Hey guys! I feel bad…I didn't write anything last night, so I feel bad. I think you might forgive me after this chapter, though. At least, I hope you will. So…yeah. Enjoy!
By the way, in this story, Alex was born in the summer – not in February.
Chapter 3
Jack awoke to the sound of raindrops thumping against her beloved home. The red-head smiled, totally content – she absolutely loved waking up to that sound. It reminded her tight spring showers, the smell of sizzling bacon, and freshly baked biscuits smothered in warm, buttery butter.
Rumble rumble rumble; Jack felt her heart rate jump as her stomach complained about the lack of physical satisfaction after the food-inspired daydream. After making sure that she wasn't having a heart attack, Jack laid back on her bed. Freaking Starbright gene… she thought; why was she cursed with being constantly hungry? As her stomach thundered again, Jack jumped out of bed for fear that it would cannibalize other, vital organs.
The American hummed to herself as she traipsed through the halls of her peaceful dwelling, making a mental note of the ingredients she would need for the most important meal of the day. As she passed Alex's room, she felt her stomach drop down to somewhere near her navel, as she remembered a very important fact: today, Alex turns fourteen. For Jack, that was a good enough excuse to dote, spoil, and embarrass her ward in front of his friends.
His friends. Crap- she forgot about his friends. Looks like Jack was going to have her work cut out for her today, and she needed to work fast. She ran down the stairs, her bare feet padding soundlessly against the woodwork. As she reached the kitchen, she whipped out her phone, ready to make a connect call.
Tom Harris, being a fourteen-year-old schoolboy fresh out of school, was not expected to be awake at eight o'clock in the morning. In fact, if it was up to him, he'd easily sleep through lunch. Unfortunately, fate had other ideas.
"Sweet Caroline, your love never seemed so good. I've been inclined, to believe I never-"
Tom cursed as he fumbled blindly for his mobile, wondering angrily who was dumb enough to interrupt his first real summer slumber. When he finally captured the phone, he answered it, thinking only of silencing the offensive noise.
"Wuz goin on?" he asked, his throat dry and raspy from sleep.
"Tom?" asked an amused voice on the other line. "Hi – this is Jack."
"Jack?" he yawned, conducting a search of his mental database for any friends he might have with that name. "Who Jack?" His words were slurred, and the voice on the other line had to stifle a laugh at the boy's expense.
"You know," said the voice slyly; "Alex's Jack. Jack Starbright. The hot red-head, as I've heard you call me. Or rather, you told Alex and he told me." Even in his groggy state, Tom managed to blush brilliantly, and made a mental note to get revenge on Alex.
"Oh- hi, Jack," he said, a little more awake. He got up, and winced as he stretched his tense muscles. "What's up?"
"Not much," said the red-head, as she cracked four eggs into a hot frying pan. "How's your holiday?" Jack continued by beating the eggs violently in the pan, so that the end result would be a pleasurable mix between fried and scrambled eggs.
"Meh…it was nice and peaceful until oh-" Tom paused, and pretended to consult his watch; "until about forty-seven seconds ago, when you interrupted my beauty sleep." He scowled darkly as he heard Jack chortle in amusement.
"Well," she said, now placing the kettle, and leaving the eggs in the still-hot frying pan. "You can get your beauty sleep later, prima donna. Today, you've got other plans." Tom frowned, going through his mental schedule of the day. "Tom?" asked Jack, and he realized that she expected a verbal reply, and was unlikely to have seen him frown, unless she had her own little spy satellite streaming into her tea kettle.
"Um…what exactly am I doing today, exactly?"
Jack sighed in exasperation; "Today is Alex's birthday, Tom. So we're going to throw him a surprise party, after his doctor's appointment." Tom blanched – he had completely forgotten about his best friend's birthday. "So, I want you here at six o'clock with a gift and at least five of your friends. Got it?" Tom agreed quickly, so as not to anger the sleeping fury inside the red-head. After they said their goodbyes, Tom fell back onto his bed.
Looks like I've got some shopping to do… he thought glumly, as he stepped into the bathroom to take a shower.
Alex's senses were assaulted by the smell of eggs and the sound of sizzling sausages, and he could do nothing as his legs carried him to the source of the delicious smell and delightful sound. He stumbled down the stairs, noting that Jack was in a better mood than she normally was on this fine, summer morning. Alex could tell that his caretaker was happy because he knew that she would normally be stumbling in behind him, like a stoned monkey, to make herself what was supposed to be a hearty plate of porridge.
For that reason, he was not surprised when Jack greeted him with a tight hug and a cry of happy birthday! He blushed in spite of himself, and plopped himself down on the seat opposite Jack.
"God," she said as they dug into their breakfast. "You're growing up so fast!"
"Jack," sighed Alex, who thought it was way too early to be picked on.
"What?" she exclaimed, amused indignation lacing the word. "It's true! It only took you three-hundred-and-sixty-five days to turn a whole year older!"
Alex snorted, but choked on the piece of toast he had been eating. Jack thumped him hard on the back, and he managed to get the piece down. "You're crazy, you know?" Alex said, his voice serious but his eyes full of laughter.
"Yeah," replied Jack arrogantly. "I know!"
They finished their breakfast twenty minutes later, due to the fact that Jack started a food fight after she lost to Alex in a six minute-long staring contest. Finally, Jack ushered Alex out of the kitchen, pieces of egg and sausage in his fair hair.
"Take a fast shower kiddo!" she sang, and began to clean the wall next to the table, as it had fallen victim to food-missiles launched by both of them. "We gotta' be at the doctor's in thirty minutes!"
"Yeah yeah," he answered, his voice muffled. "Don't get your knickers in a twist." His remark earned another amused chuckle from his caretaker, which was cut off as he began his shower. Ten minutes later found Alex and Jack in the latter's car, driving to the teen's pediatrician.
About three-quarters of an hour later, the nurse came in with the final test of the day.
"Okay sweetie," said the nurse in a voice usually associated with toddlers. "You're going to feel a little prick, but then it'll all be over. Can you be strong for your mommy?"
Alex and Jack were too bemused to say anything, so the nurse took the boy in question to be the "strong, silent type," and that's how Alex ended up with a needle in his arm. He winced, and looked down at the IV-style pipe that was sticking from his arm, expecting to see his blood being stolen from him. However, he was surprised when he didn't see any blood at all coming out.
"Er – isn't blood supposed to come out?" he asked the nurse, who had been studying her nails. She glanced up at him in surprise, and then let out a little, surprised squeak!
"Oh dear!" she exclaimed, and hurriedly pulled out the needle.
"What's wrong? Why didn't anything come out?" asked Jack, her mouth a tight line of worry.
"It's nothing to worry about, my dears," the nurse stuck the needle into Alex's other arm. However, still nothing came out. "Er – give me a moment, please," and the nurse left, carrying the needle with her.
"I wonder what went wrong," said Jack, more to herself than to Alex.
"I don't know," Alex said through deep breaths. Being stuck with a needle twice for no reason had made him queasy, and he could feel his breakfast churning uncomfortably in his stomach. Jack, noticing his discomfort, promptly asked him what was wrong. "Nothing," he replied, albeit slightly shakily. "It's just…I don't like being poked. And on my birthday, as well," he finished, making sure to accent the taboo-like word, so he could get some reaction from Jack. Anything to help him get his mind of his ever-moving breakfast.
"I'm sorry hon," replied Jack, as was to be expected. She ruffled his hair, obviously aiming to comfort him. "We're almost done here. Do you want some water?" she asked, and then handed him a cup after he nodded his acceptance at her offer. As he downed the water in one breath, the door to the room opened once more.
"Good morning, I'm !" said a white-haired man brightly, as he sat down next to Alex. In his calloused hands were the utensils the nurse had been using to torture- to draw blood. Or attempt to, thought Alex darkly. "I heard from nurse Janielo that your blood is rather stubborn, no?" The man had a thick Scottish-accent, but Alex felt himself calm down as the doctor took hold of his arm with gently, practiced hands. "I'll get this done in no time! So, what are you doing after you leave here?" The doctor seemed like a good guy, so Alex humored him.
"Well, it's my birthday - "
"Happy birthday, old boy!" interrupted the doctor, but Alex continued after giving the man a small smile.
"So we are probably going to go out to dinner to celebrate," concluded Alex with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, that sounds fun! And you're free to go! See you in a year's time!" said the cheery doctor, and then he left Alex and Jack. Alex hadn't even noticed that the doctor had successfully taken two little tubes of his blood, and he realized that the man had made small-talk in order to keep him busy. He had to give it to him, though – this guy was good.
"Alright!" Jack was on her feet, and was pulling Alex out of the door. "Let's go home!"
For the second time in two days, Jack checked Alex out at the front counter, and then dragged him to the car. Alex couldn't help but notice that she was in a hurry for some reason, but when he voiced his question, she waved him off and told him that hospitals gave her the "heebie jeebies," as she put it. Americans and their weird lingo, thought Alex, as they pulled into the Rider residence's driveway.
"Come on, Alex!" sang Jack, as she ran out to the front door.
"Jack- " began Alex, stopped in his tracks. Jack was already at the door, and was pulling her keys out.
"Come on, kid! I promise you the grass is greener inside!" she fumbled with the key, but finally found the right one.
"Jack! Get away from the door!" Alex shouted, and sprinted to where she stood. But he was too late, she had opened the door, and they had both crashed into the house.
"SURPRISE!" The word exploded from what seemed like every inch of the small sitting room, and Alex couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat, before he realized what was going on. Alex broke out in a huge smile at the sight of his best friend, who was standing in the middle of the sitting room, wearing a party hat and a whistle around his neck.
"Tom!" Alex exclaimed, and then he noticed another boy standing just behind Tom. "James! What are you doing here?"
"We're here for your funeral – what do you think we're doing here, you dolt?" asked the taller boy in the back. James Healy had been Alex's friend for almost as long as Tom had been, and along with Tom, he didn't believe the rumors that plagued the school concerning the shocked boy standing by the door. Unlike Tom, however, he was not privy to Alex's past exploits with MI6, and Alex liked it that way.
"Happy birthday, Alex!" said Tom, and enveloped his best friend in a tight hug, patting him on the back. Alex returned the hug awkwardly, something that always happened with Tom.
"Aw, you guys are too cute," said Jack from behind Alex, as she snapped a picture of the hugging boys.
"Jack!" roared Alex, lunging for the camera.
"Na ah ah!" she said in a sing-song voice. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited to have good blackmail material to use against a Rider? No, this is mine." And she ran off into the kitchen.
James, chuckling, came over to Alex and gave him a one-armed hug, after pushing Tom into the sofa.
"How've you been, Alex?" he asked, as the two kids took a seat next to a disgruntled looking Tom. "And what's with the burns on your arms?"
Alex wrapped his arms around himself self-consciously, and tried to think of something to escape the sticky situation. When Tom realized Alex's predicament, he came to his friend's aid.
"James," he began; "you know those heat-producing pads that you put on your sore muscles?"
James nodded, looking confused. Alex was completely lost as well, and had no idea where his friend was going with this. However, he realized that he should be thankful for the close call, and he realized that he would have to be more careful next time.
"Well, after a rather intense football match in which Alex lost spectacularly to me, he was rather sore from the amount of times that he fell on his arse." Tom's smart-ass remark earned him a smarting blow to the shoulder form Alex, and he cried out. "HEY! It's not my fault your feet don't follow the laws of physics."
"And just what the ruddy hell do you - "
James cleared his throat, and motioned that he wanted Tom to continue telling him about Alex's burns.
"Well, we got back here at about ten at night, and Alex was being a wimp and crying about his aching muscles," he continued, ducking as Alex smacked him with a cushion. "So naturally, being the natural healer and friend that I am, I offered our fair-haired bruise-whore some Tylenol, but he declined, because he said that he couldn't afford to feel ´drugged,´ of all things. So, I had to go to plan B!"
"You had a plan B?" asked James incredulously; Tom wasn't known to be a thinker… he was more of the shoot first, ask later type.
"Of course I had a plan B!" said Tom, in mock indignation. "I grabbed a whole pack of those muscle-pain relieving pads, and stuck them all over his body. Turn out though, they can cause some pretty bad burns…"
James was clutching his sides, laughing hysterically. Alex had to admit…the idea was so far-fetched, it seemed like the thing Tom would do on a daily basis. He laughed along side his two friends, feeling oddly light-hearted. He hadn't let his guard down like this in a long time, and it felt good.
They were forced to swallow their laughter as Jack called them to the kitchen for cake, however. As the trio sang the usual chorus for Alex, he couldn't help but feel a lump form in his throat, as he thought about the last year. His life had changed, to say the least. He's made new friends, and many new enemies. But his demons and enemies were pushed to the back of his mind as he blew out the fourteen candles, and made a wish.
My wish is for things to always be like this. So – normal. So – peaceful.
He blew the candles, and they began to eat the cake so graciously provided by the jolly old fat man at the French bakery by St. Dominics. For the first time in a year, Alex was really, truly happy. He was surrounded by friends, two of whom were basically family, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Maybe tonight is going to turn out alright after all, he thought, as he ate his cake. And maybe turning fourteen means that I can start over again, with a clean slate. Maybe, just maybe.
Unfortunately for Alex, a covert terrorist group, allied with a notorious criminal organization, had other plans for this new fourteen-year-old.
Okay, I'm sorry. Cliff-hanger of sorts, you could say. As it is now 12:12am my time, and I started writing this at 6pm, I'm rather tired. I think I liked this chapter, at least the end. It came together rather well. By the way, the thing with the blood test happened to me. The nurse missed my effing vein TWICE before she finally managed to steal my blood. I almost fainted. It sucked.
I wonder if this chapter sucked as well. Care to let me know? Drop me a line! And as always, have a great day!