Painting
Jack tried his hardest to sleep; he maneuvered into every position he could think of (even some that would have seemed uncomfortable had anyone seen them, with the way he'd flexibly twisted himself up), he tried to fluff his pillow, he tried every combination of blankets off and on, and he even tried to count sheep!
None of it worked, because he was too excited.
His heart was beating hard in his chest and he honestly felt like he needed to do something; run, jump, do a series of intricate flips, or something. He knew that it was in his best interest to not do any of those things because his room was upstairs and if anyone heard him awake and told Ms. Madison, he'd be in a world of trouble. It crossed his mind that she might tell him he wasn't allowed to go tomorrow and the very thought of being kept from going to whatever magical place Nick had in mind, was enough to calm his racing heart.
Not enough to make him sleep though.
Ms. Madison hated him, of this Jack was more than sure. Not that she cared for many people, but he thought maybe she hated him the most. The biggest problem was that he wasn't a butt-kisser. It was obvious to anyone, even seven year old Jack, that she thought she was the most important person on the face of the earth. She walked tall and with her nose held high in the air (there were a series of jokes the children made about the better angle she had to sniff their farts, and Jack had thought it was pretty genius, since he had started them of course). The way that she spoke to most people suggested, very much, that she had better things to do, and Jack often wondered why she wouldn't just get a new job or drop dead.
He didn't care very much for her, either.
Ms. Madison, like everyone else, hadn't even bothered to notice him until he'd gotten into some trouble. He'd let some older children talk him into going outside with them while they lit cigarettes they'd stolen from a convenience store on the way home from school. Jack knew that smoking was wrong because his mother had told him of the dangers and he'd refused to try one, but he thought it wouldn't be so bad to stand with them. He enjoyed their company (because he was never included in anything and he desperately wanted to belong), even if he didn't know what they were laughing about and the smoke burned his eyes. All the kids had thought they would be safe because they'd gone behind the building and were out of site and earshot. Ms. Madison, only behind her back, would later be called a hound dog because she had sniffed them out, telling them of how she could smell the smoke a mile away. They'd all gotten into a lot of trouble and were not allowed to go anywhere but school for a month. To top it all off, the kids that Jack had gone outside with had told her that he'd stolen the cigarettes for them, and she hadn't let him explain at all, and obviously hadn't asked herself how it made any sense when he was the only one who was not smoking when she'd found them, let alone that he was only six years old and the others were 11 and 12.
Jack knew then that she was a moron.
It was a short time later that things started to go missing from other children's rooms and their backpacks. It was mostly little things (since the children in the orphanage didn't have all that much anyway); calculators, pens, candy, toys. She'd blamed Jack right away, with no evidence because he wasn't a thief.
Jack had been coloring in his room, lonely and bored, when Ms. Madison had stormed in, the doorknob banging harshly into the wall and leaving a small hole.
"I know it was you," she said sourly, acid dripping from everything about her; the way she loomed over him, pointed, stared.
Jack, stunned and afraid, didn't even know what she was talking about. He'd told her as much and she'd called him a liar.
"When I find out that you did it, I'm going to kick you right out and let you live outside for lying." Jack was petrified; he could barely get out enough words to ask her what she was talking about.
"You little thief, how dare you come in here and steal?" Her face was beginning to turn red from her anger. He'd heard about the thief, no one had actually talked to him about it, but he'd been close enough to hear other people's conversations, like they didn't care if he was within earshot or not, and no one ever thought to encourage him to join them. If Jack hadn't known any better, he would swear they simply couldn't see him.
"You don't know anything!" He'd told her, and he knew he sounded angry and was being too loud, but he figured she had it coming for accusing him of something he didn't do. His thoughts were boiling over him, the biggest component, his fear, quickly turned to anger; adrenaline making his hands shake.
"I don't steal," He'd told her stubbornly crossing his arms, and trying hard to glare back with as much spite and scorn as she mustered up effortlessly.
She looked taken aback for maybe half a moment, before she looked back at him with even more anger and spite. She was good at this, Jack had no clue how to expel such venom, but he tried.
They argued. Every time she said something rude to him, he tried to match it. He wouldn't be outdone and this was the second time she had tried to blame him for something that he had nothing to do with. She called him a brat and he called her a witch, before she finally realized that he wouldn't admit to anything and left, threatening to have him thrown out, which he'd told her was good, because he hated it there anyway.
When they found out who it really was, she didn't bother apologizing, and Jack didn't bother telling her that he'd told her so. He thought about it, sure, but the look she'd given the smug smile he fixed her with after the news had spread was enough to placate him. He didn't have to push her because he'd already won.
He tried to suppress the fact that he was actually quite hurt by the fact that she hated him when he had done nothing wrong.
Even if he had done something wrong, he was only a child after all, and children needed affection. His thoughts drifted, thankfully, to the time he'd spent with Nick and with Lily. He was glad to have met them and he was so excited to be going somewhere with them. Jack spent awhile imaging where they would go. He indulged in fantasizing that some of the things they'd said were true and wondered what it would be like to fight crime with them, or slay dragons. He gave himself magical powers, too, it was his daydream after all and why shouldn't he enjoy it? He rode the winds, having command over the snow and ice that readily fell out of him. North had giant swords that no other man had the powerful muscles to wield. Lily, he gave super strength and a large array of fighting skills. He thought maybe she would be good with fire-powers, but dragons already breathe fire so it would have been useless. The dragons and vampires that controlled them didn't even know what hit them.
Jack spent a few moments amused and proud before the dread started to sink into him firmly. He didn't know where the thought came from because it had been completely unconscious, but he started to wonder how it would be if they showed up tomorrow and couldn't see him anymore. What if they walked right through him? The fear of it didn't really make him sick, but almost. It made him feel heavy all over, almost like having a virus running rampant through his whole body and twisting his stomach.
He imagined what it might feel like to not be seen by them either, because he was pretty invisible to everyone else and it hurt, It would hurt so much worse for it to be Lily or Nick, because he knew what it was like to have them see him and he couldn't go back to how it had been before.
He tried to think of something else and the best he could come up with was what it would be like if they didn't even show up. What if they just forgot about him and didn't come?
Jack wished his brain would turn off and just let him sleep, because these thoughts were unwanted and he'd been having so much more fun when they were slaying vampires dragons together instead of forgetting that Jack existed. He took a deep breath, widening his eyes to keep the tears from spilling. He wouldn't cry, he would hold on to the promise of them, his new parents, who said that they would come back for him and he forced himself to believe.
-Page Break -
The sugar really helped, because without it Jack would have fallen asleep in the car. He was so tired since he'd barely slept. First excitement had kept him up, then his own treacherous thoughts that wormed their way into his brain and devoured up all his good fantasies, leaving darkness and pain in their wake. He hated how his mind sometimes did that when he was minding his own business.
Nick and Lily, thankfully, had shown up, and they'd even brought donuts and flavored milk! It was a good thing too, because before, when Jack hadn't been sure if he would ever see them again, he'd been too nervous to eat.
Lily had been the first to notice how tired Jack was, it probably had something to do with how slow he walked behind them down the stairs after they had come to his room to ask him excitedly if he was ready. She touched a finger to his cheek lightly, running it slowly under his eyes.
"Too excited to sleep, huh?" she teased. Jack smiled and nodded, knowing better than to tell them that he had been afraid they'd tricked him and wouldn't show up.
"That is more than ok, she wouldn't sleep either! I had to yell at her to close her eyes…more than once, mind you." Nick told him conspiratorially, eyes crinkling as his mouth smiled wide. Jack smiled back, thinking that Nick yelled all the time anyway, so it probably didn't matter.
"Anyway," Nick continued with a wink, "When we get to where we are going, I think you'll wake right up."
"And where is that, again?" Jack asked slyly to their great amusement. Jack tried to guess; he thought maybe they might take him to the playground, although it was cold out, they were all dressed warmly. Nick and Lily both had thick coats and Nick had his furry hat; Jack's hat and coat were warm enough, though nothing special, a matching dark shade of green, the hat striped with blue.
They both told him, once again, that he wouldn't be getting anything out of them. Nick made the mistake of telling Jack to 'guess away' and then had to playfully threaten to gag and blindfold him in the car to get him to stop.
-Page Break -
Jack wouldn't remember later whether or not his breath stopped, as he grinned widely. When Nick had told him that they were going somewhere that they knew he would like, he hadn't expected it to be somewhere that he actually loved. The building itself, with all of its treasure, was also very beautiful, at least to Jack.
It was immense; made of three stone symmetrical-looking squares in a line, each slightly taller than the last, like stairs. It clashed slightly with the circular windows, which were outlined in a polished sliver that matched the silver flecks in the building's stone. Jack absolutely loved it. As he grew older he would realize that he'd found the design clever, though he didn't have to words to describe why, he suspected it was the idea of contrast, he couldn't be sure.
He felt the same way about his favorite painting in the museum; there was a contrast to it that really spoke to him; it was what made him always want to come back to the museum (though it was a field trip the orphanage only took twice a year, the same as Symphony Hall, to make sure the kids were 'properly cultured').
Jack woke right up once he saw where they took him, his excitement replacing every feeling of tiredness, the doubts that clouded his mind forgotten, and didn't even think to ask how they knew about how much he loved the museum. He didn't think Ms. Madison cared enough to have noticed, and even if she had, Jack didn't think she would volunteer any information that might benefit him, since she hated him so much.
Jack was out of the car first so quickly Nick hadn't even turned it off yet.
"Can I show you guys my favorite picture here?" Jack asked them breathlessly, bouncing up and down in his excitement. Nick and Lily both smiled at one another, before smiling widely at Jack, Lily telling him to lead the way. Jack didn't care if they were secretly teasing him and his bubbling excitement. He grabbed both of their hands (delighted to be able to touch someone) and took them inside and to the right, where all the art from local artists were displayed, it was entire exhibit and though the others were often beautiful, this part was his favorite.
The painting was of a bridge over still water. It could have been duplicated a million times and Jack didn't think any other painting would speak to him this much. The moon was high and perfectly round, seemingly all seeing, but not bright enough to illuminate everything; it was painted with swirly strokes of dark colors, mostly blues and greys. There were two people on the bridge, silhouetted. They were facing one another, each reaching towards the other, but they weren't touching. It was this that made Jack feel like the painting was a personification of loneliness, and it was beautiful. A great and terrible beauty; the contrast of being with someone and yet feeling very alone. Wanting something just out of reach. He thought that maybe if they could just touch, everything would be different. Touch was important; they should have been holding hands, but something must have been holding them back.
Jack could relate, touch was important to him too, and he was just as lonely as he felt these two people were. He didn't know how to tell them how he felt about it, so he simply asked them if they thought it was pretty, because he did.
"Oh it's great." Lily told him. It was Nick's answer that blew Jack's mind.
"I better like it, I painted it!" he laughed loudly at Jacks expression, pressing a hand to his shoulder, squeezing in that familiar way.
A/N: I appreciate all the reviews, follows, faves!, and people who lurked and read! makes my life happy.
If you leave a review, I'll send you a quote from an upcoming chapter when Pitch finally shows up (which is taking longer than I expected) :)
Love you guys lots