The Blue Tree.

Jack-In-A-Box

Mark's POV
Back to school. Yup weekends done. So is Ryan's homework. If he threatened literally anyone else, but Jack, I wouldn't care. Just my luck though, he did pick Jack. I don't why I'm so attracted to Jack. I'm not saying that as a prick or anything it's just I've never had these types of feeling before for someone so positive.

I grabbed a couple things and headed to the grocery store to follow procedures from Ryan.

I slid the homework behind a cereal box and made my way outside before bumping into someone.

"Is it done?" I heard a whisper. Ryan's whisper.

"Yeah it is, leave Jack alone. Got it?" I felt anger rise within me the more I thought about anyone hurting Jack.

"Yeah, I won't lay a finger on him." Ryan mumbled and walked in the dreadful store.

I walked to the bus stop hoping to see him there. That little Irish boy whom I loved and couldn't stop thinking about.

I finally got there and sat on the bench.

I looked down at the crack in the side walk and saw a few ants crawl out.

I wish I could be like an ant and just disappear for awhile. All this drama is making me go crazy. Moms getting crazier by the moment. Now I have to do Ryan's homework and get yelled at constantly.

Maybe if I just close my eyes my wish will come true.

Mark, no! That's baby talk. I can't wish upon stars and that shit. I already tried that. It's pointless. No wish comes true.

"Mark!" I looked up to meet blue oceanic eyes.

Maybe the dreams you didn't think you needed come true. The dreams that are barely in the back of your mind, they're just buried in your other greedy wishes.

My wish did come true.

I patted the seat by me and felt a smile grow on my lips. This feels so weird to be happy. To have something- no- someone to live for.

"Hey, look I'm sorry for the past in the way I've acted. I can be a real jerk sometimes. I rushed things, I don't want to end things, but I understand if this is kinda crazy." That was a mouthful. I didn't think I had that much to say.

"Hey, I like crazy." He sat by me and I laughed lightly remembering the first encounter we had in the exact spot. To be fair it wasn't too long ago.

He reached for my hand and I gladly took it as our fingers intertwined. I looked over at him and could see him blush, what a cutie. I looked into his blue ocean eyes and could tell something was wrong.

"Jack, you okay?" He nodded slowly and looked down. It's always better to ask a second time in case.

"Are you sure?" It took a few seconds before he shook his head no again. My hopes were that it wasn't anything too severe.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I tried to use my most gentle voice I could, which was hard considering I've only been gentle to Jack in, almost, my whole life.

"I don't... I think... I'm um..." A sigh escaped Jack's lips and I wanted to read his mind. What was going on in that wild brain of his?

"I don't know. It's going to sound stupid." I held Jack's pale hand gently in mine to comfort him.

"Let's see, you're a grade A student and you pay the most attention in class than any other student, the lowest grade I bet you've gotten is a-a what? B? Jack, I seriously doubt that anything you say will 'sound stupid'. And besides that point, anything you say to me will never be stupid." His eyes shifted to the ground and his hand felt a lot warmer.

"I'm a toy Mark." The sun didn't seem so bright, neither did his eyes.

"What?" Disbelief was clearly in my voice and confusion. I didn't mean to mock Jack, I just didn't understand.

"People thinks it's fun to play with me and they wind me up until I can't take it so... I pop out. For a few seconds everyone's scared, maybe even surprised by me. After that, they laugh. They push me back into the box and the cycle repeats. A Jack-In-A-Box." The clouds formed closer together and the scenery got a lot grayer.

"Last year I had a boyfriend and he was an exchange student for that year, he never really explained why. I guess I never looked for a deep answer, I was in too much puppy love. I was obsessed with him and I couldn't stop thinking about him. Then he found out the power he had over me and abused it. I gotta hand it to him, no one found out about how he'd make me do terrible things. I was a perfect student. I guess that's why his grades were doing okay. Because I'd write his papers, his homework, on test days I'd tell him the answers through text. If I failed him... If I got a question wrong on the test... I-I..." His breath hitched and he looked away, avoiding eye contact with me. So he looked forward instead. He bit his lip then finally rolled his sleeve up to expose a very faded bruise.

"Jack, oh my God." I gasped lightly and lightly guided my fingers across his arm. I've never seen him in a short sleeve I suppose, doesn't it hurt? I bet more emotionally than physically.

"I don't want to be a toy Mark. I want to be me." His baby blue eyes seemed to cloud up like the sky and I held one of his hands gently and reassuring. If I every saw the bastard who did this, I'd teach them a lesson.

"Come here." I patted on my lap and his head hung low as he straddled my lap and buried his face in the crock of my neck. I rubbed his back gently and I heard his breath hitch. Then a river of tears streamed down his face onto my shirt. And the rain poured down.

Something told me this wasn't just a coincidence.