Wake Up Jack

Afterschool

“Hurry up Jack. We only have fifteen minutes to get to the tram.”

“I’m coming,” replied Jack, his voice muffled due to it being inside his locker, “Just need to find my textbook.”

“Which textbook?” asked Lily.

“Maths.”

“That’s already in your fucking bag!”

Jack head slowly emerged from the locker. “Oh yeah it is. Oops.”

“Come on stupid, or we will miss the tram.”

They grabbed their bags and ran down the stairs, past the wood, metal and plastic works rooms. Then past the music room and an IT room before racing out the door, across two basketball courts and down the street.

“There it is! Quick, we can still make it,” Jack yelled over his shoulder.

Lily was close behind and didn’t reply. They reached the tram only seconds before the door closed. The pair quickly stepped on and soon after noticed The Boys and Emily standing at the back of the tram.

“Hey guys, thanks for waiting at school for us,” called Jack loudly.

“No problem Jackie. We just didn’t want to risk being late. You two lovers only made it by a few seconds,” replied Emily.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” said Lily.

“Hey do you two wanna come with us to the milk bar and the park now? Just chill out,” asked Tim.

“I can’t. Gotta look after those two annoying kids Sam and Nicole again.”

“And I was gonna go with him,” added Lily.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know that I don’t have to. But I want to.”

“Okey Doke. If you say so. Looks like you guys are going to the park as a group of four.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“That was stupid. And really weird,” announced Lily.

“What was?” asked Harry.

“You all saying okay. It was like it was planned or something,” said Lily suspiciously.

“No it wasn’t.”

“Yes it was.”

“Oh look, this is our stop,” blurted out George unexpectedly. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow at school. Don’t forget we have PE for periods one and two. And don’t forget your PE uniform.”

And then they were gone.

“That was weird,” said Lily.

“No surprises there. They are our friends. There is always something weird happening. That’s what makes life interesting.”

“True.”

“Hello Mrs. Williams. How are you?”

“I’m very good, thank you Jack. But how many times have I told you to call me Scarlett.”

“Sorry Mrs. Williams. I mean Scarlett. Sorry.”  

“Hahaha. And who’s this beautiful young lady behind you.”

“Scarlett Williams meet Lily Johnson, Lily Johnson meet Scarlett Williams,” announced Jack as he stepped aside to let the others meet.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Williams.”

“Same here. Please call me Scarlett. Hopefully you will be able to remember that. Unlike someone,” said Scarlett as she glanced towards Jack, who was patiently waiting next to them. “Well what are we waiting for, are you two coming in or not?”

“Jack! C’mon Nat, he’s here,” called the voice of a young boy. They entered the house which was modern with white walls, a high ceiling with modern paintings and sculptures.

Scarlett noticed Lily eyeing a particularly unusual sculpture that looked like a mix of eagle, warthog and swordfish. It was made of steel and was called the silver sword-hog.

“I don’t like that one much,” said Scarlett, “I make these sculptures and paintings for my job. I’m an artist,” she added proudly.

“They are beautiful,” exclaimed Lily as she turned to take in all the pieces of artwork lining the walls.

“Well thanks Lily. It’s very kind of you to say so,” she replied as they walked towards the lounge room where Jack was already getting tackled by a short boy with dark hair, dark skin and bright green eyes and a girl who also had dark hair, dark skin and brown eyes. Natalie was seven years old, and her brother Sam was ten. Jack, who was lying on the floor after being tackled grabbed both Sam and Natalie, stood up and held one under each arm.

“I never knew he was a show off,” said Scarlett under her breath.

“You haven’t known him very long have you?”Asked Lily

“No only two months.”

“You will get to know him better slowly. And you will discover more and more of his desirable qualities,” said Lily sarcastically.

“Hahaha. Why don’t you go and meet the kids.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

Lily walked over to where Jack was proudly standing with one child under each arm. He put them down on the floor.

“Hey guys. My name is Lily and I’m a friend of Jacks,” said Lily.

“Hi Lily I’m Sam and this is my sister Natalie.”

“You can just call me Nat,” she said with a toothy grin.

“Oh fine you just wanna be friends,” said Jack quietly so only Lily could hear it. In return to this comment Lily smiled and said, “You know what I mean.”

 Jack smiled back. He turned to Scarlett.

“So you are leaving at 5:30 and getting back at…?”

“11:30. Then you are free from all duties of my concern.”

“Okay, got it. At $9 an hour that is… $54 divided by two is $27 dollars each,” said Jack.

“Cool. I get money from watching you work,” added Lily.

“Not cool Lils. You have to help a little.”

“Yeah I will. A little.”

“Good,” smiled Jack.”

“Okay well I need to go and get ready. You guys can do whatever you like. I’ll see you soon,” said Scarlett.

“Okay bye.”