Chapter Text
I was 10 years old when I first met Jack. I had just moved from Boston to Gotham, uprooted by my drugged-up mother to get away from my even worse father, and dumped in some new school where I didn’t know a soul. But I spotted Jack right away in the playground, sitting by himself on a bench, staring at nothing. I strode over and sat down opposite him; his eyes didn’t move, so I sat and waited until he noticed my arrival.
“I’m Rory.” I said, which only made him turn his head away further, pretending I didn’t exist.
“What’s your name?” I asked, undeterred by his rudeness. Looking at him, he was skinny for a boy, his clothes too big for his small frame and dotted with holes and rips. His hair was blonde but dirty, making it look browner; his skin, in stark contrast, was so pale he looked frozen.
His eyes flashed back to me, and he narrowed them at me. They felt cold.
“Why are you still here?” He asked, annoyance evident in his voice.
“You still haven’t told me your name.” I told him.
“If you don’t tell me your name, I’m just going to name you myself.” I shrugged my shoulders, and his eyes looked uncertain, but he remained silent.
“Fine, I’m going to call you-” I started.
“Jack.” He said quickly, his eyes going back to staring at nothing again.
“Jack.” I said with a small smile on my lips.
“I was going to call you Rupert.” I said, watching his face for a reaction and was rewarded with a smirk that quickly disappeared.
“Well, Jack, we’re going to be best friends.” I told him, but he didn’t even react to it. I was going to be this boy’s best friend even if it killed me. I had a good feeling about him.
The next day, I joined Jack back on the benches at lunch. He looked a little surprised at first, but quickly became oblivious to my existence again. Or annoyed, it was hard to tell. I slid over a brown bag without a word and opened my own. He looked at me and the bag with suspicion.
“What’s that?” He asked.
“A bomb.” I smiled as his eyes slid over to me for a second before going back to the bag, still making no move to open it.
“It’s food.” I said, taking out my own sandwich and biting into it happily.
“I make my own, and you didn’t have one yesterday.” I said, nudging the back closer to him. He still didn’t look like he trusted me, or the bag, for that matter. But he opened it, watching me as he did, but I just smiled at him.
“Why would you bring me lunch?” He asked, taking out a sandwich and turning it over in his hands to examine it.
“Because we’re best friends.” I told him, confident in my childhood logic. “That’s what best friends do.”
He dropped the sandwich back into the bag and pushed it back to me.
“I don’t want it.” He said, turning away again, trying to ignore me. He was going to learn quickly; it would take a lot more than that to deter me when I decided something.
“Well, I made it for you. Do what you want with it.” I said, pushing it back to him. He left it untouched, but at least he didn’t push it back. We sat in silence as he stared off, and I ate happily. Soon the bell rang, and I stood up to leave to go back to class.
“See you later, Jack.” I smiled and walked away. We didn’t have classes together, so as I left, I looked back quickly and caught sight of him picking up the brown paper bag and taking it with him.
I smiled happily, glad he hadn’t shoved it into the bin, which I half expected him to do. In class, I couldn’t stop fidgeting, waiting to see if Jack had eaten what I made yet, if he liked it or not. I hoped he liked it. All I could find this morning was peanut butter, and Mum was asleep on the couch, the bottle still clutched in her hand when I left.
I had dragged a blanket from her room and draped it over her, but I doubt she even noticed.
I had also put a clementine in his lunch bag and a carton of juice. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had. When the bell finally rang, I practically sprinted out of the room and headed for the bench. I was out before even Jack, and I went and sat down waiting for him to arrive.
I turned around and watched the door as other kids all ran out, looking around for Jack's face. I finally spotted his blonde brown curls making his way over to the bench, and as he sat down, I watched him patiently waiting for his verdict. It was obvious he wasn’t going to start the conversation.
“So… did you like it?” I asked as he turned away, still not acknowledging me.
“I threw it in the bin.” He said, turning his eyes to me briefly.
“I don’t need you making lunch for me.” He said coldly, and my eyes nearly filled with tears until I looked closely at him.
I smiled, and his eyebrows furrowed as I did.
“What’s so funny?” He asked, confused.
“Nothing, ok, I won’t make your lunch.” I said, hiding my smile behind my hand. His face turned away again, and I nearly burst into giggles.
“But you have peanut butter on your cheek.” I said after a little while, and his eyes widened as he furiously wiped at his cheeks, which soon turned pink. My smile was so big it hurt my face.
“It tasted gross.” He said, finally. He reached into his pocket and took out the clementine that I had put in.
“I don’t even know what that is.” He said, sounding a little embarrassed.
“It’s a clementine.” I explained taking it and began peeling it.
“It’s like a small sweet orange.” I finished peeling it and split it in half, putting it back down in front of him.
“Try it, it’s good.” I said, watching him stare at it. He began chewing the inside of his cheeks as he watched it. I took half of it as he watched it and peeled off a section, slipping it into my mouth.
“See,” I said, smiling.
“It’s yummy.” I purposefully looked away from him, pretending I was watching the other boys kicking a half-deflated ball around on the grass.
I could see from the corner of my eye that his hand quickly shot out and took the other half. I kept looking forward; he probably wouldn’t eat if I kept staring at him. We sat in silence until the bell rang. I caught him slipping the last piece into his mouth.
I smiled at him as we both got up, and he gave me a wary look as I walked with him back into school. We got a lot of looks from the other kids, and I held my head high, ignoring them. I was young, but I already knew how cruel kids could be. It’s why I picked Jack to be my friend; he wasn’t like the other kids. I’m not sure he was so happy I chose him, but as I walked past his classroom and continued to my own, I nearly didn’t catch what he said to me before he disappeared inside.
“I liked the weird orange.” He vanished inside before I could reply. But I marched off to class feeling happy.
I was breaking down Jack, soon he would have no choice but to be my best friend. I had gone to his class at the end of school, hoping to walk home together, but he had already left. I was sad I wasn’t quick enough to catch him, but there’s always tomorrow.
I went to the shop on my way home, and with the $10 I took out of my mum’s purse this morning, I bought some food. Only what I needed. I don’t know when Mum ate, but all I ever saw her doing was drinking, so she must have eaten somewhere else. I hoped she would still be too drunk to notice some missing money when she woke up.
I bought some bread and ham for sandwiches, some more cartons of juice and a whole bag of clementines. I stowed these in my room as soon as I got home, not wanting my mum to eat them or see that I was making lunches for someone else. I hid them all under my bed. I already had it planned out. I would make the lunches here in the mornings and hide them in my bag so she never spots them. Not that she was ever conscious in the mornings or particularly cared what I was doing, but just in case.
I went to check on her after I hid it all under my bed, and she was still fast asleep on the sofa. I went back to my room and tried to do my homework, but it was no use. I just didn’t understand this new work. I hadn’t done well in my old school either, and this new work just baffled me more.
I had never been very smart, as my mum told me all the time. But at this new school, all my teacher did was give us a book, tell us what page to read, and then give out homework. I gave up halfway through, and when I went back to check on Mum again, she had already got up and left. I looked through the house for her, but she had gone. Didn’t even say goodbye.
I sighed going to bed, but at least I can see Jack again tomorrow. There might be one person in this whole crappy town who might care whether I was here or not. Even if that was just because I fed him, that would be good enough for now.