How to Fall in Love in Three Easy Steps

Prologue

As Jack Barakat stepped out of the stark, white building for the first time in two weeks, he felt a strong urge to kiss the ground and cry out with joy. Sure, if he hadn't been admitted there in the first place, he would probably be dead at this moment, but that did not lessen the pain he had suffered in there.

Next to him, his mother was silent as she led her son to the small, black Volvo parked in the rehab center's lot. When Jack plopped down into the passenger's seat, he opened the glove box and spotted his phone, just where his mother had said it would be. For the first time in two weeks, he powered it up and held his beloved smartphone to his heart.

The phone came on and began pinging incessantly, messages coming in from the past two weeks. Jack scrolled down through them all and laughed at his friend's manic panic.

'jack where u been?'

'it's been five days now jack please knock it off'

'u fucking bastard answer ur damn phone'

'ur mom told me about wat happened damn'

'you got busted didnt you'

He immediately sent a reply to his best friend Greg, who was technically one of the reasons he was in rehab in the first place. Greg had introduced Jack to some risky drugs, like heroin, cocaine, and LSD. As Jack got hooked on it all, Greg watched as his friend suffered the disgusting consequences of using the drugs. In fact, sometimes Greg would take videos of Jack babbling on about nonsense while he was high.

' yo im out' Jack typed quickly.

Almost a second later, Greg replied with, 'sick man wanna go get smashed tonite'

Jack considered the idea for a second and as he was typing out 'yes,' his mom grabbed the phone out of his hands.

"What the hell?" Jack yelled as he tried to take the phone back.

"I don't want you talking to any of those deadbeats you hang around with."

"Mom, they're my friends!"

"Not anymore," his mother muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His mother looked over at him with glassy eyes. There was something in her eyes, a look of betrayal and hopelessness that caused Jack's own expression to soften.

"I can't let you go back to your old ways. Your father and I have decided that..."

"That what? Are you going to keep me under fucking house arrest?"

"Watch your mouth!" she chided, "And no. We're sending you to boarding school."

The whole world seemed to become fuzzy as the words settled in. Jack could hear his own reply of "What?" but it sounded like he was underwater, deep in the sea. What he wouldn't give for that to be true.

"I'm sorry, Jack. It's for your own good."

"Please anything but that! I'll stay away from drugs, go to school, do all my work, I'll even stop seeing Greg. Anything but boarding school, I'm begging you."

"The decision is final. We're dropping you off at the beginning of the first semester, which is next Monday."

Jack slunk down in his seat. "This fucking sucks," he thought to himself. He only had three days to say goodbye to everyone: his friends, his neighbors, his girlfriend. His eyes flickered down as he thought of her. Macie had been in his life for as long as he could remember, whether it was when Jack first learned how to ride a bike, or when he went to his first school dance. Everyone wanted them to be together, so they were. It wasn't like Jack didn't love her, of course he did, but not in a romantic way. He had wanted to break it off for weeks now, but not like this. Maybe it was better this way. Even though he had to say goodbye to her, he could finally get away from her constant texts, Chapstick kissed notes, and slobbery kisses. Plus Jack had lost interest in dating ever since he had been dumped by the one girl he considered his only love, Jennifer.  She was the only one for him, as far as he was concerned. His mom broke his train of thought as she tossed Jack's phone back into his lap. It was a good thing, for when Jack thought of Jennifer, he didn't want to do anything at all, not even moving.

"You'll thank me one day," his mom stated as she started up the car.

"Yeah, thanks for ruining my life."