Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Different World, Different Life (Foxxo and Guardian)

Jack figured the least he could do is be the one to dress up and try out a bit more acting, so he decided Charles Vane would be the best approach. He didn't get to tell Elise as the teacher had approached them to ask about and comment on who they'd decided to do.

"We'll be doing Charles Vane. I'll be playing him while Elise plays the part of the interviewer. I'm guessing no one has chosen him yet." Their teacher didn't need to check the list to know no one had chosen Charles Vane yet, and wrote his name down beside theirs. Almost immediately after the bell went and everyone started packing up their things to head over to their next period.

"I hope that's okay. I already know quite a bit about him so this project shouldn't be all that difficult." He paused, not really sure what else to say as he started packing up his own things. "I look forward to working with you on this, Elise." With that he smiled at her, then turned and left the classroom. Already he felt like skipping out on the rest of the day and first period had only just ended. Today couldn't go by fast enough.
 
Elise just looked towards the teacher as he came over and was watching as the man was writing up Charles Vane next to their names. Well it seemed like all of the groups had decided on who they were going to be "interviewing" and now came the fun of doing the research. Because there was a lot of information that the teacher was wanting them to talk about in the interview, which had to be a minimum of ten minutes. Minimum of ten minutes but no more than twenty minutes. Soon enough the bell had rung and everybody was getting up, and hurrying out of the classroom.

Eventually the blonde haired female got to her feet and just looked towards Jack when he was making a comment that he looked forward to working with her. For some reason she thought that what he said was full of shit, but she wasn't going to say anything about it. This had her giving a smile before she spoke, "Same here. Anyways I'll see you in math class, then hopefully we can figure out a time to get together to work on this project."
 
Part of him was hoping that she wouldn't suggest meeting up outside of class, but she was an excellent student, and the thought of not giving the project her full attention probably never even occurred to her. Jack felt like the universe was pulling a prank on him now, as punishment for what he intended to do to her at the dance. Now he'd have to spend time with her. He'd have to go along with this, talking with her and probably getting to know her. The prank he intended to pull was only going to become more difficult. However, it could also prove a better prank in the end if she ended up really believing all of this was happening. That he actually did like her, want to spend time with her and want to take her to the dance.

It was time for his spare period but he didn't know what to do so he simply made his way to the library. He didn't make any effort to meet up with friends or anything on the way. Ian wasn't actually in history last period so there wasn't really anyone around for him to talk to at this time of day. Hr gabbed a book from his bag when he settled into a cubicle and made an effort to read, but couldn't focus. Would the rest of the week be just like this? If anything, it would probably get worse. With that thought in mind he set his head down on the desk to try and nap.
 
Not that Jack would see Elise at all later that day, no she had ended up getting called to the principal's office. Evidently her mother was in the emergency room. A fall down the stairs at home and cracking her head open. Smooth move on the woman's part, so Elise was going to head there to see if there was anything that the woman needed from home. God she couldn't wait until she could finally move out. Right now it was just a matter of saving up money, which wasn't overly difficult. The only bill she had to pay at the time was her phone bill, which allowed her to set aside money from her job aside just in the hopes of getting out of her mother's home. Benefits of being eighteen, you could move out of your parents. A legal adult.... kind of anyways.

Elise decided that she was going to text Jack to let him know that she wasn't going to be in math class... and then ultimately decided against it. Why did she really care if she told him whether or not she was going to be in class? Nope before she left she ran to talk to her remaining teachers to let them know that she wasn't going to be there then decided to stop by the library. "Oh hello Elise." the librarian greeted the female, and she was giving a wave of her hand before disappearing down an aisle or two, to grab a couple of books to check out.
 
Jack had his head down on the desk for only a few minutes before he fell asleep. It wasn't a pleasant sleep. He had a dream which he'd find very difficult to remember once he woke up.

He was knee deep in black water, and everything else around him was too dark to be seen. However, there were voices taunting him. They called him weak, they called him small, they called him insignificant. It seemed like they were saying whatever they could to reduce him, and they didn't stop. Jack began to shout at them to shut up, louder and louder, over and over again...

In the library itself he'd be groaning slightly, mouthing words and speaking lightly as he slept. He was sweating and flinching. It was obvious he was having a horrible dream sleeping at this cubicle.
 
Elise had been just browsing the books nearby when she all of a sudden heard groaning and mumbling, which had her looking around the bookshelf towards where some of the cubicles were. Just Jack it seemed, although it seemed like he was having a horrible dream. Did she want to go over and wake him up before she left? Yeah she would probably be nice and do that. With that she was letting out a slow breath before walking up to him and gently shaking his shoulder. "Jack, wake up." she spoke in a soft voice.
 
Jack awoke with a start, rising very quickly and almost knocking his arm into Elisa. After a second or so he calmed down, though his breathing was still pretty heavy. It was pretty obvious he was having a very bad dream.

"Oh.... Ah... It's you, Elise." He was the last person he expected to be waking him up from a nightmare. "Thank you, for that. I was having a pretty bad dream." He was silent for a bit then, which grew awkward pretty quickly.

"Wait, shouldn't you be in class?" He checked his phone for the time, next period would have already started by now. "I never really took you for the type that would skip class."
 
Elise just looked at him for a moment in time, there being a worried look on her features although it did disappear after it seemed like he seemed a lot better. "No problem." she spoke in a soft voice, a gentle smile on her lips. After that came the mention of her being in class and how he didn't take her as the type to skip class.

She was shaking her head before she spoke, "Not skipping, teachers know. I just came to grab some books from the library before heading to the hospital with my mother."
 
He felt bad for implying that she was skipping class after she mentioned a visit to the hospital with her mother. People didn't tend to go to the hospital when there was nothing wrong. Jack was curious, but figured it would be better if he didn't pry.

"Oh... I see. Fair enough. I'm sorry if I distracted you from your task... Thanks again for waking me up. I probably would have slept through the next bell and missed my next class." With that he started packing up his things. He didn't really have anywhere else to go but didn't really feel like hanging out in this place anymore. That nightmare really turned him off of napping in the library, at least for today.

"I'm on spare at the moment... Would you like me to, uhh, help you with those books?" It was a good opportunity to spend some time with her, and they still needed to set up a time to meet and work on their project.
 
Elise looked at him for a moment in time before she shook her head then spoke, "No it is all fine. I was coming to get a few books from our project anyways." With that she was giving a smile as she shifted the few books that were in her arms a bit. Although it didn't seem like long before he was offering to help her with the books, which had her considering about it.

"The help would be nice. I was actually going to find you after school so that we could figure a time to meet up and work on our project." she spoke after a moment in time before feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket.
 
Jack took the books from her just as her phone started to go off. He looked briefly at some of the titles he was holding. There were quite a few of them, and all stacked together they were quite heavy as well. He was surprised she had been able to carry all of these around. They were all complicated history books based during the age of sail, stuff he'd never even picked up before. He had always been more of a research via phone and internet kind of person. Sure, he read paper books but mostly for pleasure, never for research.

After looking over the titles he turned back to her. "So, I'm going to guess that message had something to do with the hospital?" He flinched after he asked. He told himself he wasn't going to pry. Before she could answer he just continued. "Are these all the books you wanted? I can carry them to the counter for you to check out. If you need, I can also help you carry them outside... Do you drive?" Jack caught himself. Why was he being so nice to her? He probably shouldn't let himself get too close considering his plans... At the same time, letting her get close could make his plans all that more effective. Jack was sure the guys would end up even more impressed at that point.
 
Elise was more of a paper books reader than she was a phone reader, or just internet research. Hence the reason why she was checking out a number of books about the age of sail, since she did know a bit about it, although not enough to be able to really get anywhere. While pirates were cool and all, it wasn't something that she had ever decided to do extensive research into. She was a bit taken back when he was all of a sudden taking the books from her, which gave her the moment to take out her phone and look at the message.

"Oh that would be lovely, if you wouldn't mind helping. And yes I do drive, now that I have my car back. And to answer your question, it was the hospital. My uncle is sitting with my mom now until I get there. She took a fall down the stairs earlier and cracked her head open. So now is the fun of head CT and stitches, and who knows what else."Elise spoke after a moment in time before she was heading up towards the counter, the librarian seeming to be at the ready.
 
Jack was surprised by how casually she spoke about her mother taking a fall down the stairs, but decided not to say anything about it. Everyone had their issues, and it was quite possible her family life was a bit rough at the moment.

He followed her up toward the check-out counter and set the books heavily before the librarian. She casually went through each of the books, scanning each. Afterwards she asked for Elise's student card, which she already had out and waiting. It wasn't long before Jack had picked up all the books again and they were walking down the hall toward the parking lot of the school.

"So, I guess just take me to where your car is then." Walking through the halls, more than a few students who were on spare would stop and stare. It seemed like quite a bit of the school already knew what was going on between them now. Damn, Ian spread rumors fast. He was quite well known throughout the school, being one of the stars of the soccer team and Ian's best friend. He sometimes hated how other students he knew nothing about seemed to know everything that was going on with him.

Turning his attention back to Elise, he spoke, "So, when would you like to get together to work on this project? We do have a ton of time, so there isn't really any pressure." Maybe it would be a good idea to get all of this done before the dance. Anything done afterwards would surely be awkward as hell...
 
Elise had her student card out and waiting for the librarian to take it, and soon enough they were on their way. After as they were walking down the parking lot she just took to hiding behind her hair, not really listening to any of the people that were talking around them. Honestly she felt like she was just going to make Jack's school life more difficult. After all he was popular, well known, star of the soccer team. Most of the girls wanted to be with him, a number of the guys envied him. Yet here he was...walking around with the nerdy blonde of their class. The girl that was nothing more than a nerd, or that is how it seemed like people saw her as. Perhaps people saw her as a show off as well when it came to school, yet she didn't try to be more of that show off.

"Oh umm.... yeah.... thanks." she spoke in a soft voice as she lead him through the hallway and out into the parking lot, leading him towards her car which she was unlocking with the remote and opening up the back door so that he could put stuff in the car. After that she was looking towards him when he was asking when she wanted to get together to work on the project. This had her merely nibbling on her lip a little bit, just trying to think before she spoke, "Ummm.... whenever works for you."
 
Now that he was seeing more of her, and spending a bit more time with her, Jack started to realize she was actually pretty cute. He always found her pretty cute but now it was more of a personal cute. Seeing some of her habits, mannerisms... the way she bit her lip made him smile a bit.

When she opened the back of her car he reached in and placed the books along the back seat in a way that they wouldn't fall over while she was driving. He emerged again from the back seat and looked at her.

"I'm up for whenever as well. I usually have practice right after school, but anytime after that would work for me. I live pretty close to the school as well, so we can always meet here and walk over... It doesn't have to be tonight, or even for a few days if you want to take some time because of the... well... the hospital thing." He didn't want her to feel pressured. Jack wondered to himself why he was being nice to her. He just brushed it off as setup for the dance...
 
Elise was giving a slow nod before she spoke, "Ummm.... Yeah that should work. Is it alright if I just text you later? And we can figure out a time then." With that she was putting her back pack in the backseat as well before closing the door, and putting her purse on her driver's seat, just keeping her keys in hand. There were a few students that were standing around, whispering amongst each other as usual, and staring at them. She was brushing some of her hair from her face before she spoke, "I'm not going to lie. I'm a bit surprised you decided to ask me to the dance.... of all people. Now because of that..... there are rumors..... "
 
"Ya... I'm... I'm sorry about that. When I do stuff like this people tend to talk." He didn't know exactly what to say in response to this. What were his motivations for asking her to the dance? He couldn't exactly tell her the truth.

"I just... didn't want to let that stop me from doing what I want to do. Most of my friends would tell me to go for a popular girl. Whatever... You're intelligent and pretty. I guess I've always been curious about you." Jack wasn't exactly lying either. He had been curious about her for a while. He respected intelligence. At this moment he began to wonder why exactly he'd agreed to pull this prank on her. She really didn't deserve it. Unfortunately Jack wasn't a very strong willed person, at least when it came to peer pressure. This was what a few of his soccer mates were hoping for, and he didn't want to let them down.

"As for texting me... Ya that works. I guess I'll talk to you later then? It's getting close to next period so I should go." Jack felt if he lingered much longer in this conversation he'd let something slip.
 
Elise listened to what he had to say before he was giving a nod of her head. Well she hadn't really been expecting to be called pretty, especially by a guy. Not many of them had ever really said something like that, although she was going to dismiss it at that point in time. She was giving a smile before she spoke, "Yeah we can talk later on. Have a good rest of your day." With that she was giving him a small wave before she was climbing into her car, and putting her purse on the passenger seat.
 
"Ya... you too. Give my regards to your mom." With that she closed the door, and started up her car. He waved once more and made his way back into the school. Next period was about to start and he figured he might as well head over and get there pretty early.

He could feel gazes on him as he walked back into the school and through the halls. It seemed like everyone knew what was going on. He knew that was impossible but sometimes it really felt like everyone was watching him as if his life was some kind of drama. Most of the time he didn't give it a second thought but now it irritated him. It was probably because this whole prank thing was starting to stress him out.

His next period came and went. The rest of the school day dragged on, and he didn't really pay attention to much. Soon enough the day ended and he made his way to soccer practice. It went well, and he was able to meet up with Steve and Paul, both close friends who were also on the team. Ian was still absent though. Jack simply assumed he'd taken the day off.

After soccer he felt a lot better. Physical exertion always did that for him. He felt lighter, both in body and mind, as he made his way to the locker room to shower and change.
 
The rest of the week seemed to go by surprisingly quietly, and finally came the day of the dance. Thankfully the students didn't have to deal with school prior to the dance, so they had all day to get ready for the dance. There were some of the seniors that had already made plans for an after party, after the dance, although there was no huge shock there.

The day itself had gone by quickly enough, and finally there was only a couple of hours before the dance itself. Elise had spent most of her day at one of the local children's hospitals, reading and visiting the children that were there. Honestly she had spent most of the day debating just not going to the dance, but in the end she figured that she would head home and get ready, after all she hadn't bothered to go out and buy a new dress for the dance for no reason.

Getting ready didn't take her as long as it would most females, although she just pulled on the dress and put her hair up into a semi-elegant updo so that it wasn't in her face, and she didn't bother with make-up. She never wore the stuff, and she was pretty sure that that was the reason that it took most girls so long to get ready, was the make-up and the hair.

"Oh you look lovely." her mother cooed as Elise walked downstairs and her mother was insisting on taking pictures of her alone, at least until Jack got there since they were going out to dinner before the dance. Yeah even Elise had been invited to join the others for dinner. She knew that Victoria and Natasha were going to be there, yet again one of them was dating Ian so given that she would be glued to his side. And the other was going with another member of the soccer team.
 
As the day went by Jack began getting more and more stressed. He really didn't want to pull this prank but all the guys were getting excited to see how it played out. He'd be teased and ostracized if he didn't follow through now.

He'd already been ready for a little while, and now was just constantly checking the time so he'd know when to leave. Finally the time came, and he checked his suit once more. Everything looked fine. He'd never had much of a taste or care for fine clothes though. He tended to let his older sister take care of that stuff for him.

Getting into his car he entered her address into his gps and began driving over. They were going to meet everyone else at the restaurant. Jack knew this would probably be an awkward dinner. Some of the guys knew about the prank, and all the guys and girls there were pretty outgoing. The two of them would probably be left in an awkward silence for most of the dinner. At tleast listening to Ian tended to be pretty fun.

Finally, he arrived at Elises place and with a deep breath got out of the car and made his way to her front door. After another deep breath to try and calm his nerves, which didn't work, he rang the doorbell and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer.
 
Elise and her mother had been sitting on the couch just talking with her mother about the dance, and telling her a little bit more about Jack. Who would have figured that within the last week or so, she had found herself a bit drawn to him. Getting to know him showed that he wasn't that bad of a person, and she had come to trust him. Even kind of getting into her personal life with him, at least when it came up.

"So when is this guy going to be there? Do I finally get to me.... Oh is that him?" her mother spoke and was practically jumping when the doorbell rang, and was rushing over to the door, and inviting the male into the house, insisting that she wanted some pictures of the pair of them together, which had Elise just mumbling under her breath. Either way she got to her feet and went over to stand next to Jack so that her mother get some pictures.

"Have fun tonight kids. I'll see you later." her mother cooed before she was giving her daughter one last hug, after she had gotten her pictures and was shooing them off.
 
Jack didn't say much when he was in Elises house. Too be honest, he was atually shocked by how pretty she was. It wasn't that she tried very hard, but just seeing her in a dress, with her hair out of her face made him realize she was definitely a hidden beauty.

"You look... very pretty Elise." Was all he could say as they left the house after the pictures. He held open the passenger side door so she could get in to his car. He then walked around, got in the driver's seat and they took off.

Jack wasn't a crazy driver. He prioritized safety and tried to be calm about it, unlike some of his friends on the soccer team. The restaurant wasn't very far from her house so they arrived pretty quickly. He saw afew of his friends cars outside, including Ian's. They may have been some of the last to arrive.

He parked, and helped Elise out of the car before the went in together. Ian waved at them once they got into the restaurant, and they followed him to a large table, before taking the two seats at one end, across from one another.
 
Elise blushed a bit before she spoke, "Oh umm thanks.... you don't look half bad yourself." With that she was following him outside so that they could get going, climbing into the passenger seat of his car, and they were soon enough on their way.

It didn't take them long to get to the restaurant, and she saw that the others were there, and she was climbing out of the car. Oh man how she wanted to retreat already, already finding herself out of place but she steeled herself anyways.

Once they got to the table she was sitting down where she was directed to, and smiled a bit when she saw Victoria and Natasha, who were sitting next to her as well. At that point in time it seemed more like the guys were sitting next to each other, then the girls were sitting next to each other.

"Oh that dress is so cute. Where did you get it?" Natasha questioned as she examined Elise's dress for a moment in time. And no it wasn't even a sarcastic comment either, she actually meant it. This had Elise speaking in a soft voice, "Oh I made it myself. I had been working on it for my brother's wedding that was for in a few months. It was almost done so I figured I would finish it and wear it for the dance."
 
He began to talk with Steve, who was seated beside him. They were a lot quieter than the girls were across the table. He was asking how his week was, about soccer, and a bunch of other random things.

Then he overheard Elise mention that she had made her dress herself. He was shocked, as it looked to him like a professionally made dress. Did she really do that herself? He couldn't deny he was admiring her more and more. If it wasn't for the prank he intended to pull he may have even realized he was beginning to really like her.

Eventually food began to get brought out, and he realized how hungry he was. The table was a bit more silent now as people began picking away at roast chicken, potatoes and bread rolls. It was delicious. Ian had definitely made the right choice in picking this place.

Jack was a lot more silent than normal, and eventually Ian came over to where he was. "So, are you ready for tonight? Big night for you right? It'll be fun!" He laughed at his subtle hints of what was going to happen. Jack just smiled and responded politely. It didn't feel right, doing this. Yet... He couldn't back out now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom