After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 43

With an unwavering lack of enthusiasm, Jack followed Paige and Evan out of the courthouse at about 5:35 PM or 1735 hours on that chilly late December afternoon. They drove mostly in silence back to the hotel to pickup the rest of their things before embarking on the five hour drive back to Dalton, where they'd stay until the new year.

Jack listened to the small talk between Paige and Evan, who sat in the two front seats, for about the first half hour of the drive back to Dalton. The two talked quietly about the plan for Christmas, which wasn't much, and unpacking, what needed to be done around the house, and everything they needed to do before returning to Savannah on January 3rd.

Jack got bored of feeling left out of the conversation and decided to listen to music on his Walkman. Sitting in the backseat, he put his headphones over his ears and dropped his head against the window. He listened to heavy metal as he watched the scenery out the window until he fell asleep a mere two hours into the drive.

Jack spent the majority of Christmas Eve upstairs in the third floor living room playing video games. Paige came up to ask him to come help get things ready for tomorrow, but Jack refused. He couldn't have felt less in the Christmas spirit than he did right now. Last year, he spent it in the basement of a friend of a friend who was away on vacation during his teenage runaway moment. He left on the morning of the 14th of December, the morning after his mother showed up. And Jack stayed away until mid-January. The Christmas before that, he spent blissfully unaware on the island. This year, his father couldn't stop talking about how much better it would be if they didn't have this trial shit weighing on them. But Jack was good at reading Evan's code, and he knew that he said 'the trial' when he really meant to say 'Jack.'

By the time Jack woke up on Christmas Day, Paige and Evan had already opened most of their gifts. What they had left they brought up to their bedrooms to be opened later in private. Jack joined Paige in the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of fruit for breakfast. Evan was nowhere to be seen.

"Merry Christmas" Paige said rather plainly. She sat on a barstool at the large island in the center of the kitchen, below the beautiful chandelier lights.

"Sure it is" Jack shrugged dismissively.

"You grab your presents yet?" she asked as she took bites of cereal between sentences.

"No" Jack answered before plopping a piece of cut-up pineapple into his mouth. "I'm eating first."

"M'kay, just don't forget mine" she said intriguingly. "The little blue one, with the snowflake wrapping paper is a good one, I promise" she winked.

Jack scrunched his eyes at her in confusion and suspicion. "What is it? A bomb?" he questioned half-jokingly.

"No, shithead" she laughed warmly, "just open it and see for yourself."

"Alright" Jack said slowly, clearly still somewhat suspicious and confused. "I will" he added.

After he finished eating, Jack gathered as many of the gifts as he could and hauled them up to the third floor living room where he wouldn't be bothered. It took several trips, but he eventually got all his unopened presents up there. Jack played a few rounds of his favorite high-speed racing game before he opened any of the presents.

The first few he opened were from Evan. How Jack knew this was because they were all unlabelled. Evan never signed the gifts he gave Jack, and half the time he didn't even sign Paige's. It was just a simple tag with Jack's name on it and nothing else. Everything in the first few bags were flashy and expensive. Some of the things Evan got him were things he already had. Though Jack was looking forward to all of the new video games Evan bought him. Only one of the dozen was one he already had.