Trust Your Instincts

-6- Tree Climbers

 School was finally over, Jack had made it through the first of many days of ridicule from his classmates. He climbed his usual tree in the park across the street from his house, he decided that he'd rather be outside right now, the fresh air helped him think. He had a lot on his mind nowadays, but the only thought that seemed to surface right now was the thought of Mark. Jack didn't like Mark, he couldn't tell why, but but he could almost feel the negative vibes radiating off him. He couldn't help but feel bad for him though, he knew he was being a jerk to him all day for no reason. After spending his time alone at lunch, he realised that he couldn't blame Mark for Isaac not meeting up with him for the first day of school.

 Even during physics, he was made fun of much less than when he was in the other classes. He wondered if that was because of Mark. Maybe people didn't wanna yell their insults over Mark in case he thought that they were directed at him. He knew that Mark had never ridiculed him either, not intentionally at least. So why was he being so stubborn? Why was he so determined to stay mad at Mark for no reason?

 Jack's thoughts were interrupted by a voice directly behind him. It was a soft voice, so soft that Jack couldn't even make out the words, but it still took him by surprise and made him fall off the branch he was sitting on. Before he hit the ground though a hand shot down and grabbed his arm, yanking him effortlessly back up to be perched on the branch once again. Jack looked over at the man who had saved him from falling to the ground, but had also been the reason he had almost hit the ground in the first place. He looked up into the deep green eyes, their furrowed brow making the stare look even more intense through the thick glasses.

 Jack punched Isaac in the arm, forcing a chuckle out of the latter. "You almost killed me!" He shouted, faking rage.

 "But then I saved you again." Isaac replied, smirking, his blond hair falling over his eyes almost gracefully. His expression turned more serious, before continuing, "I came to apologise for this morning. It was an honest mistake. I would never have intentionally left you alone like that, and I never got the chance to explain myself to you all day. Were you in the music room all of lunch?"

 Jack nodded, smiling slightly at the concern that was evident in Isaac's face and voice. Isaac was the one person he couldn't possibly hold a grudge against. He wondered if anyone would ever be able to hold a grudge against him. "Don't worry about it, I overreacted." Jack said, allowing his Irish accent to show itself in his words. He tried to hide it as best as he could at school, but he felt comfortable around Isaac and Josh, and sometimes around Felix.

 Isaac smiled and put an arm around Jack. "It's getting quite chilly. Do you wanna get down from here and head to my house? My dad's making steaks I think!" Isaac asked enthusiastically.

 "Alright," Jack replied, practically beaming now, "as long as you don't make me play monopoly again," he said, his blue eyes trying to look as threatening as they could, but failing. 

 "Deal." Isaac agreed, and helped Jack down the tree, humming cheerfully the whole time.

 "And you know I like my steaks rare." Jack added, as if Isaac wasn't already aware.

---

Mark got home from his first day of school feeling oddly deflated. It had been a great day for the most part. Everyone was so nice to him, girls were flirting with him, and he had made three really close friends, maybe four, if Will was to be included. He didn't understand why one person had such an effect on him. Jack had only ignored him, he hadn't insulted him, so why did Mark feel so bad about the interaction that day?

 As he reached the first step of the staircase his dad called his name. When he asked how school had been, Mark had simply said it was quite good. That he had made some new friends and he was fitting in well. He wasn't lying, but he must have still looked upset about Jack, because his dad didn't believe him. Mark didn't really care too much. He ended the conversation quick and headed up to his room, where he stayed for the rest of the night, reading and playing video games.

 He even dedicated an hour of his time to researching his assigned topic for the physics project. He didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Jack. Every five minutes he spent researching, however, he asked himself the same question: why did he care so much? Jack paid him no attention. Why was he still trying to make a friendship out of it? He eventually shut his laptop and crawled sleepily into his bed, ready for the nightly nightmares. But none came. His sleep was dreamless for once.

________

A/N Hello again!

This whole story is gonna be in third person I think, but I will try my best to show both Mark and Jack's side of things!

Also, if you see any problems with spelling or whatnot please don't hesitate to correct me!!

Thanks for reading this far! I hope you're enjoying it! :D