Mystery Boy

"Runaway with me," I begged Jacky as he climbed into my car, "We'll just drive and we'll never come back. Your dad won't be able to send you away from me."

Jacky smiled softly, sadly and took my hand. "We can't," he whispered, shaking his head.

I knew we couldn't. Ronnie climbed into the backseat and buckled his seatbelt, unhappy about the reality that was finally setting in for us. Jacky wouldn't leave with us, but he was going to leave us soon. I drove to school slowly, not wanting to be forced away from him for most of the day when we literally only had days left.

I pulled into the parking lot and popped the trunk so I could get my back pack. Jacky walked around to the back of the car and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his chin resting on my shoulder.

I shook my head without a word and slammed the trunk shut. I started walking towards the entrance of the school, then stopped and turned back to him. "Please, Jacky," I said again, "Please leave with me."

Jacky glanced at the blacktop. A gesture that I knew meant he didn't want to break my heart by turning me down again.

Ronnie stood at the front of the car, a solemn expression on his face as we walked up to him, Jacky and I not touching as I forced myself not to cry again. The three of us headed into the building and they walked me to class like they did every day. Ronnie left us once we reached the door, but Jacky lingered, looking down at me with almost colorless icy eyes.

"Airea," he murmured, reaching for my hand, "Please."

I pulled my fingers away from his and shook my head. "I can't Jacky," I whispered, looking away from him, "It's too hard knowing I'm going to lose you."

Jacky let out a rush of air. "No, don't," he said again when I crossed my arms so that he wouldn't touch me.

I met his eyes and couldn't help the tears that welled in mine. I didn't want to play pretend when everything wasn't alright. I didn't want to kiss him and hold him and tell him I love him just like he wouldn't be gone in just a couple of days. It only made things harder to hold onto something that was being torn away from me.

"You have to go to class," I told him, wiping a salty tear off of my cheek, "You're going to be late."

He grabbed my wrist before I could recross my arms.

"Jacky, don't," I demanded as he leaned down to kiss me.

He didn't listen. Instead he pressed his pierced mouth against mine fiercely, forcing more tears out of my eyes as I kissed him back. He held onto my wrist as we kissed, not daring to let me go for the sake of me backing away from him again.

The bell rang and he pulled away from me, letting go of me completely. He didn't say anything, instead he just looked at me with powerful, sad eyes. "I'm sorry," he said once more, although I wasn't sure if he meant for leaving me, not leaving with me, or both.

I shook my head. "It's not your fault, Jacky," I told him, reaching for his fingers, "It's really not your fault."

He pulled me back to him when I touched him. He grabbed my other hand and lifted my arms above my head, his mouth coming back down on mine slowly and softly. The sensation of his warm lip rings against my lip was something that I was going to miss terribly.

When we pulled away, I looked at the door at the end of the hall. It led back out to the front of the school, where my car was parked in the parking lot. "Lets go," I whispered, looking behind him for any sign of a hall aid, "Is your dad home?"

Jacky realized what I meant and nodded slowly, disappointed.

I shook it off. "Lets go to my house," I said quickly, already pulling him down the hall, "Nobody should be home. Ina has a doctor appointment and then is doing something with her friends, Dad's working, and the boys are all at school." I dragged him as best I could down the hall, ducking under the window of my classroom.

"Airea, no," he stressed once we were at the door, "We can't."

I nodded and yanked his hand. "Yes we can. We're old enough to make our own decisions. This is our story and I'm not letting it end like this," I breathed, "I'm not letting our decisions be the end of us, Jacky. I love you and I'm not giving up on that."

Jacky smiled and let me pull him out of the door. We raced through the parking lot, connected by the hand, and quickly climbed into the car, throwing my back pack into the back seat. I started the car and hurried out of the parking lot.

I parked around the corned of our street just in case someone drove by on their way somewhere else. Jacky and I hurried down the street, my keys jingling as I held them in my free hand. We ran once we got to his house. We raced down the rest of the street and threw ourselves through my front door.

"I love you so much," I breathed as I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him into my room. I shut the door and locked it, just in case Ina stopped home for any reason.

He pressed his lips against my neck. "I love you too," he whispered.

I slid my fingers under his shirt and touched his skin. My eyes met his with a braveness that only came out around him. He kissed me softly and then pulled his shirt off, taking the bandana off his head with it.

I ran my fingers through his messy hair as he unbuttoned my jeans. I kissed him and kicked them off at the same time. I undid his belt and then unzipped his pants. He took them off and then turned back to pull my shirt over my head.

"I love you," I said again as we climbed into my bed and pulled my blankets up to his shoulders.

He held himself over me by planting a hand on either side of my head. He grinned and pressed his mouth against mine. Before I could react, he pulled away. "I love you too."

"I know," I whispered, reaching to slip my fingers under the elastic of his boxers. I pushed them off his narrow hips and he held himself up as I pushed my underwear off too, my bra right after.

He took a moment to just look at me, his lip rings pulled between his teeth. His eyes met mine and he smiled, causing me to do the same. "You're just beautiful," he whispered, "The most beautiful person I've ever met."

I chuckled and shook my head. "How can you say that when you're you?" I questioned, smiling at the confusion on his face. "You're the most beautiful person in the entire world," I explained, "I've never met anyone as good as you are."

I blinked the tears away as I smiled and lifted my head to kiss him. He kissed me back slowly, letting his body weight land on me gently as I gasped, my lips parting in surprise.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he stopped.

I shook my head. "No, don't be." I ran my finger tips along his spine. "Keep going."

He watched my expression as he did what he was told.

"Oh my gosh," I breathed softly, wrapping my arms around his neck so I could pull his lips to mine.

He smiled into the kiss as I parted my lips and touched his piercings with the tip of my tongue. His mouth opened just slightly in surprise.

Nobody came home, even after when I laid with my head on his shoulder, nobody stopped home or came in. We didn't worry anyways because we didn't care. Our parents already knew that we'd been together like this once, and we were desperate to be as close as possible for a long as we had.

Jacky did leave on Saturday, flying from the airport with my heart clasped on a chain around his neck, symbolized by a small diamond encrusted silver heart with my initials on it. Underneath my shirt, hid the same one, just instead of AT, JCV was engraved.

Jacky we'd still be together even though he was on the other side of the world and I promised that I'd stay in Vegas with Ronnie and try to visit over the summer. When I returned to school once he was gone, it wasn't the same as being there when I knew he was only a minute away.

Ronnie and I kind of hung together all the time, he walked me to class and I met him after his. He'd lost his best friend because of me, but he never blamed either of us for Jacky being sent away.

I saw Jacky's dad a few months after the boy was gone. He was at the store the same time I was, checking out just a line over from me. He saw me, but didn't say anything until I said something to him first. I told him that his only child was doing good in London, not that he cared, I told him that sending Jacky away from me didn't keep him from me, not really.

The man looked at me dimly, like he could barely remember who I was. Then he spoke, "I wouldn't know anything about him anymore," he said, "He was never really my son, not the son he used to be, anyways. He wasn't worth all the trouble."

I stared at him with venom in my eyes. "Did you ever think that maybe it was you who wasn't worth it?" I questioned, "Jacky didn't want to be with you anymore than you wanted to be with him. He stayed because he had something worth staying for, it just wasn't you."

I didn't see Jacky's dad anymore after that. Ina had her baby, a little girl that she loved more than anything in the world. It was still hard to watch my father add to his new family, but after Jacky left I settled down and tried to make do with what was given to me; three new brothers, a step-mom, and baby sister.

Both Ronnie and I flew to London that next summer to visit Jacky and his mom. My dad fronted the entire bill and even let me stay at Jacky's house, instead of in a hotel room. Seeing him again made me love him more than ever. He looked different, somehow, happier than I'd ever seen him in Vegas.

Jacky's mom was a fantastic lady. She was carefree and wonderful. Told Jacky that he was lucky to have me, even though it was really the other way around. She looked just like him, gorgeous and slender and had the same heart of gold that he did. Although she wasn't any where near as quiet as him.

It was hard to leave him, we'd only been there for three weeks, but he promised me that he'd seen me again, that he'd come to visit next time, if only I could convince my dad to let him stay.

"I love you," I said as he held me in the airport in London.

He smiled and nodded. "I love you too," he whispered, glancing to Ronnie as the boy laughed at something Jacky's mom had said.

"I guess I have to go now," I sighed as a woman announced the final boarding call for our flight. "I don't want to leave."

Jacky kissed me softly. "It's not permanent," he reminded me, "We are, but the distance is not."

I smiled brightly and nodded, ignoring Ronnie as he called for me to come with him. "I'm going to marry you someday, Jacky Casey Vincent."

Jacky reached for the chain around his neck. "Until then," he whispered, showing me the silver heart, "I have you with me all the time."

I held my same necklace in my palm. "And I have you," I breathed, smiling.

I boarded the plane with Ronnie, leaving Jacky standing in the airport with his mom's arms wrapped around his waist and promises of the future in both of our hearts.