Breaking Surface

Chapter One

Jack and Jill went the hill to fetch a pail of water...

--------------

"Jack!" the boy's mother called upstairs, beckoning for her son to come down to breakfast. "I made pancakes!"

"I'm coming, Mom!" he yelled back, yawning sleepily as he pulled his favorite navy blue shirt over his head. "Hold up!" He jogged downstairs and met his mother in the kitchen, nearly knocking the plate of pancakes she was holding out of her hands.

"Oh," she gasped, startled. "You scared me. Now sit down and eat your breakfast. You're going to be late for school."

"I know, I know," he said, dipping into the plate of pancakes in front of him. "What time is it?" he asked, his mouth stuffed full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," his older sister, Amanda, said, coming into the kitchen and taking a swig of orange juice from the glass on the table. "By the way, your phone's been going off all morning. I think it's Jill." She tossed his phone onto the table in front of him, picked up an apple, and took a large bite.

"Do you need a ride to school?" their mother asked, turning from the stove to address her two children. Amanda was a senior and could technically drive herself, but Jack was still a sophomore and hadn't yet gotten his license.

"No, Josh is picking me up," Amanda said. Josh was her boyfriend, a fellow senior at Ridgemont High. She set down her orange juice as she heard a horn honk. "Actually, I think that's him now." She parted the lacy white curtains, peering into the street in front of their house. "Yep," she said, spotting the senior sitting atop his shiny red motorcycle. "See you!" She picked up her baby blue backpack and headed out. Jack watched through the still-parted curtains as she walked out to meet Josh, kissing him before putting on her helmet and climbing atop the back of the motorcycle, causing Jack to nearly gag on his pancakes.

He hated Josh, the smug, blonde quarterback who was not only the star of the football team but also surfed in his spare time and got straight A's in all of his classes. He was just about the most popular boy in the entire school, and every girl, from freshman to senior, had a crush on him. He had always been rather mean to Jack, and liked to humiliate him in front of his sister.

"What about you?" his mother asked, snapping him from his daydream.

"Huh? Oh, uh, no, I'm walking with Jill," he answered, finishing off his pancakes and rising from the table. "She should be here soon." His mother nodded, and he went back upstairs to finish getting ready for school.

At eight o'clock on the dot Jill rang the doorbell, her neon green and blue backpack slung over one shoulder. "Ready?" she asked as Jack opened the door.

"Good morning to you, too," he teased, elbowing her playfully and locking the door behind her. She rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair, which she knew he hated. "Hey!" he said, grinning as he shoved her out of his way. She screeched as she tripped and fell puff the sidewalk into a neighbor's flowerbed.

"Sorry!" she called to the glaring woman who stood scowling at them from her kitchen window as Jill scrambled out of the bush, leaving some fairly flattened petunias behind as she skipped to meet Jack, who stood a few feet ahead of her, laughing. "Smooth," he told her, a grin playing across his face. "Ow," he complained loudly after she smacked him across the head, but he still smiled.

Jack and Jill had been best friends ever since the third grade when he had stuck up for her to a bully. The boy had been mocking Jill, causing her to cry, and had taken her lunch. Jack had punched the boy in the face and given Jill part of his own lunch to compensate for what the boy had ruined. Jill had instantly fallen in love with Jack, and they had been like brother and sister ever since.

They were just beginning a vivd conversation on their dislike of the new math teacher when the cheerleaded's cherry pink convertible pulled up, the four snotty passengers slowing down as they noticed Jack and Jill.

"Aw, look, it's Dorky and the Snob," one mocked as the car pulled up alongside them.

"Lookslike Little Miss A-Cup finally got a boyfriend. How much does she have to pay you for the hour, Jackie? Are you sure it's worth it?" another chimed in.

"Hey, maybe I can match it," another joked, and they all burst into laughter.

Jill bit her lip, afraid of what might come out, when Jack stepped in. "Don't you girls have a sweater to stuff or something? Why don't you just move along in your little toy car, Barbie, and go meet Ken?"

"Meow, the kitty's got claws," the first girl taunted, laughing and flipping her strawberry-blonde hair.

"Careful, or he might punch you too!" another warned, giggling. People hadn't really let things go after he had punched that boy so many years ago, even though no one had really known him until after Jack. Even though people still made fun of him for it, he didn't regret it.

The car sped off, but not before the girls had the time to throw their empty Coke cans at Jack and Jill. Jill rolled her eyes, kicking one into the street, where it was instantly flattened by a passing car. "Jerks," she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, really," Jack said, shoving his clenched fists into sweatshirt pockets. "I don't get why they don't just leave us alone."

That was the only lie he ever told Jill.