Blast from the Past [Bella]

[Jackson Rocklyn]

Back from the dead, that's what it felt like to the 5'10 seventeen year old. He had just returned from his year abroad with his stepfather's family in London and was already wanting to leave Jeopardy. It's not that he didn't love his hometown, actually that was exactly what it was.

Jeopardy, to him, represted everything he hated. It had the fake bitches, the judgemental people, and worst of all: he heard Hollywood was coming to town. If he had his wish, he would still be in London, soaking up the English sun. Not that there ever was sun, but you know the deal.

The bells rang as he opened up the door to the Tea Bar. He had heard through the grapevine, also known as his father, that the one person he was excited to see, Arabella, worked here. She was the only one that Jackson actually liked in Jeopardy. Everyone else always had some comment to say to him like he was too fat, or his dad should get a real job.

Well, he was going to show them now. Walking into the Tea Bar, Jack was coming in a new man. He was much lighter and toned, thanks to hours spent at the gym with his roommate. And, although his dad was still a janitor, Jackson could stand up and say that he was proud to be the janitor's son. After all, where would the world be without people to clean up after us?

He glided to the counter (that's right, the boy could glide) and cleared his throat. Hopefully, the girl at the counter would be Arabella, and not one of the girls that had made his life a living hell a year ago.

"Excuse me, Miss, but could a guy order something around here?" His voice oozed sarcasm, he wasn't actually impatiant but he was going to have a little fun. He was excepting one out of two possible reactions. The girl could be happy to see him or pissed off that he was in London for a whole year. He was almost jumping out of his boots with excitment.

Not literally, of course. The boy would never be seen in boots. He was actually wearing a blue plaid shirt, flanel mind you (how rustic) and a comfertable pair of jeans. Jackson always voted comfert over style, and even though flanel went out ten years ago, he was still rocking it. [/font]

[Arabella Jang]

This place needed a little excitement, or at least Arabella thought it did. As much as the girl loved her job—the ‘exciting’ blend of tea spices was really starting to bug her… as did the extremely annoying ten year olds that made the Tea Bar their little hang out. Really it was so annoying to hear “Like” and “As if” every other second and loud bursts of obnoxious laughter. Still Arabella dealt with it like no other, and managed to put a nice and almost sincere smile on her face too.

Since it was such a mellow day there were only two people on shift, One being Arabella and the other being --- well that was weird ,she could have sworn that there was another person on shift with her. She would absolutely kill some one if they didn’t show up before the evening rush, after all there was only so much one person could do, Alone.

She let out a little sigh as she let her hand ruffle her dark hair, which was in its typical light waves, with her bangs twisted off into a little poof, just for convenience really. Her russet colored eyes were of course framed by a stylish pair of black framed glasses, she had decided to ditch the contacts for about a day or two. The rest of her was covered in a nice a comfy light wash pair of jeans, a band t-shirt, and one of those hoodies her little sister got her from Holister or American Eagle. Typically, she wouldn’t ever wear the hoodie—since she didn’t exactly adore the two brands—but god today was just such a lazy day that she absolutely didn’t care.

Never the less, the girl busied her self with straightening out whatever there was to straighten out. She pushed in the chair that said obnoxious ten year olds left out and all over the place, wiped down the crumby tables and did whatever there was left to do until the place spotless as ever. Satisfied with her work, Arabella ‘dusted’ her hands off and retreated back behind the counter so she could throw said crumbs away and preferably wash her hands too.

“Be with you in a minute!” Since Arabella had been refilling the machines with water and such, her back had been turned to the cash register so she couldn’t see who exactly standing there in his now London-esq glory….Oh what that poor boy had coming—a bombardment of hugs, followed by an angry rant that might actually put irritated grizzlies to shame.

It took her moment to realize who was standing infront of her—probably because he had slimmed down so much. “….Oh My---JACK!” there was a smile forming on her face a really bright one that screamed “Prepare for a hug.” Seriously if Arabella had enough ‘skill’ to jump over the counter, she totally would have. “WHEN DID YOU GET BACK FROM LONDON!? AND WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME? OR EMAIL ME? OR,OR SOMETHING!”

Typically Arabella condoned screaming and hollering so much—but when your close—if not BEST friend whom you haven’t seen in a year, comes back from London. She had every right to be as loud and silly as she wanted.

[Jackson Rocklyn]

Out of all the possible reactions that he planned in his head, this never came to mind. The Arabella he knew would never scream, especially in a public place. But, he could understand her sentiments because seeing her brought back a wave emotions.

"Calm yourself Arabella, you're making me blush," he laughed. He didn't want the whole place to hear his name, he was preparing for a big coming back and this was not what he pictured. He decided that he was going to walk into school and see how many people came up to him.

Whenever someone came back in the movies, it seemed to Jack that no matter what people's previous feelings were of the person, they always were happy to see them. And that is exactly what Jack wanted, but instead of embracing everyone, he was prepared to ignore the happiness and settle back into daily life with his old friends. Who needed the fake bitches anyways?

"Do you mean today or when I was in London?" he asked Arabella. There were tons of reasons he had to explain why he had just disappeared, but they were personal reasons. For example, how embarrassing is it to say that Jack's step father didn't think he had enough class? C'mon, that wasn't a reason that you went around sharing for fun.

"I wish I could put my finger on it Arabella, but there are just so many reasons. First, I didn't want anyone to be jealous that you're the only one I like in this fucking town. Second, and don't be mad at me, but I was extremely busy."

He sounded like an asshole, and he couldn't stand it. Maybe there was something that changed in London that was for the worse, but he could always tweak his new self to be the perfect version that Jack pictured in his head. He was busy, but that wasn't the reason. To be honest, he didn't want to remember that he was going to have to return to Jeopardy eventually. He loved London and throughout his trip, he tried to forget Jeopardy until he was on the plane back home.

"But enough about me, you know I'm shy. Get over here and give me a hug, or a handshake, or something! You have no idea how much I missed you, Arabella." His cheeks started to turn a bit of pink when those words came out. He did miss her, but how girlie was it to tell her that? Whatever, if you can't say it to a best friend, who can you say it to?

[Arabella Jang]

What could she say? She was absolutely thrilled by his sudden appearance, so of course she screamed. This got the one person in the shop to look over, raise an eyebrow and turn away again. Arabella didn’t care about that one little person in their store, Jackson was FINALLY back, which meant her best friend was no longer in London, and was alive, breathing and not dead.

“Im sorry Jack—this is just such an awesome surprise.” She Apologized, finally calming down from the initial shock of him being back. Of course, she looked him over, he hadn’t grown much but he had lost a lot of weight—his face has thinned out and he looked like he was made out if muscle. This was new—she remembered Jack as her cuddly teddybear book buddy best friend, not this Adonis. Oh the problems this could cause.


It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for her friend, because really he must have worked so hard to get the weight off and keep it off—but the looming idea of Jack becoming popular and assholeish scared her so much. Bella was rather well known in school, but that was simply because she helped everyone out—she was the sweet girl who barely paid attention to her popularity, hell she HATED highschool, she was just doing all the extra-ceric stuff to get into a good school that was as far away as possible from all the ass holes she went to school with. Having the possibility that jack would turn into another mindless popularity drone would absolutely KILL her.

“Both actually— If you told me you were coming back I would have dropped everything and fuffiled my bestfriendly duties and came to pick you up.” She paused laughing slightly, at his remark about her being the only he actually liked—but it was understandable, he and arabella were extremely alike. So much so that maybe—Arabella wouldn’t be ashamed to tell him all that had gone down with her. Afterall—this was Jackson—and a secret was safe with him.


“Its alright don’t worry—things happen.” She assured, not really upset over the fact that he didn’t call her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to talk to him all that much anyway, calling to and from England was expensive—but the occasional email wouldn’t have hurt. “I’ll give you a hug don’t worry, I’ll give you like eight. But first—how about some hot coco on the house?” She offered with a small grin, before waltzing out from behind the counter and giving the boy infront of her the most massive bear hug she could muster it. “Man you don’t even know how much I’ve missed you.”

[Jackson Rocklyn]

Jackson couldn't do anything but smile. All words were lost to him in the moment. You wouldn't understand unless you hadn't seen your best friend for a year and are finally reunited with them. It was an amazing feeling, probably top five on the list of the best moments ever.

He could feel her eyes looking him up and down. He knew he had changed on the outside, it was hard for anyone not to notice, but that didn't mean anything. He was still the same teddy bear Jackson that he had been when he left. Sure, he had come back without his virginity, but that didn't mean he was ready to pounce on any girl with two legs.

Speaking of girl, he let his eyes look Arabella up and down. She didn't look like she had changed much. It looked like she had been through some things, but that was to be expected as it was a full year. Other than that, she still looked like the beautiful, smart girl he had left. He was glad, he knew that she would be worried about him but if she hadn't changed, that meant she was still the same person inside.

"My dad had already claimed picking me up. You know, he was lonely without me, as lame as that sounds," he sighed. Arabella was one of the only people that he could openly discuss his family situation with, and that helped him out a lot. He hated having to keep his feelings in, which was unusual because he was supposed to be a 'man'. "Otherwise, you know I would have called you. I would have made you come get me even if you had more important things to do.

"Yeah, but it's kind of an asshole thing to do, you know? So, I'm apologizing. I'm sorry I didn't contact you." He didn't know if he would ever be able to explain to her why he didn't want to talk to her. He knew that they shared a mutual dislike of everything popular, but he wasn't sure if he ever expressed his hatred for everything Jeopardy.

"That would be amazing. A cup of hot chocolate and eight hugs from my beautiful best friend." He felt no shame in calling her beautiful. They had been friends long enough that he felt like he could say anything to her and have her not judge him. That was one of the things that attracted him to her as a friend.

He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her a clear inch off the floor. "God, you feel so good," he laughed, spinning her around and then placing her back down. "Now go get me a cup of hot chocolate," he joked.

[Arabella Jang]

Bella had changed but not too noticeably -She had picked up a very bad habit or two, that she of course wasn’t too proud of. She would have to let Jackson know about it—the party thing was normal for teenagers but the smoking thing? She wouldn’t know exactly how he would handle that. Afterall, Arabella had been the person to turn up her nose and put in her two cents about how it was bad and horrible and now she was doing it? Well that’d be an interesting conversation.

It didn’t matter though—Jack was her best friend, he would forgive her for slipping up on ONE Thing. They had been each others shoulders to lean on, the pillars of support. A silly little thing like smoking wouldn’t break those pillars, would it ? Of course not. Their friendship was stronger than that, so much stronger. “ I know Jack—believe me I know.” Since Arabella and Jackson spent lots of town together, she was aquatinted with both sides of his family—and everytime she would see his dad—she could see the sad glimmer in his eyes, still Arabella made sure that he was alright and sometimes even dared to ask if he had heard from the boy, sometimes it was happy yes followed by news, and other times it was a sad no.

“Hey—it doesn’t matter, I think I would have nagged you everyday and made sure you were alive,well and breathing .” She joked, trying to reassure him that it indeed was fine, and that it didn’t matter, obviously they were still friends so its not as though a lot had changed, to her knowledge at least. “Plus long distance calls are expensive—and im pretty sure you need to take a breather from this place.” Which also meant from me too—because well Bella was rather… annoying sometimes, if that was event the word for it.

“Oh believe me—you’llb e getting more than EIGHT hugs.” More like she was never going to let go in fear that he was going to disappear and leave her best friendless and dreading life a little more again. She knew exactly how Jacckson liked his coco—chocolaty with little creamy marshmallows floating in it—while she was at it she would make herself a cup too—now that she thought about it…she was feeling a little frosty herself. The whole beautiful comment? Didn’t affect her much anymore—she knew he meant it but it didn’t make blood rush to her cheeks—maybe a little, but that was because all forms of flattery did. Still he had done it enough times to her that she was used it.

“Ooh youre kinda on the cold side.” She mumbled putting her warm hands up against his cold cheeks. Go figure-he had just been outside less than five minutes ago—no duh he was cold. “Jeeeeesss when did you get so streee-“ She squeeled as the other spun her around, not used to THAT. “My god youre like superman or something—guess ‘ll have to use that superman mug on you.” Arabella said, as she was put down. It took her only a moment to be behind the counter and mixing a delicious holiday concosion called hot coco.

“So did you hear?” She called back to the other, turning back to look at him. “Theyre making a tv show out of this whole in the wall.”

[Jackson Rocklyn]

It wasn't just his physical looks that had changed, but a lot inside of Jackson changed too. For one, he knew how to deal with people better. He grew some people skills when he was away and even had a girlfriend while he was there. He had more confidence, but that didn't mean that he was confident. He still saw the little chubby kid look back at him when he looked into a mirror.

"Did you see him while I was gone?" he asked. Jackson had regretted leaving his father for a whole year and it was the only part of the trip that he looked back on with regret. Arabella had other friends, had a life, but his father was a loner. Once Jackson's mom left, his dad shacked up unless he was going to work. He felt that he broke his dad a little bit when he told him that he accepted his step dad's offer for a trip to London. "How was he?"

"Well..." he paused. Should he tell Arabella about his constant partying and hook ups? And what about that little habit that he picked up. He patted his back pocket protectively to make sure his cigerattes were still there. "I'm not so sure about that one. But as for the other two, well, I'm still alive and breathing. Plus, I almost wished I talked to you just to hear you nag. It's one of my regrets of my time in London, not talking to you. But you're right, I definitly needed a rest. It wasn't easy being the only guy who only thinks about sports and sex."

He smiled in her direction. Hugs were the best, and the seventeen year old readily accepted any hugs that came his way. Especially from Arabella. He missed her warm embrace and the fact that she could make him smile on the worst of days. He'd be happy if they never stopped hugging, but more than eight was sufficient for now. "Good. I've missed your hugs, no one in London even came close," he laughed.

He let out a sound of laughter. "I picked up a few weights in London. And plus, you weight like a pound. Even a child could pick up your skinny self." It was true, there wasn't much to the girl. She felt like nothing compared to the weights that he lifted on his trips. It was almost a relief to pick up her opposed to weights because he had a reason to pick her up and it made it that much better. "Maybe you're hands are just really warm, did you ever think of that?" He put his hands over hers, "Yep, definitly your hands, not my face."

He watched her make his hot chocolate. If there was one thing about little Rocklyn that never changed was his love for the warmth and flavor of the winter drink. "It's like an art watching you make that drink, Bella. It's kind of hot," he laughed. Jack would have never said anything like that even to Arabella before, but now it came naturally. He hoped he wasn't going to turn out like all the playboys of his school.

"You're joking, right?" he had to laugh. Entertainment people wanted to make this shit hole into a new show? Have fun with this. "Are you the star?"

[Arabella Jang]

“Yeah a few times—“ Small conversations would ensue, she’d make him his drink, they’d exchange goodbyes and that was it. It never got past anything else than that—she didn’t expect it to though. “He seemed okay.” She said not going to lie to her best friend and tell him that he was better than ever, because that was not the truth. “Just okay.”

Even if Jackson didn’t tell Arabella everything NOW, she would find out later. She always did. In return though she would probably spill her gut to Jackson too—actually she’d do that anyway, and not as an exchange for him telling her what he had done in London.” What do you mean youre not too sure about the first one? Oh please don’t tell me you went insane because I wasn’t there.” Yes, she was joking. Arabella was pretty sure she could drive people to insanity…Or at least her younger siblings.“Awe, I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve heard in ages, in a weird sort of way.” She said as she laughed, her eyebrows rising into a goofy surprised look. Jackson really knew how to brighten a her day, really he did.



Arabella probably would have snuggled into him and not let go if they weren’t inside the place she work. Seriously Arabella was a snuggler, and she was pretty sure that Jackson knew that, afterall there were plenty of times that Arabella had been upset over something or other and she would be instantly calmed down when she snuggled her Teddybear by the name of Jackson. “Really? Because I hear them Brits are pretty good huggers too.” She laughed out before continuing with a slight sigh “I’ve missed you kid, and not just your hugs, really I have.” Yes, she called him kid, even though there was about a 5 or 6 month difference between them, it was just a sort of endearing pet name for him.


“That would explain it.” She said with an all knowing “Oh” look on her face. ” And correction I weight like one thirty five.” That was the one thing she always hated being complimented on., her weight. It brought back memories of when everyone was a little too self conscious and would always whine about how she was so skinny and how they were too fat, and she couldn’t say anything about it because indeed was skinny and tall, and telling people ‘ no your not fat’ would seem like she was just being ‘nice’ and not ‘sincere,’ even though Arabella was probably one of the most sincere people in Jeopardy. Frankly, it sucked. “You still feel cold, and I don’t like it. Makes me feel like youre going to get sick and im going to take care of you.” She paused “And as much as I love you, you are not pretty when sick.”


The girl whooshed and whizzed around the block off area where all was made, adding the right amount sugar, marshmallows, and of course drawing a little superman doodle on one of the disposable cups that the hot coco came in. “Wha—OW!” It took her a moment to comprehend what had just happened, he had said that it was ‘kind of hot’ the way SHE made the drink, which in turn made her touch the hot part of the coco maker and burn her finger just slightly, but enough to have it hurt.


“No im serious—they’re seriously taking our little piece of heaven and turning it into a reality show for the whole world to see!” She said before blowing on her slightly injured finger, she’d get over it about … now. “ Ahahah no.” God she would rather cry than be the star. “But can you imagine, we’re going to be the next Laguna Beach.” Arabella said as she brought out two orders of Hot CoCo, the way the both liked it and as though her finger wasn’t red or throby either.

[Jackson Rocklyn]

"Yeah. I figured he wouldn't be too happy without me," he commented, in his voice you could sense a little sadness. "I feel guilty now, he called me everyday. I barely talked to him, didn't want to ruin my trip. God, I'm a horrible son," he shook his head. He knew his dad wouldn't be able to be okay without him, yet he abandoned him. Already he was beginning to see London as a bad thing, instead of remembering all the fun he had had.

He held back. Jack didn't want Arabella to think any less of him because he became a little more social. Scratch that, a lot more social. He had never been within ten feet of a club and in London, that's where he had spent all of his time. Jackson worried that Arabella would turn her nose up at him, not that she would do that, but he still didn't want it to happen.

"Exactly. That's exactly it, Arabella. How'd you know that I couldn't stop thinking about you and it completely ruined my trip because I just wanted to rush back home and see you?" The sarcasm just slipped off his tounge. It wasn't all sarcastic, he had thought about her a lot. Every girl he met, he compared her to his best friend back in the states. Sometimes he didn't even realize he was doing it, but he always was.

The sweetest thing? Obviously, Arabella hadn't made any new guy best friends while he was gone. "That's horrible. I have to think of a new sweet thing to say because I don't want your memory of the sweetest thing being that I missed your nagging!" He rolled his eyes, like he was trying to search his brain for something sweet to say. "Sorry, Bells, but you're out of luck today. I can't think of anything."

Jackson semiregretted that their first meeting after his trip was in her work. If it was at her house, or at his they could talk more privately and have more contact. He knew that she felt weird hugging him in the middle of her workplace. Plus, the girl was one of the best cuddlers that he knew, and he couldn't wait to relax on his couch and watch a movie with her.

He let the weight thing go. It was his fault that she was having to say her weight because he knew that she hated compliments on it. But, what was Jackson going to say? That he could pick her up because she weighed as much as a whale? Or even better... a wooley mammoth? He didn't think she'd like that.

Jackson brushed her hand away. "If you don't think I'm cute when I'm sick, then why do you offer to take care of me? You know you love when I'm snuggled in my bed with a pale face and clammy hands. You can't hide your hidden thoughts from me, Miss. Jang." He laughed, Jack knew how bad he looked when he was sick. He had pictures to prove it from the last time he was sick in Jeopardy and Arabella decided to prove to him that he was the ugliest sick person ever. What a kind friend.

He watched her doodle on one of the cups wondering what she was doing. And then he heard her yelp. "Shit, did she burn herself?" he wondered to himself. He told her she was hot, but he didn't mean for her to make herself actually hot. "You okay, Arabella? You didn't spill my hot chocolate, did you?"

"I think you'd be an amazing star, Arabella. You and trips to the library. You and trips to my house. Think about it, it would be like the Arabella and Jackson chronicles caught on tape." For a moment, he got excited. If he was the star of a reality television show with Arabella, they could finally move away from this place. Then he came back to reality, knowing that it would be impossible to get Arabella to try out let alone star.

He took the two hot chocolates and placed them down on the table. "Let me see your finger," he told her as he took her hand in his. Her finger was red, not anything extremely bad, but still it looked sore. He pressed his lips to the injured fingers. "All better?"

[Arabella Jang]

"Jack dont blame yourself." She said shortly, in a comforting and reassuring voice that had just the smallest hint of reprimand in it. " The important thing is that you enjoyed it and now you have so much to tell your dad, im sure he's extremely happy that you went and had a good time." Arabella just felt the need to get her point across--she didnt want the other to feel horrible about anything that had to do with this trip. "You can show him all the pictures you took, and tell him about all your brit friends, it'd be great Father / Son bonding time." She could only relate because of that one summer she went away to Italy without her mom--when she got back her mom ambushed her with questions and forced her into some mother daughter bonding time that was actually enjoyable.

What these two needed to do was go home, put on their favorite movie, make a bowl of popcorn, and complete ignore the two and just talk about the past year of their life, and maybe have a cigerette or two. Because if anyone was going to understand Jackson best,it was going to be Bella. Not just because she was his best friend, but because she too had spent a good majority of her Junior year and some of htis year partying. Even though she knew that Jeopardy parties werent exactly the safest since college kids tended to crash them. To her it didnt matter--There was no one to watch movies or have popcorn fights with? What else was she supposed to do after her homework? Sleep? Hah.



"I absolutely knew it." She said with a grin on her face. "well i guess i know that my face haunts people even though they're all the way across the ocean and hanging out with cool Brits and not the morons of Jeopardy." Two could play the sarcasm game, It was Bella's favorite game too, considering she won all the time. Well sort of, because sometimes she came off a bit of a bitch when she let the sarcasm get a hold of her. "Mwahahha cant run away from me, can you, My pretty?"

There was of course Aaron Romano, but he wasnt as close to her as Jackson. Really if Aaron had called her Beautiful or said half the things that Jackson said, she would probably look at him like he was going insane and try to convince his parents to commit him. "Alright lets rephrase that." She said with an eyeroll at his thoughtful expression , "Its the sweetest thing i've heard from you in a while." She then playfully stuck out her tongue in a teasing way, obviously not serious.

She made a mental note of stealing Jack away again tonight, or tomorow night, which ever one. So they COOULD actually talk or hit a movie, or just go check out everybodies favorite haunts in Jeopardy, only if Jack wanted to really. Unless he of course wanted to hang out for a few more hours until another person came in and took her shift--Or she could leave early ,after all. This was a SPECIAL occastion and her boss could kiss it if she was going to hold her back from hanging with Jack.

"I dont think your cute when your sick no, but i take care of you because if you died i think like 75.5 Percent of me would die with you." She said while giving a little snap of her fingers and shaking her head. "Drats, looks like you aquired some phsycic powers too." She said with a little sigh, as though disappointed that he could read her mind. The whole picture thing was just to Cheer Jackson up, she had promised to dispose of the picture, but it hung on her wall along with the rest of the snap shots that were mainly Him and her, and her and few others people too.

"Yeah Yeah im fine this happens all the time. Youre Hot chocolate is fine too, dont worry! " She assured. Really she could recall worse accidents that happened, like her cutting her finger on a coffe pot because the lid closed on her finger. That was not pretty--really it wasnt, afterall, most costumers didnt appriciate blood all over the place, now did they. "How bout we go grab a seat or something, I dont feel like standing around." She said as she took her Hot coco in her good hand, took his free hand and pulled him off to one of the little tables, in view of the door so she could keep an eye on anyone who came in.


"Well--now that you mention it, its Senior year--which you should be in, and i have nothing better to do--so i might pull myself away from a book and consider it." That would take alot of consideration, afterall they wanted Drama starters, like Grace Stamm and that other popular girl. Not smart 'normal' girls like her. God she couldnt even picture the entirety of the world watching her on their tvs it just creeped her out so much. "Here's an Idea, i'll only do it if you do it." She said with a determined nod.

The girl shrugged and showed him her finger, a little taken a back by the kiss but she couldnt help but smile. "I take it back, i think that was the sweetest thing ever."

[Jackson Rocklyn]

"Well, who else am I going to blame? I know what he's like if he doesn't have me around, my sister hates when she visits and I'm gone." He let out a sigh. He knew that he should be happy that he had got to go to London, but the further he was from it, he saw the bad things about it. "Plus, my stepdad paid for it. You know how much it killed him that he couldn't pay for it? It was like I was choosing my mom and my stepdad because of money. I'm sure that he'll just love hearing how I had so much fun without him," he rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm taking this out on you, but I'm just spitballing to you what's going on in my head right now. I don't mean to sound so harsh."

Jackson looked at Arabella, and knew that she was thinking the same thing. A little movie time with your best friend couldn't hurt. Especially after all these waves of guilt were coming in for going on the trip. "When do you get off, Bells? I think we should have a night in and catch up, you know?" Talking in the Tea Bar wasn't as satisfying as talking while they were snuggled up on the couch or in his bed, depending on if his dad was watching television. "I'm thinking popcorn and either reruns of some Laguna Beach so we can see what we need to live up to or a movie. Unless you already have plans."

He flashed his teeth in a smile. "Haunts? That sounds like a bad nightmare. More like, floats in and out of my head like a dream," he laughed. He was horrible with comparrisons and that was all he could think of on the spot. "Wizard of Oz." It came out like a command, but he was just showing that he didn't forget their favorite movies just because he was a hop across an ocean. Nothing could stop their bond, and this reunion was proving it. They had been away from each other for a year but they were talking like it had just been a few days since they saw each other last.

His jaw dropped. So there was someone else, how dare she replace him? Sure, he had made friends in London but he would never replace the girl that he considered his soul mate of friends. "Arabella... did you find a new best friend? I can not believe this. You are the first person I come to see and find out that I'm not your only one. This is unbelievable." Joking, of course, but he still wanted to find out the people that she had been hanging out with since he was gone. There were a few choice people that he hoped to God she had enough sense to not hang out with. But other than that, she was free to pick and choose her own friends. As long as she kept him around.

"Only 75.5?!" He was shocked. That was barely three fourths of her. "If you died, all of me would die. So, that means I'm the better friend." He imitated the girl, sticking out his tounge like she had the moment before. Jack was always coming up with ways to one up her when she talked. If she said she loved him, he came back with he loved her more, etc. Of course, he was a little more original than that. "You bet I did. You think I stayed in London to just stay there?! Psh, I was going to psychic school. Like, right now, you are think there is no way I went. See, completely psychic."

"All the time?" He raised an eyebrow. If it happened all the time than maybe she should find another job, he though. He didn't want her precious little fingers to become all blistered and red. That would not be attractive, almost just like when he is sick. It would be her weakpoint in looks, and it was hard to find a weak point when it came to Arabella's looks. "Good, because you know I would have killed you if you dropped my hot chocolate. That's the only reason I came here, you know. You were just a bonus." As she pulled him away, he let his hand squeeze hers. It had been a year since he had touched her, and he was going to make up for lost time.

"Don't take the cut off date out on me! It's not my fault that I barely missed being in your class. I don't think you could handle me in school, though. You're all brainy and I'd be so copying your homework every day." It was a little lie, the boy was smart too, just not like Arabella was. "Fine, deal. I'll try out with you. We can be pinned as Senior girl and her lame junior friend. You know, if you are in the show, when they show me it's going to be labeled as, 'Jackson, Arabella's friend'. That would be extra lame. At least I should get best friend, but nope, it will be friend. Garunteed."

"Really? Ever ever? Or just by me?" he smiled at her. "And before you answer, you better say ever. I won't take anything less."

[Arabella Jang]

"No no, take it out now so you dont explode later." She said listening patiently. For Jackson to vent she had the time and patience to listen. She never really took some of the things he said personally but still she couldnt help but feel bad for even getting him on the tirade about all of this."Well now youre back, and im more than postive your dad is going to be happy you went--it sucks that he couldnt go WITH you but you do realize he's going to bug every single detail out of you?" She was slightly repeating herself, but still it was the truth and both of them knew it.


She glanced at the clock, technically she had two more hours left, but she was positive she could get of work now if she wanted to. "Mmm--whenever, now if you want me to." She didnt care WHERE They went, to her house, or to his house, as long as they could just chill out and recite the lines to their favorite movie. Or completely goof off and try to throw popcorn in each others mouths but really, that popcorn would be aimed at the forhead, or eyes, or in Arabella's case, her hair. "I do have plans she said." pretending to be disappointed. "Aka Hanging with you till obscenely late hours of the night so you can tell me absolutely.everything."

Arabella rolled her eyes and tok a sip of her Coco. "God youre going to give me a tooth ache you really are." Get it? She would get a tooth ache from all the sweetness and sugary smooth comments. "Yes! Totally. With a little Laguna on the side." She agreed with a curt nod. Arabella had always called Jack the cowrdly lion due to his potential and no usage of it because he was afraid, while he called her a flying monkey because of silly slash mean she could get. They'd always seen the movie a million times and they always ended up goofing up, asleep, or disecting the characters peice by peice when they watched it. and yet, it was the most enjoyable thing on Arabella's list of Enjoyable Things.


"Oh of course i did jack! Because i could easily just replace you like that~!" She said sarcastically, trying her hardest to be series, but obviously it didnt work because well---come on, she obviously wasnt. "Just the Usual suspects you know--Aaron, Rush,my brother,my sister ..Beckett" She hesitated on the last name, mauling over if the fact that Beckett was actually the kind of person that Bella tended to stray away from--but he himself was an exception. She was sure that Jack was going to give her a mouth full if he knew Beckett slash found out about who he actually was. "PFt, non of them come close to you though." It was funny, Arabella was friends with a lot of guys, but that was because alot of girls, were just much to catty for her.

"Yeah, i dunno if you remember but im a clutz sometimes, especially around hot things." There was that time she tripped him, and spilled water on him, broken her moms vase, almost burned the kitchen down, forgot to put on oven mits...and many more. She was smart yes, but very forgetful when distracted--actually she was just forgetfull whenever Jackson was around. Seriously, she would drop everthing just to hang out with him.She couldnt help but just roll her eyes, of course he knew that the majority of her would go straight down the drain if he died, actually she'd probably go with him. Instantly though she let her hands clasp her head as though she had forgotten something "Oh no! My thoughs arent safe! Aaah my brain! My brain!" There she went again, being silly. Moments later she just laughed and grinned, knowing that he would so make fun of her for that later.

"Jack...we have like one class together, i think i can handle you in school." SHe reminded me him, that class was her worst class because she just talked to him all the time. They sat across the room from each other, thanks to the crout of a teacher. Still they constantly texted each other, and threw paperballs that had notes on them. Sometimes, they'd get daring and act like 12 year olds again and throw the paperballs at the teacher, or the bleach blonde looking trolls that could have a book thrown at their head and not notice. "I wouldnt do the show if you didnt star either." Serious. She really wouldnt."Because im not having my best friend just be tagged "Jackson, Friend.""

She smiled up at him as she drew he hand back. "Ever,ever."

[Jackson Rocklyn]

Jackson wasn't sure if he could believe it. As much as his dad would be happy that he was back, he would hold a grudge that he left. His dad would compare Jackson to his mother and that was the last thing he wanted. He wasn't like his mother, that he was positive of, but he wasn't so sure his dad was going to agree with him. "No, I don't want our reunion to be me ranting. I just want to have fun now that I'm back," he told her.

Smiling, he nodded. "You wouldn't get in trouble if you got off now? I just want to be comfy in my own house with my best friend in the world. Plus, my dad can't bring me on a guilt trip if you're around. He loves you too much." You know when you have a friend and your parents, when the friend is around, act like the friend is their own child? That was how it was with Arabella and his dad. It was like his dad had someone who didn't get annoyed when asked how school was, or what she learned. It sometimes killed Jackson, but he knew it was just beacuse Arabella was poliet and nice.

But, his dad always told Jackson that he wanted Arabella and Jackson to get married. Jack would laugh it off like it was some joke, but it was one of the reasons that he compared most girls to Arabella in London. It was his dad's wishes for him and Arabella to find 'magic', as his dad would call it, and maybe, just maybe Jackson wants to find it with his best friend, too.

"Toothache? That's all you've got?" Shaking his head at her, he pretened to be disappointed. That was all she could come up with? He thought he taught her better than that. Oh well, he guess it was semi sweet. And silly, just like her little monkey persona. He wondered for a brief second if his lion was going to turn into something else now. He realized his potential, maybe he could be the tin man. That was always his favorite character, and he sometimes felt like he didn't have a heart. "Yes!" he faked enthusiasm. No offense, but Laguna was going to be last on things they watched. He wanted to dive right in with The Wizard of Oz and see how the night took them from there.

"Damnit," he cursed. "I knew I should have cloned myself before leaving! Now you've gone and found other boys, what will I do?" He put the back of his left hand over his forehead and pretended to faint, like a damsal in distress. Then he perked up, all the people she listed, minus her sister, were guys. Was she turning into a certified tease? Never, maybe they were all just friends like she said. God, he hoped so at least for his sake. He wasn't sure how he would react if Bella got a boyfriend.

"So... are you clumsy around these boys then?" he raised his eyebrows and then wondered if she got it. Sometimes the girl just lacked common sense. She would say the worlds hardest math problem's answer and then go and pick up a boiling pot without mits. If he could give her anything it would be the gift of common senese. "Yes, my pretty, you're under my spell now. Beware, I read all thoughts. What is this? You find Jackson so attractive that you just can't hold yourself back? Rediculous, Bella. Really, keep those dirty thoughts out of your mind."

He winked at her, letting her know that he was just kidding. There was no way that she would cross into dangerous territory with him, and he wouldn't either. They had to much respect for each other and for the fact that neither of them would know what to do if they had a bad break up or anything of that matter. "Are you serious? I'm failing that class because of you! You are a bad influence on my studies, Miss. Jang and I wouldn't be able to handle a whole day with you. Soon, we'll be having elastic band fights. It just won't happen."

Shaking his head, he smiled. "Even if they only had me as friend, I want you to be in it. Just think, Bells, you could get out of this dump of a town. Do you really want to be serving gourmet tea all of your life? Or somewhere exciting?" Jack half expected to hear that she wanted to serve tea. She could be a little bit on the safe side sometimes. He just wanted her to go crazy one day.

"Good," he said, intertwining his fingers with hers. "So, let's see if we can get you off. I can't wait to get you in bed with me." He winked at her, and started dragging her to the counter.

[Arabella Jang]

"Pft no. Im the most loyal worker here, I think I deserve to get off whenever I want to. Well, to save you from this guilt trip, looks like im going to need to get off early.” Since the boss wasn’t here, she could just go, of course she’d have to tell the boss yesterday that she had to leave due to family issues, and the other employee’s were going to come in an hour anyway. So one person could man this popsicle stand.

Arabella had to admit that she actually did enjoy talking to Jacks dad about things like school and what she learned and all that. Her mother never asked, and her father was always at the hospital, getting in at the late hours of the night when Arabella was supposed to be asleep—but was obviously out. Seriously though, She considered Jacks dad like her second father, she had to hand it to him, he did an amazing job raising Jack. Although that whole marriage thing—bothered her ever so slightly. He had hinted at it a few times , sometimes even asking if the two were dating yet, which she of course denied. But she wasn’t surprised, afterall—having your parents walk in on two sleeping forms on the couch aroused all sorts of thoughs ones that Arabella did not want entering her head, since they brought up feelings that past the boundaries of friendship and teetered onto the lines of “love.’



“Jack youre trying to kill me aren’t you?” She teased rolling her eyes at his disappointment. “ I mean really a toothache isn’t enough for you? Do you need me to get a stomache ache and a headache too? Because im sure those could be arranged too.” She was kidding of course. No matter how much Jack has changed, he would always be her cowardly Lion. Her big,cuddly,cowardly but still rather fierce, lion. “Mwahahah.” She said before laughing once more. Yeah the Laguna would be saved for another day—preferably a rainy day or a sick day.

“Jack—calm down.” She assured laughing at his whole Damsel in distress act. So Arabella had ‘grown’ up a little and had, had her own share of hook ups, some that she wasn’t exactly proud of but things like that happened. Still one of them was gay, the other probably involved, and well—the last one….oh god knew but he was just fun to party with, and flirt with, but that was that. “ I told you youre the best so that’s that.” She pausedbefore going on “But how about you mr, Greek god…Im sure you must have met some pretty fine European ladies.” She teased. Obviously it was her turn to snoop.



“Am i clumsy around other boys? I dunno I don’t think so it—its just your insanity that does it to me.” All those times that she had fallen and broken stuff actually were around him—so maybe him distracting her was a valid reason for her clutzyness. “Thank you but I think youre the only person whos actually allowed to save me when I get “Clumsy.” She explained. Really if any of the other guys had attempted to save her—she would have kicked them. Too much of an ego and “Just because im a woman doesn’t mean I cant save my self” thing was going on with Arabella. Jackson was the only acceptation. Still clutching her heads she pretended to look horrified as though the other had really accessed what she was thinking—although that though had come into her head before, it would suck if he actually knew. “Get ou’t ma braaiyan” She said in some stupid silly accent, sounding like a hillbilly on crack mixed with an Italian gangster. “No seriously—I think I might have to start acting stupid or singing songs in my brain so you don’t know what Im REALLY thinking.” And so she did—just in case he actually could read minds…..






God if she didn’t know any better, she would have taken all of his dirty jokes personally and be extremely red—but instead she was just the same regular color as ever, but laughing like an idiot. Arabella had a distinct laugh, it didn’t sound like bells or sounding fairies, oh no—it sounded like she was being slaughtered. When you got her started with the laughs..she just wouldn’t shut up and sometimes start hypervenelating and laughing to the point of tears. At the moment it was more toned down, but she knew that tonight would be SO Much worse. “Those are so much fun!” She defended the elastic band fights. “Especially when you snap them at the teacher!” She had gotten countless d-halls in the middle school for it. She was sure that he would remember it if she mentioned it—but she decided against it.


“You know what? I think I’ll do this but for one reason only….” She said as she trailed off, taking a sip of her slowly cooling hot coco. “ Because im going to take you with me—and we’ll do everything we ever wanted to and then come back here when we’re old and crinkly and laugh.” She gave off a determined nodd. She would get out of jeopardy, she would make sure of it—Whether it was back to Italy she went, or just to newyork, she couldn’t take Jeopardy much longer.


“Alrigh then—lets ditch this popsicle stand.” She smiled up at him, he was still considerably taller than her, by at least a few inches. Taking his hand she let herself be dragged to the counter, where she let go of him, ducked around the little bend into area behind the counter, told the other person she was leaving, grabbed her scarf,jacket an bag, and put them on, before coming out from behind the counter and grabbing Jacks hand again. “Your house ahoy.” She said as she pulled him outside into the somewhat nippy air.

[Jackson Rocklyn]

"As long as I'm not getting you in trouble, Bella. I couldn't stand to be blamed for your lack of a job if you get fired. But, I'm sure you are the best tea maker around, and they would be sad to see you go." He really just wanted her to keep the job for personal reasons. The hot chocolate was the best around and he really didn't feel like paying for it. A little selfish, but it was damn good hot chocolate.

Jack remembered that there was one time that they had almost been banned from sleepovers. They were both passed out on the couch, when Arabella's dad came in. Apparently, during Jack's tossing and turning he had put his arm around Arabella and his hand was somewhere that it probably shouldn't have. On her chest. Of course, Mr. Jang flipped out saying how disrespectful that was to the family to do that at the young age all the while Jackson really had no idea what he was talking about. It wasn't until later, when Arabella told him, inbetween fits of giggles, what happened that he understood why Mr. Jang had gotten so upset.

"I'm thinking, full out sickness. You can't sleep, can't eat kind of thing, that's what I'm talking about. Otherwise, it's just lame," he teased her. He didn't really care about it that much, although he still though toothache was lame. If it was him, he would have said that he was so sick that he couldn't walk and the would have proceeded to stumble into Arabella. Yes, he was the better at ideas. He'd let her take the school thoughts and he'd take the every day thoughts. Together, they'd be a full brain.

He shook his head, "Calm down?! Never!" He then proceeded to lunge for her abdomin and start to tickle her. "Arabella Jang, you can not have any friends besides me, especially friends that are boys. You are all mine, forever and ever and ever." He was being silly, he knew, but he didn't want Arabella to be taken away from him. She was his, that was how it always was and hopefully always will be. He was going to do whatever it took to make sure that she never replaced him, even if he had to shackle himself to her.

"I am the best, aren't I?" He pretended to really think about it, trying to delay the conversation about him and the ladies. He didn't want to get into an awkward conversation about Delia, his English girlfriend whom he had broken up with two weeks before coming back home. His roommate, Ben, often commented on how much Delia looked like Arabella through the pictures he had seen of Bella. Jack would always shrug it off, it wasn't like he loved Delia, but it nagged at him that he picked someone so like his best friend at home. There was definitly more than friendship in his mind, but there wasn't any time for it. He was just going to have to settle for girls like Arabella.

"Me? No, no girls," he lied, not wanting to talk about the girls he hooked up with while there. "I do know this one Italian. She's super pretty, really nice, and my best friend. I think she's the most amazing European I've ever met, trip or not." He usually flattered her a lot, but he was pushing it. He was almost coming out and saying that he liked her, or he thought he did. Well, he knew he liked her, but enough to test their boundries? He wasn't so sure.

"Good!" he let out a sigh of relief. "I though these boys were so hott they made you clumsy. But if it's just me, than that's perfectly alright. I mean, I barely can resist me, I can't understand how you do it." He laughed, hard. Seriously, he wasn't like this normally, but something about seeing the girl for the first time in a year brought out this side of him. It was like all his repressed thoughts and feelings were coming to the surface, and he wasn't so sure how he liked that.

"I like being in you though," he winked. To be honest, he was just saying what he was thinking and exchanging her name for his. It wasn't much to his art but to hide his thoughts in a silly way. That way, he could say that he told her without ever having to. It was a great defense technique and this whole reading mind thing could definitly come in handy. "Oh, he's a jolly good fellow?" he sang, it was the first thing that came to mind and he doubted it was the one she was singing. But, oh well. He guessed mind reading could only take him so far.

"I'm excited. Just imagine your pretty face on television and us watching it from the comfort of a living room in LA or New York or Miami, anywhere. It would be the best feeling to watch Jeopardy and not be in Jeopardy." If she tried out, he would go and support her, but he didn't want to be involved. Sure, it sounded great, being on a reality television show, but he didn't want anything to get on the show that he didn't want to get out. Editing could be a bitch. "Correction, Miss. Jang. We could do everything or everyone that we wanted to do," nudging her. "You know what I'm talking about, Arabella."

"I think it's more like a pumpkin pie. The popsicle stick is outside, silly," he told her as he dragged her along. A tingling feeling shot up his arms when he held her hand, and he tried to shake it off. This was not going to be a good night if all he could think of was how awkward it would be if they were in a relationship. He took a deep breath in and out, he just needed to relax. "Cute scarf, Bella. Hopefulyl it keeps your neck nice and warm." As soon as they hit the cold air, he started to shiver. Why didn't he bring a jacket? Good thing his car was close. Squeezing his hand, he gave her a mischevious look. "How about I give you a piggy back ride? I promise I won't drop you like I did at the carnival."