Breaking Surface

Chapter Three

The next time Jack saw his sister, she was standing in a crowd of friends, crying.

As Jack walked towards her to see what was wrong, he couldn't help catching little snippets of their conversation.

"I- I just don't understand," he heard his sister splutter as she choked on her own tears. "I just don't understand why he would do this to me!"

The "he" was probably Josh. What he did wrong, Jack could only imagine.

"Right before the Fall Ball," she sobbed.

"But you two were so good together!" her friend Ashley said, stroking Amanda's strawberry blonde hair. "You made such a good couple!"

"I know, right!" another girl in the group agreed.

"He said- he said he wanted to take someone else to the dance," his sister continued, her sea green eyes filling with tears as she related the story.

"Who on earth could he possibly pick over you?" Alicia asked sympathetically.

"I don't know!" Amanda wailed.

"Is everything alright?" Jack asked, elbowing his way through the crowd to his sister.

"Go away, Jack!" his sister yelled. "I'm not in the mood."

"What happened?" he asked Alicia softly, stepping out of the group to speak with her in private. Alicia was the nicest of the group and had the most patience for Jack.

"Josh broke up with her," she whispered back.

"Oh," he said, mustering as much sympathy and regret as he could muster, which wasn't much considering he was dancing with joy on the inside. "How sad."

"Yeah, she's real torn up about it. Right before the Fall Ball."

"That's too bad," he said, turning to hide his smile. "Oh well, I'll talk to her at home. You know, when she calms down."

"Alright," she said, turning back to her friend. "See ya."

***

Jack raced out to meet Jill in their usual school hangout, a small enclosure surrounded by trees where no one else cared to venture. When he saw her he ran up, picked her up and spun her around, just like he had seen in countless movies.

"What's with the cliché entrance?" she asked, laughing as he put her down.

"They broke up!" he grinned widely.

"Who?"

"Josh and my sister!"

"Oh. Uh... congrats." there was a moment of wild excitement that played through her hazel eyes, sparkling as new hope was given to her wildest fantasies. "Is he- I mean, is SHE ok?"

"Oh no, she's heartbroken and sobbing in the hallway," he said seriously. "But yay for us! No more obnoxious boyfriend hanging around my house!"

"Awesome!" she said, not really paying attention to what he was saying anymore. "Great for you."

"Yeah, but I do feel kind of bad for Amanda." He paused and then shrugged. "Oh well. It had to happen eventually, right? So why not now!"

"Yep," she smiled.

"Great," he grinned. At that precise moment the bell rang, signaling that their moment break was over. "Well, I'll see you at lunch, ok?" he said, turning and heading off to his next class.

"Ok..." she said quietly.

***

"What'd you bring today?" Jack asked, sitting down at their usual lunch table that day and taking out his lunch bag.