No Exceptions(Adopted by Jack Barakat)

Chapter Fifteen: August

During August our lives became crazy. I mean they were crazy before, but they became even crazier. Tour started in four weeks and there was a lot to be done before it did. Set lists had to be made, guitars had to be picked, picks and strings had be bought, socks had to be replaced and we had to decide whether or not I was going.
The morning of July fifth we discussed it over breakfast, but never came to a firm decision. The morning of August eighth we discussed it again and made a decision.
"So if you want to stay here and go to school, which is fine, Lisa said you can stay with her, but if you want to come, which is fine too, you can do online school. It's really up too you." He said between bites of cereal.
"As much as I want to stay I'd rather go with you." I told him.
"Okay." And it was settled. "So Zack is coming into town next week and he'll be staying with us until tour starts." I nodded and kept eating. Silence settled over us for a few minutes. Jack groaned.
"I just realized that means I have to go dig the air mattress out of the shed." So after we ate he trekked out to the back yard and I followed. I sat in one of the lawn chairs and watched while he unlocked the door and started hauling things out. The first thing out was a bike.
"You have a bike?" I asked.
"Yeah. I don't ride it much though. Keep forgetting I have it." He walked back into the shed and I walked over to the bike. I hadn't ridden one since I was little. I decided to see if I could ride his. I put it the seat down as far as it would go and then attempted to get on it. I say attempted because it took three tries before I managed to get up there. I made it to the driveway and then decided I couldn't do it. My legs just weren't long enough. I got off and walked it back.
"Were you trying to ride my bike?" He asked.
"Yes, but I'm too short or maybe you're too tall. I'm not sure which. Did you find the air mattress?"
"Yep. Now I just have to put everything back." He sighed and started dragging things back inside. I went back in the house and started making lunch. After lunch he went out to run errands. He came back with a package of AAA batteries, toothpaste, a loaf of bread, two jars of strawberry jam and blond hair. I was sitting on one of the bar stools and didn't turn around when he walked in. Not until he asked,
"What do you think?"
"Hmm?" I tore my eyes off my book and turned to look at him. I nearly fell backwards off my stool.
"Holy-aah!" I grabbed the edge of the counter to keep from falling. Jack laughed.
"Is that a good response or a bad one?"
"I have no idea. But I like your hair!" He laughed and thanked me.

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The week flew by. The house had to be thoroughly cleaned, sheets had to be found, laundry had to be done and food had to be bought. And then the day arrived.
"So his flight gets in in an hour and I've got a couple errands to run before I head to the airport. Are you coming or staying?"
"I'm gonna stay here and tidy up."
"Neat freak."
"Excuse me for not wanting to live in a pig sty." He smiled and shook his head.
"Whatever floats your boat. I'll be back in an hour or so." He kissed my forehead and left. I tidied up the kitchen and living room, wiped down the bathroom and pushed laundry before making brownies. I was in the midst of putting laundry away when I heard the door open and Jack laughing.
"Baby girl?" He called.
"Just a minute." I replied. I finished putting away the pile of towels I was holding and made my way to the kitchen.
"Hi!" I said, smiling.
"Hey. It smells amazing in here." Jack said, giving me hug.
"I made brownies. And don't worry about supper I've got that taken care off."
"Have I told you how amazing you are?" I shrugged and turned my attention to Zack. Though not as tall as Jack he was much more muscular. And he had a lot more tattoos. "Oh right. Anna this is Zack. Zack this is Annalise."
"It's nice to meet you."
"You too."
"Oh! I bought you something." Jack said, sounding very excited. I put my hands on my hips and stared up at him.
"I thought we talked about this?" He just smiled. I sighed, "What is it this time?"
"Go look in the driveway." I walked past him and opened the door. Standing in the drive was a pale green bike. I smiled.
"You bought me a bike."
"As funny as it was to watch you try to ride mine I thought you might like to have your own."
"Thank you." I turned around and gave him a hug after closing the door.
"You're welcome." Our moment was interrupted by the timer on the oven going. While I took care of the brownies Zack headed to down to Jack's office which had been designated his bedroom since I had taken the guest room and Jack went back outside to get something form the car.
"I think I'm gonna try out my new bike." I told him when he came back in.
"Sure. Have fun." I run out past him and hop onto my bike. I take off and ride around the block a couple times before calling it quits and going home for lunch.
   Jack was sitting at the table eating a bowl of ramen when I came back.
"Hey! Hilarious story to tell you!" He said when he saw me.
"Yeah?"
"I forgot to tell Zack about the cats and Rory nearly gave him a heart attack." He chuckled.
"It wasn't that funny." Zack said walking into the room. He and I made ourselves sandwiches and joined Jack at the table. We talked, we laughed, we ate. We were like this perfect little family and honestly I kind of wished we could have stayed that way.

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The next morning I woke up at seven which was earlier than I had been. I got up and threw on my sweater before making my way down the hall to the kitchen. I turned the corner and nearly had a heart attack.
"Oh my god." I took a step back out of surprise. I placed my hand on my chest and could feel the erratic beating of my heart. Zack chuckled lightly and took another sip of his coffee.
"You gave me a heart attack." I said with a smile.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. It's just I'm usually the first one up and when Jack does get up first you can tell as soon as you're awake. Silence is not one of Jack's strong suits." I responded while pouring myself a glass of juice and putting two waffles in the toaster. Zack chuckled again.
"Oh trust me I know." He focused his attention back on the counter. I followed his gaze and noticed a book laying there. He took another drink of his coffee. My waffles popped up and I buttered them, before taking a seat at the bar. Silence settled over us while I ate and he read. Jack joined us shortly after.
"Morning, baby girl. Zack." He poured a cup of coffee and took a seat beside me. I finished eating and went to take a shower. After my shower I went downstairs to bring up the clean laundry. Pretty much all of the clean clothing was down there. As I was coming back up my foot got caught on the last step and I fell through the doorway, slamming into the wall. Two of my fingers got caught between the basket and the wall.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed at the pain that shot through my hand. I sat up and examined my fingers. I tried to bend them and hissed as pain shot through them. Most likely broken. I stood and walked into the bathroom. I dug around in the cabinet for gauze, but came up empty handed. So I used the next best thing. I went to the bathroom in search of tissues and then back to the kitchen for tape. Zack was sitting at the table reading his book. He looked up as I walked back in.
"Are you okay?" He asked noticing my left hand cradled to my chest.
"Yeah. I just need the tape so I can bandage up my fingers." I pulled open the junk drawer and dug around till I found the tape.
"What happened to your fingers?" Zack asked just as Jack walked in.
"Your fingers? What's wrong with your fingers?" Jack asked.
"I think I broke them." I said with shrug before I wrapped tissues around both my fingers and taped them together. One makeshift splint.
"You what?" Jack's eyes bugged out.
"See?" I held up my left hand. "I'm fine."
"Uh . . ."
"Allison couldn't afford to take us to the doctor for everything thing so she learned simple first aid. Besides this is all a doctor would do for me any way. Same with broken toes or noses. Better to do it yourself than pay astronomical prices for someone else to do it for you."
"Okay?" Jack didn't sound convinced.
"Resourceful." Zack said before going back to his book. I smiled at Jack and went back to the laundry basket I had left at the top of the stairs.
"She never ceases to amaze me." I heard Jack say as I walked away. "I can't imagine life without her."
"I've been here less than a day, but already I can see the change she's made in your life." Zack replied.
"Yeah. Oh fuck that hurt." And then all that could be heard was laughter. I smiled. In five seconds their conversation went from sentimental to foolish. But that was to be expected when you lived with Jack Barakat.

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What Anna does to bandage her fingers is what my mom's been doing since my oldest brother started rugby when he was seven. Most times she uses gauze and medical tape, but in a pinch tissues and scotch tape work too.  It's just a method of keeping your fingers from moving so you don't make the breaks worse.