FALLING DOWN |Spencer White

NINE|A Duck?

|💔|

Music played lightly over her record player on top of her dresser as Jack sat legs crossed in the middle of her bed with her back against her headboard while Malakai's head rested in her lap as he lay stretched out in front of her on his back. She'd brought him back to her house to stay the night and given him a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that belonged to Ca$h to wear so that he'd be more comfortable than in the long skirt Darren had dressed him in hours earlier.

The boy's eyes were closed as she gently ran her fingers through his hair soothingly and she was unsure if he was even still awake but she received an answer a moment later when his eyes slowly fluttered open and he peered up at her.

"You okay?" She asked softly as she smoothed out his curly hair over his head. His head shifted slightly, grabbing her a small nod.

"Just—" he yawned, cutting of his own words, "—tired."

She nodded and they shifted from their positions, her standing up to turn the record player off and him shuffling to the back of her bed, lying beside the wall. After the room fell quiet Jack made her way over to the bed and slid under the covers beside her friend before turning the bedside lamp off, shrouding them in slight darkness seeing as it was beginning to get light outside with the early hours of the morning.

"Get some sleep Malakai." She whispered to the boy as she laid down on her pillows.

|💔|

When Malakai woke up the next morning he found himself alone in an unfamiliar bedroom, momentarily confused until he remembered that Jack had helped him back to her place last night and he realised he was in her bed. With hazy memories of the night before, he lifted the duvet and looked down at himself, seeing that he was wearing clothes he didn't recognise.

"We didn't have sex, relax," he heard a voice from the doorway and looked up to see Jack enter, wearing baggy pyjamas and carrying a plate, "I wouldn't do that."

"What? Have sex with me?" He questioned. He pushed himself up into a seated position against the headboard as she sat down on the bed beside him. She shook her head with a light chuckle, "I mean take advantage of you when you're vulnerable, but, yeah, that too."

"You wouldn't have sex with me? Why are we even friends then?" He joked and she lightly shoved his shoulder with an eye roll and a tut.

He looked down at the plate as she held it out to him, seeing that on it were two slices of toast; one with a deep reddish-pink jam on it and another just butter. He gingerly took the buttered slice and she took the one with jam before placing the empty plate onto her lap to catch the crumbs, "I wasn't sure if you liked rhubarb jam or not so I played it safe with butter." She explained.

"Thanks." He offered her a small grateful smile, "and not just for the toast." He added but she just shook her head, "No need to thank me."

They ate their toast in silence until it was broken by the sound of a quack at the bedroom door. Jack glanced up as Darude wandered in from the hallway before breaking off a piece of crust from her toast and tossing it to him. She chuckled at Malakai's bewildered expression as Darude ate the piece toasted bread.

"Is that a live duck?" He asked in disbelief and she nodded, "Yeah, that's Darude." She told him casually, "He's Dougie's but he likes to wander in here sometimes, we've had him since he was a duckling." She explained, "You can pet him if you want, he's really friendly, or as Dougie would say: 'a proper mad-lad.'"

"I can't tell if this is a joke or not."

"I'm being deadly serious." She stated before beckoning the duck over, "Come here mate."

Albeit a little bit confused, Malakai leaned over her and reached his hand out towards the duck, gently stroking the feathers on his head.

|💔|

"Nah, I'm still confused, why a duck?" Malakai questioned the next day at school as the pair made their way towards the gymnasium for an assembly. Apparently the boy still couldn't wrap his head around why she had a pet duck. He would have been messaging her about it on Sunday but he'd turned off his phone because of the gif of him yelping when he hit the ground that had been circulating which he was glad Jack hadn't tried to talk to him about.

She shrugged, "good company."

"So are dogs and cats and goldfish," he listed, "How the hell did you end up with a duck?"

"We didn't buy him or anything, we rescued him." She told him, hoping to shut him up about the duck, "our uncle has a farm, which Nan says is definitely a cover for a meth lab. Anyway, there was loads of ducklings running around and our cousin was about to drown them so me and Dougie begged Nan to let us save them. Of course she said no at first but we were only little and she could never really say no to us back then so she said we could save one. And that's how we ended up with Darude." She shrugged at the end of her story.

"That's quite sweet actually," Malakai commented, "I feel a bit bad for dogging on at you about it."

"Whatever Marcus," she dismissed as they met up with Ca$h outside the hall before making their way to three empty seats, Ca$h yawning as they did so.

"What's got you so tired?" Jack asked him but he just waved her off.

"Good morning, everybody." Woodsy began as she stood at her podium at the front of the room, "So, I have an announcement. It's really very thrilling. Hartley High has been selected to kick off the city of Sydney Interschool basketball semifinals." She paused for applause before continuing, "Which will garner some much needed positive attention after the map debacle."

"Map Bitch." Spider heckled.

"Put a sock in it Spencer," Woodsy scolded the boy, "it's actually a very big honour and we would like all of you to do your bit and help us clean up our school."

Jack teasingly nudged her brother's knee with her own when she noticed him sharing looks with Darren across the hall, laughing to himself. His giggly smile was replaced with a bashful one when he met her gaze and realised he'd been caught.

"Don't actual cleaners do that Miss?" Ant questioned.

"Great contribution Anthony. Anything else?" Woodsy snarked dryly, "As a little incentive the student who picks up the most bags of rubbish will receive a PlayStation...gift voucher. Valued at  $50. It's still a lot. And yes the cleanup is compulsory. You will be handed our schedules in the first period. Thank you."

|💔|

"Oi, Jack!"

At the sound of her name she paused, a small smile on her face as she heard the boys voice. She glanced over at him as he caught up to her, "Hi, Spider," she greeted as he fell in step beside her, walking slowly down the hallway, "what's up?"

"Are you doing anything tonight?" He asked, shifting his bag slightly on his shoulder.

"No, why?"

"Would you like to do something with me? Like, I don't know, a date or something." He looked away awkwardly mumbling the latter half of his sentence.

She frowned lightly, not hearing the lat part of his sentence, "I didn't catch that last bit sorry. Can you repeat it?"

"Uh, do you want to go on a date with me?" He asked again hopefully, this time loud enough for her to actually hear it.

Her heart jumped, "Uh, sure—I mean, yeah."

"Yeah? Cool, cool, I'll see you later then. I'll text you okay?"

She nodded, unable to help the small smile on her lips as he stepped away and headed off to his lesson.