Author's Note: Chapter 5 is here! Read, review, and enjoy!
Jerry's POV
Ok, we've been walking for like over 3 hours, yo, and there's no sign of Jack or Kim. "Rudy, she said she wasn't that far in. Don't you think we should have found her by now?" I ask. "Yeah, we should, have, Jerry, now keep looking! I cannot loose her too!" Rudy yells. "Yo, dude relax. You can't keep blaming yourself for Jack running off. He was just upset, and don't worry about Kim. She can handle herself," I tell Rudy. He seems to relax a little. "You're right, Jerry. Thank you." I smile. "Hey, no problem Rudy." We are about to start walking again when Eddie screams. We all turn around to Kim saying, "Relax, Eddie, it's me!" Eddie looks like he had seen a ghost! "Geeze, Kim, don't do that!" he tells her. "What'd she do?" I ask. "I tapped his shoulder," Kim says. "Anyway, guys, listen," she says, and tells us about what had just happened.
Kim's POV
I finish telling the guys about the face-time thing with Jack. "So, Rudy, any idea where he is?" Rudy appears to be thinking, then says, "Well, I don't know anyone in Seaford named Jason," he says, "and since you don't know this "mystery girl's name . . . I got nothing!" he yells, frustrated. "Ok, well let's look on the bright side," Milton says. We all look at him and he continues. "For the moment, Jack seems safe. Whoever he's with isn't harming him, they're being friendly," he says. "Except for that "Jason guy," Jerry adds in. I glare at him. "Kim, is there anything other information you can give us. I shake my head "no," and say, "Not that I can think of." Everyone sighs. It was looking like we had hit a dead end, until Jerry says, "Kim, he has his phone with him if he accidentally face-timed you . . . have you tried calling him back?" I was impressed that Jerry had thought of even a simple idea like that. "Well, I had thought about it, but if he hasn't come back yet or called us, then it's pretty obvious he doesn't want us to find him right now." Rudy looks at me and says, "Try it anyways, Kim." I nod and dial Jack's number.
Jack's POV
I am currently still sitting on the bed in what Skylar told me is one of the extra bedrooms in her mansion eating lunch and just kind of getting to know her a little when I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. Wow, I couldn't believe that after everything that had happened, it had managed to stay put. I pull it out and look at the caller ID: It's Kim. "Who is it?" Skylar asks me. "Umm, it's one of my friends," I reply. "Are you going to answer it?" I look at my phone, back to Skylar, then back at my phone, and with a little pang of guilt hit "ignore" and turn my phone off. "No. I just – I can't right now," I say. "I understand, Jack. You still need time to sort everything out," she says, patting my shoulder. "Come on, why don't I give you a tour of the house?" I put my phone down on the nightstand beside the bed and get up, following her and giving her a small smile.
Kim's POV
I stare at my phone in disbelief. It had rang 3 times, then went to voicemail, which I knew meant he had turned his phone off or hit ignore, possibly both. Despite my attempts to hold my tears back, a single one slides down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away, hopefully before the guys see, but there is no such luck. "Kim, are you crying? What's wrong?" Jerry asks. I glare at him, hoping he gets the message to just shut it, but if he does he doesn't care, and now the others are all looking at me too. "Are you upset because he didn't answer, Kim? We know that he is safe at least," Jerry tries comforting me. "No, Jerry, I'm upset because he either hit ignore or turned his cell phone off on me," I say. "Oh," he responds. "That's not cool, yo." Milton walks over to me and puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Kim, try to put yourself in Jack's place. If you were really upset and just wanted some alone time, would you want us constantly checking up on you and trying to find you when you didn't want to be found?" As much as I hated it, I had to admit that Milton was right. I wouldn't want to be hunted down if I just wanted some space to think, and yet that was exactly what we were doing to Jack. If we had just given him some time to calm down, maybe he wouldn't have run off in the first place. Was this all my fault? Milton, being as smart as he is, seems to be able to tell what I am thinking just by looking at my face. "Kim, this is not you're fault, and Rudy, it's not you're fault either. It's Jack's mom's fault, so everyone needs to stop blaming themselves, because it's not going to get Jack back! Why don't we call it a day? Kim, you said yourself that Jack appeared fine during the whole face-time thing, so let's just give him some time. I'm sure he'll come back when he is ready." Wow, Milton had really taken charge of this. "Fine," I say, "But if I don't hear from him or see him after 2 days, I'm finding him." Even though I didn't say anything about it to the guys, I was upset that Jack was with some random girl he probably just ran into and was staying with her instead of one of us, namely me. I was honestly a little jealous. I liked Jack (yeah, big shocker), and I wanted to be by his side to help him through this, but instead he's hiding out with her, and I couldn't do anything about it because the only clue I had to who she might be is Jason, who I didn't know . . . . "Kim? Are you coming?" Rudy asks me. I look up and realize they are up ahead waiting for me and I haven't moved an inch. "Yeah, I'm coming," I say, and run to catch up with them.
Jack's POV
"Wow, Skylar, this must be like paradise for you," I say. She had just finished showing me around her mansion, and it was really nice. It had also taken my mind off of things for a while . . . . and now I was thinking about it again . . . . "Yeah, you could say that," she says with a smile. She seems to read my thoughts as she looks at my face. "Jack, it's ok to think about it, you know. How could you not? It must be hard on you, I can tell, and you want to just drop the subject, but you can't do that without first coming to terms with what has happened." Wow, she's like a fortune cookie. I tell her that and she laughs. "Well, I have experience with losing a mother. Mine died when I was 10. It was 6 years ago, and trust me, I still miss her, but I had to come to terms that she was gone. It's a little bit of a different situation, I know, but it's the same concept. Oh, and don't be all like 'Sorry for you're loss.' It's ok, really, because I know you can understand. Anyway, do you want a drink or something? You probably haven't had any water all day," she says. I realize she is right. "Sure, water would be nice. Thanks," I respond. "I'll be right back, wait there!" While I wait, I start looking at some of the pictures on the mantle. There are so many of Skylar when she was younger with her dad and someone who has to be her mom, and a lone tear slips down my face, for her lost loved one and for mine, and I feel slightly better. They are both gone, and they're not coming back. Skylar is right, and I need to learn to accept this. It's late out now; there is no way I'll make it home tonight, but tomorrow, I know I need to go back. A loud yell snaps me out of my thoughts, and I turn my head around just in time to see a guy coming toward me full speed. I feel myself being knocked to the floor. The wind is knocked out of me, and I hit my head, making my vision flicker for a minute. I hear Skylar enter the room and yell, "Marvin, get off of him! He's not an intruder, he's a guest! Dad, call him off!" she yells. I hear a guy, who must be Skylar's dad, tell this "Marvin" guy to get off of me, and I feel the weight holding me down disappear. Skylar's face appears above me. "Are you ok, Jack?" she asks me, sticking out her hand to me. I grab it, and she helps me up. "Yeah, I'm fine," I say, even though I still hadn't quite gotten my breath back and my head hurt a little. I can tell that she knows by the way she looks at me, but she doesn't say anything, which I appreciate. "Dad, this is Jack, and he'll be staying here until . . ." She hesitates, since I never told her my decision to leave tomorrow. "Until tomorrow, if that's ok with you, sir," I say, trying to be as polite as possible, and Skylar gives me a look like 'We'll talk later.' She is obviously surprised I'll be leaving so soon, but she looks happy too, obviously realizing that if I'm leaving, I've come to terms with everything and am ready to face my friends. Mr. Larks smiles and says, "I'm always happy to have visitors. Are you a friend of Skylar?" he asks me. I am about to respond, but Skylar beats me to it. "Yes, he is. He was on our land, but he didn't know it, and Jason kind of shot him . . . . Uhh, yeah, he's a friend." Smooth, Skylar, smooth, I think to myself, smiling a little. "Well, Jack, it's getting late, let's find you a room!" she says, obviously eager to get out of the awkward situation she created. She grabs my arm and pulls me up the stairs, calling, "Goodnight, dad!" down to her father as we go up. I ended up in the room I had woken up in before, and after talking with Skylar and explaining my choice to leave tomorrow, we said goodnight and she left so I could sleep. As I laid there, I just hoped my friends wouldn't be upset with me when I saw them again, because although I didn't think they would be like that, I had a bad feeling about tomorrow . . . .
Author's Note: A little bit of a cliffhanger! Sorry! This story is not over yet just because Jack decided he wants to go home, as you can tell by the ending of this chapter. Jack has a bad feeling about tomorrow. Wonder why? Here's a hint: The next chapter will be titled Trouble in Paradise. You'll find out why when you read it! It will be up soon! Review!