Loose Lips Sink Bitter Ships (Part II)
“I don’t think you’re a snob.” Mercury said after a moment of silence.
“Honestly,” He says. “I thought you were quiet, and kinda shy but, I never thought you were stuck up or anything.”
Momo scoffed. “What about earlier, when you-”
“Yeah, I know what I said.” He stated, ears red. “I just… I’m sorry. For that, and everything else.”
“Would you look at that?” Aria says with a smile. “Mercury Black, apologizing.”
“Yeah, yeah, sod off already.” He grumbles, cheeks and ears turning red as the others laughed good-naturedly.
“At least you have good friends.” Jack chimes in. “Seriously, I envy you for that. Bakugou might be an outright jackass on his worst day, but he’s a decent friend. So are Kaminari, Ashido, and Iida, despite his anal retentiveness.
“Don’t know much about Jiro, Asui, Ochako and Sero, but Eijirou Kirishima is the literal embodiment of sunshine – seriously, the guy’s got rainbows coming out of his ass. And, Izuku Midorya would literally take a bullet for the people he cares for. They’re good friends. The only thing they pressure you into doing is having fun and getting out of your comfort zone.”
“Not like you?” Aria says.
“Not here.”
Gary blinked. “What do you mean?”
Jack pauses and uncrossed his arms. “Do you-” He paused. “Do you guys, know why I moved to Sunnydale, apart from my brain? And, why I transferred during the middle of the school year?”
They shook their heads in response.
“You might wanna get comfortable.” The redhead says. “Because it’s gonna be long, and, ugly…”
=/=
<Now playing ‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden>
Jack: In my eyes, indisposed.
In disguise, no one knows.
Hides the face like a snake,
And the sun in my disgrace.
Jack Spicer was a well-known child prodigy within his families sphere of influence.
Jack: Hides the face like a snake,
And the sun in my disgrace.
Creating machines of mass destruction, making chemical solutions tested and used within local hospitals, and even tried his hand at artificial intelligence before the age of ten.
Jack: Boiling heat, summer stench,
'Neath the black the sky looks dead.
Even so, the perks of having that big of a brain at such a young age didn’t outweigh the drawbacks.
Jack: Call my name through the cream.
For one thing, he had zero to no friends (that weren’t interested in him because of his family’s money).
It was one of the reasons why his parents had him stay in the same grade as the other kids.
Not that he actually made any friends, but whatever. It’s not like it changed anything.
Jack: And I'll hear you scream again.
And then, two years ago, his parents decided that it would be good idea for their young prepubescent son to move up from the seventh grade to the ninth grade.
Jack: Black hole sun, won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
And, so the oblivious child prodigy (who was barely adjusting to middle school life) was thrust into the teeming cesspool that was a Northern California public high school.
Jack: Stuttering, cold and damp.
Steal the warm wind, tired friend.
While Jack wouldn’t go as far as to say that high school was hell, being the youngest kid in school did make things harder for him.
Especially when it came to socialization.
Jack: Times are gone for honest men
And, sometimes far too long for snakes.
Then, one lazy autumn day, he met his first (read: only) friend: Wuya Hou-Jin (Xiaolin Showdown).
Jack: In my shoes, a walking sleep.
And my youth I pray to keep.
She was popular, beautiful, confident, and most of all, she had the power to protect him.
Jack: Heaven send Hell away.
It started off fine at first: hanging out after school, joyriding near this abandoned car park in Stockton with her other friends, cutting class even. Just, innocent stuff.
So long as he gave her and the other people in their friend group copies of his notes.
But, after Halloween, things… changed.
Jack: No one sings like you anymore.
It started small (it always does in these types of… situations).
Mostly to do with Wuya and their friends making him do stuff for them.
Like, making Jack stand guard when they broke into the front office to steal copies of lesson plans so they could print out cheat sheets. Or the time Wuya made him hack into the school’s Facebook page so she could catfish a sub that gave her a bad grade on a Physics paper (how they didn’t get caught Jack didn’t know, nor did he want to know). And, the time Wuya made him make them fake ID’s so they could by beer for a college party Jack was definitely not supposed to be attending.
Jack: Black hole sun, won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Then, after Thanksgiving, Wuya gave him an “early Christmas present”.
Jack: Black hole sun, won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
“What is it?” He asked, watching as the older girl dug through her purse.
“Just stuff to help you focus.” She said, pulling out a small pill bottle.
“Uh, Wuya, what kind of pills are those?”
“It’s just Kitty’s* (Xiaolin Showdown) Atomoxetine.” Wuya shrugged off. “It’ll help you focus on your schoolwork more; that’s what Kitty told me.”
Jack: (Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…)
“But,” Jack frowned. “isn’t it taking someone else’s medication dangerous?”
“Just shut up and take them.” She snipped.
Jack: Hang my head down in fear,
'Till you all just disappear.
When Jack had asked their mutual friend Chase (Xiaolin Showdown) about it, he scoffed and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to listen to whatever that witch tells you? Wuya and the others have been using you since day one. The only reason they haven’t done anything worse is because I told them not to; you’re welcome, by the way.”
“Well, what do I do?”
“Cut her out of your life.” Then he leaned down and whispered. “And watch your back, Wuya’s a spiteful bitch–especially when it comes to those she believes “wronged” her.”
Jack: Black hole sun, won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Jack took Chase’s advice… It didn’t go over well.
Jack: Black hole sun, won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
“YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!” Jack ducked, narrowly missing the bunsen burner that almost beaned him in the face (in all fairness, breaking off a friendship in the Chem Lab was a bad idea in an of itself). “AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU! YOU’RE GONNA PAY! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU’LL FUCKING PAY!-”
Jack: (Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…)
That, coupled with Chase ratting them out on some of the more illicit things their friends did – for the record, Jack knew nothing about Vlad’s (Xiaolin Showdown) steroid abuse, Bubba*’s (Xiaolin Showdown) gun fixation, or the fact that Dyris (Xiaolin Showdown) catfished and extorted several people for the shits and giggles (coupled with the fact that she had photos of their other female classmates in… compromising positions) – and getting them suspended, if not expelled and/or arrested, and/or put on academic probation meant that Wuya was not going to go down without a fight.
A week after the majority of Jack’s “friend group” got in trouble, she got her revenge.
And boy did she serve.
Jack: (Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
(Black hole sun, black hole sun…) Won't you come?
First, Chase got arrested. What for, Jack didn’t know, other than the fact that whatever it was got the older boy expelled (last time Jack saw him, Chase had an ankle monitor on). Then came Jack’s turn.
…He really should have checked his drink.
Jack: Won't you come?
Truth be told, Jack didn’t remember much about that day. Other than passing out in the cafeteria and having to be driven from the hospital to get his stomach pumped.
Yes, you can in fact overdose on Rohypnol.
Needless to say, his folks were not pleased.
Jack: Won't you come?
Oh, Wuya got in trouble. But she didn’t get arrested.
They didn’t have any tangible proof that she dosed him, nor did they have the evidence to back up their claim, so they couldn’t charge her.
Besides, it was her word against his.
Who would you have believed?
The know-it-all twerp nobody bothered to befriend outside of using him to get their GPA up, or the asocial witch (not hyperbole, Wuya really was a witch) who saw him as less than the scum under her boots?
Jack: Won't you come?…