The Pain Thief

Chapter 11

A NEW POWER

Jack couldn't help but to wonder why girls took so long to buy dresses. His mom and sisters arrived home from the mall on Friday night, hours after they had gone out. Jack expected Zoe to be there, but they had dropped her off at home. 

Now it was Saturday and the Browns' were getting ready for the fall festival. It would be held at the community center like it was every year. Usually the place was decked out with all the classic decorations: pumpkins, fruit, leaves and red or orange colored lighting. 

Jack knew he was dressing up this time, but still wondered why as he pulled on his dress pants over his boxers. He put on a clean, white, button-up dress shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, keeping the collar buttoned down to his collar bone. Around his neck, he loosely tied a black tie. Jack looked himself over in the mirror. 

It was almost funny that he was in black and white tonight, with his pitch black hair hanging messily on his head. Usually it was Zoe that kept the colors neutral. 

He smiled as he walked downstairs. He didn't know why, but he was feeling nervous for some reason, more so than usual. 

He sat on the couch, flipping channels while waiting for the rest of his family. His dad joined him soon enough, wearing nice dress pants and a deep blue dress shirt. 

"This'll be a while, won't it?" asked Jack. 

His dad sighed. "Most likely. You mom's helping your sisters with their hair and their dresses. Most women take a long time getting ready anyway."

Jack sighed too. "So why did we get ready so early?"

His dad shrugged. "It makes them think they're late. Maybe they'll move a little faster." He sighed. "Sarah wants to dress nice for some boy tonight too..."

Jack smiled at the unhappy tone in his dad's voice. 

The girls came down twenty minutes later. All three of them looked quite beautiful. His mom was dressed in a teal dress that was a few shades lighter than his dad's shirt and ended just a bit before her knees. Sarah had on a simple white dress with flowers moving up it and Jana had on an orange dress with a yellow bow tied around the middle. 

"You guys look great," he said. "Can we go?"

His mother laughed while his sisters gave him a dirty look. "You better be a little nicer to Zoe," said Sarah. "She's going to look amazing tonight."

The five of them walked to the car, and before he could catch himself, Jack said, "Zoe always looks amazing."

Sarah stopped in her tracks as Jack realized what he just said and blushed. He didn't know why he said that, it just came out without him thinking. 

"She always looks amazing?" said Sarah teasingly. She had a huge smile on her face, along with both of his parents. 

Jack just looked away as they got in and changed the subject, "So I hear you want to talk with some guy tonight. Why haven't I met him?" 

Sarah kept the sly smile on her face, but Jack could tell she was nervous. "Because you don't need to," she said stubbornly. 

He smiled a little as he felt his face begin to cool down. 

When they got there, they parked a little ways away to avoid all the cars and walked over to the community center. There was music playing and lights blaring inside and people milling around talking outside. All in all, it looked pretty fun. 

They walked up to the entrance and Jack looked around. 

"Looking for someone?" asked Sarah slyly.