The Pledge (Jalex)

New Jack

Sometimes, we have to kill off part of ourselves before we can become something truly beautiful. That's what I was doing. It was the beginning of a new year, and I was planning on breaking out of my shell and becoming more confident in myself. I was tired of being sad and angry with my life. So, that's why I was in the store I was in.

I had always really like more punk fashion and more darker colors. But I'd been too afraid to actually dress that way for the simple fear of what my parents would say, or what everyone else would say. That fear wasn't completely gone yet, but hey, I had to start living my life for me at some point or another. So with my saved up one hundred fifty dollars, I was shopping, looking for stuff that I truly liked.

Most of the people in the store had piercings and tattoos. Those were interesting. Piercings always looked cool, but I was much too squeamish to actually get one, and needles scared me shitless. I tried reaching for a gray beanie hanging on the store's wall, when my hand brushed someone else's. I had had no idea that someone was even close to me, so I instantly retracted my hand and looked down at the floor. No, Jack, remember, you're changing! No more shy around the bush Jack! Look them in the eye! I scolded myself and made myself look up to the person who's hand had accidentally grazed mine. It was a guy, his hair was a medium shade of brown, his eyes had met mine, fleetingly. It was Alex. I'd known Alex since freshman year and we'd talked a few times, though we'd never been all that close. He always came off a bit of an asshole to me.

"Hey, sorry about that dude." He smiled at me. "I can barely reach that. Do you mind getting it for me?" I blinked and glanced up at the beanie. I couldn't tell if it was the last one or not.

"Depends. Is it the last one?" I asked him. He raised a thick eyebrow at me and looked up at the wall. He shook his head.

"I think there's a few more." He told me. I shrugged and reached up, getting him and myself a beanie. "Thanks, dude."

"You're welcome." I told him and turned to finish my shopping. I had a handful of shirts in my hands and a few pairs of skinny jeans. I sighed and decided that I had enough stuff, so I went to check out. My arm was falling asleep with how much weight was on it. I payed for all my stuff and left. I drove home and went to put all of my stuff away, having thrown out a whole bunch of old clothes, I had plenty of hangers.

"What're you doing?" My sister, May, asked me. I shrugged.

"Don't worry about it." I told her, hanging another shirt and putting it into my messy closet.

"You're my brother, Jack, and I'm in charge of you, so I kinda have to worry about it." May told me simply. I glanced at her. I knew she wasn't going away until I answered her question.

"I went shopping. I got new clothes. I'm putting them away." I short-handed it. Because there was no real reason to explain to her that the reason I went shopping was to keep my New Year pledge to myself. Or why I even had a pledge in the first place.

"You went shopping and didn't take me with you? Jack, you and I know that you're fashion sense sucks." May told me, stepping into my room. I rolled my eyes at her.

"It does not." I argued back. I didn't dress weird, it was more that I dressed how I felt like. If I felt like wearing shorts, then I was going to wear shorts, even if it was December.

"You wore a bright purple shirt for our visit to gran's." May reminded me.

"The Ravens had just won. I'm sorry for showing some team spirit." I told her. I glanced at my lazily scattered shoes in the bottom of my closet. I could take care of that at another time. "Do you want something? Why're you still in here?"