Friends

Jack walked towards his car. He was a couple of paces away from his car when he turned & looked at the school building. He squirted his eyes & looked at the band practice room. He knew that they had made the committee meeting there since he wouldn't be joining his friends. Jack was still hesitant about going for his date. He still wanted to spend time with Chin. He turned towards his car & walked towards it. Before he drove off, he stared at the band's window. He could make out someone standing near the window. However, because of the sun's glare, he could not tell who was standing there or whether the person was staring out of the window or not.

Chin watched Jack's car leaving the school car park. She wasn't as upset as she would be a couple of days back. She was resigning herself to just being Jack's friend & nothing more than that. She looked back at her friends & said with a smile, "hey, we better get our act together soon. There isn't much time left to inform everyone & set up the tent!"

An hour later, Jack was sitting next to Shannon in a movie theater. Normally, he would be pretty engrossed in the movie. However, today, he could not concentrate at all. He was thinking of Chin throughout the whole action movie, & there was nothing in the whole movie to remind him of her. He felt bad for leaving all the preparation work to his friends. He kept thinking of the meetings that must have gone on without his input. He remembered when the first time the bazaar was announced.

Both Jack & Chin were very excited with the whole idea. They had so much fun just thinking about it & discussing the ideas for it. Even though Jack belonged to track & field, he had offered his services to the band. Since Jack used to be a band member as well, no one rejected his offer. They even made him a member of the committee.

However, he missed the 1st few meetings because of track practice. Then Shannon came along & he stopped thinking of the event altogether. He couldn't help but felt bad that he had forgotten. He wondered if his friends blamed him for being unreliable. His thoughts went on & on in a circle. Suddenly, he felt a head on his shoulder. He looked at Shannon in surprise. To his delight, she had laid her head on his shoulder. Elated, he put all guilty thoughts out of his mind. He enjoyed the sensation of having her hair near him. She smelt delicious to him. The guilt & movie forgotten, he closed his eyes to enjoy the bodily closeness she provided him.

Chin was feeling happy. The meeting was a blast. They had a lot of fun putting the project together. Chin was a born organizer & leader. They had discussed & discarded several ideas. Chin enjoyed pitting her debating skills & problem solving skills against the others. The meeting soon came to an end. They decided to set up a drinking store after Chin attacked & successfully brought down the idea of a food store. There were too many food stores participating in the bazaar.

When the others left, Chin & Florence stayed behind to iron out the details of the project. Florence was the secretary & Chin was the leader of the committee. When they were finally done, it was close to dinnertime. "Hey Chin, do you need to go home immediately? My parents are out tonight, I need to go over to Charlie's to grab some burger," explained Florence.

Chin thought for a second & nodded. "Sure, I'll go with you. I'll just call my mum. I'm sure she would agree although I think she had prepared dinner. Who knows? Maybe she wanted to order take out. I could probably save her some money on the take out by delivering it myself!" said Chin in a jest. Chin smiled & went over to a phone booth. After a couple of nods, she hung up the phone & gave Florence a thumb up.

The two girls hurried over to the car park where Florence's car was parked. It was especially chilly at night. Chin was glad that she had brought a jacket along, on her mother's insistence. She was actually lazy to bring it along. When they got into the car, the two girls rubbed their hands together & tried to warm their almost frozen hands. After 5 minutes, Florence started the car.

"Hey, what's up with you & Jack? I thought you had a deal with Zack? What's happening?" asked Florence after a moment's hesitation.

Chin sighed. She knew that her friend had an ulterior motive for asking her to Charlie's. She shrugged & thought of what to say. Truth be told, she wasn't sure what to say either. "Jack met Shannon the night I wanted to tell him about the deal between me & Zack. He was so into her that I could not bring myself to tell him. End of story," said Chin nonchalantly.

"So, he doesn't know?" exclaimed Florence.

Chin nodded while keeping her eyes on the road in front of her.

Florence stole a glance at Chin. She sighed. "Hey, I'm sorry then. Then, what about Zack? Is he all right?" asked Florence with concern.

Chin frowned & said, "he seems fine to me. He visited me yesterday when I fell sick. He was so sweet Florence. I almost regretted my deal with him. I wished that I never mentioned it to him at all; now that this had happened between me & Jack."

"Girl! That's so selfish!" exclaimed Florence a second time.

Chin cringed. She knew that her friend was right. She was being selfish here. She sighed & looked at the shops. She didn't want to let her friend see her glistening eyes.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I know what you mean exactly. Forgive me?" asked Florence quietly.

With wet eyes, Chin looked at her friend & nodded. Her friend smiled back at her. "Here, take a napkin! You looked like a cry baby back there," joked Florence.

Chin pretended to be indignant & rebuked her friend.

They arrived at Charlie's 10 minutes later. Florence went to the counter to order some food & Chin went to the convenience store next door to get some drinks. Her mum had wanted her to get some soda. She was about to pay when she spotted Jack & Shannon. They were behaving intimately. He had his arm around her neck & she was cuddling up to him. Chin swallowed with difficulty.

She quickly paid for the soda & left. Florence met her at the door & noticed that she seemed a bit mad. She asked if anything was wrong but Chin was too upset to reply. To Chin's horror, Florence told her that she needed to get something from the convenience store & had asked Chin to wait for her in the car. Although Chin was desperate, she had no choice but to wait because it was freezing cold. She wasn't about to catch another chill trying to catch the bus. The bus service seemed non-existent anyway.

While waiting, a black guy came up to the car & tapped the window.

"Yes?" asked Chin.

"Yo girl, looking for some loving?" asked the black guy. Disgusted, Chin rolled up the window. However, before the window could completely go up, the black guy stopped the window with his brute strength.

"What do you want?" cried Chin angrily.

The black guy smiled & said, "I want you baby. Why don't you leave your car here & come up to my place with me? I just stay around here."

Before Chin could reply, a strong hand grabbed the black guy from behind & pulled him away from the car.

"Any problem girl?" asked Jack with a grin.

Chin heaved a sigh of relief. She smiled at the black guy with fake sugary & said, "sorry, but I'm taken. I'm afraid my boyfriend doesn't like me talking to strangers."

The black guy shook off Jack's hand & walked off after throwing Jack a glare. He must have noticed that the latter was pretty well built & thus did not dare to pick a fight with him. Chin smiled gratefully at Jack & opened the car door. She was about to hug Jack when a feminine voice cut through the cold air surrounding them.

"Has he gone off?" asked Shannon softly. She was scared & looked vulnerable. She stood behind Jack. Jack reached out for her & rubbed her shoulders & said, "yes, he's gone. You don't have to be scared."

Chin looked confusedly at the two of them. Now, Jack looked more like an older brother to Shannon than a boyfriend. Shannon spoke up for both of them.

"The guy that harassed you just now? He's my ex boyfriend. He's a bastard. I'm sorry. Did he do anything to you?" asked Shannon quietly. She looked at the floor guiltily.

Chin felt sorry for Shannon. She looked really bad. Although she was shaken, she smiled at Shannon & shrugged. "I'm fine Shannon. You take care of yourself and you, Jack, you better take care of her," said Chin with a smile.

Suddenly, Shannon lunged herself forward & hugged Chin. Chin was surprised. "Are you all right Shannon?" asked Chin with concern. Shannon nodded. She was really upset. She did not have a good experience with her ex boyfriend.

Florence walked up to Chin & looked at her questioningly. She had missed the whole episode. Apparently, Jack had saw Florence when she was buying some stuff & was looking out for Chin when he spotted Shannon's ex boyfriend trying to hit on Chin. He went to her rescue immediately. Earlier in the store, he was helping Shannon to avoid her ex boyfriend by acting intimately with her.

Jack explained the whole episode to Florence & offered to send Chin home despite having to send Shannon home as well. Chin quickly rejected his offer & entered Florence's car once more. They parted ways soon after, each deep in their own thoughts.

A/N: I'm sorry everyone!!! I know that this chapter was super late & kind of depressing. =P Oh well, I'm just glad that I managed to get this out! I hope everyone will love this chapter! =) Please let me know if there are any technical mistakes.