Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

Jack was bent double, heaving with laughter.

"Mary... walked in on... you and E-e-ezu? Together?... D...doing what?" He managed to choke out between guffaws.

"Hey! Don't laugh!" I reprimanded, crossing my arms indignantly.

"S-sorry," Jack giggled, wiping tears from his eyes. "It's just... Mary... and, you know... Lord, what were you two doing?" He asked, a wide grin still plastered on his face.

"Nothing!" I insisted, my voice rising an octave or two against my will. "We just kind of... tripped... and landed... on each other... and then that girl... kind walked in on us like that..." I weakly attempted to explain, knowing how pathetic my story sounded, true as it may be.
Jack, fortunately, was apparently a very trusting person. He whistled lowly.

"Wow. That sucks. You're sure in in for it. Tough luck." He said, shrugging. I glared at him.

"Gee, thanks." I said sourly. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Who is this Mary girl?" Jack grinned ruefully.

"Ezu's girlfriend." He said simply.
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I have to admit, I could have handled the situation better.

But, me being me, and rather high-strung as of late, I gave a half hearted little shriek and immediately lost my footing, shooting forward and grabbing Jack around the waist as I fell, trying to prevent myself from having a rather painful encounter with the ground.

"Girlfriend? Oh god, I knew it! I knew it!" I cried, trying to pull myself up. Jack heaved a sigh and grabbed my arms, yanking me off of him and plopping my back on my feet.

"Are you drunk or something? What's with all the falling? I have never met someone as un-coordinated as you." Jack complained, making sure I wasn't going to topple over again.

"I'm fine." I snapped. At once I felt guilty for acting so rude to Jack, who had been nothing but helpful to me so far. "Sorry..." I muttered, not looking directly at him.

"It's fine." Jack shrugged. "I understand. You like Ezu, don't you?" My mouth fell open, and I gaped in shock at the boy.

"W-what? No! Don't be ridiculous! Ezu? Me? No!" I scoffed, vehemently denying his accusation.

But rather than be deterred, Jack grinned widely and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes you do." He said, knowingly.

"No, I don't!" I replied, angrily. Jack smirked.

"If you didn't, you would have denied it so forcefully. And anyways, your voice quivered when you said it." He grinned.

"My voice did not quiver! And what does it quivering have to do with anything?" I demanded to know.

"Everyone knows that when a girl is in love, her voice quivers." Jack stated matter-of-factly.

"That's not true! And my voice didn't quiver anyhow! I’ve known him for, like, three days, and he’s been insufferable the entire time! I don't like Ezu!" I said, stomping my foot.

"Ha! See, your voice quivered just now!"

"It did not!"

"There it goes again!"

"Shut up!"

"If you really don't like him, why do you care so much if your voice is quivering?”

"It isn't" I shrieked. I pushed past him forcefully and marched down the hall, deciding I didn't need his help, and I could find my way on my own.

Unfortunately, Jack didn't seem to give up easily.. He came jogging up beside me and matched his pace to mine, shoving his hands deep in his pockets.

"Hey, I’m sorry. I was only teasing." He muttered, but I could still hear a hint of humor in his tone.

"Hmph." Was all I replied with.

"If it makes you feel any better, you aren't the only one." He said. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at Jack.

"Ezu has broken the heart of every girl within a ten mile radius at one point or another." Jack explained, watching me.

"Oh really." I growled. "So he's a player, too?" Jack look nonplussed.

"What?" He asked.

"He likes his women?" I rephrased. Jack blew out his cheeks.

"Not exactly. It's just... he isn't the most sensitive person in the world. A girl tells him she likes him, he laughs in her face and shoots her down. In fact, Mary is the first girl he has ever shown interest in. Well, her and you." Jack explained.

"Me?" I asked, frowning.

"Yeah, you. You were still out when Ezu woke up the first time. Half delirious, he kept on saying, 'Where's Rikki? Where's Rikki? Oh Rikki...' And since your name is Rikki, I am assume he was talking about you." Jack said. My frown grew deeper and I was lost in thought.

So Ezu cared about me, to some extent at least. He even kissed me, and delirious or not, some part of him thought it was a good idea. Which was odd, because he apparently never showed interest in anyone. Except this Mary chick, who he happened to be dating, or the fairy-tale world equivalent of. Courting? Whatever, it didn't matter. But anyways, Ezu still hadn't informed me he had a girlfriend. Not that it was any of my business, but still...

"I'm so going to kill that boy." I growled, cracking my knuckles. Jack broke into laughter, throwing his head back. I, entirely serious, was not amused.

"You don't seem to like Ezu very much." I observed. Jack stifled his laughs, growing serious.

"Oh really? What ever gave you that idea?" He said, sarcasm lacing his voice.

"Be serious." I scolded, in no mood for diversion. Jack sighed.

"No, I don't like Ezu. Why? I don't know. Jealousy, I suppose, as much as I hate to admit it." Jack glared at point somewhere over my head.

"Jealous? Of Ezu? Why?" I asked. Jack laughed, humorlessly.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you can't see it? Every girl in the town are all madly in love with him, all the townsfolk turn to their precious Ezu if something goes wrong, the mayor thinks he is the best thing since beer, even my own aunt and uncle can't get enough of him. They're always inviting him over, giving him free drinks and stuff. They even tried to convince him to stay here in the inn, so he wouldn't have to travel all that way through the forest to get here." Jack said bitterly. "I bet they'd leave him the tavern, if I weren't family and hadn't needed to inheritance so badly." I bit my lip and reached out to touch Jack's arm, unsure how to consolidate him.

"Well..." I began, slowly. "If it makes you feel any better, I had to spend the past three days with him alone, and I have never met a more egotistical, obnoxious, unclean fool in my life." I said.

Jack immediately brightened and gave a small chuckle. "Thank you, that does make me feel better. Now, if you could tell me how dashingly handsome and wittily clever I am, I'll be all set."

"Don't push your luck." I warned, poking him in the chest. Then a thought struck me, as they often do long after the fact.

There weren’t many Jacks in the fairytales, despite the commonness of the name. I was willing to bet my bottom dollar that this was the best known Jack of them all, the one who grows a beanstalk in his backyard and slays a giant. But if he was badly in need of his inhertiance, than this was obviously pre-beanstalk days, and I felt a little bad for Jack, knowing what he would have to go through soon. But I remembered the end of the story, and grinned, happy that this friendly boy wouldn't have reason to be jealous of Ezu for much longer.

Ezu...

"Hey..." I said, my eyes growing wide. "Ezu... he went chasing after that Mary girl... in only his underclothes..." I said, my voice dropping low. Jack's jaw dropped, and an unintelligible noise squeak out of his throat.

Suddenly he grabbed my hand and was racing off down the hall, dragging me along. It was all I could to to keep my footing, and I noticed that even Jinx, who had taken off the moment I was whisked away, had trouble keeping up with Jack's long strides.

"Where... are we going?" I gasped.

"Ezu is running around town after that ornery girl half naked! Like hell am I going to miss that!" He called back, and the hallway was suddenly filled with his ringing laughter.