#mus.jack

“Why does it sound so fucked up?” Jack played the beat back on his laptop once again, not realizing his headphone jack had pulled out of its port. Drum and bass blared loudly from his laptop speakers. “This sounds like literal shitting,” he whined loudly to nobody in particular. “Ugh.”

A hanging chime heralded Jack’s arrival as he stepped into the store and he instinctively cringed. He already felt out of place shopping at a boutique, he didn’t want any more attention on him than was necessary. “Should I just start looking for jackets?” Jack asked Malia, who had graciously agreed to help him pick out a suit.

Jack didn’t know why he was so nervous to send Parker a text. Or, maybe he knew exactly he was so nervous—which only made it worse.

Walking home from Akira’s rooftop party, Jack strolled silently alongside Parker with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He had been trying to figure out what to say but now that the streetlights of downtown were melting into a row of pines, Jack knew his window of opportunity was shrinking. “What happened with Blue? I thought you were friends.”

Jack never thought he would be the one to make a habit of training at the arena, but after his encounter on the ice, he came to realize that he would never be able to live a life without risk. As if being a demigod wasn’t perilous enough, Jack’s lineage seemed to be a beacon call for drama and danger. Still, two years into training with Brent, Jack still felt self-conscious practicing in the arena. And it didn’t help that he wasn’t very good.

Why Jack had to come to the farm so early in the morning, he had no idea. Elaine must have thought it would be funny to make him suffer. She had already made a good start by instructing him to wear her old work togs. He skulked into the old barn where the cows stayed, already dreading whatever task lied ahead. “Hey.”

Jack watched his feet fall one in front of the other. He could feel himself coming down off his high, especially after a sobering moment with Casey on the Twister mat, but Jack thought he would milk the last few vestiges of inner serenity while he could. “Thanks for walking with me.” Jack smiled at Parker, who walked alongside him. “Catch me now, murderers.”

Was Jack supposed to knock before entering? He stood on the porch of the little house on the edge of the farm, looking around for anyone who might work there. Jack was 90% certain the address that he had received was suppoosed to be this house, but the New Athens map app was barely loading on his iPhone 5 and he didn’t see any obvious signage outside the front door. “Ugh, whatever,” he muttered to himself as he pushed the door open and stepped inside.