Criticism spot!
Crutchie's POV
I had been selling for a few weeks now and was doing pretty good, and I'm sure me having a crutch was part of how well I was doing, as people bought from me out of pity. Within the first few days of selling, though, I quickly noticed that Jack seemed slightly different when he was in front of everyone. He no longer had any sort of soft, gentle side to him, and instead seemed as though he was emotionless.
My nightmares had been getting worse recently, and I didn't know why. Every single time I'd have one, Jack would wake up as well, asking if I was alright. I'd insist that I was, and would eventually be able to convince him to go back to bed.
"Beat your ass again, Romeo," Jack joked, setting his cards down with a smile.
"Shut it," Romeo snapped back, and Race laughed as he watched. I stayed quiet, however, studying how Jack was acting.
"Hey, I get it. I'd be upset too if I kept losing," Jack continued to tease, making Romeo fake punch him.
"Alright, I'm going out for a smoke before we play another round," Race said as he stood, Romeo following. "Want one, Crutchie?" Race offered, but I shook my head. "Alright, we'll be back in a few." As the door closed behind them Jack looked at me, raising his brows a little.
"You're quiet," he said, making me look at him.
"I'm always quiet," I spoke colder than I intended, clearly catching Jack off guard a bit.
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly, glancing at the door before looking back at me.
"Nothing," Was all I said back, looking away from him. I had been here for nearly two months all together now, and Jack was getting real good at knowing if I was upset by just looking at me.
"Somethin' is clearly-"
"I said I'm fine," I snapped, and felt guilty the moment I did. With a sigh I stood up, still not looking at Jack. "I'm turning in. Night," I said, and he didn't respond.
I slipped out before Romeo and Race had come back, so I didn't pass them, and thus didn't need to explain where I was going. As I got to the ladder, instead of climbing up, I stopped and stared at it, feeling sick. I couldn't bring myself to go up, still feeling guilt about how I had snapped at Jack, so instead I walked to the end of the alley that it was in, sitting against the wall and facing the street, out of sight from the ladder.
As I sat there I couldn't stop thinking about Jack. How he acted around me versus how he acted in front of the fellas, how he seemed to care far more about me than them, how he was so nice to me. I was there for quite a while, wondering if Jack had gone up already and I just hadn't heard him, or if he was still playing. As if on cue, though, I heard footsteps nearing me, and they didn't stop at the ladder. Within a few seconds Jack turned the corner, sitting down beside me.
"I'm sorry," I said right away, looking down.
"For?" He asked, surprising me.
"Snapping at you," I looked at him as I spoke this time, seeing that he looked worried.
"It's alright," he assured me, smiling kindly. "What's bothering you?" I took a deep sigh, unsure if I should be honest or not. After a long, long pause, I decided I should be, not wanting to ruin the only friendship I had ever had.
"Why are you so different around me?" I finally asked, and I could see Jack immediately begin to think.
"I dunno," he mumbled, looking away.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
A Different Path
फैनफिक्शनHello! This will be another Jack and Crutchie book, as I want to see if I can write a better story than my other, finished one, "Unscripted." I'm sure there will be many, many, many parallels to the two stories.
