Cracker Jack

I stayed a lot later than I'd intended to that night. Now that we knew one another's darkest secrets, we found that we held a kind of power. It wasn't like we would ever divluge the secrets to anyone else, but it still felt different somehow.

The entire school knew my tale already. What little details they didn't already know, they'd imagined and spread around. Sometimes they actually came quite close to the truth. Of course, I would never admit to it.

But Jack's story was different. His didn't consist of merely a bad choice or a simple, juvenile act of rebellion. He wasn't the one at fault. He was the victim.

I already knew him well enough to know that he would never want any pity. In fact, it would probably just upset him more. He would rather be ignored than seen as a charity case. Unfortunately, since he was now a Mercer, he was automatically given that title. But, since he'd chosen my company over others, he was also going to be ignored.

When we finally said goodnight, it was well past midnight. I was glad that he hadn't told Evelyn I was coming over. If she'd known how late I'd left, Jack probably would have gotten grounded. And then I would be alone again.

"And where the hell have you been?" Mom snapped as I walked into my house, shutting out the bitter wind as I closed the door quietly.

I rolled my eyes. "You know where I've been."

"Are you sleeping with him? Hayley, you'd better be safe about it."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

"I'm not supporting you anymore if you get knocked up. You'll be out on your own. That's all there is to it."

"I'm not sleeping with him Mom. We just talked, if you must know."

She didn't really look like she believed me, but I couldn't have cared less if she did or not. Either way, she wasn't going to have to worry about taking care of grandchildren anytime soon. I wondered vaguely if she would take better care of them than she had Kevin and I. Maybe she would simply write them off as delinquents, too, and disown them before they had a chance to drag her name further through the mud.

"I'm going to bed," I told her acidly before pushing my way past her.

I heard her mutter something under her breath that sounded strangely like, "should've known she would fall for the biggest criminal within walking distance." I ignored the comment, knowing better than to correct her. It would just start a new fight, and I wasn't in the mood to go for another round right now. I was too tired.

It was still dark outside my window when I woke up. I lay in bed for a long time, enjoying the silence. It gave me time to think. I had a lot to digest from my night at Jack's house.

I was at his house way too early before school. I had hurried out of my front door before my mom had even realised that I was out of my bedroom. Because of my early arrival, Jack wasn't waiting for me yet. I timidly knocked on the front door.

"Hayley! Come in, dear." Evelyn ushered me inside as soon as she opened the door. "What brings you by so early?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I was just ready before I usually am, I guess."

"Jack's still upstairs. Do you want breakfast? I can whip you up some eggs if you'd like."

I smiled at her. Nobody else was this hospitable around here. This woman was truly a diamond in the rough. And, because she constantly surrounded herself with the shadiest characters, she seemed even more wonderful by comparison.

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry."

She frowned at me. It was so unlike her to have any expression on her face other than a smile that the look seemed incredibly out of place.

"You should eat something, dear. How can you expect to have a good day if you start it off by skipping breakfast?"

"Really, I'm not hungry," I reiterated.

Evelyn ignored me. "I'm going to fix you some eggs and toast. Sit down, Hayley, have some orange juice. It will only take a minute. Besides, you have some time to kill before Jack will be ready. It was only a few minutes ago that he got out of the shower."

I obeyed and sat at the table, pouring myself a glass of juice. It was probably easier to just accept what she offered, as opposed to refusing and having her continuously push for me to take it. My mother would lose her mind if she knew.

"It's a little early for you to be tormenting my little brother, isn't it, Grove?" Bobby smirked as he walked into the room.

I rolled my eyes. "You're just jealous that a girl actually wants to spend time with Jack."

He snorted. "Sure, that's it."

"When's the last time you had a girlfriend, Bobby?" I meant it to be a dig at him, but I was also a tiny bit curious.

"What does that matter? Just don't fuck around with Jack, okay? Be a nice little girl and nobody will have to get hurt."

"Is that a threat, Mercer?" I leveled his gaze.

"Not at all. Just a friendly little reminder."

"Morning, Bobby," Evelyn greeted him as she walked in carrying a plate. "Want some breakfast?" She carefully placed the plate directly in front of me.

I started to cut into an egg with the edge of my fork. Evelyn disappeared again a moment later to get some food for Bobby. We weren't even alone long enough to taunt one another when Jack entered the dining room.

"Hayley? What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "I came over a little early today. I hope that's alright."

Bobby snorted. "If you really cared whether it was okay or not, you would have called first."

"It's fine," Jack told me, sitting down at the table. "Shut up, Bobby."

Silence fell between the three of us as I continued to eat. Bobby and I shot continuous dark glances at one another, but we didn't say anything more. Evelyn bustled around the room a few more times, ensuring that everyone was fed and happy before ushering Jack and I outside.

"I'll have a snack ready when the two of you get back from school," she called after us as we headed down the sidewalk.

"You spoil them, Ma," Bobby told her.

"I want this to be a home, Bobby," she said firmly. "And that means that they have to want to come here."

"I can understand that with Jackie. But what about Grove? She's got her own home."

"As long as I'm around, she's welcome here. You know as well as I do that nothing's been easy for her since everything with Kevin."

If Bobby had chosen to respond, he must have waited until we were out of earshot. I didn't want to hear the comeback that he would have if I was to hang around. I nudged Jack as we walked.

"Feeling better today?"

He nodded, running a gloved hand through his messy hair. "Yeah, actually. Thanks for coming over last night."

"Anytime. I really like that we can talk about stuff like that. It was nice to actually tell someone the whole story without them assuming something worse about me."

A strangled laugh fled from his lips, which were now clamped firmly around the end of a cigarette that he was in the process of lighting. He cupped his hands around the small flame from the lighter, trying to protect the feeble fire from the wind. When his smoke was lit successfully, he held the lighter out to me.

"They like to assume the worst about people, don't they?"

I nodded as I followed his example and lit a cigarette. "They sure do."

"Thanks."

I frowned as I reached over and dropped the lighter into his jacket pocket. "For what?"

"For not judging me as soon as you found out that I was one of Evelyn's kids."

"Thanks for not judging me when you found out that I have a family history with Bobby. That seems to be enough to scare everyone else."

He eyed me curiously as he inhaled the tainted air that filtered through his smoke. "You're not a threatening person, Hayley. I don't get why people are afraid."

"I'm not threatening to you," I corrected him. "I want you around. I don't care so much about them."

"Well, in that case, I'm glad that I seem to mean something."

We were quiet for a minute, and as I finished the last of my smoke I looked up at him. "Want to come over tonight?"

Jack looked taken aback by my unexpected invitation. "Really? You want me to come over?"

I shrugged, turning a corner and seeing the school appear down the street. "Sure. You asked me before why I never ask you to come over. I don't really have a good reason. There's no guarantee that you'll ever want to go back, but you can see where I live at the very least."

He flicked his cigarette butt away carelessly. "Count me in."

I didn't know why, but I felt really good right then. I should have been nervous about bringing someone home. Especially a Mercer. As much as Mom liked to pretend that we were the perfect family, she might not be able to keep up the charade when Jack was around.

The thought was somehow appealing.