After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 73

It was an exhausting but productive spring for the Langley family who sat in the gallery of Courtroom 4 as they continued through the trenches of testimony. After running into Jack in the communal washroom back in March, Ralph was a little off for a couple days. Holding Jack for a mere moment felt like a tease, one that came and went as quickly as the snap of one's fingers. Like the kiss they shared back in January, the moment lingered in Ralph's mind with the mess of all the memories he shared with Jack.

Five years. It was five years ago that he first met Jack at the academy, when he started fifth grade. Ralph tried to fall asleep to memories from the very beginning, jumbled in with the traumatic ones from the island, the exciting ones from after the fact, and the heartbreaking ones from more recent times. Ralph's head was a disorganized scrapbook of pain and grief. He spent pointless hours trying to put random events back in their respective orders in his head, with the underlying question of where did it all go so wrong?

Meanwhile, unlike their grieving son, Jeffery and Laurie Langley maintained their relationships with the two Merridew siblings. They met Paige for dinner on occasion to check in, and continued to make themselves available to her and her brother by phone anyday, anytime. When things got bad between Jack and Evan, Paige often called Jeffery or Laurie for moral support and reassurance. For the most part, Jack kept his own contact with the Langleys to a minimum. Both Paige and the Langley parents knew that the boys' breakup was Jack's doing, but still it was clear that his former relationship with the brunette boy was impacting his desire to reach out for Jeffery and Laurie's support. He very rarely did so without Paige practically holding his hand through it, but even without the Jack and Ralph conflict in the way, Jack had never been the reaching out type. He was used to handling his troubles on his own, so he really only accepted guidance and support when he stumbled upon it, or if it was practically shoved down his throat.

Just as Dana Barnes was starting to get into the thick of her case against Rapper, Ralph finished ninth grade. It was a mircale too, given that he didn't actually attend. He completed all his work from the confines of his family hotel room in Savannah, and brought it back to East Point in chunks over the course of the trial thus far. His teachers reached out via email with updates on his progress and grades, and was forced to answer his questions along the way just the same. Ralph wasn't the only one who completed that school year under similar conditions. For the most part, the survivors of the island received honorary passes in their respective grades given the unusual circumstances. Ralph was less than proud of his achievements this school year. None of it felt authentic, and he'd been distracted by the trial even when he did sit down and work.

Of course, Jeffery and Laurie were proud of their son far more than he was proud of himself. Jeffery reminded his son that only himself and twenty-one other boys can say they completed a year's worth of school work and stood trial in a court of law all at the same time. Still, Ralph only saw it as a negative. How he longed for the normal life he once had. He even missed the snobby private school kids and the sweaty, hot thirty minute bus rides everyday.

Ralph hung out with Sam and Eric a couple times over the course of the spring, while their parents met privately or out of town to talk about adult crap. It wasn't often that Ralph got to see the twins outside the courthouse, but it was nice to catch up with them and share their worries and thoughts about the trial, even if it was only once every six weeks or so.

Ralph only bumped into Paige one time that spring, and she was far more evasive with him than she used to be, even here in Savannah. He wondered if maybe Jack had said something to her about what happened between them or perhaps even why he ended the relationship. But ultimately, Ralph doubted it. Jack wasn't much of a sharer, even on the best of days. And no day in Savannah was ever really a good day.