No Happily Ever After

I hadn't eaten so Jack got me a slice of pizza from earlier, and I stared at the limp triangle on a badly washed plate in front of me.
'So what do you guys do at your sleepovers?' I asked, trying to sound non-chalant.
'We're not going to rape you, Ella.' Jack laughed. 'Quite the opposite, we get drunk, play truth or dare, a few video games and crash at about 3am. Or sometimes we invite Rian's girlfriend, lock them into a room and mess up his stuff. Not that he cares.'
'I do care. Just not when Kara's around.' He argued.
'Rian's the only one with a girlfriend?' I choked out. 'But you're all beautiful!'
No sooner had the words slipped out my ears had turned a violent shade of strawberry. 'Gee, thanks.' Jack grinned.
I was wedged between Alex and Jack, who both had their arms around me, waiting anxiously for a reply from my mom. Nothing yet, and it was midnight.
'Here.' Zack shoved a bottle at me.
'I don't drink.'
'For a rebel, you don't do very much.' Jack observed, taking a swig of his own drink.
'Oh, shut it.' I smiled.
'A rebel? She's like.. A flower. Innocent and sweet and cute.' Alex made a face.
'Let's not talk about this, guys.' I mumbled, staring at the TV screen. 'You mind if I play?'
'Sure.' Zack threw the controller at me and I automatically fumbled around trying to work out the settings. After a few blundering minutes, I was on my feet and managing to beat Rian at the very least.
'Hey, she's good!' Alex sat up, and watched my fingers tap furiously against the buttons.
'Too good.' Rian scowled at me and I flipped him off in return.
'You're just jealous because a girl's kicking your butt.' I grinned triumphantly and he sighed.
'She's good. Better than Kara.'
'I'd be worried if she wasn't. Kara sucks, Rian.'
'Literally.' Jack mumbled, and I choked on my drink.
'Oh God, you can't say that!'
'It's true!' He protested as I smacked his arm.
'God, she has a temper.' Alex rolled his eyes but smiled at me. 'I'm kidding, you seem cool.'
'And now!' Jack interrupted us, 'Let's all get terribly drunk and fall off of our heads.' He stood up, turned the TV off and chugged his own drink down before throwing the bottle into the corner of the room.
'Oh gosh.' I mumbled, sipping my own.
'You don't get trashed very often, do you?'
'Nope. My dad hates, I mean, hated it when I drank. So I stopped.'
'Hated? Is he dead?' Alex turned to face me and squeezed my hand.
'I don't want to talk about it.'
I turned to watch Jack who was emptying a flower pot onto Zack's head. I laughed.
'Hey, Ella, your phone!' Alex handed me my BlackBerry and I accepted the call before running to the empty room.
'Mom?'
'Ella Dawson, you are dead meat.' She snarled.
'Mom, I was lost! I'm with Jack, don't worry!'
'With Jack?' Her voice changed. 'That's fine. Get him to drop you off from his house whenever.' And just like that she'd hung up.
'My mom's fine.' I beamed. 'Let's get trashed!'
Alex rolled his eyes and passed me a bottle.

'Ella?' Jack crawled over to me and shuffled over to where I was huddled. 'What's wrong?'
'Nothing.' I whispered, covering my face.
'Hey, hey.' He mumbled, pulling me onto his lap. 'What's wrong?'
'Nothing!' I insisted. I was crying.
'What's wrong?' He titled my head to look at him.
'I miss my dad.' I mumbled, wiping the glittering tears etched on my face.
'Where is he?'
'I don't know!' I howled, burying my face into his shoulder.
'It's fine, Ella, Jack's here.' He wasn't being patronising... He was actually kind of soothing.
'I'm sorry for being horrible, Jack.'
'Horrible? You're just snooty. And you have every right to be.. You're pretty and eloquent and quaint.'
'I'm not snooty.' I insisted, and hugged him. 'Let's be friends?'
'Friends.' He snorted. 'Friends don't sit on each other's laps.'
He laughed when I pulled away.
'Wanna know a secret?'
'Sure.'
'I miss my parents too.'
'Where are they?'
He pointed vaguely upwards. 'Gone. When I was 15.'
'I'm sorry.'
'Same. I wish I'd told them everything...' He sighed.
'Everything?'
'How scared I was. How I loved them.' I took his hand and held it.
'Just because they're dead doesn't mean they don't know. I'm sure they knew anyway.. You're their son.'
He smiled. 'I'm sure you dad is fine, Ella. He's fighting for his life!'
I chuckled and he squeezed my hand, watching me with apprehensive puppy eyes.
So he was not only the nicest guy I knew, but one who could understand what I was going through.
Jack Barakat was a gift from the gods.