Holland "Holly" Sharpe (![]() ![]() @ 2010-03-07 23:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 05, holland sharpe, jacklyn baker, | holly and jack |
Week five - Friday
Characters: Jack and Holly.
Location: Siena Suites, storeroom.
Summary: Holly wants to cross reference some information with Jack about Jared, and then Holly plays Love Doctor.
Rating: H for Holly.
The grapevine had been first to alert Holly some kid was staying in Alice's suite, and then Kathleen had mentioned the crime said kid had committed, which was beating Jack up. By chance, Holly had the opportunity to talk to Jared personally and he'd said he only held Jack down. The latter was still bad, but not as bad as actually slugging Jack, so Holly needed to find out the truth before he could make up his mind about Jared.
After first going to the suite Jed and Jack shared and finding Jack not there, Holly tried a few other places before he thought he'd check the storeroom, which Jack was maintaining. Sure he enough, as he approached he heard music blaring within the room, and when he stuck his head in he saw Jack through the shelves. For a girl who told him she'd felt more comfortable looking like a boy, she sure liked girly music.
He entered the room and approached Jack with a smile, hoping he wouldn't startle her since his movements were covered up by the music. "Hey, Jack!"
Jack let out a surprised squeak, jumping a little at the sound of Holly's voice. "You scared me!" she exclaimed over the sound of Selena Gomez. Trying to work while wearing headphones had been a pain with the wires dangling and getting in the way. Finding an ipod dock station was much better. It made it easier to work faster, which she needed. Jack had stayed behind from the meeting to get some work done and had spent most of her time playing with Walker instead. Now there was only a little while longer until dinner.
"You're not as shiny today," she commented. Holly was wearing shorts and a T-shirt insted of those shiny leggings like last time. Holly laughed, shrugging his shoulders at the comment. He couldn't look polished every day, not with the life he was currently leading.
"It's too hot for any unnecessary clothing today. Besides, I can impress guys in these just as well." He plucked at a leg of his shorts. "Is this a good time? I need to talk to you."
Jack wonderedly briefly who she was trying to impress but shrugged it off. "Okay." She went over to turn the music off since Holly seemed kind of serious.
"I talked to the guy staying with Alice," he said. "I heard what he did to you, but I got two conflicting stories and I don't know which one to believe. Do you mind telling me what happened?"
Jack shoved her hands in her pockets and frowned. "He was one of the ones who hit me," she explained with a frown. She didn't see any distinction between the ones who held her down and the one who punched. Holly's expression darkened with that information. So Kathleen had been right and Jared had lied to him. It was a risky thing to do considering Jack was readily available for him to verify with.
"That's not what he said." Holly folded his arms against his chest, feeling annoyed.
That didn't surprise Jack. "He said he wouldn't have done if he knew about me being a girl but I think he's lying."
"Who knows with those gangs, but he might have been telling the truth. He would have done something else to you if he'd known you were a girl." Holly was frowning. "I'm surprised Jed isn't fighting Alice over him being here."
Jack frowned down out the floor. Kathleen had flat out asked if Jared had done something else to her and that was still horrible to think about. Funny how everyone thought that about Jared but Jack had spent a whole night in the same bed as Searle and felt perfectly safe. Her cheeks turned a little pink just thinking about it.
"He tried but Alice didn't listen."
Holly shook his head. "Shouldn't we vote on shit like this? I'm all for giving second chances, but the kid's still lying about it." Holly was blond, but it was fake. He didn't have that dumb blond gene. Although, he did sort of come off as a bimbo when he pretended to be a girl, but that was besides the point. He could still be pissed off Jared lied to him, the end. "It's different just holding someone down and actually hitting them. Sometimes it's the difference between being a lackey and being in charge. At least I think. Anyway, those gangs are kill or be killed," he said, looking right at Jack. "If he'd come clean then I'd believe he wants to change. Lying about it isn't a good sign."
"He did hold me down." Jack was suddenly confused about what they were talking about. What idfference did it make between holding and hitting? She got held down so she could get hit. That was the point.
"Oh," he said, surprised. "He didn't hit you?"
Did it matter? "He held me down so I got hit. There's no difference." It had all been one awfl experience and Jack didn't see why she should treat Jared any different than the boy who threw the punches.
"I just wanted to know if he was lying," Holly explained, his posture relaxing a little. "It's still bad," he assured Jack, not wanting her to think he thought any differently, "but at least he's owning up to it."
Of course he was, he wanted to stay where there was safety and food. "Jed'd kill him if he didn't. And I still don't believe he wouldn't have done it if I looked like a girl and I still don't want him here."
"Probably would have." Holly shrugged. "It's kill or be killed out there. That's why I'm here. Wouldn't you hurt someone if it meant staying alive?"
Jack knew she would. "But hurting me didn't have anything to do with staying alive. They just hit me. Didn't try to steal from me, nothing. They just wanted to hurt me." She hated talking about this.
"Just saying, in his case it could have been about being part of that gang. They might have turned on him." Holly knew it was upsetting Jack, and he didn't want to stand there and defend Jared at her expense. Jared was just lucky he was entertaining enough for Holly to care about him.
"Well, I got my answer," he continued, not wanting to dwell on it. "Turn the music back on and I can help you in here. We can dance and count." Holly swung his hips side to side to mimic dancing, lifting his eyebrows hopefully.
"Okay." Jack liked that option a whole lot better than talking about stupid Jared. Instead of turning the song back on where it was, she thumbed threw the options on her ipod until she found an option for a playlist labeled "Happy." They got a lot of work done even while having fun, though Holly may have been doing more dancing than counting. It was only after they had been talking amiably for a while about subjects other than Jared that Holly remembered he'd wanted to talk to Jack about something else.
"So, I saw the pool boy leaving your room in his pajamas Wednesday morning."
Jack immediately turned bright red and her eyes widened. "Oh. That - that's just my friend Searle."
"He was pretty preoccupied when he left, he didn't even see me." Holly had been doing some exercising in the morning, climbing up and down the hotel stairs. "Does he sleep over a lot?"
"No," Jack answered, staring at a spot on the wall. "That was an accident; we didn't mean to."
"You like him," Holly said, not bothering to hide his smile. Yay, he loved this kind of stuff.
"I do not!" she protested, flushing again. "He's my best friend!"
"It's just that you blushed when I first mentioned him," Holly pointed out. "Don't be embarrassed, he's pretty cute. You think?"
Jack had no idea how to answer that. "I don't know. I mean, he's Searle." Okay, so his hair was kind of nice, but still, he was Searle.
"Are you into guys?" That probably should have been Holly's first question.
"I don't like girls." Her voice was harsher than she meant it to be, but that question brought back memories of some of the meaner girls at her school who used to tease her about being a lesbian just because she liked skateboarding with the boys instead of putting makeup with the girls.
"I didn't want to assume," Holly said calmly. He recognized Jack's defense, and he understood it. "What does Searle think about the way you dress?"
Jack shrugged. "I dunno, he doesn't say much about it. Most people think it's pretty smart. Well, except for Alice."
"What about in love? People do see you differently depending on what you wear ... and what gender you appear as." Holly knew the latter well.
It hadn't occured to Jack that people would think of her differently based on her appearance once they knew she was a girl. "But - but I'm still me," she protested, suddenly upset. "You mean he'd like me better if I looked like a girl?"
"Yeah, pretty much. But, look, if you feel more comfortable in those clothes fuck what other people think." It was just something Jack should know, and Holly would have told her she'd find someone who didn't care about her preference for boys' clothing, but ... there weren't very many people left in the world.
"But he'd like me better," Jack repeated. If Searle would like her better, didn't that mean he didn't like her as much now? She didn't care for the sound of that at all. Searle had to like her.
"I don't know," Holly admitted, not wanting to paint a bad picture of the pool boy, but that's what he assumed. Guys liked when their girlfriends looked like girls. "Either way, you have to be true to yourself first about stuff like this. Trust me, I --" Holly paused, reeling himself back in. Don't go admitting to Jack you're a guy, he thought. "I know you'll regret it if you give up part of yourself for someone else."
Jack combed her fingers through her short hair. Jackie or Jack, she always kept having to choose what kind of person she wanted. "Besides, I'm sure Searle likes me okay no matter," she said, hosping desperately it was true.
"You know him better than me. Especially if you two are spending nights together." Holly grinned, nudging Jack in the arm.
Jack blushed again. "No! It's not like that! We just fell asleep."
"Well, if he's not taken you can send him over to my room," Holly said, staring glumly at the items on the shelves in front of him. "I hate sleeping alone."
Jack felt an instant twist of possessiveness. "He's mine." It didn't matter that Searle was just her friend and she'd never kissed a boy; Searle was hers.
Holly's eyebrows lifted high on his forehead at that reaction. "I thought you just said you didn't like him!"
"I don't know!" Did she like Searle? Is that what that meant?
"Hee - awww," he cooed, because how cute. Holly hadn't been near anyone even remotely innocent for a long time. "I think you do," he said with confidence, "if you want him all to yourself like that."
"Maybe?" God, would she ever stop blushing? "He does have nice hair," she admitted. "And he's really tall."
"How does he smell?" Holly pretended to be counting things so he could turn away to hide his smile.
That was a weird question. "I don't know, like a boy I guess. Not bad or anything." She'd never thought he smelled funny when he hugged her.
"Hmm, you're confusing. I can't tell if you like him or not, either." Holly didn't remember how it was to be twelve, really; the only thing he remembered about that age was the person he'd first had a crush on. "How about this? Do you want to kiss him?"
Jack twisted the hem of her T-shirt. She liked it when Searle hugged her and she thought the other day that maybe kissing somebody might be an okay thing to have happen. "I don't know. That might be all right, I guess." This was confusing and she couldn't imagine talking to Jed about something like this.
"You'll figure it out," he assured Jack. "Sometimes it just hits you when you figure out you like someone. You are really possessive for someone who doesn't know either way, though." Holly chuckled.
"He's my friend," Jack pointed out. She didn't think she'd like anyone making jokes about wanting Jed, either.
"You think people only have one friend?" Holly asked.
"Well, no," Jack stammered. "But still." Searle wasn't allowed to sleep in another girl's room, he just wasn't!
"Just think about it," Holly responded, holding back a laugh. "And if you want tips on how to attract guys I'll give you some once you figure it out. For now, if you want to know how Searle thinks you look, just ask him. Get some new clothes and ask his opinion. Not suspicious at all." And foreshadowing, since he was going to give Jack jeans for her birthday.
"Um, okay. I'll think about it, I guess." Not that she even knew where to start thinking about it.
"You're growing up. You're going to be a teenager tomorrow." How'd he know? Pool boy himself had knocked on his door and said so. Holly could tell Jack was special to him (it was obvious), but Jack had mentioned them being best friends, so it could just be that. "What's the first thing you want to do when you turn thirteen?"
"You heard?" She couldn't help her smile as Holly nodded. "I don't really know? Have cake? Me and Jed are gonna go do stuff that day though."
"I hope it's fun for you. Thirteen's sort of a big deal." The next one would be sixteen for Jack, and Holly didn't even want to think that far ahead. Could he really survive like this for three years?
"Thanks. I can't wait." She grinned.