They walked in silence to his parked Bronco, the only sound that could be heard was their footsteps intermingled with the jangling of his keys. He opened the passenger car door and let her fall into the seat before circling around to climb in on his side. Before he placed the key in the ignition, he turned to look at her. She was sitting to the far right, leaning against the door. Her seatbelt was fastened and her gaze was focused ahead.
He shook his head at the absurdity of his situation. He was now resorting to cockblocking a poor high school kid. "Kate?" She turned to face him and she appeared to be annoyed. "I didn't mean to break up your date, it's just I feel responsible for you. I wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving you alone in a car with three guys so late at night. If something happened-"
She snapped, "It wasn't a date."
"Oh." He whispered.
"And you're not my brother so you don't need to protect me." She said through clenched teeth. It sounded almost like a growl.
He flinched slightly from her terse words, "I know that and I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry I overstepped my bounds." Kate could see his face drop ever so slightly. She now regretted the harsh sound of her voice.
He turned the ignition and pulled the car out of the driveway. "Where do you live?"
"42 Panorama Crest." Jack knew the street, but took his time in getting there and drove more slowly than he needed to.
Trying to break the uncomfortable silence, he decided to take a gamble and talk to her again, "Did you have fun tonight?"
She peered at him from the corner of her eye, "Yeah... I guess."
He smirked, "That wasn't a very enthusiastic response…." He let the comment hang out there waiting for her to elaborate.
She looked at his masculine profile, he was staring straight ahead with eyes steady on the road. Kate sighed, "It was fine. Being the newcomer to the group, I didn't understand a lot of the inside jokes. But then again, I don't think it really mattered anyway, they were sort of moronic."
Jack chuckled, "Guys can be dopes sometimes. Especially in high school. Don't be too critical. If only I knew then, what I know now…." Kate watched him smile and felt herself being slowly sucked in by it. The wall of resistance that she had built over the past two weeks was now slowly dismantling. And it suddenly occurred to her, that she had never been alone with him like this before. As they pulled up in front of her house, he turned off the engine and then looked at her. The moment stretched. For a second she wondered what would happen if she leaned over to kiss him. Would he push her away? Would he allow her to climb into his lap and wrap her arms around him? He noticed her eyebrow furrow and he could tell that she was engaging in some kind of internal struggle. He wished he knew what she was thinking.
He extended his large hand toward her, then it just hovered there. He wanted to touch her, but knew he shouldn't, "Are you okay? Do you-"
Shaken out of her trance, Kate interrupted him, "Thank you for the ride home. I appreciate it." She hastily reached for the door handle and began to let herself out.
"My pleasure Kate. Good night."
"Good night, Mr. Shephard." Did he detect a slight tremble in her voice? She shut the door and he waited until she let herself in the house.
"Please call me Jack." He said quietly to no one.
She slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, her heart was thumping a mile a minute. She then stood on her tip toes and peeked through the window in the door. His car was still parked in front of her house. He must have been there for nearly five minutes before he drove away. A sense of panic overcame her. She had wanted to kiss him. She actually had to fight the compulsion to do it. Her hormones were in overdrive, probably because the whole evening was wrought with sexual tension. From Jack's initial appearance at Claire's house, being alone with Curtis in Shannon's basement and then seconds ago in the car with him.
She tried to forget about the evening's awkwardness with Curtis. How she kept trying to brush off his advances while Shannon was in her bedroom with Josh doing god knows what. She felt so confused, on the one hand she was excited sitting next to Curtis on the sofa, even when he had leaned in to kiss her neck and gently stroke the top of her thigh. But then the alarm bells went off in her head and she shot up from the sofa like a bottle rocket. Her reaction startled him and he didn't know what to make of it. Kate then made sure to spend the rest of the evening in the company of Claire and Kyle. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She plucked it out and saw the message from Curtis, 'Tomorrow night?'
"Jack?" He looked up from the desk and saw Claire in the doorway to his classroom.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Are you staying late today? The SUV is in the shop and I was hoping you could drive me to the house." Jack looked at the pile of papers he needed to grade, but then decided that he could take them home with him.
He smiled at her, "Sure, but on one condition…."
Claire threw him a nervous look. Jack chuckled, "Take it easy. I just wanted to know if you would go to IN-N-OUT Burger with me. I haven't been there in forever."
She wanted to punch him in the arm, "That's a deal."
They opted to go to the drive-thru and park while they ate. The whiff of greasy cheeseburgers and fries permeated throughout his car as they greedily chewed away.
"I can't believe it'll be Thanksgiving next week," Jack observed in between bites.
"I know it's crazy, time is flying by." She then asked hesitantly, "Ummm, are you coming for Thanksgiving dinner. I know you and dad are still not talking. Which reminds me… why are you angry with each other?"
"Yeah, I'm coming. Granddad asked me to go." Claire could tell by the definitive tone in his voice that this was all Jack was going to say about the matter.
Jack teased her, "So how's your love life?" He then threw her a wink.
Claire rolled her eyes, "Oi. Don't be gross, you're my brother. Not that it's any of your business, but it's non-existent."
Jack raised his eyebrow, "Really? What happened to Kyle?"
Claire took a deep breath, "Meh. He was a lousy kisser, so I figured it wasn't worth pursuing to find out about the rest." Now she winked at him, knowing that he would get weirded out.
Jack gave her a nauseous look, "Okay, I'm sorry I asked. That was too much information." He stared at the french fry in between his fingers and pondered whether to ask her the question that has been lingering incessantly on his mind for weeks.
Trying to sound as casual as possible, he asked, "What about Kate and Curtis?" He then bit into his burger, to make it look like the question was an afterthought. Claire wasn't the wiser.
"Oh. He dumped her weeks ago." At her answer, Jack almost choked on his food. Claire handed him his drink and swiftly patted him on his back, "Are you okay, Jack?"
His face was red as he coughed a few times into his hand, "Yeah, it just went down the wrong way." He paused a moment before resuming his question. "So what do you mean he dumped her?"
Claire shrugged her shoulders, "She refused to go past first base with him and I guess he wasn't interested in her after that." Jack smiled inwardly at the thought of Kate rejecting him over and over again.
"You know Jack? The funny thing is, Kate couldn't care less. If you ask me, I think she was relieved. She told me he was dull and a cliche." Jack loved this girl more with each passing moment.
Claire added, "Curtis is now going around telling people that she's probably gay."
Jack frowned before he dismissed the thought, "Curtis is a little douche. Kate can do way better than him."
Claire looked at him before asking tentatively, "Do you think that maybe he could be right? I mean, she doesn't really date and she doesn't seem to like any of the boys at school …?"
Jack lingered on her question before answering, "Whether she is or not doesn't matter. Personally, I think he's going around spreading rumors to save face because she's not interested in him. He's an asshole."
Claire nodded in agreement, "You know, I think there is someone, but she's keeping it a secret."
This statement made Jack curious. "Why do you say that?"
"I don't know. It's just a feeling I get. It's like…" Claire halted as she tried to figure out how to articulate her point. "It's like she's comparing all the guys at school to someone else. It's hard to describe it. It's not like she comes out and says anything specific. But she'll drop comments about so-and-so not being smart, or tall or … having brown eyes."
Claire then suddenly asked him, "Do you think she's pretty?"
Jack had already been asked this once before and, apparently, he had answered it incorrectly based on Amy's reaction. So he decided to be honest this time, "Yes. Of course she is. But I think you're just as pretty."
Claire's eyes beamed at his response. "Thank you Jack. You know, I really like Kate. She's different from other girls. She's very smart and nice. And she doesn't give a shit about what people think.
It was around 3:30 when Jack noticed the light on in the lab room. He walked in and saw Kate setting up some equipment.
"Kate?"
She stopped her movements and looked up at him, "Yes, Mr. Shephard?"
"Can I ask what you're working on?" He approached her, with his hands stuffed in his front trouser pockets. She noticed that his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his tie had been loosened, she liked him looking slightly disheveled .
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry. I thought Matt Burke mentioned this to you. He asked me to help him with the last lab - centripetal force. He was supposed to clear it with you first." She looked at him questioningly.
Jack considered what she said and then he remembered that Matt had, in fact, asked to use the lab, "You're right, he did. He just didn't mention that you'd be helping him."
Jack was skeptical and blinked a few times as he thought out loud, "Matt's an 'A' student, why does he need your help?" He quickly realized that the answer was obvious. It was right in front of him - a beautiful 5ft 5in brunette.
"I dunno." Kate shrugged as she pulled out her lab book. "If he doesn't show up in a few minutes though, I'm leaving." At that moment, Matt strolled in. His big smile faded quickly upon seeing Jack standing there, "Oh, hi Mr. Shephard."
Jack nodded, "Kate told me that you had some difficulty with the last lab. I find this disconcerting considering you are one of the best students in my class. It makes me worry how the others are doing." The poor kid looked uncomfortable and Jack knew he was being brutal. He actually liked Matt and in many respects, the boy reminded him of himself at that age. Matt was even on the football team, just like he was in high school.
"If you don't mind, I'll stick around for a few minutes and observe. " Matt's shoulders sunk.
Jack took a seat at the front and leaned back in the chair to take in the high school mating ritual. The two of them huddled together as they scribbled into their lab books. Jack noticed how the boy would stare in awe at Kate, unbeknownst to her, of course. She giggled a few times when he faked not understanding something. The scene depressed him, he felt old and out of place. Jack stood up realizing that he was intruding. He shouldn't be there.
"Good bye, please make sure to put everything away when you're done." Disappointed, Kate watched him leave.
Christmas was in a few weeks and Kate was looking forward to the break from school. It had been a long and emotionally trying semester. She looked at Claire sitting across from her at the cafeteria table. She was busy picking at her peanut butter sandwich.
"What are you doing for Christmas, Claire?"
"We're staying home for the actual holiday and then we're going to Hawaii until the day before New Year's Eve. You?"
"Oh, I'll be visiting some relatives in Iowa."
"Too bad, I wanted to invite you to come. It would be so much fun. Especially now, since Jack broke up with Amy."
Kate dropped her fork, "Uhhhh, what did you say?"
Excitedly, Claire exclaimed, "Wait. I didn't tell you? Yaaaah, Jack broke up with Amy. He did it right before Thanksgiving." Kate tried to stop the smile from slowly spreading across her face. She ran her fingers through her hair excitedly, she felt as if Christmas had come early and she just opened the present at the top of her wish list. Thank you Santa.
Kate hadn't felt so hopeful or rejuvenated since she could remember. The man she adored with all her heart was available, or at least she hoped he was.
"Wow, do you know why? Is he seeing someone else?" Kate asked nonchalantly.
"Who cares? I couldn't stand her phony crap. She had Dad fooled, but I saw right through her. Thank god, Jack finally saw the light. Although, I didn't think it would last anyway."
At this point, Kate didn't care how nosey and obvious she looked, she was going to ask away, "Why didn't you think it was gonna last?"
"Well, for one thing, she treated him like a trophy. Jack's smart, good looking and rich. You could tell that she sort of bragged about having him. And, I just didn't get the feeling that he loved her."
Kate was practically salivating at hearing all of this.