don't think twice (Joey)

[Deleted]

It was the first time the Gym had been opened since the dance. At first, It had been a crime scene, and then the teachers just didn't feel right sending their kids in there. But with a new teacher, came time to try again. Jack looked at his classmates as they shyly stepped onto the floor.

Jack hadn't seen inside the gym since that night. As he looked around, he could still see the bodies. The most glorious sight he had ever seen. It was quite successful, in his opinion. After all, he was still here, wasn't he? Sure, Detective Kennedy thought he could get him, but he didn't have anything on him. Jack felt invincible. He would never be caught.

He awaited directions from Coach Michalchuck, but didn't receive any. He didn't know what he was doing. He pretty much let them do what they wanted. scoffing, Jack walked over to where the basketballs had been left where they were on the night of the dance; they hadn't been moved since. Picking up a basketball, the boy started dribbling. He looked up at the basket, and tossed the ball, but it didn't make it. Hitting the ring, it went flying. Immediately, he followed it, to make sure that it hadn't hit anyone.

[Joey Enders]

joey sighed, walking into the gym in her uniform. she hated the shirts and basketball shorts they gave out, she enjoyed her cut up band tees and skinny jeans not these. she tried her best to stay under the radar, and gym class wasn't going to help that much. joey was always that girl that sat in the back of the class, or at recess, by herself with a sketch pad or a book. and that was just what she was doing now. the girl had her sketch pad across her lap and her eyes moving up from her model back down to her drawing. her model, though, had no idea he had the job. joey had heard his name being said around the gym, and the school for that matter, jack. her pencil shaded around his eyes, and before she knew it his entire face was finished.

her concentration was stifled by some one yelling heads up. joey perked her head up and flinched seeing the basketball coming towards her. she then wished she hadn't of sat in the first row of bleachers, she usually poked in the back but then she couldn't draw jack. he ran over and saved the ball from hitting her face, and she lifted her head up and just stared at him. not even thinking to cover her picture, then again she couldn't even speak at this point.

[Deleted]

He caught the ball, and stopped in his tracks. He didn't know her, which probably meant that she was new. As he studied her, he noticed something different about her. Her hair, her facial characteristics, they were similar to Audrey's. But his reaction was different. When he looked at her, he didn't think of how many pieces she could be cut up. He didn't ponder what he would do to her first. No. He wanted to protect her. To be there for her, to keep her out of harm's way. All he knew was that if Zach scared this one off, Larisa would not be surviving this time around. It was almost what he felt around Delilah, but much, much stronger. He couldn't even describe it.

She was holding something. A drawing. Curiously, he craned his neck and glanced, immediately picking up that he was the subject. "Wow. Is that me?" he asked with a chuckle. "I-I-I mean, it's good. It's really..." where the hell had his charm gone? Everything he had learned from the soaps had vanished into thin air. "Sorry about the ball. I guess it's an off day for me. Something kind of tragic happened here, and--" and he was rambling. Come on, Jack, stop it! The Aussie sighed and tucked the ball under one arm, deciding to try again. "I'm Jack Basely. I don't believe we've met". They hadn't. He would have remembered, he was sure of it.

[Joey Enders]

their eyes met, and joey looked down at her picture. then realizing that he saw it, and she felt her cheeks get warmer and warmer as his compliments went on. he then apologized for the ball, and began speaking to her as if she never stepped foot into degrassi until this day. her eyes looked around the room, then back up at this boy. but doing her best not to stare into his eyes. "joey." she spoke up, in her little high pitched mousy tone. "i'm joey. and-" she looked down at her drawing, back up at jack and smiled. "thank you." her cheeks were still red, so decided she would stop this embarrassment and closed her sketch pad.

[Deleted]

"Joey, eh? Is that short for something, miss?" his guess was Josephine. He didn't understand these girls, going by a name shorter than what they were given at birth. Of course, it wasn't his place to say anything. But, she looked like a Josephine. Her eyes had him enamored. He was probably staring, but he couldn't help it. Did she know how beautiful she was?--

"Jack!" a whistle sounded from across room as Ian was holding up his hands. "Let's play!"

Jack looked at Ian, and back at her. He didn't want to leave her. But, he knew that the social conventions he was supposed to be living by required him to. Torn, he looked back and forth for a second. Finally, he took a step towards Ian, but then simply threw the basketball to him. "You can have it, mate. I'm gonna hang with Joey." And with that, he went to her side and took a seat on the bleacher beside her. He hoped she didn't mind, since she seemed pretty shy. But, he was Jack; all the girls swooned over him. He didn't see why she should turn him away.

"So, Joey. You like art, do you? Well, you have to let me take you to an exhibit this weekend. To make up for almost walloping you in the head with that ball." Ahh, there was the charm! His face finally remembered how to give the smile that all the girls seemed to melt over, and he gave it to her now. Except, he meant it more this time. It was more genuine. He never thought he'd be like this, and it was over a girl who barely spoke. Incredible.

[Joey Enders]

she nodded, and bit the inside of her lip. "jo-" she was cut off by the other boy in the classroom, ian was his name. joey's eyes landed on ian, but found their way back to jack. some thing about him slid under her skin, which no one has gotten before. she figured their chatting would be over since he was with ian, so she flipped open her sketchpad and continued shading in jack's facial hair. suddenly, he was back and she felt a smile creep up on her mouth. his accent was beautiful, and she felt herself getting all anxious and butterfly-like in her stomach. this was new to her, which was odd and she knew that but she just didn't like talking to people or even having some one so close to her... but she didn't mind jack. when he brought up the exhibit, she looked over at him; felt his eyes sucking her in. "i'd like that, but the ball was my fault. i shouldn't have been sitting right here of all places." she smirked, looking back down at her drawing. she signed a little joey enders in the bottom right corner, tore it out of her sketchpad and handed it to the boy. "joey's short for joanna. by the way." she spoke up, clearing her throat.

[Deleted]

Joanna. Jack's smile grew. Joanna and Jack. It sounded nice. "I like it," he told her, listening to her insist that it was her fault. He liked her line of thinking, admittedly. It was the line of thinking he used when he decided that it was a girl's own fault that he was killing her. She shouldn't have been there. But, in this case, he wasn't willing to accept the reasoning. It wasn't her fault. She was innocent, blameless. This was completely new to him. He had never met a girl he didn't at least imagine killing. Even Delilah, he had wanted to kill her at first, but then found he couldn't. With this girl. he couldn't even bear the thought of it.

"Well, Joanna. Since you say it's your fault, why don't you go for a walk with me? Coach Michalchuck isn't paying attention, and we'll call it even" He wanted to get her alone, not to maul or strangle her or anything, but to talk to her, to get to know her. He wanted to be completely honest with her. Of course, it wasn't possible to have one hundred percent honesty with her. But, he could go for ninety nine percent. That one percent being left out would, of course be the Sniper part. It might be a deal-breaker to know that he killed people, after all. And god, did he ever so want a deal. He wanted nothing more than to have her, like every normal guy had a normal girl.

[Joey Enders]

as he called her joanna, she cringed a little bit. "joey, please." she hated when people called her joanna, mainly because that was what her mother called her. that, and joanna rae were two names she hated to be called, it just brought back depressing shit that she didn't want to think about. joey smirked and nodded at his idea of a walk. "i don't see why not. better than filling up my sketchpads until my ass goes numb on these bleachers." joey then stood up, standing at her full height of four foot eleven. she stretched her legs out, placed the sketchpad in the messenger bag at her side and looked at jack with a small smile on her face. thoughts of how far this could go with jack suddenly filled her mind. thoughts of holding his hand, cuddling with him, feeling his lips on her cheek, on her lips. she shook the thoughts out of her head, no one ever got ahead by sticking around and staying in love. plus, look what love did to her parents. joey didn't want to end up like her father.

[Deleted]

"You don't like Joanna?" he asked, with a frown. "All right then," he said as he stood up and looked at the sketch once more before folding it and pocketing it. "Do you want me to carry that?" he asked, and for the first time, he didn't mind doing it if she wanted him to. He wouldn't mind doing anything that she wanted. Which, considering he was a serial killer, was probably a dangerous thing to say. But it was true nevertheless. He would even try to stop, if she really wanted him to.

This wasn't safe. He was watching. He knew every move Jack made. He had scared Delilah off, if she was even still alive. He hoped that when she left, Zachary never saw her again. What would he do when he found out about Joey? Jack would fight to the death over her if he had to. He would kill the monster that he was so fascinated with. He didn't understand the connection he had to Zachary. He hated him, but he couldn't kill him. And he was sure it was the same way with the boy. But now, he needed to not think about it, any of it. He wanted to enjoy himself with her.

"Let's go this way. Less chance of running into Snyder," he said as he reached out for her hand. Would she give it to him? His track record proved him untrustworthy. Just ask the girl in the hospital named Megan Del Rossi. But, Megan actually brought her torture on herself. He would have waited a while longer, had she not gone snooping in his basement. The girl was centered on drama, anyway. It was tedious work, pretending to love her. Jack was glad that he was done with her. Especially now that he'd met Joey.

[Joey Enders]

she nodded. "it's a long story, i just don't like to be called that." she looked down at her shoes, both hands latching onto the strap on her bag that hugged the front of her. when he offered to carry her bag, she was confused on why he was being so nice to her. she had never experienced this sort of thing before, so simply shook her head. "i'm fine, it's not even heavy." she let her eyes wander his body, and she bit the inside of her cheek. her eyes then lingered to their teacher, then she realized that jack had his hand out. she had a debate in her head on whether or not to take it or ignore it. this was probably one of the hardest things for her to think about, mainly because this is the first time any of this has happened to her. she shrugged in her mind, and placed her tiny hand in his. she felt his touch run through her entire body, who knew what other adventures she'd be getting into that day but for some reason when she was with jack she wasn't paranoid like she usually was. she felt calm, and felt safe.

[Deleted]

Her hand was so small that he felt like he could break it. He looked down at the small gesture of trust and back up at her. It was incredible. She didn't have much to say, but there was something about her. The touch of her skin warmed his otherwise cold exterior. He felt his heart skip a beat. His smile turned a little lopsided. He now understood the effect he had on the girls, because she was having the same on him. It felt like nobody was even there, except for them. He really needed to get a grip on himself. Clearing his throat, he nodded in the direction he was leading her in.

He made his way to the door, taking one more look at the coach to make sure that he wasn't paying attention, before opening it and leading her outside. He felt like he was floating on air. He had never taken drugs before, but from what he heard, this is what it felt like to be high. This girl was almost like an addiction. He never wanted to leave her side, and he had only just met her. This might turn out dangerous for the boy, but he didn't care. He'd take the chance.

His eyes scanned the football field and the bleachers that faced it, before looking back at her. "So, you don't like your name, eh? So if you could change it, what would it be?" He had changed his name, when he left Australia. Amery had been his previous name. He liked it fine, but he had made major mistakes as Amery. Amery was ready to face murder charges. They had to destroy all previous connections. He had been given a choice, and he had chosen Jack because of a children's book he had grown up with. So, he was curious what she would pick.

[Joey Enders]

as they walked out of the gymnasium, joey felt empowered. she had never done anything rebellious like skip out of class before, and it felt good to fight back to the school system. he got back on the name topic again, and she sighed letting her shoulders shrug. this was a question she would have to give a serious thought to. there were plenty of girls names out there, unisex names, then those rare 'what the fuck were your parents thinking' names. those ones were joey's favorite. "indigo. i like that name, or apple." she giggled her little three-year-old child in a candy shop giggle, a giggle that hasn't been escaped from her body in quite some time. she felt her cheeks get red again, looking down at their hands clasped together as one. joey slid her fingers between his, enlacing them. "i also like the name hanna, or kelli. with an i not a y." she smirked a little, walking with jack felt like she was floating and her tip toes were barely touching the ground. "what about you? do you like your name?" she looked over at him, then back down at their hands again. joey honestly couldn't get over the fact that she was holding his hand.

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Jack smiled. "Indigo fits you. If you want, I can call you that. Forget birthrights. Go with something you like," he told her, looking down at their fingers. He liked the way they fit. Like pieces in a puzzle. And if there was one thing he knew, it was that he wanted her to be a part of his puzzle. And if she chose a different name, then it would make him more normal. He liked that. Jack had never wanted to be normal before. Sure, it was a necessity after everything that happened in Sydney. But it didn't mean that he wanted it. He liked the way he had been as Amery, shy and quiet, barely noticeable. He had gone through a lot of work to make the transformation. Weight training, plastic surgery, contacts. And now, he was glad that he had done it. He might not have been worth drawing if he hadn't.

Jack paused, thinking about her question. Did he like his name? Well, he had chosen it. "Yeah, I do. But it's not my real name, either. Back home, everyone knew me as Amery," he answered her, softly. "My mum decided that we needed a change in everything, names and all. We all chose names; me, and my mum and pop. We moved here from Sydney. And then she was murdered." By him. But, he didn't trust himself to tell her that much. He hadn't told a single soul that he wasn't really Jack Basely before now. Zachary knew, but not because he told him, because he knew him from Sydney. It was exhilarating, though, telling her all this.

[Joey Enders]

she giggled again as he told her he would call her inidgo if she liked. the tiny girl nodded. "please." she smiled, indigo enders sounded a lot better than joanna enders. anyway, as they walked along he was telling her his story. amery. she liked that name a lot, just as she was going to speak up he talked about his mother and her eyes glazed over towards him. she stopped walking, turning her entire body to face him. "i'm sorry." she looked into his eyes and sighed. "my mom died too, except it was from an overdose." she looked down at her feet, feeling her eyes fill up with tears. the girl shook her head and wiped underneath her eye, looking back up at jack only to let go of his hand in order to turn her back towards him. she hated crying in front of people, especially cute people. joey turned herself completely away from jack, using the inside of her shirt to wipe away her tears without smudging her eyeliner.

she turned around she she was calmer, taking a deep breath before looking back up at jack. "sorry, you're the first person i've ever told that to. things get emotional, i normally don't cry. actually normally i don't even talk. so i guess that isn't normal anymore but sorry again i mean for crying and for your mom getting kill- i'm rambling. please feel free to stop me at any time?" she blushed again, forcing her gaze back down at her shoes to avoid jack seeing her red cheeks.

[Deleted]

His smile faded when she talked about her own mother. He had clearly chosen the wrong topic. When she turned her back to him so she could cry, he took a step closer to her, putting his hands gently on her shoulders, rubbing his thumbs against her soft skin in circular motions, trying to be comforting. He wanted to kiss her cheek, but he wasn't that brave. He had just met her. What would she think? And, to be honest, he had never kissed anyone in his life, except for his mother when he was a child.

And then she turned back to face him, and he removed his hands from her shoulders, only to let them find their way to her waist. Was he really holding her? He swallowed the lump in his throat as he listened to her ramble. A small smile came back, and when she said to stop her, he shook his head. "I like it when you do that," he was speaking in a whisper, his eyes looking into hers. That is, until she looked down. Letting go of her waist with his right hand, he gently nudged her chin to get her to look back up at him. "I know how it feels to not be normal. I've been trying since my first day to be normal, to be charming. I still don't feel normal. But, now that I've met you, maybe not being normal is better." He wanted to kiss her. God, did he want to. He had never felt this way about anyone, let alone have the urge to kiss anyone. This was brand new to the Australian boy.