Tragedy of a Nerd

by Jack-N-Walker

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Original Character, Big Macintosh, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 7929

After feeling sorry for himself for long enough, Jack tries to make up for his past

Jack has always been a bit off, avoiding people, clinging to apple juice boxes as sustenance, and even making few friends in this bright and peppy world. A girl develops feelings for him but what happened in grade school forces him to decline her feelings.

Published 2016-02-10 03:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-05-02 07:05:49 UTC

Grade school meeting

Author's Note

"HI there my name is Jack Noah Walker and I'm 8 Years old, and I'm starting the 3rd grade. I'm going to tell you a story of how I grew up and the people I've met, my story may seem happy and grand but in the end you will see that it is tr-"

"Jack, time to wake up, honey, breakfast is ready"

"I gotta go, my mom is waking me up, I will see you soon."

Grade school meeting

"Jack, come on honey, I have an apple juice box ready for you." My mom, Mary, smiles as she gently wakes me up. Her attempts at waking me up are successful and I open my eyes. "There's those beautiful, sapphire eyes I love so much." She kisses my cheek and I giggle, squirming about.

"Mommy, Stop! You're giving me cooties. I don't need kisses. I'll show you by getting myself dressed." I puff out my chest and my mom decides to play along.

"Alright then, Mr. Big man, I'll be waiting in the kitchen for you." I jump out of bed in my white undies, and get dressed then brush my hair, standing on a stepping stool to see the mirror and begin brushing my teeth. I rinse my mouth out with water and tie my shoes as I put on my favorite Nintendo, Legend of Zelda shirt on and a pair of green cargo shorts with my shoes and run downstairs.

I am hit with the smell of french toast and syrup with apple juice and coffee. I jump into my chair, beaming with pride, "See Mommy and Daddy, I'm a big boy, I got dressed all by myself." They smile at me as my dad takes another sip of his coffee and kisses my moms cheek. "Ewww! Gross! Daddy kissed Mommy! BLECH!!!!" I take a sip of my apple juice, as my parents stare at me with adoration of their little black haired, blue eyed, lightly tan skinned son.

"I'm proud of you son." My dad smiles at me as I smile with a little apple juice dripping down my chin.

"Be more careful, Jack." My mom says as she wipes my chin with a napkin gently and I resume eating the french toast.

Half an hour later I get up and run to the stairs, "I'll go get little sissy up, Mommy." She smiles and nods to me as I run upstairs and wake up my little sister Joan (pronounced Jo ann.) "Jojo, time to wake up. it's your first day of first grade!" She gets up, giggling and hugs me.

"Tank you, big bubby!" She runs around in her Dora the explorer onesie. She settles down and I help her get dressed.

"You get french toast for breakfast!" She squeals with joy, french toast was always her favorite. As soon as she is dressed she runs to the kitchen to get breakfast in her booster seat. I walk into my room and pick up my backpack, with my gameboy advance, as well as my yugioh cards, then walk downstairs and wave to my little sister, "Bye sissy." She waves, unable to speak with a mouthful of food, so I pick up my lunch box and make my way out to the bus stop.

On the bus ride my friend Frost saved a seat for me. "Jack, over here!" He waves his arms excitedly so I take the seat next to him and we talk about all of our nerdy habits, Playing pretend being one of them. Later in life we will come to know this habit as role-playing. Being the kids we are, Frost and I begin playing pokemon, on a journey to find Pikachu just like ash in the cartoon. Frost and I both spend the time on the bus grumbling about the dark cave, and all the Zubats we encounter but the bus comes to a stop at the school so we save and quit.

I stop off at my class after waving goodbye to Frost. I look around the desks for my name since we were all put in alphabetical order so I sit in the desk at the back of the class. "Awww....I don't get to sit next to the teacher." I whisper to myself a bit down but I cheer up once I sit down and put my lunch box away. I look around at my classmates and notice they all have something I don't, a group of friends. In a futile attempt to make friends, I try to jump into a group conversation but get ignored, so I try again with a different group but get the same result, and a few more times with the same result. Downcast I sit in my desk and see a girl with pretty pink hair, cowering in a corner so I approach her.

"Hi, I'm...um...My name is Jack. What's yours?" I extend a hand to shake hands and she whispers.

"I'm Fluttershy....Nice to meet you." Smiles a little and shakes my hand.

"Where did all your friends go?" I ask and she looks around then shrugs.

"Maybe they're in another class." I Puff up, in an attempt to seem cool but fail miserably.

"Don't worry, I'll be your friend." I smile and help her up from the corner and to her desk as she smiles to me and we begin talking about all of her favorite things and in general having a great time until class starts then I wave to her and move back to my desk. All through the class we smile and wave to each other and get our things done, occasionally answering questions then recess/free time comes along and she goes outside to meet her friends and have a grand time while I meet with Frost and we sit as reigning champions of yugioh teams of the second grade.

He nudges my side as he catches me staring out the window at the pink haired girl. "Hey, I see you looking at her, remember pals before gals, I thought we where brothers!" I smile at him,

"I would never leave you for a girl." He stares mouth agape at a rainbow haired girl. He gets up and makes his way outside. "Frost!!! What happened to pals before gals?!" He turns around and shrugs.

"Sorry, I made it up to keep you from abandoning me." I get a shocked face as he disappears.

"Even you abandon me...." I shed a tear, as he leaves me and sadly shuffle my yugioh deck, seeing all the challengers ahead of me, miraculously I keep all of my magician cards, my favorite being dark magician. The bell rings and I go back to my desk.

With my deck in perfect condition and spirit hurt from Frost's little stunt, I sit in my desk eager to see what is in my lunch box so I pay attention thinking it will make the time fly by, and it does so when Lunch time comes around I ignore Frost for abandoning me and I sit at my usual table, next to the lunch lady, looking though my lunch box and see a letter from my mom, 'Have a great day at school hun, Mommy loves you.' The o in loves and mommy were in the shape of hearts.

I smile and put the sticky note under the top of my lunch box so I could look at it as I ate. Today I had an apple juice box, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a fruit cup and a swiss roll for dessert of some sort. Little to my knowledge, Fluttershy had sat down beside me. "H-h-hi Jack."

I jump and hit my leg on the cafeteria table, and suppress a squeal of pain. "Hi..." I say a bit labored. I get over the pain and continue eating lunch, "Please don't sneak up on me like that again." She nods and opens her lunch to fruits, veggies, and a pudding cup for dessert.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I shake my head and I get swarmed with her friends around the table as Frost and Rainbow are having an eating competition and the rest are having a grand conversation with Fluttershy. So being the odd man out i just resume eating in silence until I hear my name called. "J-Jack, you seem quiet." I look around to see her friends and Frost staring at me. Then my awkward nature kicked in.

"I...Uh...You know...Um...I was only eating, sorry." I look around and that answer seemed to appease everyone because they resumed their conversations so I finish my lunch and head to the playground field, sitting at the baseball backstop, waiting for Frost so we could Pokemon battle. He never showed up, but Fluttershy somehow found me.

"Jack, what are you doing back here...If you don't mind me asking." I look around to see if there was another person named Jack around, all this attention was weird to me, especially since it came from a girl.

"Oh, I was waiting for Frost so we could play Pokemon together. Seems like he is playing with your friend." I look over to see Frost and Rainbow having a race to see who was faster. "Well...I guess I lost Frost." I look at the little bench I was on and Fluttershy sits next to me.

"You...You could always play with me, I don't like sports all too much, so I sit and watch the others as they play." She says as she scoots closer wanting to watch me play so I let her watch as I battle LT. Surge.

"It's always fun to battle with some one watching." I say to her and smile, she rests her head on my shoulder and watches me play. I smile a little more, feeling fuzzy inside.

The week progresses on, as I become closer friends with her and Frost gets closer to Rainbow but we all make time to see all of our friends. My mom was starting to become suspicious and even a little jealous of my new found friend because Fluttershy began making lunches for me a couple days out of the week. Since they were great I wasn't complaining. She even came over with her friends and played dress up with Jojo while Frost and I played the Nintendo 64 with Rainbow Dash. I put my controller down as I lost my last life. "I'm gonna go get a juice box, you guys want one?" They both nod so I head down stairs to grab a couple of juice boxes and hug my mom on the way back up. "I love you, Mommy." I smile and she kisses my cheek.

I head upstairs and give Frost and Rainbow their juices then hear a knock at my door so I open it and see Fluttershy and Joan. "Buver? Wanna come see a play?" I think it over and then look at them both.

"Sure, why not." I smile and follow them to my little sisters room and they put on the play. A drawn poster saying beauty and the beast scrolls as Apple Jack brings it across and hides out of the way and the blanket moves.

Rarity obviously was the costume designer and pinkie was the control booth, or what they had of one, Twilight was the script writer, Fluttershy was Belle, and Joan was the teeny tiny beast. Needless to say the performance went well, and it was fun to watch. Since it was the weekend My little sister asked if the girls could stay for a sleepover and so I decided I'd just keep Frost for the night to keep myself from getting bored so the girls called their parents and they all agreed, and Frost's parents knew me well enough to know I was going to keep him for the weekend so they didn't mind, sometimes our parents would swear that we shared a brain. Rainbow retreats to her friends and my little sister and so Frost and I just sit and play games on our Gameboy advances as we battle gym after gym to beat the game and find Pikachu.

Apparently at some point the girls invaded my room to watch Frost and I battle it out on the 64 in super smash brothers, even betting lunches on who was going to win, Fluttershy had bet on me and Rainbow on Frost then Rarity as well as Pinkie followed Fluttershy's lead, where Twilight and Apple followed Rainbow's. Ten minutes into the match, and Frost as well as I were still unaware of the bickering girls until Jojo hugged me, and yelled, "Get him bubby!!!" That got me worked up...I couldn't let my little sister down, she looked up to me as her bubby. I silently apologized as I picked up my skill level to beat Frost.

After a hard fought battle I was declared victor and I jumped up, hugging Fluttershy, and picking her up, due to her being light, I mistook her for my little sister until the let out a little squeak so I put her down, blushing. "S-Sorry, Fluttershy." She had a small smile and she was blushing as she and her friends as well as Joan, went back to my sisters room and they were all giggling about what happened and whispering about how they thought I had a crush on Fluttershy. "Frost....Can I just disappear..."

He put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. "Sorry, but that only works in magic and cartoons."

Later that night, Frost and I were still playing games as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came in. "I-I had a nightmare, and Rainbow can't sleep, can we sit and watch you guys?" Frost and I looked at each other and the silent agreement was there, neither of us had a problem with it so I turned back to them.

"I guess so...If you don't mind sitting with two boys." They closed the door behind them sat next to us, and as a week before, Fluttershy laid her head on my shoulder, smiling contently. So I turned on the 64 for Frost and Rainbow. "So...are you feeling better?" Fluttershy nodded and I felt it on my shoulder so I smiled. "That's good, Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"

She hesitates but nods. "I'll tell you in the corner," so we moved away from the other two. "My nightmare was about you, and you were being mean to us all and completely hated us. You even y-y-yelled at me." She sniffles and tears up so I think fast.

'Come on, Jack, what would your mom do in this situation?' I get and idea, so i hug her and kiss her forehead like my mom would when I was littler. "It's okay, it was only a dream." She calms down a bit.

"Th-thanks Jack, you're a great friend." I smile and look at her.

"No problem, Fluttershy." She yawns and falls asleep half an hour later so I pick her up and put her back in my sisters room, and Rainbow follows, falling asleep next to her, light snores emanating from them all so I head back to my room and Frost as well as I fall asleep, concluding the night.

6th grade

Author's Note

(I apologize for taking so long, school work is getting the majority of my attention so I can make graduation and go on to college. Also let's take a vote, should Jack get together with Fluttershy, or be the odd man out in silent content?)

"It's the 6th grade, Frost, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Twilight, Apple, Rarity, and I are all still friends. Frost and I are still into Pokemon, but the Yugioh community is dying out, but that won't deter us from enjoying it. I've enjoyed telling the story so far but this is where it starts to take a t-"

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

"Well, That's my alarm, I'll see you all in the next chapter."

6th grade

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

The incessant droning beep of my alarm is what had woke me up today. So I get up, get dressed after a shower, dry my hair, brush it, and then brush my teeth. By this time I had changed styles to wearing a green t-shirt with blue jeans, black and white high top converse, a grey hoodie, and a blue backpack.

Dungeons and Dragons had become a regular thing for Fluttershy, Frost, Twilight, and I, speaking of Frost, he and I were supposed to walk to school together today. I pick up my backpack and lunch box, hugging my mom and kissing her cheek. "Bye, Mom, See ya Jojo, See ya Dad." I wave to them as I leave and make my way to meet Frost and see seven familiar faces. I smile and they wave to me as I make my way over to them.

We all begin walking to school together, Frost and Rainbow having another competition, as Fluttershy and I walked at the back, making small talk. "So, how was your weekend?"

I look at her and she looks back at me. "It was spectacular, I couldn't wait to see all of you again, How is Joan?" I look to her and beam her a smile.

"Well, she is fine, but she wants to have another sleepover again....She really likes you guys." I say as she giggles and looks to the others.

"Hey, do you all want to spend the night at Jack's to visit with his little sister this weekend?" They all agree that it would be a nice event so Frost pipes up.

"Don't worry Jack, I'll go so you don't get lonely." We both knew he only wanted to go to be with Rainbow, so I just shrugged it off and mimicked Frost in a somewhat belligerent way.

"Alright, I'll talk with my mom about it, you all can talk to your parents, excluding you Frost, We share a brain, your parent's know it is my house this weekend, then your's next." I turn to Frost and we make eye contact knowing that we would be up all night with games and solo Dungeons and Dragons.

We make our way to school and to our classes. After a couple hours of classes, Recess begins and so I head to a quiet spot to play Pokemon, I was used to Frost hanging with Rainbow at Recess at this time so I started my emerald save on my still functioning Gameboy advance sp and wait for Fluttershy to show up and sure enough she did, Leaning her head on my shoulder as she always did as if I were her live pillow. "Hi, Fluttershy." She smiles and responds.

"Hi, Jack. Playing Pokemon Emerald?" I nod and start the game up and play with her watching. She fidgets as if she wants to say something but can't so I look at her and tap her shoulder.

"Fluttershy, you seem a bit fidgety, is there something you want to ask me?" She looks to me and nods.

"As....As you um...know, The dance is coming up soon...and I was wondering if you were going to go." I look at her.

"I guess I'll go. I've got nothing better going on." She smiles and gets up.

"I'm going to go talk with Twilight for a bit." I wave as she leaves and the bell rings ten minutes later.

After school Frost and Apple Jack's brother, Big Mac approach me, Frost was the first to speak up. "Big Mac here just scored a cute date for the dance."

He seems a bit embarrassed but Big Mac speaks up. "Eeyup." I look at him and hold my fist out for a fist bump.

"Nice, who's the lucky gal?" Aside from his usual Eeyup's and Nope's, Big Mac speaks again.

"I asked Fluttershy." As he boasts as he high-fives Frost and I drop my jaw.

"Dude...You are the luckiest guy in the world." I laugh in the most convincing manner I can and look at my watch. "Crap, I have to get home, See you guys later." As I wave and walk away, I think to myself. 'Yeah, no...I'm not going to that dance...' And so begun my slow spiral to becoming an introverted, apathetic, person.

The night of the dance approached and my mom called me from my room so I run downstairs to her. "Yeah mom?" She hands me the phone. "It's from your friend Frost, and Fluttershy." I grab the phone and put it up to my ear. "Hello?" from the other end I hear them all bickering.

"Jack, Where are you? We're all waiting for you at the doors to the gym." Apparently there was a payphone in the school.

"I...I uh...I'm not going. But you can wish the others all the best for me." I look to the side feeling somewhat guilty after promising Fluttershy that I would be there.

As Frost tells them I hear a collective "WHAAAT?!?!" I pull the phone from my ear until the noise dies down and get chastised by them all, one after another but I wish them all the best for their dates and hang up the phone.

"Jack, Honey, what did they want?" I look up at my mom. "Hm? Oh, they just wanted to know if I was going to the dance or not, I told them no but wished them the best on their dances." My mom gets a mischevious grin on her face.

"I bought you that outfit for a reason." My face twists with horror.

"Mom....No...Mom, don't do this. DAD! HELP!!!!" My dad just chuckles and points at me.

"Jack, just do what your Mother says, accept the fact that no matter what anyone does she is going to get you in that suit and to the dance. It's easier that way."

I fall to my knees, feeling as if someone had thrown a javelin to my ego. "Even my own Father is against me."

After about ten minutes or so of fighting to not get dressed up for the dance my mom drops me off at school. "Good luck, Honey. Mommy loves you. I'll pick you up around Ten." I begrudgingly nod and walk inside.

"I don't want to do this." As soon as I spin around on my heel to walk back out, Frost grabs the back of my shirt and drags me inside.

"Sorry Jack, but this is for your own good." I decide to quit fighting it and go along with it. I sit at one of the tables and play the Gameboy advance sp I had stashed in my inside pocket. I watch the others having a grand time as I sit with one of my teachers, having small talk then Twilight approaches me, and drags me to the dance floor.

"Twi, I don't dance." I state quite blatantly she doesn't seem to care as she drags me to the dance floor and slow dances with me. To humor her I decide to try to dance with her to get this over with. From what I can see she seems to enjoy it, but Fluttershy is not too happy with seeing this.

Frost gave me a thumbs up and I glared at him as he slow dances with Rainbow. I give Twilight a smile as she lays her head on my shoulder Fluttershy does the same with Big Mac. As the slow dance ends, I go back to sitting with my teacher, enjoying the talk. the night goes on without incident until Fluttershy approaches me.

"Hey, Fluttershy, enjoying your dance with Big Mac?" She nods and encourages me to follow her to the floor.

"Come on Jack, I want to get at least one dance in with you before the night ends." I give up all hope of resisting...She looked too beautiful to say no to especially the way that elegant and flowing blue dress accented her eyes.

"Alright, but remember, if you are going to try anything, Big Mac is your date." She nods and seems to be in a state of pure bliss just dancing with me. As for myself, I quite enjoyed the moment with Fluttershy. One could go as far to say that I'm beginning to develop a crush on her.

As I get home and strip to my pajamas, I hop in bed, trying to forget what happened tonight, wishing I would have just stayed home to not see Big Mac dancing with her but it happened... The next day at school was seemingly normal same lunch from home, same classes, same friends...That was until Frost had drug me from my relaxation to see something...and this something wasn't anything I had wanted to see. Fluttershy was cornered by two jerks. Next thing we know Big Mac drags them off to have 'words' in other terms, beat the snot out of them. After the spectacle takes place, I guiltily look at Frost and walk away, deeming myself unworthy of any of their trust, or friendship, 'Why wasn't I there to protect her? I mean she is okay now, but what will she think of me now...? How awkward will the sleep over be? So many questions only time has the answers to.'

The weekend comes along and Fluttershy avoids my gaze so I take it as a sign to back off to my room as Rainbow and Frost as well as Pinkie and Apple Jack are playing tag in the yard. Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, and Joan, make their way to Joan's room to talk about girly things while I plug my headphones into my gameboy and play Pokemon crystal and attempt to forget what I had seen that week. Frost finally comes in blushing. I look at him in bewilderment.

"Frost....What happened?" After I finish speaking she puffs his chest out and he speaks up in an attempt to be brave.

"Pinkie...and Apple got the idea to dare me.....to...to...to ki-k-k-kiss Rainbow...It wasn't that bad....But...Her lips were soft..." I facepalm since I knew this would happen sooner or later, but hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"Well....Good luck with that." They call Frost into my sisters room for whatever reason, so I ignore it and decide to go make myself a sandwich, 'I'm a bit hungry, Turkey and cheddar cheese? Or PB&J?' I think to myself as I approach the fridge and resolve the quarrel by making a turkey and cheddar sandwich. When I get back in my room, I see Fluttershy on my bed.

"Uuummm....Weren't you all doing something to Frost?" She shakes her head and looks at me.

"They were only having a pillow fight, I needed somewhere quiet to go." I nod, understanding her predicament, and I feel slightly awkward at what had happened earlier in the day.

"Big Mac is a nice guy, huh? A strong guy like that should be able to protect you." I look at the floor, insinuating that she should date him already to set it in stone and get my worries over with. She nods and looks away. I eat in awkward silence and finish my sandwich soon after, deciding to take the dish it downstairs. On my way back up, I expect to see Fluttershy on my bed still but just as quickly as she arrived, she went back to my sisters room. 'Oh well...what happened earlier today was unforgivable...She deserves a guy like Big Mac...I have no right to even try to win her love.' I think to myself as I hop in bed, preparing to sleep.

As soon as I fall asleep, I feel something sit on my bed and intentionally attempt to wake me, so I get up and look around at whatever it could be and see Twilight. "Twilight, It's nearly Nine at night...What do you want?"

"Jack, Fluttershy has strong feelings for you...But she doesn't know what to do, she told us that you told her she deserves a guy like Big Mac. Is this true?" I sit up and rub my eyes, nodding as she stares at me.

"Yes it is. Why?" Twilight shakes her head at me in disbelief and raises her hand almost as if she wanted to slap me.

"Because you are the only guy who has treated Fluttershy as if she were an equal, not a shy girl...Not as if she were a nobody." I look down to the bed.

"...I...I can't begin to accept her feelings for me, after what happened at school, I'm not the one she should love. She deserves someone that can protect her... and all I could do was sit and watch. If you haven't noticed, I'm not as athletic as Big mac, nor am I as strong. The only thing I have going for me is my brains and my ability to escape harm."

Twilight shakes her head even more, and she punches my chest in frustration. "Jack...Fluttershy just wants you to know she has feelings for you. She has loved you since the summer of fourth grade when you carried her across that river we all swam in. Why can't you love her back?"

I rub my chest, feeling a bit sore. "Twilight...I just told you. I can't love her because I am weak, she needs a strong guy like Big Mac." I slowly get quieter by the end of the sentence, almost to a whisper as a tear forms in Twilight's eye.

"Alright...If I can't convince you to love her, maybe you will realize it sooner rather than later..." She climbs down from my bed and heads over to my little sisters room, sniffling. After that Rainbow snuck into my room to lay with Frost, or so I had thought until my blanket was ripped from on top of me.

"Jack...I want you to date Fluttershy, and she also wants to date you. The only thing holding you back is yourself." I look at her as I rip my blanket away.

"Rainbow, you above all the rest of the girls should know the unspoken guy code. You don't steal another guys lady. I've seen the way that Mac looks at her. It is a look of love and longing, it may pain me but think of it this way, she won't have to worry about bullies any more and they will all flock to me, leaving the rest of you alone." I look at the ceiling as I lay back down. "Someone has to be the guinea pig, and if it is me then so be it. That is the way the world works, Rainbow."

She punches me in the arm and stares directly into my eyes. "Jack, Get over it. You're being petty, we all know that you don't have to be strong to protect her. And we'll get Mac to love another girl it is as simple as that." I roll over and mumble to myself.

"Fine. If you get Mac to love another girl, I will date Fluttershy." I curl up into a ball as Rainbow delivers the news and comes back into my room to cuddle up with Frost and fall asleep next to him. I see my sister's room light go out and I realize that my answer would finally earn me some sleep.

-Seven am-

I get up in routine with my alarm clock even though it doesn't go off on the weekends and I make my way downstairs. Being the first one up I pour myself some cereal and slowly, almost sluggishly eat it and leave a note saying I'm going to the arcade to waste some time. As I finish the note I grab my bag and make my way to the door until a gentle hand stops me. "Jack, I wanna go with you." I look up and see Fluttershy. After a five minute argument, I give up and revise the note to include Fluttershy.

Soon we arrive at the arcade and I sit at one of my favorite games, Polybius, and begin playing until the character dies as Fluttershy watches in awe. Fluttershy spots a game she and Fluttershy played as children and so she asks if we can play. I agree and we begin playing ninja turtles. A few hours pass and I look at my watch lead her to a few more games until it is around 8:39 pm and I lead her outside. "Did you have fun?" I ask as I look at her with excitement still in my eyes from having a second player.

She nods and whispers. "Will this answer your question?" She leans in and plants a simple yet sweet kiss on my cheek, her cheeks blushing a vibrant red color in the moonlight. As she pulls away, I put a hand on my cheek and hold it there. As my brain catches up with what just happened, I blush even more red than she was. We begin walking home in a comfortable silence and she grabs my hand.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, I let her grab my hand without protest and I lead her home. As I get home everyone except my parents were waiting there for us to return home with sly grins on their faces.

7th grade.

Author's Note

"Hey, once again. Life sometimes passes you by and you regret things...But the best thing you can do is push through this painful life for them. That's what my mom always told me anyway. I should be waking up soon so get ready for some more of my daily life."

-BZZZZT....BZZZZZT....BZZZZZT-

"Right on time, I hope to see you all in the next chapter."

7th grade.

-Monday, March 14, 2011-

As the clock read, It was Monday so school was starting soon. 'Guess it's time to get dressed, and make breakfast for the house....It's quiet and lonely without you Dad...' I sit up, finally pulling myself together after a month long depression of skipping school, and get dressed. "Done, now for breakfast." I begin cooking a proper breakfast for my sister and mother. Ten minutes pass and I go to wake up my sister. "Joan?" I ask as I gently wake her up.

"Hmmm?" She rolls over and looks at me and I see her eyes are red and puffy so I pull her into a hug. As I do she bursts out into another crying fit. "It's not fair, Jack. I want him back!" I pat her back and begin to cry.

"I know...I want him back to, It's hard without him to take care of us, Mom has had to take a night shift to get money...I'm going to tell Mom to stop." I look at her. "I'm going to sacrifice my free time to get a job. You already lost Dad, you still need mom to raise you and comfort you." I pat her head gently. "You can stay home from school, breakfast is on the table."

I get up and walk to the door, whispering to myself, "I'd take his place if I could, Not many people would miss me anyway." As I close the door behind me, I have a flashback of the incident.

-Wednesday, September 22, 2010-

"Dad?" I ask as I enter the hospital room, he looks over to me with his ever present smile and waves me over. "Dad....What happened?" I ask as I see nothing wrong with him.

"Hi, Jack, It's so nice to see you come visit me. I see your mom hasn't told you, I have CDJ. I have no idea how it is pronounced." He laughs and looks at me. "But don't worry, Good ol' Dad will pull through for you kids." He rubs my head.

I look up at him. "Alright. You'd better." A couple of hours later I hug him and wave him good bye as I head home.

-Friday, October 15, 2010-

After school I head directly over to the hospital, Still no signs of Dad getting better, he even forgot his birthday and his mom's name. "Dad? I'm here to see you again." I smile as I make my way over to him.

"Hi Jack, Did you bring it?" I nod and he grins deviously. I pull a remote control out of my backpack as well as a miniature helicopter. "Oh yeah!" He laughs as I bring the table the nurses use to feed him over and place the helicopter on it after turning it as well as the controller on.

'He's been stuck in here so long he hasn't been able to have much fun.' I laugh with him as he flies around the helicopter. "Looks like you're having fun again Dad."

He laughs and looks at me, "You're right, this hospital is nothing but boring talks and meals." My favorite nurse, the one I call the nice nurse comes in.

"Mr. Walker, I've come to check on you." She looks at me and puts a finger to her lips as she winks, "I'll keep the RC helicopter a secret." I smile at the nurse and she looks back to my Dad. "How are you feeling, Mr. Walker." He laughs boisterously.

"I feel well enough to go home today!" He continues laughing and I notice the helicopter hit the ceiling and continue until the battery dies so I take the controller and helicopter then take my leave.

"Good luck, Dad!" I make my way home to do homework as well as talk with Frost over text about tournament plans.

The nurse sighs and looks back at my Dad. He speaks up, "In truth, I'm losing more memories, and my fingers wont do what I want most of the time." She writes it down and pats his shoulder.

"Thank you for not breaking his heart with the truth Mr. Walker. I can't stand to see your son cry. He is such a good kid." She walks out and back to her desk.

The next few months go by without much incident in my visits, the normal half hour to two hour visits to see him smile and laugh.

-Monday, February 14, 2011-

My sister, Mother, and myself visit my Dad for the end of spring break. I walk into the room with them and we all surrounding him, showering him with hugs, and affection.

"Thank you all, It's too bad we all have to be here for spring break." He smiles and kisses our cheeks. "If only they would let me go." He laughs a bit, "But since you're all here we mind as well have fun." And so we did, or at least as much as we could with his limited mobility, and memory loss and inability to remember faces very well.

A couple of hours pass and he looks around are beginning to leave and his heart rate slows to around 35 bpm. Tears form in his eyes as he looks at us. "Hey, Joan, Do you know when your brother is going to visit, he hasn't been around in a couple of weeks." The words pierce my ears but don't register, and it looks to be the same with her so my mom speaks up.

"He should be in soon, Honey." She smiles, and the nurse comes in as well as the doctor, his heart rate slowly declining, now at 20 bpm.

"Mr. Walker, any last words to relay to your family." He nods and whispers to the doctor. As he finishes, He turns back to us and walks over to my Mom, whispering to her, next to my sister and finally after some hesitation to me. "Son...Your father wanted to let you know that he apologizes if he didn't recognize you in the room. He wishes that he could have seen you grow up and marry a beautiful woman."

I nod and the words finally hit me as I realize he truly didn't recognize me. The feeling made me feel dead inside, as if nothing was worth it any more. A feeling I would come to feel every day. The doctor addresses us all, "And finally....He wants you all to know, With his final breath...Never stop smiling."

We all break down to tears as the monitor stops reading his pulse. As we make it out of the hospital my mom turns to us and hugs us. "Don't worry, Just because you will grow up without a Dad, doesn't mean you will be less happy than other kids....I'll be super Mommy. I'll make you two happy again." She decides to leave the matter of him not remembering me to not make an emotional scar on Joan.

I look at my mom and force a smile. "I'm gonna hang with Frost for a while." She nods, knowing I may want some space so she takes Joan home and I go hide out in the arcade, not bringing attention to myself behind a game machine.

"I hate Valentines day..." I whisper to myself as I curl up in a ball. The flash back ends and I look at my watch seeing only a minute had passed and tears were streaming down my cheeks. "I'm sorry Joan...You need a mother to take care of you...Not a brother." I walk to school, avoiding the bus to avoid confrontation with Frost and the others. More over, confrontation with anyone.

The plan is a success all day as I walk home and to my moms midnight job and tell them she wont be going in for a while and the owner throws a fit that he is shorthanded.

"It's gonna be hard to find a replacement." I offer to work and he takes up the offer, luckily it was only selling baked goods in front of the business. I make my way home and my Mom looks at me, with a tired smile.

"Welcome home, Honey." She hugs me and attempts to comfort me. "I stayed up to see you." I fake a smile and hug her back.

"Mom...I thought I was gonna meet you at the baked goods store but they told me they fired you so I came home to check on you." I knew it was a blatant lie so I did my best to keep it as normal as possible so she could look after her daughter. She hugs me tighter and rubs my back.

"It's fine, I'll find another job." She begins falling asleep on my shoulder so I wake her up and take her to her room. She hugs me and kisses my cheek as she lays down. "Good night, Jack." I smile as she falls asleep.

I lay in my room and prepare to lose the free time I have to be lazy and hang around my house. The next day I find myself on the bus not remembering the morning or why I'm on the bus but I'm surrounded by Frost and the others, questioning what happened and why I was gone for so long so I tell them and they change the subject to current events that happened.

"Well, We all missed you lots and got a year older." I smile, knowing why Frost was changing the subject so I go along with it. "Well, I have a birthday in two months so I guess Fluttershy, you, and I are the youngest of the group." I smile and look out the window, blacking out again, responding with seemingly preprogrammed answers to their questions almost as if I was no longer there. when the bell rings I make my way to the Baked Goods Shoppe.

"I'm here to work." He smiles and gives me an outfit to change into so I change and put on a facade of a happy outgoing lad. "Hi, care to try some of our goods ma'am?" And so began my shift as a salesboy. I took all the opportunities I was given at overtime to make the max amount of money, and then the day took a turn unexpectedly as Fluttershy stops by with a questioning gaze.

"Jack...Why are you working?" I look at her and smile, somewhat happy that she came, but hesitant to answer so after a few seconds I speak up.

"Well...When Dad died, Mom took a job she found so I decided that my sister needed a mother to raise her and comfort her not her brother. So I lied to my mom and told her that she was fired from here after taking her shift with overtime." Fluttershy looks stunned and slowly hugs me.

"Jack...You've always been like this. Willing to throw away your well being to make someone's life easier...It's one of the reasons I....I..." She begins to blush and stutter. "That I...I fell in....In love with you!" She holds me close as her words register and I do my best to react calmly.

"Fluttershy...I love you too...But, we should wait a bit...I don't have the experience to think of myself as worthy of accepting your love. We should date other people and see what our standards are to see if we are right for each other...I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I broke your heart. Don't get me wrong, I don;t want to say this but it is the most logical thing we can do right now." She hugs me closer and doesn't let go. "Umm...Fluttershy? You can let go now."

She shakes her head. "No..." She says in an almost whisper. "It's no fair....You can say that you love me so calmly yet I'm uncontrollably shaking and nervous." I hug her back and pat her head.

"I'm nervous as well.... But I'm doing my best to stay calm because I'm on shift." I let her go and she lets me go after hearing that, knowing how serious I'm taking this.

"You're serious when you want to be, It's another thing I like about you," She smiles and nods. "Alright, I'll work with you. And we can date other people to get experience." I smile and notice how confident she was.

"I see you weren't shy or timid when you made up your mind, I guess you're more comfortable around me." She beams with pride as she notices. "I'm proud of you, but don't let me be the determining factor in wanting to work." She nods and sits next to me. I think to myself. 'It's nice not to be alone. I'm glad she is here to be with me.' I continue to work until nine at night and we part ways. "Night Fluttershy," She blushes and turns to me.

"Jack...Close your eyes." Confused, I do as instructed and close my eyes, she leans in and kisses my cheek. "Good night." She quietly squee's like the girl she is and makes her way home. I laugh to myself.

"I should of seen that one coming." I laugh more and make my way home, as I reach home my mom is waiting for me at the table, with a guilty looking Joan.

"She told me everything Jack...I can't agree with what your doing...But....I understand your concern. So...I'll let you man up." She smiles at me with her motherly smile, "My little boy has grown up." She hugs Joan and me, "Do your best Jack," I nod and pull away, making my way up to my room. As I enter my room I begin listening to songs by some japanese popstar that Frost recommended to me.