MORE THAN THAT
Chapter Twenty-Two
January 15, 2004
A month had passed since the kiss
between Jack and Christina at the party. Tommy was still irate and not even
speaking to Jack. The group was severely damaged. Hannah and Fabrizio hated every
minute of it. They were annoyed at being stuck in the middle. There were always
arguments about who they would hang out with. It got to the point where they
didn't bother with any one of them.
Most of the time, Jack and
Christina were just left with each other if she wasn't with Hannah. Fabrizio
tried struggling between Tommy and Jack. Tommy would get mad if Fabrizio wanted
to hang out with Jack. Jack didn't care, so Fabrizio didn't bother and chose
Hannah instead.
In his room, Christina sat on
Jack's bed, wondering what they were going to do that day. Luckily, school had
been closed due to a blizzard. Usually, on snow days, Christina had a snow
fight with the guys and Hannah. That was out of the picture now.
It started to remind her of the
days when she was friends with Rose. There were so many memories with her. All
the snow fights they had had. Rose's mother would make hot chocolate for them
when they came back inside, and they would make up ridiculously dumb stories by
the fireplace. Now their friendship was over, and they no longer knew each
other.
She looked out the window,
watching as the snow fell. Jack was sketching as usual, bored by the lonesome
day. Most likely, he was thinking of Rose. Not that she could blame him; he was
in love with the girl. Christina could see it. It was just like her being in
love with Tommy--her first and only love.
Every night, she would think of
him, and a single tear would slide down her cheek. They were only together for
seven months, but she knew she loved him with all her heart and soul. Christina
gave herself completely to Tommy. She knew she'd never regret losing her
virginity to him, as it was a very special night for them both.
Her concentration went back to
the notebook where she wrote all her poetry. The page was blank, as she did not
have a clue what to write. All her feelings were already spilled out. All that
stood on the page was a teardrop.
"Are you okay, Chris?"
Jack asked. He had noticed her sadness. She shot her head straight up and
looked at him, wiping her face.
"I'm fine," she tried
saying normally, but choked on her sobs. Jack walked over to his bed and sat
down next to her.
"No, you're not. You're
thinking about Tommy."
"You got me. I'm guilty as
charged. Just like you're guilty of thinking about Rose."
"You're right about
that."
"I don't know how I'm ever
gonna get over Tommy. He was the first boy I ever loved. The first boy I ever
did anything with." Christina broke down. Jack comforted her, hugging her.
"I feel so empty without him."
"Everything is gonna be all
right." Jack stroked her hair. He hoped everything would get better. Not
only for his friend, but for himself, as well.
*****
Rose yawned as she stood outside
in the freezing cold. Once again, Cal had succeeded in forcing her to come
outside in the blizzard. The guys in Cal's circle were having a snow fight at
the back of Cal's house. Of course, their girlfriends were so brain dead they
stayed around and watched. Rose rolled her eyes, listening to their pathetic
conversation. She felt like an outcast among them.
They ridiculously dressed
themselves up to stand outside. Compared to them, Rose looked like any other
middle class kid. These girls were fixated on their nails, hair, makeup, and
their overpriced clothes.
If only she could get away from
these people. Especially Lovejoy. She felt like throwing a big snowball at him.
He kept giving her all these creepy stares and smirking at her. It looked like
he was hexing her.
She sighed, wishing she were
bored at home rather than hanging around a bunch of stuck up assholes. Rose
began to space out. Her mind drifted to thinking of Jack. She wondered what he
was doing. Who was he with?
Her mind went back to the
Christmas party nearly a month ago. Had that really been Christina kissing
Jack? It had hurt Rose to see that. However, in school, Jack and Christina
didn't do that. They just acted like they always had. It really did piss Tommy
off. Not like she could blame him.
Other than that bothering her,
those mysterious, recurring dreams still lingered in her sleep. There was
something weird about them. Right before she could figure them out, she woke
up. She didn't know why she was still having them.
Rose got distracted when she felt
a snowball being thrown at her. She shook it off and saw that it was Timothy
Ford who had thrown it at her. He laughed at her continuously.
"Oh, yeah?" she
retorted. Rose scooped up a big snowball, aiming it at him. Timothy saw what
she was about to do and ducked when she threw it. Out of all the people she
could mistakenly hit, it just had to be Lovejoy--right in the face.
"Shit!"
He angrily wiped his face, which
was red as a tomato. His fists were clenched as he growled with anger. Lovejoy
walked over in her direction. Rose feared for her life as she took a big gulp
of air.
"Do you think that was
funny, Rose?" Lovejoy asked with rage.
"N-n-no," she
stuttered. "I'm so sorry. That was an accident."
"An accident, huh? It won't
be an accident when I get you back! I promise you this, Rose, I will get you
back!"
*****
After sleeping for an hour, Jack
woke up to find Christina with her eyes closed as her head rested on his
shoulder. Her arms embraced his body as she breathed, silently asleep. He
smiled, happy that she was getting some rest. It looked like something she hadn't
been getting since the break up.
Jack stared straight up at the
ceiling, thinking of Rose, as usual. He wondered if she would ever smarten up
and leave Cal. There were so many guys Rose could get, but she was with a
complete jerk. He didn't understand why she'd choose to let someone
continuously hurt her.
The sound of a yawn broke Jack
away from his thoughts. He watched as Christina rubbed her eyes. She blinked
them a few times before leaving them wide open.
"Hey, sleepyhead," Jack
whispered.
"Hi," she whispered
back. They looked into each other's eyes, not knowing what to do. Their faces
were very close to each other. They inched them closer, Christina parting her
lips. Before anything could happen, there was an interruption.
"So, you two definitely do
have something going on!" They broke away from each other and saw Tommy
standing in the doorway. The two friends sat straight up, straightening
themselves out.
"Tommy, it's not what it
looks like!" Christina yelled.
"Right. I knew you were
gonna say that!" Tommy yelled back. "Next, you're gonna say some shit
like nothing happened."
"But nothing did
happen!" Jack said. "All we did was fall--"
Tommy cut them off. "Don't
bother trying to explain. I came here to try and patch things up with you, but
this is how you repay me. You put your hands on my ex-girlfriend! What kind of
friend are you?"
"It isn't like that!"
Christina said.
"I thought you cared about
me, Christina. I guess I was wrong." Tommy walked out of the room. Jack
and Christina quickly went after him. They caught up to him just as they got
outside.
"Tommy, wait!" Jack
yelled. Tommy turned around with anger and heartbreak written all over his
face.
"What the fuck do you
want?" he yelled.
"Jack and I are just
friends!" Christina shouted.
"Bullshit! Next thing I
know, you're gonna whore yourself around with Fabri and betray Hannah!"
Christina rolled her eyes in disgust, shocked that he would say such a thing.
"What is wrong with
you?" Jack asked.
"What's wrong with me? I
should ask you that question. You think just because you're new around here you
can get what you want? Well, you can't! You seem to go after things that don't
belong to you! First, Rose. Now, Christina! I thought you were a good guy,
Jack!"
"Tommy, you have this all
wrong!" Christina said.
"Whatever!" Tommy
turned away. Jack touched his shoulder, only to have Tommy to turn around and
push him. Christina ran to Jack's side, helping him up. Tommy stared at the
two, his heart breaking. "To hell with you guys. You two can go fuck each
other. I'm done with you both!" Tommy prevented a tear from rolling down
his face and walked to his car. Christina could feel Tommy's heart breaking,
just as she could feel her own. Tommy could feel it, too, as he drove away.
*****
He made sure no one was home as
he broke into the house. Luckily, he knew how to pick locks. Just to be safe,
he quietly crept up the stairs.
There had to be some leverage to
get back at her. No one did that to Lovejoy and got away with it. He hated Rose
with a passion. He had no idea what Cal saw in her. She didn't seem to like him
as much. There was definitely something up between her and that Jack Dawson
kid.
He always caught her staring at
him. There was a lot of guilt in her eyes. Lovejoy suspected that Rose had
messed around with him. If Cal knew, he'd be furious. All Lovejoy needed was
proof. He lurked around her room, looking for something that would prove her to
be a cheating girlfriend.
This would ruin her. The thought
placed a smile on his face. The thought of punishment excited him. He hoped for
the worst for her. Lovejoy looked under her bed and saw a red notebook. He
opened it, noticing it was her journal. He turned it to October 6, 2003, and
read exactly what he needed. Rose had sneaked into the library to see Jack, and
that was just the first kiss. He skipped to Halloween, his eyes opening wider.
He smirked, reading that they had kissed again.
He shut the book, evil laughter
in his head. This was all the proof he needed. Rose would be finished with
tomorrow. He'd make sure of that.