The Nightmare Before Him

And Who Would Ever Think?

It was about 2 A.M. and the party began to die down. As the night progressed, Jack got more drunk, and more cuddly. It was actually quite funny to watch the whole thing go down. Besides me, Cassadee was the only other person who didn't drink. Lisa didn't drink much, but she did drink a little. As the party began to die down, Alex told Jack and Zack that they were welcome to crash there. Zack said he would but Jack began to complain that he left his 'special blanket' at home and couldn't sleep without it. Alex and Jack argued a bit that Jack didn't own one, and Jack began to sound more and more like a child.

"I can take Jack home," I offer and immediately regret it. It gets really quiet and everyone looks me up and down as if assessing me to see if I was worthy enough of taking their dear friend home.

"I don't see why not," Lisa says smiling at me.

"Yay! Road trip!" Jack screams throwing his hands in the air and unsteadily walks towards the door. I say goodbye to everyone and thank Alex and Lisa for having me at their house. I follow Jack out the door and Cassadee and Rian follow.

"I can take him home if you really don't want to," Cassadee offers.

"I got it, but thanks," I say smiling.

"Alright, well it was nice meeting you. I hope to see you soon," Cassadee says pulling me into a hug.

"Same here," I respond as I watch Jack walk in the opposite direction of my car. "Jack, my car is this way," I say pointing in the other direction. Jack spins around quickly to walk the other way and almost tripped, but I grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"My knight," Jack says grinning and I laugh. The walk to my car was more difficult than expected, but eventually, we made it to my car. I helped Jack into the passenger seat, and I got into the drivers side. I asked for Jack's address and put it into my phone and followed the direction the little device gave me. "You know what, I was really looking forward to hanging out with you tonight. Now look at me! I'm a mess," Jack says dramatically.

"We did hang out Jack, and I'm sure we'll hang out more," I say glancing at him. I'm trying to keep my focus on the road.

"Good, I'm glad I haven't scared you away," Jack says. I soon feel Jacks hand tracing the tattoo on my thigh. I look over and see him. He has his head propped up on his hand as his  elbow rests on my console, and he was really focused on my tattoo. "That's Sally," he states referring to my tattoo.

"That it is," I say trying to focus on the road and not his touch.

"You like Nightmare Before Christmas?" Jack asks still staring at my tattoo.

"Yeah," I say, "I couldn't watch movies a lot as a kid, but I somehow managed to get my hands on a copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I used to watch it twenty-four seven. It was like a way to escape the world for a bit and enter a world of fantasy." I laugh at how cheesy I sound, "It helped a lot that one of the characters had the same name as me. I sort of felt like I could relate a little to a lot of characters in the movie too." I look over and see Jack staring at me now with his hand still touching my tattoo causing a tingly feeling.

"I just liked the movie," he says staring at me in awe. He sits up and removes his hand from my thigh. He pulls the neck of his shirt down a bit so I can see his chest that contains a tattoo of Jack Skellington. "See, I just thought it was cool and my name was Jack so," he trails off with a laugh. "Seems a little silly now."

"It's not," I say glancing at him. I pull into the driveway of what I hope to be his house. "Okay, we're here," I say as I take the keys out of the ignition. I go over to the passenger side to help Jack get out of the car. When we get the the front door of his house Jack begins to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Oops," he says and laughs again, "I think I forgot my keys," he says touching my nose with his index finger.

"How are we supposed to get into your house then, Jack?" I ask sighing.

"Got a key in the back," he says almost falling, but I help him.

"Lead the way," I command and he does. He opens up the wooden gate, and we walk around the side of his house until we get into the backyard. He basically collapses on the ground, making me cringe, and picks up an empty clay pot revealing a small, silver key. He stands back up and fumbles to put the key in the lock until he gets frustrated. "I got it," I say as I grab the key from his shaky hands. I easily place it in the keyhole and turn it. I open the door and enter into a small and messy kitchen. "Okay, well this is where I go."

"Nooooooo," Jack says childishly as he grabs my arm. "I got a tee-shirt you could use," he offers.

"What do you mean?" I ask confused on why he offered me a tee-shirt. I check my shirt for stains.

"So, you can stay the night," Jack says with a giddy smile. I laugh at his offer.

"I can't stay the night at your house, Jack," I say.

"You're right," he says which confuses me, "I haven't consulted my roommates yet." Roommates? He looks up and squints for a second, "They said it's cool."

"Who's they?"

"The voices in my head," Jack says pulling his hands up and moving his fingers.

"You're insane," I say laughing.

"Yes, but I'm also great. So, let's have a sleepover!" Even when he's drunk, he's still a goof.

"Sorry, but I have to head home. I've got work tomorrow."

"And yet, you've stayed out 'til the wee hours of the morning," Jack says with a sly smile.

"Only because I wanted to make sure you got home safe," I say rolling my eyes.

"This is the beginning of a great love story," he says smirking and I turn red.

"Whatever, I gotta go. Sleep well, call me if something goes wrong," I say heading for the door. I leave before he could say anything. I get in my car and I feel shaky and a little giddy. Why do I feel like this?