HOW DARE YOU! {jamie}

[CLEO EVERETT]

Jamie hadn’t called. Or texted. Or Facebooked. Or even snail mailed.

In days. Weeks. Months. Years. Decades. AGES.

Yeah, so what if Cleo had a tendency to exaggerate? For all she knew, her friend was sick! On his death bed! DEAD! Oh God, WHAT IF JAMIE WAS DEAD? What if he was totally gone forever and nobody had told her?! OHMYGOD, WHO WOULD DO--?!

No. Wait. Okay. Stop. Cleo. Calm down. Jamie’s not dead. He isn’t. You definitely would have heard something. Okay. Good. Not dead. Alright. Still. Unacceptable. People didn’t go weeks without calling her. No matter what happened. She was like the best person ever to have around if something was wrong. If somebody was on their death bed. (WHICH JAMIE WAS NOT).

Only one solution. Just one. And it was so easy, thank God. Did she want to bring anything other than her worried self? Well, if he was on his death bed (WHICH HE WAS NOT), it’d probably be good to have some sweets with her. That way, she could at least sort of handle whatever tragedy had happened. Sweets made everything better. It just meant a quick stop at Wal-Mart. She’d get in, get her cookies, and get out. Then back to the dorms. Then to Jamie’s room where she’d kick the door down if she had to.

Leaving Wal-Mart with just sugar cookies ended up impossible. There were two bags of candies and cookies on the passenger seat next to her and she’d definitely just spent her Gingey’s money for the week. Again, totally unacceptable. This was so Jamie’s fault for making her all nervous and scared.

Leaving her dorm with just the sugar cookies in hand, Cleo almost ran across campus. Really, she just power walked. But it felt like running. Pushing passed people in the building, she hardly apologized and when she did, it came out rather snappy as if it wasn’t her fault they were in the way. Which it wasn’t. They should know better than to get in the way of Cleo Everett when she was on a mission.

Knocking quite loudly and quickly on Jamie’s door, she tapped her foot impatiently, looking around the hall. If somebody walked down this hall while she waited, she’d ask them what Jamie’s deal was. Surely they would know, living in the same building again. Cleo knocked again, suppressing a sound that would have sounded like an annoyed sigh and a worried moan.

(And why didn’t her goldfish have much to say? What was that about? It was just plain rude.)

[JAMIE SHOEMAKER]

A loud knock on the door was just enough to rouse Jamie from his pain medicine induced sleep. He groaned thinking (barely) that his roommate had locked himself out. Pulling the covers off with his good arm, he wobbled into the wheelchair J had thankfully placed right next to his bed. He wondered if it was lately enough for her to be out of class. “Hold on a minute,” he said as loud as he could without yelling. Though his medicine took away the pain it still felt weird to take a deep breath or talk above a whisper. It definitely took the edge off of Jamie’s usually overly excited personality.

Jamie looked down to make sure his shirt was clean and none of the bandages had gotten ripped off during the night. His roommate was a little squeamish to blood and JAmie had no idea what the hell he’d do if the kid passed out in front of the dorm. Noticing everything had thankfully stayed in place, Jamie used his good arm to wheel himself to the door. J had joked that it’d look like Popeye’s arm by the time the other one healed. It made Jamie smile a bit thinking about it. He reached for the door knob and pulled it open.

“Dude can you--Cleo?” Jamie froze. How long had it been since he’d seen the girl who gladly called herself half-fish. They seemed to be best buds. Well, until he went back. The thought of that night make his body feel ten times weaker. Even with J’s plan, he worried somehow he’d have to go back. The stupid gang wasn’t God or whatever but they’d find a way if they needed him. The raw feeling of withdraw could motivate the most lazy of people.

Putting that aside though, Cleo didn’t know. She didn’t know about this. If he could walk, no run, he would and wrap his arms around her. Pinocchio seemed to be suddenly excited. He distracted Jamie for a second when he did just exactly that.

“It’s... Cleo!” he said with nearly tears in his eyes.

Jamie envied him even if he was just a weird figment of his imagination or something. He tried to hide his odd look and thought that yes that was indeed Cleo, why was Pinocchio all excited?

“Oh, Cleo! I missed you!” he continued with energy that Jamie wished he had. The little boy sat on Cleo’s shoulder. “Where is father or Figaro?”

Jamie laughed inwardly. He never realized that Cleo had the same name as the fish in the story he somehow got looped into. The poor little kid was confused. He tried to tell Pinocchio in his mind that she and the fish Cleo just had the same name but the boy stubbornly shook his head.

Jamie noticed to Cleo, it probably looked like he was staring at her shoulder to avoid looking at her. He smiled best he could and rolled backwards to make rooms for her to slip in. “Hey,” he said looking at the floor. Jamie really had no idea what to say next.

[CLEO EVERETT]

The moment he opened that door, Cleo thought. The very instant it opened just a tiny bit, she would throw herself into his arms because if he was answering the door, that meant he was alive. (Assuming of course that it was Jamie answering the door and not his roommate and she certainly hoped it wasn’t the latter because, wow, that would be embarrassing.) At first, she was worried. Usually, college students shouted something back when there was a knock at the door. She couldn’t hear anything. Biting hard on the inside of her cheek, Cleo knocked again, more tentatively this time.

As soon as she’d pulled her hand away, the door opened. The voice came before the person and she knew then that Jamie was answering the door. HE WAS ALIVE! She grinned for all of five seconds. Then she saw him. Her face fell. What in the world had happened to him? He was in a wheelchair. Casts everywhere (she was exaggerating again). Scratched up. (He hadn’t called her little red). It took everything she had to keep the tears back. “Jamie… what happened to you?” And why hadn’t he told her? Weren’t they close enough friends to let the other know when something on this scale happened?

Cleo didn’t have much time to fret. Quite suddenly, there was a boy in their presence and he was… talking to her? No. Wait. Fish Cleo. Who, go figure, was now flipping around in the air, happier than she’d ever been. Blinking a few times, Cleo waited for things to make sense. Of course, it already did make sense. Jamie was the host of Pinocchio, the little kid goldfish-Cleo had been (sort of) looking for. He’d been here all along. The little boy sat on her shoulder (feeling almost as if he wasn’t even there) and she turned her head a bit to look at him. Was she supposed to answer him? Or would he understand her little goldfish?

I’ve yet to find father, dear Pinocchio. However, I do believe you know Figaro!

What a delightful shock that had been, discovering her Jaybird was the little cat. It was Jamie moving back into his dorm that snapped Cleo out of her confusion. She followed him in, remembering suddenly that she wanted an explanation. Closing the door behind her, Cleo managed a half-smile. “Hey.” Is that all he could say to her? Suddenly aware of the cookies she’d brought, Cleo held them up as if to apologize (why? this wasn’t her fault). “Hungry?”
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[JAMIE SHOEMAKER]

All this time Jamie had worried about how he was going to explain this to Joey the next time he saw her, but Cleo, she was convinced he’d changed. He had changed in a sense, but he still went back. Not that he really had a choice when they were holding a gun to Joey’s head. He could lie to Cleo. He knew she’d be disappointed but he couldn’t lie.

“I went back... to the Alleyway... and some psycho kid tried to kill me,” he said. He wanted to explain everything with the boss and Joey and their threatening but just admitting that he went back took all his strength.

Pinocchio grinned hugely as Cleo (the fish) appeared to be flipping in the air. She talked too. Jamie wondering if that at all happened in the movie. He really should watch it again sometime. Maybe with J. That would be sweet.

“I’ve yet to find father, dear Pinocchio. However, I do believe you know Figaro!”

“Figaro?” Jamie and Pinocchio said at the same time. Jamie was certain Cleo could hear then too but if not he could always blame it on the meds he was given. He was still kinda wondering whether all of this wasn’t just him tripping out really bad. He’d heard of people who had tripped out for weeks or even years. It seemed like a myth but it was easier to believe than having a storybook character in your head.

Jamie smiled at the present and nodded. Cleo always seemed to have sweets on her. He once told her she ate those things because she was as sweet as them. He couldn’t remember exactly what he said but it was something that really made sense. The fact that she even managed to take him back as a friend and accept his new... way of life was amazing to say the least. It was sweeter than any cookie. He offered her one if the beanbag chairs and took a deep breathe. It hurt but he needed it to say what he did next.

“I’m sorry. For everything. I would have told you if it were a stupid thing like me falling down the steps but this... I was ashamed. I never wanted to go back.”

[CLEO EVERETT]

Cleo didn’t like looking at him. Normally, she loved looking at Jamie. She always wanted to play with his hair and she always wanted to touch each tattoo while listening to the story behind it. But no, not now. Now he was all beat up and injured and it just made her sad. Cleo rocked on her feet, trying to figure out what she could say. All she could do now was tug on a strand of her hair and bite the inside of her cheek. As soon as he started to explain what had happened, Cleo wished she hadn’t asked. Did she even want to know? Cleo closed her eyes and shook her head a little, “… why would you do that?” It was another question she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to.

Somehow, goldfish Cleo was still excited despite her host being worried and upset. She swam in little circles around Pinocchio’s head. Yes, the kitten! Don’t you remember?

She sounded scolding but there was a teasing lilt in the question. It had been so long since they’d all been reunited, fish Cleo understood why one might forget. He’s that Jacob boy, the really tall one with funny hair.[/color] Shut up, his hair is not funny. Cleo thought to the goldfish, sounding most definitely scolding. Fish Cleo seemed to have all sorts of thoughts about Jacob that Cleo didn’t share and sometimes, she would go hours without talking to the goldfish, she was so annoyed.

Collapsing into the beanbag, keeping the container of cookies rose above her head just in case, Cleo stretched her legs out and frowned at Jamie. “You can tell me anything, Jamie.” She opened the cookies, cringing at the loud noise it made, and offered one to him. She took one for herself and took a huge bite, eating half of it already. She used this time chewing as an opportunity to figure out how she wanted to say what she was going to say. After a moment, “Jamie… you know I would’ve understood. I was here when you…” She paused, wondering briefly if there was anybody taking care of him now. “I don’t care about the past anymore. That’s why I’m friends with you.”

That’s why she’d gone shopping at a candy store with him after running into each other at the fountain. That’s why she’d used her wish hoping he would tell her the truth. That’s why she’d turned to him when she was having troubles with her other friends. Cleo didn’t care anymore about who Jamie had been. That was the past. She’d been trying lately to forget the past – all she wanted to remember was California. New York had just been extra terrible and she didn’t want to remember any of it. Cleo finished her cookie and set the container down on the floor beside her. “You know that, right? I could’ve been making you soup and tea all this time…” She said with a half-hearted smile.
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[JAMIE SHOEMAKER]

Jamie hated the disappointment on Cleo’s face. It was as painful as looking in a mirror these days. He looked down at his hands and mumbled, “They wanted me too. I was stupid to think I could just leave. Not when they have guns and my dad.” Honestly, no matter how much of a deadbeat he was, Jamie couldn’t hate his dad. Not enough to leave him to the will of the drug crazed drug lords. If it were just guns, he would have never gone back. He would’ve sent Joey to Coney Island or somewhere far out of the gang’s reach and let them come and find him. Willingly, going back was probably the hardest choice for him. Yet, the only option it seemed.

Pinocchio seemed to ignore the whole situation. He didn’t like it at all; Jamie could feel that. That was the kid’s way. Though sometimes when Jamie woke up with nightmares in the middle of the night, Pinocchio would talk to him about it. For an innocent boy, he sure knew a lot. Though how can one really stay innocent when he was in the mind of Peter or Jamie even? Nonetheless Pinocchio smiled widely and said “Aw Figaro! He’s Jacob? Jacob doesn’t like Jamie,” he said while playfully grabbing at Cleo. He knew it wasn’t good to touch her but her liked to pretend. He nodded his head and continued, “Jamie and Cleo are friends and JAcob is very jealous, yessiree.. He wants to be friends with Cleo... I think. But Jamie is friends with J and-- OH! Jiminy! I found Jiminy. He’s with Jem-m- Jemis-ssa. He got stuck with a giiiirl,” Pinocchio said with a loud giggle.

Jamie nearly rolled his eyes but realized he was getting distracted. Just like Pinocchio, he could easily pretend bad things weren’t there. That was, of course, before he looked down and saw the mess of broken he really was.

“You can tell me anything, Jamie.”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” he said in a low voice. Jamie gratefully accepted the cookie a popped bite size pieces into his mouth. He wasn’t really eating much sweet things lately because honestly they’d just go to waste about thirty minutes later. Though he’d been getting better and the house doctor said to take it slow.

“Jamie… you know I would’ve understood. I was here when you…” She paused, wondering briefly if there was anybody taking care of him now. “I don’t care about the past anymore. That’s why I’m friends with you.”

“I didn’t want to disappoint you again. You have so many friends that treat you well and I’m just Jamie, the recovering addict. Probably the only friend with a criminal record and a record of breaking your heart. I figured you could just... forget... about me. Just figure I was okay and move on,” Jamie couldn’t finish the rest of his sentence that pertained to Jacob. It really just hurt too much. He knew about them, or guessed. He knew Cleo. He also knew she wouldn’t agree with his answer.

She wanted to forget just as he did. Though when you’re knocked off your feet by you supposed “long-forgotten past” you can’t help but wonder if it really could just be that. Forgotten. A weak smile crossed Jamie’s face. “I’ve been okay. And you were happy.” He looked up to her face and saw the painful look it gave. “Not so much now.”

[CLEO EVERETT]

It seemed Cleo was unable to resist narrowing her eyes at the mention of Jamie’s father. Sure, he’d been alright. He certainly wasn’t winning any awards for dad of the year, but it wasn’t like he was the worst she’d come across. It was just that… well, she was evidently right about always having believed that good situations never came from Jamie’s dad being around. “I’m sorry, Jamie, but who is they? Why do they have your father?” Perhaps this was something from their past that she should have been remembering, but all Cleo could get from this conversation was pieces of a puzzle. There were so many things missing, she felt, that it would be impossible for her to really understand unless Jamie told her everything. “Have you reported this to the police?” It almost seemed like a stupid question, but one that had to be necessary in a situation like this, right?

Doing her best to ignore the topic at hand, goldfish Cleo continued to swim around playfully, focusing on Pinocchio. For despite being a bit of a drama queen herself, she’d never cared to be involved in any drama concerning her host (a feat that would seem highly unlikely, but she’d been doing rather well at it). Jacob doesn’t like a lot of people,

Cleo answered, sounding as offended as a fish can sound. At the very mention of Jiminy Cricket, though, Cleo stopped very suddenly in her twirls and dives and stared at Pinocchio with the very same open-mouthed fish face Jacob made fun of Cleo for. You found Jiminy? Oh, how absolutely wonderful! I knew I liked that Jemissa girl.[/color] She almost pitied Jiminy for getting stuck in a host of the opposite gender, but so long as Jiminy was happy, she didn’t really care.

Tucking this bit of brand new information about Jemissa into the back of her mind to figure out later, Cleo finished the rest of her cookie in one bite, regretting having held onto it so long. Now her fingers were sticky with frosting. “Well, next time you don’t know what to do, tell me, and I’ll help you figure it out.” Was she trying to force herself back into Jamie’s life? Maybe. “Okay?” It just felt to her like maybe he’d purposely been avoiding her. Perhaps she was over reacting. She hoped that was the case… Brushing her hands against her jeans, Cleo suppressed a groan and instead tried to satisfy her frustration by pulling a hand through her hair. He was silly to think he was the only friend who’d broken her heart. She understood disappointment and a broken heart enough to be able to handle this easily enough.

“Jamie, I could never forget about you.” Cleo shifted in the beanbag, wanting nothing more than to get up, look him right in the eyes, and spill her heart out to him. “I’ve dealt with disappointment and broken hearts before.” She dropped the sentence there, not trusting herself to go any further. It’d be just her luck to sound spiteful and say something mean. The uneasiness was physically getting to her, and so she stood and began to pace around the dorm room, arms folded tightly across her chest. “Okay,” she repeated, uttering a single hollow laugh. “You’re in a wheelchair, Jamie! How does that make you okay?!” Cleo heard her voice crack on the last word and she stopped walking, burying her face into her hands. Taking a moment to breathe and calm down, Cleo lowered her arms and faced him, wringing her hands together. “Honestly? I know I’m acting a mess right now, but I am happy.” Such a mess. “I’m happy you’re alive, because that was one of my biggest concerns after not hearing from you for so long.”
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[JAMIE SHOEMAKER]

Jamie closed his eyes and opened them again. He could tell Cleo was not liking this at all. She never did. “The guys... I used to hang out with... They’re part of a gang. That’s why they were always so shady with you. I was dumb to get into it but I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was too late to leave,” he nearly whispered. Shame filled his tone and he couldn’t even look at her. “I kept the whole thing from you because I didn’t want you in it. None of it.” It was true. Cleo left Jamie because the gang became his life and he did what he could to keep her out of it. He pushed her away and she had every right to leave. Peter was a jerk to not see what he was losing. Peter was wrong to not try and find a way out or at least tell her the truth. Peter was.... Jamie. They were the same. The only difference being time. Probably Pinocchio too.

“Have you reported this to the police?”

“I can’t. I don’t even know their real names,” he staring at the wall. The characters were having an entirely different conversation.

Jacob doesn’t like a lot of people

“I guess. He’s kind of grumpy.I think he just need a hug!” Pinocchio said. The guy reminded him a lot of the cat actually! How did he not see it before? So silly. “Jemissa is so pretty! She’s almost as pretty as the Blue Fairy! And she’s taking us to Disney World!” He jumped in the air and landed on wobbly legs. “Cleo, is Disney World fun? Jamie thinks so,” he asked. Though Jamie also liked other things that Pinocchio didn’t find fun at all. No sir. Like smoking tiny cigars. How did he not turn into an donkey? That’s what Pinocchio would like to know!

Jamie bit his lip. Cleo wasn’t really supposed to know about Disney. No one was. He guessed she would know now. He gave her a nervous look. “You mean like right now? I still don’t know what I’m doing, Cleo,” he admitted. If word got out that he was alive... They’d be back.

“Jamie, I could never forget about you.”

He smiled sadly at the statement. He couldn’t forget Cleo either. Even if it was a good idea to keep her out of all this danger, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to push her away. He couldn’t, not again. Not ever.

“Okay,” she repeated, uttering a single hollow laugh. “You’re in a wheelchair, Jamie! How does that make you okay?!”

Jamie closed his eyes. “I...” he started. What could he say? Nothing. It was true. He was far from any form of okay. He was scared shitless and broken (literally) yet he lied. He didn’t want her to be upset. He didn’t like the catch in her voice. He was hurting and it was his fault. “I’m so sorry,” he said as clearly as he could.

[CLEO EVERETT]

Oh. Those guys. She never had liked them, not back then and after hearing all of this, certainly not now. “Jamie, you’re surprisingly good at getting into trouble.” Cleo sounded exhausted, like all she wanted was a mug of hot tea with too much sugar and honey. Still, the relief she was feeling that Jamie had kept her out of all of this was helping. And the hope that he’d learned his lesson still hadn’t been shot to hell, so that was good. “Well… now you know better, right?” She almost regretted the question, realizing how it sounded like she was reprimanding him.

Cleo looked to her goldfish and to Pinocchio, perhaps noticing them for the first time since she’d gotten to Jamie’s. She’d barely been following their conversation. Fish Cleo was nodding along to what Pinocchio was saying, agreeing that yes, Jacob needed more hugs and yes, Jemissa was very pretty. Have you by chance found the Blue Fairy?

Cleo asked, or Gepetto, maybe?[/color] The goldfish seemed immensely pleased that she’d found Figaro and Pinocchio, and Cleo was getting the feeling that she was only asking about the other characters out of courtesy.

“Jemma’s taking you to Disney World?” Cleo asked, turning to give Jamie a very cross look. She could’ve sworn she made it clear to all her friends that they couldn’t go to Disney World without her, as she’d never been, and it was oftentimes all she wanted in life. Filing that bit of information away as well, Cleo left the characters to their own devices and returned to her beanbag chair. “Well, let me know if you need help, I guess.” It seemed to her that Jamie was doing well enough on his own, or with whoever was assisting him right now. She assumed Jemissa probably came over often enough. So long as he had somebody making sure he was okay.

His apology sounded so sincere that she had to look up and give him a half-hearted smile. “Accepted.” She sat up a bit, shifting until she was comfortable. “Should I go?” Cleo hadn’t thought it until now, but perhaps he’d taken time answering the door because he’d been sleeping. And surely, he needed all the sleep he could get. “I mean, if you need your rest.” Though she was happy to stay and make him soup or… or to do anything helpful really, Cleo didn’t really have any intention of lingering much longer if she wasn’t needed.
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