Re: *~Hybrid: The Lost Society~* OneXOne between KenzieJo and I!

[WeAllFallDown-*]

{Lol I love procrastinating...speaking of which, I really must get on that summer reading...}

I wrap my arms around his torso for a moment, then pull away. "Don't turn into a popsicle on me, all right Clarke?" I grin, before turning away and hurrying home to the warmth and comfort of my loving bed.

-

Once home, I flick off the porch light, deciding not to light a cigarette tonight. Without brushing my teeth, I crawl under my comforter and am asleep before my head even hits the pillow.

In my dream, I'm standing standing at Mario's pizza. There are no clocks, so I can't tell what time it is, but it's dark outside.

The rest of the shop is vacant while I wait, but then I look up at the sound of the front door opening. To my surprise, it's not Jackson at all, but Jac. Or...what I think is Jac. He stumbles, obviously drunk with a beer bottle in hand. I cringe, but my feet are cemented to the tiles.

And then, he lifts the bottle and throws it at me, leaving a gash along my ribcage. But I don't ooze blood...instead, candy...

I wake up with a jolt, sweating bullets with my sheets tangled around me.

[KenzieJo]

I sigh and walk home coming to stand infront of my dark house, I frown. locking the door behind me, I take a quick walk through of the house. I stop at the answering machine, which shows two new messages. The first is from ma, she'd be home around five, the second goes on for three minute, silent except for a breathing. It sends a chill up my spin and I delete it before ma would hear it.

Once I assure myself Im alone I head to the living room, turning on the tv enough so I can hear the light gibberish coming from the late night infomercials I fall asleep half off the couch.

I wake up to my phone buzzing, but I don't get up, instead letting my lids fall again.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

I wake again hours later to hazy sunlight splashing through my slanted windows, bathing me in warmth. Rolling over, I face the source and stay like that for a moment, the memories of last night flooding back to me.

Then, my phone vibrates.

We still on for 12?

-J

I yawn, typing a quick Yeah in reply, then glance at my digital clock to see that I've really slept in- 11:00. Cursing under my breath, I get up and stretch, remembering with dismay that it's Sunday and I'd have to get my homework done for school tomorrow.

[KenzieJo]

I wake up to Tom sitting on my chest, head cocked and eyes wide. "Food?" He asks simply and I laugh, pushing him off me and to the floor where he pouts like a child. "Yes food. Here or go out?" I ask and he shows me his shoes, still on and tied. "Right, let me get ready." He nods and turns in place, starting up a video game. I head to the kitchen where the kettles whistling, and my moms stooped over a cup of coffee. "Hey hon, your going to be with Tom today?" She asks and I nod, "Well I need to work in a little bit so I wont be here when you come home. But Ive got tomorrow off." I nod again, coming behind her with my cup of tea and kissing her cheek. "Thats good, Ill be home then." She smiles and nods and I feel bad how hard she works for this home that she's never in. I go back to the living room, sipping my tea as I watch Tom kill zombies.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

{Oh god they'll all meet up at Mario's...lol}

After showering, brushing my teeth, and picking out a pair of jeans and my blue converse all star tee, I was pulling on my sneakers and getting ready to go. I left a post it on the counter letting Mat know where I'll be, since the lazy bum is still sleeping.

-

It only takes a few minutes to get to Mario's, so I choose a booth near the back and wait for Jackson patiently. He's always saying it's best to be fashionably late- the memory makes me smile.

[KenzieJo]

ugh need to restart my comp brb

[WeAllFallDown-*]

{Okay }

[WeAllFallDown-*]

{I'll just post again while I'm waiting ^^}

The first thing I noticed when Jackson Wilcox swept through the front door was his...everything. No longer the skinny boy with the sunken cheeks and black rimmed eyes. Now, Jackson's green eyes were bright and focused, and his once toothpick arms were now well defined. I tried not to notice his rock hard abs beneath that black muscel shirt, but fail. Miserably. He'd put meat on his bones, and his skin was no longer that sickly shade of green after he'd overdosed...

"Charlie? Is that you?" Flashing a grin that was enough to make me explode, he walks over to my table and wraps me in a bone crushing hug, his big arms easily snaking around my torso. I could feel the stubbble of aftershave against my skin- facial hair was not part of the Jackson package two years back. I giggle, nodding against his chest.

"So this is the new and improved Jackson everyone's been talking about." I take a small step back, cocking my head to the side as I admire him with approval. "You cut your hair." I observe. His once shaggy mop of blond was now trimmed neatly, ending just past his ears.

He chuckles, motioning for me to sit. "One of the many things changed about me," He murmurs thoughtfully, playing with the silver charm bracelet he gave to me 3 summers ago. "You still have this?"

"Yeah." I smile a little, tracing my finger along the part with my name engraved along the side.

"I've missed you, C." He murmurs suddenly with such intensity that I'm momentarily lost for words.

"You too, J." I manage to squeak, my voice shaky and pathetic. I blink, forcing myself back to me and Jac's kiss. Slowly, I draw my hand away from his and place it back on my lap where it will hopefully stay for the duraton of the afternoon.

[KenzieJo]

(you don't know, maybe Tom wants nachos. O.o)

After Tom lost the game he goes into sad mode, and lies on his stomach while he stares into my poster covered walls. I come out of the washroom, a crisp yellow tee and blue jeans on, and throw on a brown coat and shoes.

"Woo!" He jumps from my bed, happy again, I roll my eyes. "Lets go. " He runs down the stairs stopping in the kitchen, "Bye Momma Archer." He says and I hear her laugh. I follow down slowly smiling as my mom pulls me into a hug, "Be careful you two." She says and I nod, "As always." I follow Tom out the door, and see he rode his bike, I walk to the Garage, grabbing my own green street bike and hopping on and follow him down the lane towards 'food'.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

{XD I'm sorry for making an assumption, then.}

I lean back a little in my chair, folding my hands on the table in front of me. Just then, a waiter comes by with a pad of paper.

Jackson looks to me, letting me order for the both of us. "Medium extra cheese pizza with sausage and pepperoni, please." I remember Jackson liked both sausage and pepperoni, as do I.

"And for drinks?" He asks, looking to me.

"I'll have lemonade. And..." I look at Jackson, who's drumming his fingers on the table. Two years ago, he would've wanted a beer. But now-

"I'll take a cream soda." I have to smile at his good decision.

He's finally back.

[KenzieJo]

(haha. kidding, of course he wants pizza.)

I follow Tom to the local pizza joint, rolling my eyes as we lock our bikes up. "I dunno how your not fat." I tell him and he pushes me laughing. We walk in and are lead to a table where we're given menus, though I know we've decided already, Tom stops the waitress from leaving. "We'll have a medium pizza, half pineapple and half cheese lovers. Two cokes please" He tells her and she smiles, knowing how often Tom comes here. "Of course. coming right up." Tom grins and my stomach growls at the thought of food.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

I don't notice the ding of the overhead bell that announces someone's arrival- I'm too wrapped up in what Jackson's telling me about his past 2 years.

"The food was pretty bad," He admits with a sheepish grin as he brushes his bangs out of his eyes. "When I first got there, I didn't even eat it. I was so pissed off at...well, everyone. You. My parents. My addiction." I bite my lip in sympathy, and watch as his eyes dim just a bit.

"Well, it's over now. You can reinvent yourself, J. Be whoever you want to be, now that alcohol and drugs aren't holding you back."

He grins, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger. "I think you might be right, Charlie." He rubs the back of his neck, taking a sip of his soda without looking away from my eyes once.

[KenzieJo]

Im sipping my drink while Tom chatters on when he cuts short, eyes going wide for a moment on something behind me. "What are you-" I'm turning to look when he reaches out to stop me, "Nothing, just though I saw someone. Not them." I give a skeptical nod but take another sip of my drink. "So what was with you leaving so suddenly yesterday?" He ask me, "Something wrong with Charlie?" His words are carefuly and I raise a brow.

"You know." I tell him, "I'm not completely sure what happened. She just asked me to take her home, seeming pretty upset. She told me about some stuff, a past boyfriend." His eye brows knit together but I skip over details. "Left me standing on her porch, then catches up with me later, everything seemed fine." I smile sweetly, "More than fine." He nods, still an angry look on his face as the waitress puts down bread sticks between us. I dig in, overly hungry.

"I'll be back." He says, standing, "Washroom." I give him a nod, noticing he goes the long way but shrug it off, that was Tom. I pop another piece of breadstick in my mouth.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

"J..." I start, brushing his hand away from my hair. He sighs, drawing it away reluctantly with a small frown.

"Things aren't the same now, J. Two years have passed. We can't just...just..." I blink rapidly to fend off tears. "Just pick up where we left off." I lower my voice to a whisper. "Things don't work that way."

And that was when I look up with still teary eyes to see the blurry figure of what sort of looked like...

"Tom?" I ask, biting my lip. Jackson looks confused, but I ignore it for a moment. And where there's Tom there must be...Oh god.

I feel sick when I see Jac in the next booth over. He doesn't see me- he's looking down at the menu, rather.

[KenzieJo]

Tom comes back, angry still as he taps his foot against the floor. "Are you alright dude?" I ask him and his narrowed eyes turn on me, softening. "Yeah. just fine." He gulps down his drink. He's nervous. "Maybe we should get this to go." He tells me, eyes glancing over my shoulder.

Curiously I turn to follow his gaze, my eyes widening as they lock with Charlies. I scan over the man she's with then turn back to Tom, he's already called over a waitress, asking for the food to go and handing over the money to pay. I run a hand through my hair as Tom and I are silent, waiting for the awkward situation to end.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

I stand a little, my pleading eyes flicking from Tom, to Jackson, and finally resting on Jac.

I don't say anything, just give him a look that says something along the lines of please, let me explain.

"Charlie, you okay?" Jackson asks, turning his torso halfway when his eyes finally catch Tom and Jac. There's this freaking awkward moment that feels like it lasts forever as we all just sort of stare at each other, nobody saying a thing.

Nobody had to.

[KenzieJo]

Toms glaring, but my eyes hold confusion and pain. I see the guilt on her face and my eyes flicker to the man she's with. Jackson.

'he wants me back'
The words ring in my mind and I study him. Built under a black shirt, contrast to my own lean frame under a cheery yellow v neck. He's more her type. I frown as the waitress comes, box in hand, and Tom hands her a large tip for her troubles. He stands, and rest a hand on my shoulder. I tear my eyes away from hers, a ghost of a sad smile is the last I offer her as I leave behind Tom. I hope she's happy.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

Right when my appetite goes south for the winter, the freaking pizza comes by. I clutch my stomach, feeling the sour taste of bile rising in my throat.

"Charlie, you're looking really sick. Let me take you home."

"No." I mumble, shaking my already swimmy head a little but it only makes me dizzier. "I'm..uh...hungry." I lie, taking a small piece and nibbling the corner, grease and cheese pouring into my mouth.

Choke it down. Choke it down. I tell myself, my adam's apple bobbing precariously as the chunk of pizza slides uncomfortably down my throat. I chase it down with a sip of lemonade, smiling convincingly at Jackson, who's watching me intently.

[KenzieJo]

Me and Tom don't go far, but i savor the constant motion of my bike as I follow him silently. We end up at the now deserted treehouse, but we don't go up. Instead sit against the bottom of the tree, pizza untouched between us.

"I'm so sorry." He starts but I shake my head, "It's fine Tom. nothing, alright." I give him a half hearted gaze and take a piece of pizza, taking a large bite. He shakes his head taking his own slice.

"So that was-"

"Jackson." He nods and I sigh. "It doesn't matter Tom. As long as she's happy Im fine, I won't mess with it." I lean against the hard bark and I feel his skeptic gaze.

"You don't want that." He tells me, and I couldn't agree more. "Maybe not Tom. but I can't do anything about it now."

[WeAllFallDown-*]

We chat a bit about what we've been up to, me occasionally taking a small bite or nibble and trying to make it look like I'm fine. Perfectly fine.

"How's Mat?" He asks quietly, taking another sip of soda. Him and Mat were surprisingly close, in a big brother sort of way. He was always looking out for her when some of the neighborhood kids were being...not so nice.

"She's alright. You should stop by later and see her." I respond, my shoulders slumped as I choke down the last bite of pizza.

"I'm going to bring you home- come on." He doesn't ask but orders, rather, as he stands from the booth and brushes crumbs off of his jeans, holding out a hand for me.

"Thanks, J." I pull closer to him, leaning against his body for support and for comfort as we pay the bill and leave, walking toward the house with my heart dragging inn the grass behind me.

[KenzieJo]

On a sunday night the streets are all but empty, so when Tom offered to race me I couldn't refuse. Grabbing our bikes we headed to the nearest open street.

"Think you can keep up?" tom asked, grinning like a kid. This is something we'd done since we both learned, pushing ourselves as far as we could go. I mirrored his grin halfheartedly, already wanting to get moving. So I did.

I heard the whistle of wind in my wheels and Tom's laugh as he caught up with me, both of us crouched low. We stayed neck and neck as I concentrated on my breathing, tuning out all the foul moods in my mind. We continued through the streets but I didn't pay attention to the blurs around me, not being able to hear anything and only aware of Tom close to me.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

Luckily, Jackson is able to get me home with only minor struggle, and even lower me onto to the couch (in a completely platonic way, of course). But after moments of dead silence in the house, I realize that Mat is at a friend's house today.

"Want to watch a movie?" I ask, since we recently got like, 12 new movie channels on the tv. There had to be something good on.

"Er...I don't think so, C. Listen, I should probably just you know...uh...get going." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, hovering in the doorway for a moment. "If that guy was your boyfriend or something, C...you should've just told me."

And then he slammed the door in my face.

That was the opportunity I took to empty my stomach's contents all over the floor.

[KenzieJo]

We've stopped on top of the biggest hill in town, staring silently at its glory. It only takes one quick look at Tom and we mount our bikes again, pushing off and ducking to gain top speed.

Not even half way down I straighten my back, letting the wind whip my face. I open my arms as I continue to speed down, my eyes closed. Its only once I begin to slow do I grab the handle bars again, coming to a stop next to a smiling Tom.

I breath deep. "Feeling a bit better?" He asks, and it didn't fix anything, and those biting pains are still stuck in my rib cage, but I nod, unable to speak.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

"Ugh." I moan, running to the bathroom and narrowly making it to the toilet to throw up again. When I finished, I tied my sweaty hair into a ponytail and grab a mop from the closet, cleaning up the mess I left in the living room. Luckily, it didn't end up staining the hard wood floor.

After popping a few Tylenol in my mouth, I walk over to the beeping message machine and press Play.

"1 new message." The robotic voice informs me, then I hear my mother's voice.

"Hey, girls. I've got the late shift tonight, so help yourself to pizza. Money's on the counter- love you!"

How positively ironic. I press "Delete" scowling at the phone as if my relationship troubles are it's fault.

[KenzieJo]

(back from camp. )

The sky is darkening as me and Tom lay beneath a tree. "School is tomorrow." I hear Tom talk as I stare upwards, "We should probably do some homework." I shrug in response but I don't think he sees.

"I don't really care." I tell him. At this point it was the last thing on my mind. I played with my phone in my chest. Scrolling through contacts. My eyes land on Charlie's name every time.

Tom shifts and I feel his gaze weight down on me. "Maybe you should talk to her." He says, and I give him a crazed look. "Your the one who saw them Tom, did it really just look like friends?" I counter sharply. He bites his lip, looking away, classic Tom. "No, but you still need a straight answer." I fall on my back again, giving up.

I felt Tom get up. "Ive got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." I nod and give a lame wave as he mounts his bike and rides off, leaving me in silence. I don't move for a while, until at last I pick up my phone and text Charlie if she wants to talk to meet me at the tree.

[WeAllFallDown-*]

{You have fun? }

"Do you think it could be the flu?" Mom asks, pressing her cold hand against my rapidly warming forehead. I shrug my limp shoulders. What the hell was I supposed to say? No mom, I'm just feeling sort of lovesick. Maybe we can buy some Ben and Jerry's and watch soap operas together.

"You should lie down- I'll bring up some Tylenol." Nodding gratefully, I meekly walk up to my room and curl up beneath my comforter. There's only a split second of silence when my phone suddenly vibrates.

I swallow, my gut clenching when I see it's Jac.

Meet me at the tree?

Yeah. After mom goes to bed. I reply, snapping my phone shut and shoving it under my pillow when she enters the room.

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