at this, "Yeah...you were. Maybe you two were meant to be after all. I guess I always knew. Even when we were together when you were in high-school, you were just using me to try and forget about Grace...And I just needed to have some fun...Jack, do you remember me telling you anything else? Anything personal?"
Jack tried his best to think about it. At first he couldn't remember, but then those memories came pouring back into his head too.
Jack and Shawna were sitting down in one of the few rooms that the fight club provided.
He looked at her nervously, and she tried to ease the tension with a smile, "Hi Jack...It's been a while."
He cleared his throat, "Yeah...It has. But why are you-"
"A stripper?" Shawna said with a harsh tone.
He cringed, "...Sorry."
She sighed as she ran a finger through her hair, "No, it's ok I'm just...I'm under a lot of stress right now."
"Is that why you're...doing this?" he asked timidly.
"Kind of...Duncan hasn't been around to help me a lot lately and I need money Jack. So this is what it all came down too."
Jack could see her eyes getting watery and without thinking he pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, it's not your fault."
He pulled away from her slowly, "Why hasn't Duncan been around?"
She bit her bottom lip to hold back her tears, but he could still see them falling down her face, "He...He joined a gang."
Jack's eyes widened at this, "What! No...No, that's not possible. The Duncan that I met would have never joined a gang. He's a good kid."
"I know that, and I think he knows that too. But it was the pressure that got to him. There were a few drive by's down our block. This guy was threatening me and throwing rocks at our window and it was just bad...I guess Duncan thought that there would be more protection if he joined a gang. Now no one comes around me, but I don't think he realizes the trouble he's got himself into. I mean once you join a gang..."
"It's hard to get out," Jack finished.
She nodded and then she faked a smile, "Anyway, I'm not really here to tell you my life story...Do you have any money?"
Jack looked around his pockets for some type of cash but he couldn't seem to find much, expect for some money that he needed for the bus, "Um, I'm sorry I don't-"
She waved it off, "This ones on me...I just need one night of fun."
The two of them looked at each other briefly, and Jack was the first one to lean in and kiss her. After that the night was pretty much a blur.
Jack looked over at Shawna, "I"m really sorry about Duncan."
She tossed him a sad smile, "Yeah...me too. He had such a bright future. I really hope there's some type of God out there who can fix this."
Jack smiled, "Rest assured, there is."
She laughed, "Oh right, I almost forgot that you're a Christian."
He sighed, "Yeah...or trying to be."
"It was nice catching up with you again," she said as she threw on the last bit of her clothes. She walked over towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Goodbye Jack."
"Goodbye Shawna."
"Ugh! I've called everyone and no one knows where he is!" Didi said in an aggravated tone. On the inside she was panicking. She was worried about someone beating him up again, or him getting harmed in some way.
Kathleen sighed as she walked over towards Didi and placed a warm hand on her back, "I'm sure Jack will turn up. George and Tom are calling all the people that they can. He'll turn up."
"We're supposed to be having a family get together now that my husband's back from his missionary trip. What's he going to say?"
"I don't know Didi, but you can't worry about that."
"Ugh, I told him not to get so attached to Grace-"
Kathleen took her hand off of Didi's back, "Are you trying to say that this is Grace's fault?"
"Well if she hadn't cheated on my son then he wouldn't be out in the middle of nowhere!"
Kathleen looked at Didi as if she had just gotten slapped in the face. She drew in a deep breath, "Don't try and talk to me about my daughter ok? Yes, she's made mistakes, but let me tell you something Didi, you're son isn't exactly innocent either. He's cheated on Grace before, plenty of times!"
Didi sighed as she tried to regain her composure, "Look...I just really want to find my son ok? It's been a long day."
"I know that Didi. Don't you think I want to find Jack too? He's been like family to me."
Before Didi could respond to that, she got a call from her husband, "I have to go and meet my husband at the airport. Please let me know if he shows up."
"I will," Kathleen responded, and with that Didi made her way towards the door and tossed Kathleen an apologetic smile in the process.
When the door was closed, Grace made her way downstairs. Kathleen tossed her a friendly smile, "Hi honey, how are you?"
"As good as I can be I guess...Did you hear from Jack? Did anyone find him?"
"Not yet honey. But I'm sure he'll turn up sooner or later."
"I would call him but...I think it's best to just give him some space." Grace sighed as she ran a finger through her hair, "It's times like this when I miss being a little kid"
Kathleen chuckled, "Me and you both sweetheart. Those were the days when instead of asking me about guys you asked me about school work and toys."
Grace giggled, "Yeah...Those days were way less complicated. Mom can I ask you something?"
"Of course honey what-"
Before she could finish her sentence George and Tom were racing down the steps and fooling around like little kids and Kathleen couldn't help but giggle. Grace just rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Weren't you guys supposed to be checking to see if anyone knew where Jack was?"
"Calm...down...Grace," Tom said, "We...called but...no-Body knows."
Grace let out an aggravated groan, "Where could he be?"
"Honey try not to get too worked up about it. George no one could tell you anything either?"
George shook his head, "No, no one. He must have gone somewhere that no one would suspect. I think the kid just needs some time to himself."
Grace sighed, "I just hope someone finds him...George, Tom, can you guys give me and my mom some time alone?"
Tom shrugged his shoulders, "Let's...go to the...guest...house."
Tom and George made their way out the door and once they were out of ears length, Grace started talking again, "So I just had this question that I wanted to ask...It's about sex." Grace bit her bottom lip nervously.
Kathleen looked at her suspiciously, "Please tell me that if you get back with Jack you're not planning to sleep with him again."
"No! It's nothing like that it's just...Ever since I was little you and dad used to tell me not to have sex before I was married. You always told me that it was a sin, but you never really told me why it was a sin. Why should I feel guilty for having sex with someone? I mean if I want to be with them and I love them then shouldn't it be ok?"
Kathleen sighed as she took a seat on a chair in the kitchen. Grace did the same as she looked at her mother with curious eyes.
"I guess I should have told you the importance when you were younger. You see, God always designed for sex to be for two people who are fully committed to each other. And as much as you love a guy and as much as he might love you, you don't know if you guys will last when you're dating. Whenever you have sex with someone Grace, you give away a little piece of yourself. You're giving your all to that person, and expressing your love for them. Remember in Song of Songs when it says: My lover is mine, and I am his? Well, God wants us to have an exclusive relationship, with the person that we are meant to be with for the rest of our lives on this Earth. When you first make love to someone, you feel this bond with them, and because of this you grow even more attached to them. But when you aren't their first Grace, they don't feel the same way as you feel, and a lot of times that leaves you emotionally unstable."
When Grace heard this, she immediately thought of Jack and their first time together, "...I just, I feel like it's too late for me. I've already been with so many guys. What if when I get married I don't feel anything?"
Kathleen tossed her a small smile, "When you get married it will be different Grace, because you will be sure of who you want to be with. And you two will fall in love and because of that when you guys do have sex for the first time, you'll still be experiencing something new, and you'll feel happy about it. You won't have this guilt hanging over you because you know that you made the right decision."
Grace gave her mother a warm smile, "Thanks mom. That really helped."
"No problem Gracie, I wish I would have told you that sooner then maybe..."
"Maybe I wouldn't have had sex with Jack?"
"Sorry," Kathleen sighed.
"No, don't worry about it...I think I still would have though. I can be pretty defiant some times," Grace chuckled.
Grace felt her phone vibrate and she looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Adrian. She picked up the phone and made her way back to her room.
"Harder! Your left hook looks weak!"
Jack could barely even focus on what Joe was saying to him as he continued to punch the punching back with all of his strength. He felt a tiny pop in his right shoulder but he ignored it. The doctors said that he was fine, and he would continue to tell himself that. He would tell himself anything just to keep going. He kept up his punches on the punching bag. He was wearing a white shirt and some sweats and his shirt was practically drenched now. His red boxing gloves were already getting sweaty, and he had only been going at it for half an hour.
Joe watched him in admiration. In a lot of ways Jack reminded Joe of himself. He had a determined look in his eyes. His punches were still sloppy, but that was to be expected from a beginner.
"...And time! Alright, now I want fifty kicks on each leg."
Jack's eyes widened and he looked at Joe like he had just grown another head.
"Hey, I didn't say the training would be easy. Now let me show you how to kick..." Joe explained the correct way to kick the punching bag.
Jack attempted to follow what Joe was doing. He pivoted correctly and turned as he kicked the punching bag as hard as he could. The punching bag shook a little, and Joe smiled, "Now forty nine more of those, and I can just see you kicking major ass."
"Hey Adrian!" Grace was lying on her bed as she talked to Adrian on the phone.
"Hey! I haven't heard from you in a while. You didn't even tell me that you were back at home."
"Oh right sorry...Things have been crazy here Adrian."
"Yeah I heard that Jack was missing or something?"
Grace sighed, "Yeah...I think that's partially my fault. He kind of left my house yesterday because he found out that I...kissed Grant while I was away on that filed trip."
"Seriously Grace! I thought you were over Grant."
"I was...I am, it's just that I was so conflicted about what I wanted in a relationship...Jack found out and he broke up with me and I don't blame him but I just...Ugh, I miss him already Adrian. Kissing Grant was a stupid idea."
"Yeah it was."
"Gee thanks Adrian," Grace said sarcastically, "I mean you've done some things that weren't exactly smart so..."
"I know, I know. I screwed up way more than you ever did. I'm sorry if I sound so cut throat it's just that, I really thought you and Jack were gonna last this time...Why did you kiss Grant?"
"Well...He asked me if he could kiss me so that he could get over me. I think in the back of my mind I knew that that wasn't the real reason, but I let it happen anyway. I always seem to screw things up when it comes to guys."
"We all make mistakes Grace, and hey, maybe Jack breaking up with you isn't such a bad thing. You said you always screw up when it comes to guys. Maybe now is a good time to do some soul searching...I've actually been doing that a lot lately."
"Yeah you're right Adrian maybe that's not such a bad idea...How have you been soul searching exactly?"
"Well...I was thinking about Ricky and Ben, and what went wrong in my relationships with them. Even though Ricky hurt me a lot I think my main problem was that I allowed myself to be hurt. I let him get away with so much, and I constantly cheated on him because I knew he was cheating on me so I wanted to get even. And then Ben came around and he was the first guy in a long time that was nice to me, and I just blew him off because I couldn't handle everything that happened you know?"
"Wow, you really have been doing some soul searching. I get what you mean though. So what about your relationship with Omar?"
Adrian smiled even though she knew Grace couldn't see it, "I feel like Omar's the right guy for me. I mean we have our issues. He has to work on not being so controlling and I have to work on being a good girlfriend, but I'm happy with him. He's a good guy, he's hot, and he understands where I'm coming from. Even though his childhood wasn't as rough as mine, he still had a lot of issues that he had to work through when he was younger...At school his race was the minority, and him and Dante always had to prove themselves to the teachers so that they wouldn't be looked at differently. I think that's one of the reasons why he feels the need to control everything. It's like he has to put himself in charge to prove that he can do something."
Grace smiled, "I'm really happy that you're finding more out about Omar."
"Ahaha yeah me too."
"Adrian! Are you ready yet!"
Grace raised an eyebrow as she waited for Adrian to reply.
"Yeah just a minute! Sorry Grace...Heh, Omar and I are supposed to be-"
"Yeah I think I have an idea. Say no more. Have fun."
Adrian chuckled, "We always do."
"Kay bye," Grace muttered in an awkward tone, and the two friends hung up after that.
Grace was thinking about what Adrian said about soul searching, and it suddenly gave her the perfect idea. She got up from her bed and decided that she needed to make a trip somewhere.
Jack was still practicing his kicks and punches, and Joe was off to the side talking to another guy. The guy was at least 6'4 and he was Italian. He had dark brown hair, and he was very fit.
"So you really put your eh, how you say, dollars on that kid?" The man asked.
Joe shrugged, "Aye, he's a dedicated one and I think he can take this guy on, especially with my training...And it's money by the way, not dollars."
The man waved Joe's statement off, "Paper is paper. And I have something that'll eh, make your kid grande!" Before Joe could even ask the man pulled something out of his brief case and Joe looked at it. His eyes widened for a second.
"I don't know. The kids only nineteen. He has a football career to look out for."
The man shrugged, "It's safe as long as you don't take eh too much. Too much make things bad. Call the kid over here."
Joe sighed, "Hey Jack! Come over here for a second."
Jack jogged over towards the two of them enthusiastically, "What's up?" He looked over at the Italian man, "Nice to meet you."
"I hear many good things about you," the man replied in his thick Italian accent.
Jack smiled.
"So this is Giovanni...And he wanted to get your opinion on something. Now you don't have to use this, it just helps with the training. I've taken some myself but I stopped after a short period of time."
Jack looked at Joe curiously, "Well what is it?"
Joe handed Jack the bottle of pills casually and Jack's eyes widened, "...Steroids?"
Joe shrugged, "They make you stronger, and you'd only be using it for your fight anyway...What do you say?"
Jack looked over at Joe nervously as he swallowed a lump in his throat.
"Well how about you take some time to decide. Just take it with you when you leave and see if you change your mind. Now get back over there, I want 10 sprints, back and forth is one."
A/N: I don't really like how I ended this chapter, but this is just part one! I honestly couldn't think of anything else but I hope you enjoyed reading it. I'll probably bring in some new characters soon, as well as talk about suing the school in a few chapters.