Damaged Love // A Joker Origin Story

Chapter 6

"Happy Birthday!" I sing while running down the stairs towards Rachel. I notice Bruce standing beside her, rolling his eyes in my direction. I must have interrupted their conversation. She grins, pulling me into a bear hug.

"Thank you, Bailey," she smiles.

"Here," I say, handing her a small gift bag.

"You really didn't have to get me anything," Rachel says.

"But I wanted to. Now open it!" I urge her to open the birthday present. She lifts the tissue paper out of the bag and pulls out a book. Her brown eyes scan the front cover before she gasps, smiling ear to ear.

"You found it? I've been searching everywhere for this!" She exclaims.

"I did, and it wasn't easy," I laughed.

"Thank you," she says, pulling me into another hug."Are you going out with us to dinner?" Rachel asks, noticing my attire, which is sweats and a t-shirt.

"Oh no, I'm not. I have a test tomorrow I have to study for." I inform her, a little disappointed that I have to miss her birthday dinner.

"How lame," Bruce comments. I roll my eyes and march up the stairs to my room to begin studying. I know for a fact that my brother is not upset that I couldn't make it to Rachel's birthday dinner. It just means more time they can have to themselves, which I fully support. Personally, I think they would make the cutest couple. They've known each other since they were kids, and it's bound to happen with the glances they give each other when the other isn't looking.

The next day arrives, and school goes by quite fast, and before I know it, it's 7th period. From the corner of my eye, I see Jack sit down beside me on my right and lean on his hand, shielding his face from me. He doesn't glance my way, which is odd. I expected a hello, at least.

"Hey," I greeted him. He pretends not to hear me and continues to keep his head down. I start to get annoyed at his behavior. Being ignored is one of my biggest pet peeves. I nudged his arm to get his attention. "Jack." I state. He hums in response but still doesn't turn his head. Did I do something to him? I think before Mrs. Miller walks in the classroom and slams the wooden door behind her, getting everyone's attention.

"Today you will be starting new projects on the human heart. You will work with the person next to you. After today, they will have to be completed outside of the classroom," she announces. Immediately after she finishes her instructions, everyone shuffles towards the front of the classroom to get the assignment. With one last glance at Jack, I retrieve the required papers and sit back down. I look around to see my peers talking and working on the assignment. I worked on the project by myself for a little while. I eventually let out a huff, fed up with the silence between Jack and I.

"Okay, what is up with you? Why won't you look at me? Or talk to me?" I grab hold of his arm that's blocking him from me and tug on it as I speak. "I know for a fact I didn't do anything, so what is up with-" I gasp, my words halting, when I catch sight of his face. His left eye is swollen, with a black and purple bruise around it. He has a small cut on his right cheekbone and a busted lip. He looks rough, to say the least.
"Jack, your face," I say with worry.

"I'm aware," he quickly snaps at me. I was about to speak when the dismissal bell rang. Everyone collected their things and left in a hurry to beat the buses out of the parking lot. Jack stood up and made his way to the door, but before he could get lost in the sea of students, I grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hall. "What are you doing?" He asks and attempts to pull his hand away. I gripped his hand tighter in response.

"Just trust me," I said, pulling him in the direction of the student parking lot. We arrive at my car, and I unlock the doors. "Get in." I nod to the passenger side. I climb into the driver's side as he gets in next to me. I look over at him, and he seems awestruck.
    "What?" I ask.
"Your car is..." he trails off, words escaping him. His face expresses a look of shock. I laugh, and he joins in a second later.

"Yeah, my brother got it for me as a birthday gift last year." I explain to him, and he nods. We sat in silence for a minute, and I remembered what I brought him here for. I turn to look at him. "Jack, what happened to you?" I ask in a softer and more serious tone. He sighs and hesitates to open his mouth, but decides to anyway.

"When you asked me to go to the party with you, there was a reason I said no in the first place. My parents are strict, especially my father. He doesn't want me to get involved with anything like that for personal reasons. I knew he wouldn't want me to, but I went anyway." Jack says, looking out the windshield as a couple people walk by. My mind races with the newly obtained information as I piece it together.

"Your dad...he did this to you." I state this with difficulty. I almost didn't want to say it, too afraid of what the answer might be. Jack looks at me with pained eyes and doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to. He told me the answer by just the look he gave me. "So your dad did this because of me. I invited you; I caused this." I conclude.

"No, you didn't. I went because I wanted to go on my own. It's not your fault." He's quick to reassure me. It didn't make me feel any better. "Besides, this wouldn't be the first time." He mumbles, gazing out the window. I feel my heart plummet in my chest. How can someone do this to their own child? Their own flesh and blood? It's absolutely disgusting. What a vile human being! I can't help but pity Jack. He is forced to endure this every day. He doesn't deserve this. No one does. Suddenly, anger washes over me. I despise his father already, and I haven't even met the man.

"Jack, I'm so sorry," I whisper. He still faces the window, so I slowly reach forward and turn his head in my direction. What I see breaks my heart. His dark eyes are sad, and tears threaten to spill over. One tear escapes, and I brush my thumb over it. My hand continues to cup his warm cheek. We both stare into each other's eyes in comfortable silence. A minute passes, and I realize what I'm doing. I pull my hand away and feel my face heat up. I look down at my lap in embarrassment and mutter a 'sorry'. I glance back up to see a smile tugging at Jack's lips.
"It's alright, peaches," he smirks. I cringe slightly at the nickname. Did I hear him correctly?
"Did you just call me peaches?" I ask unsurely, raising an eyebrow. Jack nods his head. "Why?" I continue in curiosity.

"You blush a lot," he smiles. His pearly whites shine in the light, and his uninjured eye scrunches a bit. I giggled a little. "Thank you, by the way." Jack says. I can only assume he means the talk we had about the party and his dad.

  "Of course. Any time." I tell him, glancing up and locking onto his hazel eyes. A couple seconds go by while we sit in comfortable silence. His eyes are easily one of my favorite things about him. The freckles dusted on his cheekbones and nose only enhance the brown color of his eyes. He slowly inches his face towards mine, and suddenly we are closer than we were before.
I freeze at the realization. Is he going to kiss me? My heart begins to race as his face moves towards mine just a little more. Do I really want him to kiss me? Yes. I breathe in a steady breath, trying to focus on the boy inches away from me, when all of a sudden a phone sounds out within the silence of my car. Jack clears his throat and moves his face away from me, answering the call.

"Hello?" He answers. There is a pause before he says, "Yes, I'll be home soon." Another long pause. "Alright, okay," Jack states, a little irritated. I can faintly hear a voice on the other line getting louder. Jack sighs, "Yes, sir." He ends the phone call looking a little bit more stressed than before. "I have to go. I'll see you around Bailey," he gives me a small smile that doesn't reach his eyes and opens the passenger door to leave.

"Jack," I called out to him before he was able to shut the door and walk off. He turns to look at me, sadness coating his eyes. "Be careful, please," I say, and he briefly nods, shutting my car door and walking away.
I sigh and think about everything that occurred today. Jack's father is abusive towards him, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it. My jaw clenches in anger, and then I am filled with guilt and pity. Cassandra was somehow right; Jack is going through hell at home, and he's doing it alone. I have to help him, or at least be there for him, because one thing I know for certain after today is that I have feelings for Jack.