Complications with Girl Scouts

It's been nearly four and a half weeks since the catastrophic lunch date with the fake Sage took place. Although Jack had been curious as to why the real Sage Chan chose to stand him up and send a decoy in her stead instead, he never did try to find out the reason. He simply had no incentive to. As he said before, he's already got a lot on his plate. He's got no time to be worrying about such trivial matters that don't really concern him. At least, not anymore. Family, school, work and the cage are the only things that are important to him.

The grades for the midterm exams he took three weeks ago are okay at best, and Jack doesn't find them the slightest bit satisfying. If he wants to make it onto the Dean's List for the semester, he has to study even harder, which means no distractions of any kind. It's not his fault he's never been a straight A student. Academics doesn't come easy to everybody. All that matters now, though, is that he's putting in the effort to do what it takes to become successful.

Besides, it's none of his business anyways. To be frank, Sage might have made his life a little easier. Well, sort of. The keywords here being a little. Sure, she could have sent someone more level-headed and more smooth around the edges, but Jack will take what he can get. He's in no place to complain. Things could have gone worse. As you can imagine, it had been rather difficult and tricky for him to explain the ordeal to Mrs McKiernan in a way that would make logical sense without him letting the cat out of the bag.

Since Sage kept her end of the deal and informed her mother she had a splendid time with him (despite the omission of a major detail—you know, the one about how she was never even there in the first place), Jack didn't have the heart to rat her out. He's the one who messed things up by complaining about how terrible the date had been because he assumed the girl had betrayed him. Therefore, it had been his job to fix it without implementing Sage and, well, fake Sage.

Jack isn't fond of lying. However, he made an exception specifically for this case seeing as he had no other choice. Thankfully, he managed to convince his mother that it had been a big misunderstanding. Yeah, Mrs McKiernan was skeptical but when her son asked her to set him up on another date, it was like Sage never existed. Unfortunately, saving the girl's derrière had been at the expense of Jack having to spend another evening with Dorothy, the apparent niece of Mrs McKiernan's good friend's second cousin or something along the lines of that. He doesn't remember.

Today, miraculously enough, Jack has no dates scheduled, thank heavens! His assignments for the week have also been settled and he doesn't have to go to work, which means he's got plenty of time to kill with his favorite, Charlie. Unfortunately for him, though, his cousin is not available to cause mayhem on the city with him. She is too busy doing god knows what with her boyfriend and the mere thought of the two of them leads the corners of Jack's lips to twitch upwards. He should be upset with her because she chose to blow him off for a boy but he can't blame her.

It's clear as day what Charlie feels for Ethan is real and genuine and he doesn't want to pose as an obstacle to their blossoming relationship. Why should he stand in the way of his best friend's happiness? To be honest, he's not even surprised she and Hayden were never a legitimate item in the first place. In fact, Jack had been more flabbergasted when he heard that they were dating! No wonder why she never cared much about what she did or what Hayden thought. Things definitely made more sense after she had explained the whole situation to him.

Betrayal never crossed his mind since Jack knows very well the girl had only been trying to help out and do the right thing. As long as everything worked out in the end for her, that's all he cares about. In his opinion, Charlie and Ethan definitely make a better pair than she and Hayden. He's just glad that she's finally found someone who can keep up with her. Looks like he'll be third-wheeling a lot now. And if Ethan ever breaks her heart, which is highly unlikely, Jack will be there to beat the guy into a pulp, not that he needs to because he's pretty sure Charlie is beyond capable of doing so herself.

After doing forty pull-ups, Jack's feet reconnect with the floor with a soft thud. His chest, arms and abdomens all taut and pumped, a sheen layer of perspiration blanketing his skin. Currently, he's home alone. If he wasn't, you could bet his mother would be hounding him with another lecture about love and everything related to it. Chugging down some water, Jack makes his way downstairs in order to fix himself something to eat. The doorbell echoes through the house and without much thought, Jack walks over to answer it.

"Hello, we're selling cook—" The little girl, donned in her Girl Scout's uniform (green sash and all), freezes at the sight of the shirtless young man before she lets out a squeamish shriek and shields her eyes with her hands. The older girl, who had been preoccupied with her phone, glances up and is immediately star-struck by the gorgeous human standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry," Jack apologizes with an embarrassed smile upon recognizing the situation. "My family isn't big on sweets. Have a good day." Next, he shuts the door and almost slaps a palm over his face. Great, now that girl is going to keep coming back because he forgot to put a damn shirt on. Again, he's not being an egotistic, conceited maniac. It's happened before. It sounds bizarre and ridiculous, he knows that, but it's the truth. You wouldn't believe how crazy girls (and, in some instances, even boys) can get around him.

Back during Jack's junior and senior years of high school, the older girls, who had also been part of the same organization, would always show up at his doorsteps even after he told them repeatedly that he and his family had no interest in purchasing their cookies whatsoever. Their daily visits—or as his mother called them—disturbances had gotten so bad that she had to file a formal complaint with the organization to keep their troops from returning. And once Jack had been shipped off for basic training, those girls had no reason to go to his house anymore.

Well, until five minutes ago they didn't. Mrs McKiernan isn't going to be a happy camper, but at least she can continue to boast and take pride in how handsome her youngest son is to her friends.

Not wanting to stick around in case a hoard of girls does come knocking, Jack decides it'd be best to go out for a bit. He has the perfect candidate to spend the evening with as well. Grabbing his phone from his room, he dials a number and waits for his call to be answered. "Hey, what's up?" the person on the other line greets.

"Hey, I was wondering if you were free?" he questions, collapsing onto his bed.

"Why, Jack McKiernan, are you, by any chance, asking me out on a date right now?"

He laughs and rolls his eyes. "How'd you know? It's like you're the only one who gets me." He plays along. "So what do you say? Are you down to shoot some hoops or what, Chamberlein?"

"Meet you at the courts," Blake says, amused before hanging up.

* * *

Dribbling the ball down the court, Jack fakes left and then cuts right, going in for a layup. The ball falls through the hoop and hits the floor bouncing once, twice before rolling slowly to a complete stop. Blake hunches over, his hands placed on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. Next, he drops to the ground and reclines back, lying flat on the floor as he stares up at the towering ceiling above him, his chest heaving up and down in a jagged pattern. Jack takes a seat beside him after, throwing his head back to help the water go down faster. Once he's done, he hands the bottle over to Blake, who sits up and takes a swig.

"Something bothering you?" he asks.

"No. I just needed to get out of the house," replies Jack.

"Are you sure you're not just trying to avoid your mom?" teases the brunette.

"Well, there's that too." His chest rumbles with laughter, shoulders jumping up and down. He can always count on his friend to make him smile. "What about you? You were awfully aggressive tonight," Jack points out.

Blake exhales loudly and shakes his head. "You're not the only one with mom problems," he mutters.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'll get over it," he pauses, "someday. I think what your cousin said was spot on though. If you really don't want to go on these dates, you should be upfront with your mom about it. She'll be mad, no doubt, but at least you're being honest with her."

"Maybe," sighs Jack. "We'll have to wait and see. Anyways, thanks for coming out and playing with me. I needed it."

"Anytime, man." Blake climbs to his feet and extends a hand towards him. Jack accepts and is hauled up with his assistance. "I should get going now," he announces, checking the watch adorning his wrist. "I have to take a survey for class. It's due at ten."

"Sounds exciting," Jack laughs as he stuffs the basketball into his gym bag. "Don't have too much fun now."

"For five extra points on the final you bet I will," replies Blake. "See you tomorrow in class." And with a simple touch of the knuckles, commonly referred to as a fist-bump, they depart and go their separate ways.

Within the last two months, it's safe to say that these two guys have become good friends. If it's not obvious, Jack and Blake had immediately hit it off the first day they had met. Whenever they have an exam for their class, they would always study together seeing as neither one of them had any ulterior motives for approaching one another, unlike the rest of their peers. Their personalities also mesh very well together. As Jack had said earlier, Blake does seem to be the only person who understands him. And, frankly speaking, he feels like he's discovered a long lost brother in him.

While he is strolling towards his car, which is parked all the way in the commuter's lot, Jack's phone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls it out to check who it is. No surprise there. It's his mother. Thankfully, however, she isn't pestering him about the specifics of his next date. Instead, she has asked him to stop by the market on his way home since they're out of eggs, milk and olive oil. He tells her that he'll happily comply via text message before tucking the device away and fetching his keys.

The source of all life on earth is beginning to fade away, gradually disappearing into the horizon. In its wake, there is a mixture of lavender and coral pink wispy clouds scattered about, high up in the sky.

Inside the market, Jack is lugging around a basket, shuffling along through the aisles in search of the items on his mother's list. He manages to locate them with ease and proceeds towards the checkout lane. A girl, who looks no older than seventeen, stares at him with her mouth hanging wide open, her mind drawing a complete blank. Jack places everything onto the belt but furrows his brows when he realizes they're just sitting there. Then, he glances up and exhales quietly when he discovers the cashier gawping at him like he's a piece of meat. Maybelle's suggestion about going around wearing a bag over his head suddenly sounds enticing as he clears his throat, snapping the girl out of her trance.

She rings the items up, her nerves all jumbled and disorienting her. Once she's done, she stammers out the total due and, with trembling hands, accepts the twenty dollar bill from Jack. When she returns his change, her fingers brush up against his. It barely lasted a second yet the feather-light contact is more than enough to have her body buzzing with excitement. She has to control herself to keep from hyperventilating in front of him and making a complete fool out of herself. Looks like Cupid has struck again.

The automatic doors slide apart, allowing Jack to exit. As he walks down the sidewalk, off in the distance, he can hear sirens blaring. He halts in his tracks and glances over his shoulder. Soon after, a couple of police cars zoom by him, illuminating the street with their blue and red lights. Seems like something big has happened.

Next, a booming thunder sounds and a flash of lightning slices through the sky. Jack cranes his neck back and notices that the pastel colors seem to have faded, replaced now with gray, ominous-looking clouds. The kind of clouds you'd normally find in those creepy horror films. Thinking about it now, the weatherman did say a storm is scheduled to hit the South Burlington area starting around seven.

Tiny droplets of rain begin to fall down. It's nothing but a drizzle. At least, for the first thirty seconds it is. What starts off as a light shower rapidly veers into a merciless downpour. The pellets of water start to splatter against the ground, creating a loud and harsh rhythm against the concrete. "Shit," Jack curses as he places a hand over his head and runs in the direction his car is parked at. He hasn't even been out in the rain for more than five minutes and he can already feel his clothes growing heavier by the second, most likely because the water is getting absorbed by the fabric.

Suddenly, a body rams straight into him. Jack manages to regain his footing before the impact can knock him over. "Whoa, are you okay?" He draws back and his eyes widen slightly while his jaw drops. Now he's the one gawping rudely! Under the warm glow of the street lamp and the blurring rain, Jack has a clear view of the person he collided with. He can't believe what he's seeing. Is this a trick? It must be. But it isn't. It can't be. It's her. It's the girl from the photo. It's the real Sage Chan, alive in the flesh. What are the chances that he'd, literally, run into her outside of the market of all places?

Sage doesn't hear a single word he says as she peers over her shoulder, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her chest concaves deeply as she takes short, rapid breathes. Panicking is not going to do her any good. She can hear the shouting from the officers getting louder which can only mean that they're getting closer and closer. It's only a matter of time before they catch her. Her legs can only take her so far. This is not how she envisioned her night. She can't afford to be captured. Her parents would be beyond ashamed of her if she winds up behind bars! Think! She has to find a way to get out of this.

A lightbulb goes off in her head when she recalls the stranger's presence. She wouldn't usually involve an innocent party but she doesn't have much of a choice. She's desperate. She has to throw them off of her tracks in order to make a clean escape. Shrugging off her sweater, leaving her in nothing but a t-shirt, Sage turns back towards Jack and shoves the article of clothing into one of his bags without his permission. In one fluid motion, she yanks off the elastic from her hair, letting her damp locks loose, a few strands already sticking to her face.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she questions hastily.

Jack swallows. "No," he replies reluctantly. Why is she asking him that? Does she not recognize him?

"What about a boyfriend?" He shakes his head. Good. This is good. She can work with this. Granted, she's going to have to step out of her comfort zone a bit but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Like they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Sure, she might have the best defense lawyer in the state as an uncle but she can't let him know the kind of stuff she's involved in. He'd undoubtedly inform her mother since they're siblings and she can't risk it. There's no time for hesitating. It's now or never. "Then I must apologize in advance if my actions offend you. I hope you won't charge me for sexual harassment because I'm in dire need of your help right now," she declares.

The corners of his lips curl downwards, forming a frown. "What do you mean?" He doesn't understand what she's trying to tell him. Why would he charge her for sexual harassment? And why does she need his help? Finally, it hits him, his brain fitting the pieces together. The police cars, a wheezing Sage, the flurry of men in uniform sprinting towards them this very second.

Without bothering to offer him a detailed explanation, Sage pushes Jack against a random car, coils her arms around his neck and leans in. Her chest is pressed up against his, giving him full access to all of the curves and dips of her front-side. The bags in his grasp slip and fall onto the ground when he sees that their lips are less than an inch apart and the tips of their noses are kissing.

And, at that precise moment, while the rain continues to cascade all around them, Jack finds himself holding his breath as he gazes at the girl with round eyes and a pounding heart, completely unaware of what to do.

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Author's Thoughts: Welcome, welcome. Are you excited for this story? Cause I know I am! Just a warning, this story will be around 25-30 chapters. Please vote and leave comments <3