The New York Mystery Crew: Jackson's Past (book 2)

Chapter 5: Unusually Strict Mother

IMPORTANT WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE SUBJECTS SUCH AS CHILD ABUSE! PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

On March 8, 2018, Jackson and his little sister, Juliana, were sitting in the backseat while Lisa was sitting the front with their mom, who was driving. "Why do we have to go again?" Jackson asked, clearly not wanting to go to the family event that his school was hosting. "It will be a good bonding experience for the family." His mom, Hayley, replied.

Jackson didn't believe that, but knew better than to roll his eyes at his mom. She would kill him if he did that and he knew it. He did not want to take any chances. At least not yet, if ever.

Jackson had been terrified of his mom ever since he was two years old, when Juliana was born. He never spoke about it, but had a good reason; he would end up dead if anyone found out about her 'parenting technique' that his dad never agreed with for another good reason that Jackson agreed with, secretly.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Jackson grew quiet. He knew that him coming would be useless as his mom would only want to spend time with Juliana.

But he did not expect what she did later on in the day after she spotted him actually having friends that she didn't know about.

Slowly, he got out of the car only to bump into Mason as soon as he stood up. "Sorry." He apologized, quickly. "I get clumsy sometimes." "You're fine." Mason replied with slight amusement. "Jack, where are you!?" Lisa called. "I gotta get going." Jackson said, quickly turning away. Why did that encounter give me a warm feeling in my chest? I'd better keep an eye on that just in case.

As Jackson met up with Lisa and his family, his mom was glaring at him, so he glanced to the ground, unable to meet her gaze, knowing what she was upset about.

"Who was that?" She demanded. "That was Mason." Jackson replied. His voice was soft and a small tremble in it. "Does it mean anything to you at the fact that Jack was able to make friends on his first day here?" Lisa asked, raising her eyebrow. Just as his mom started to yell at him for making friends without her permission, Jackson somehow teleported into the bathroom, giving it no mind. He just had to get away from there.

He silently slid down the wall and buried his face into his thighs, his arms wrapped around the top of his head.

Soon, there was a knock at the door.

"Jack, are you okay?" Came Phil's muffled voice. He heard the door close and felt a hand gently placed onto his shoulder. "Are you okay?" Phil repeated. Jackson slowly glanced up at him before quickly wiping the tears away and nodding his head. "It didn't sound like it." Phil protested. "I'm fine." Jackson insisted, meeting Phil's gaze with a small, fake smile.

Phil didn't look convinced, but didn't push it. He was smart enough to know that he wasn't going to get the real answer, so simply left it at that and hoped that Jackson would come forward to him or someone else in their friend group when he was ready.

Slowly, the two stood, finding their way out of the bathroom and back to the gym, where everything was being held. "By the way, how did you get there so fast?" Phil asked, casually. "I don't really know." Jackson answered, honestly. "I blinked and was suddenly inside the guys bathroom, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I didn't care at the time, but now that I'm thinking about it, it's kind of unusual."

"Sounds like teleportation to me." Someone commented, making Jackson and Phil jump. They turned in the direction of the sound and saw Mason standing on their right, leaning against the wall while eating a piece of toast.

"But after the whole 'ice crystal' incident, I'm not surprised by anything anymore." He added after he finished the food.

The three were silent for a while, with Jackson purposefully not finding his mom due to her 'parenting style' as he called it. But he didn't dare bring it up to his friends. He would be disowned if anyone outside of the household found out. Not even his grandparents knew and for good reason; he had never met them.