Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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I think Jack was really in love with Wendy. They dated almost four months before she ended it. Rich said that he thought Jack would never recover. It absolutely destroyed him. Jack just never talked about it. I think... I think it just hurt too much, even years later. He never would say her name, even when he would talk about it.

Rich told me what happened though. Wendy dated Jack through the rest of May and June and into July. Then her parents took her on a month-long trip to Florida. When she got back, right before school started, she told him that she'd found someone else and broke up with him. Rich said she was cruel about it, telling him that he was too much of a wimp for her and she needed a strong man. I don't know if it's true or not. Rich hated her for hurting him, so he might have just been bitter and wanted to say mean things about her. I guess now only one person knows the truth... and she'll never tell.

So Jack and Rich started their senior year of high school on a bad note, and it just kept getting worse from there.

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Richard knocked on Jack's door for the third time. Inside he could hear the muffled strains of 'Take My Breath Away' playing.

"Jack! Come on, dang it! Open the door!"

"Go away, Rich. Just leave me alone!"

Trying the knob, he found it locked. Pulling his keys out, he flipped until he got to his screwdriver and shoved it in the hole in the doorknob. Twisting until he felt the tip slide into the tiny screw end slot, he turned it and the knob came loose. Opening the door, he looked around the room, taking a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Seeing Jack lying on his bed still in his pajamas, his shades drawn, Richard stepped over and stopped the tape player, throwing up the shades before turning back to his miserable friend.

"Alright, Jack. Enough moping. You missed the first day of school! I won't let you miss the second!" He ripped the sheets down and saw his best friend lying there with the eight-by-ten Prom photo of him and Wendy held to his chest. His eyes looked puffy and swollen, as though Ox had finished what he'd started; his body drawn and weak. "Damn, Jack! Come on! Get a hold of yourself!"

While he just lay there, Mary Dunning came in and stood next to the older teen. "I... I don't know what to do, Richard! He's not eating! He never gets up except to use the bathroom! He won't talk! He just lays here and keeps playing that awful song!" She turned and buried her face in Richard's chest.

Trying his best to console her, he led her out of the room and into the front room. "Uh... I have an idea, but there may be some... difficulties."

Drying her eyes, she looked at him cautiously. "Like what?"

"Nothing that isn't worth seeing him up and moving again. Will you trust me? I'll... I'll have to yell and use some harsh language. It's the only way to get through to him right now."

Mary nodded fervently. "I... I trust you Richard! You're a good and smart young man and I know you only want to help. Do what you have to."

With a nod, Richard walked back into Jack's room, stormed up to his bed, snatched the photo from his grasp, and quickly tore it in half.

Up in a flash, Jack's puffy eyes were full of rage. "You son of a bitch!"

Richard smirked. "Well! Lover boy lives! What's the matter, little man! Did the mean girl break you wittle heart? Too fucking bad! Deal with it! The bitch dumped you like a bad habit and you sit here pining for her like a dog that runs back to its master for another kick! I bet if she called you, you'd be back up and running to her in no time flat, huh? I thought girls were too fickle and flighty, so that's why you never let any get to you! What a sad and sick little wimp you turned out to be! Oh, I don't mean your muscles, I mean your heart, maggot!" At the final word, he poked Jack in the chest.

"Fuck you, asshole!" Jack growled as he tried to throw a punch, but Richard caught it mid-throw. He tried to throw his other fist, but Richard caught it as well, now restraining Jack by his hands.

"Let me go, muscle head!" Jack screamed.

"No!" Richard shouted back. "Damn it, Jack! I'm your friend! You wouldn't let me help, so I'm doing what I have to do!" He let Jack go and pushed him backward. "Listen up, half-pint! Yeah, Wendy broke your heart! Well guess what? Anne broke mine! She dumped me while you were still writing love letters to your cheating girlfriend in Florida! But do you care? No! You wanna know why she dumped me? Because of you!"

Jack furrowed his brow. "What the hell are you talking about!"

"Anne! Dumping me! Because of you!"

Confused, Jack flopped back to sit on his bed. "I... I don't get it!"

Richard looked down at his friend. "She dumped me because she wanted me to do things like going to parties or movies without you and I wouldn't!"

"Well that's normal!" Jack screwed up his face. "Jesus, Rich! You could do those things without me sometimes! Anne probably just..."

"No, you idiot!" he interrupted. "She wanted you out! Completely gone from my life! She didn't even want me to hang around you when she wasn't there! She said you were a leach, just using me to make rich friends and get to Wendy! She thinks Wendy made a mistake when she didn't just dump you at the Prom and take Ox back after he laid you out with one punch!"

"So... she dumped you because..."

"Because I wouldn't dump you as a friend! She gave me an ultimatum... you or her!"

Jack looked up at Rich. "And you picked me?"

Richard nodded. "Yeah!"

"Why?"

He leaned back against the wall. "Right now I couldn't tell you. You're a self-centered jerk who's just feeling sorry for himself and doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone else! Your mom was about to call the cops, or the ambulance, or the guys from the nut hut to come and pump fluids in you! You've got her scared shitless and you don't even care! So right now I figure you can just go to hell! I guess I made the wrong choice!"

Jack looked at the torn photo on the floor. "Thanks." he mumbled.

"For what?" Richard yelled.

"For being a good friend... my best friend... my only real friend."

Looking down at Jack, he felt tears well up. Taking a breath, he blew it out slowly and brought down his anger. "You're welcome. And thank you."

"For what?" Jack looked up at him.

"For always getting into jams so I can be the hero and get you out of them!"

"Yeah!" Jack chuckled. "That's what I'm here for! Make you look good and keep your date's name straight!"

"Don't forget about warning me when I have bad breath and distracting the sales clerk while I lift our dates' corsages!"

The two young men laughed together. Richard sat on Jack's bed and put an arm around him. "Feeling better?"

Nodding, Jack shrugged Richard's arm off. "Yeah, but it's creepy as hell you puttin' your arm around me while we're sitting on my bed!"

Grinning, Richard helped Jack to his feet. "Jeez, dude! You weigh like eighty pounds wet! You need to eat something!"

Jack patted his empty stomach and lowered his voice. "Yeah, first I need to go apologize to Mom, though. I shouldn't worry her like that. You know, I don't think I ever said, I know it's sorta obvious, but she and Dad had me when they were old, like almost fifty! They were told she couldn't have kids, so I was kind of a surprise! That's why she's a lot older than most moms. I shouldn't stress her out this way. She might have a stroke or something."

The two came out talking about Richard's first day at school as a senior when they heard a gasp.

"Jack! You're up! Oh, thank God!" She ran to her only child and hugged him, then surprising Richard, she hugged and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you! Thank you, Richard!"

He blushed and nodded to her. "It's fine, Mrs. Dunning! Sorry about the rude language."

She wiped her tears away. "No! You did what you had to do. Men know these things about each other. Now, let me get you boys something to eat. You look half starved, baby! Richard, you're welcome, too! It's the very least I can do!"

He thought about refusing, knowing that Mary was a single mother working a low-skill job as a cashier at the local supermarket for even lower wages, but thought better of it and sat with the Dunnings for dinner.

The next day when Jack came to school, he noticed a lot of the other kids were whispering and giggling to each other as he walked by. Confused, he quickly walked to his locker. There he found, spray-painted across it, the words 'Couldn't Score With Slut Wendy!' Squaring his shoulders as the kids around him laughed, he opened his locker as usual, put in everything but his first period books, and closed it. When he turned to walk away, he saw that Wendy had moved up to stand behind him.

He was just about to say something when she slapped him, her face a mask of rage. "How could you write that!? Don't ever speak to me again, jerk!" She turned and stormed off, close to tears.

As she did so, Jack saw Ox grinning, wiping his hands clean, and nodding before the football player turned and walked away.

He didn't see Richard until lunch. When the two sat down together, Jack asked, "So... did you see it?"

"Yeah." Richard nodded. "I know it wasn't you. You know who?"

He shook his head as they started eating. "Ox."

Nodding around a fry, Richard's voice turned cold. "Figures. Something will have to be done."

"No use. Damage is done." A long silence followed before Jack continued. "Still... it would feel really good!"

"Come to practice this afternoon." Richard smiled.

That was all that was spoken of it beforehand. That afternoon, Jack was sitting in the bleachers again watching Richard. He also saw Ox, and then Wendy at cheerleader practice. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until practice ended. When the players started gathering up their things, Ox ran up to Wendy. She only talked to him for a few seconds, for when he took off his helmet, she suddenly slapped him and stormed off; Ox standing there dumbfounded.

Turning toward his friends, he held out his hands in a wide shrug, only to see them laughing. Ox looked around confusedly before Jerry ran up to him. Ox put his hands on his forehead, then along his cheeks, wiping like mad. When Richard climbed the bleachers, he was smiling and chuckling.

With a confused look, Jack shrugged. "What gives?"

Laughing as he sat next to Jack, Richard calmed himself down enough to talk. "I have art for last period. While there, I grabbed some indelible black ink and painted the inside of Ox's helmet!"

Jack half-smiled. "OK, so he's in black-face for a few days. Why'd Wendy..."

His laughter growing, Richard put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "I painted words..."

"Well? What did it say?"

"On his forehead were the words 'Locker Artist'... that's what got Wendy! She knows who did it, and soon everyone else will, too! Then... on each cheek..." He couldn't stop giggling as he added, "I drew limp-dicks!"

Jack started laughing along with Richard before he noticed Ox coming and several others standing back on the field watching. Tapping Richard on the shoulder as the younger boy's laughter died, they both got up quickly to face his wrath.

"You little weasel!" he screamed as he got close to the bleachers. "You're dead! Dead meat when I get up there!"

"I did it, Ox!" Richard barked back at him. "Serves you right! I hope you never live it down! You wanna take it out on me?"

"How long are you gonna keep standing up for this little nobody, Rich! The rest of your life? Why don't you let him fight his own battles!"

"Oh, I do!" Richard replied. "He fights his own battles... and mine... and I fight my own battles... and his! It's called teamwork, you Neanderthal! You should try it! You might be a better player!"

"What're you queer for this little dork, Rich? Is that it? Is that why Anne dumped you? 'Cuz you can only get it up for your boyfriend?"

"No, but I'd rather be queer for Jack than be as sick and sad as your lard ass!"

"You think this is over? Tomorrow it'll just be worse! I'll spray-paint the whole fucking school if I have to! And your queer little boyfriend will take the blame!"

While the two exchanged words, Ox was slowly climbing the bleachers while Richard was holding fast. He knew if Ox tried to start something, he and Jack had the advantage.

"Go ahead, Lum-Ox! Start something with someone that is in your own weight class! The two of us combined ought to match your fat ass! But fair warning, we've got the high ground and two-to-one odds! Just walk away!"

Ox looked at the two, both in a defensive stance. Surveying his surroundings, he realized he didn't stand a chance against both of them there. Grinning, he turned his face slightly. "Jerry? Mike? Brad? You guys go around in behind 'em! We'll squeeze 'em though the bleachers into paste!" He turned his head to look and saw that the only one standing behind him was their coach.

"I don't think so, Ox!" Coach Greg shouted up. "Get your fat ass down here!"

Defeated, Ox slumped his shoulders and slowly descended the bleachers. "Yes, Coach."

As the two smiled at each other, Coach Greg called them down while Ox walked toward the locker room. "Rich, I hate to do this, but I'm gonna have to drop you from the team. What you did, even if you had a good reason, can't be tolerated. I'm sorry."

Rich sighed. "It's OK, Coach. I was thinking of dropping this year anyway. Football isn't in my future, I think we both know that."

The two reached the field, Coach Greg nodding in agreement. "I think I understand. Look, I'll need to report this incident, but it means we know who the vandal was, so Ox won't get away scott-free. You can grab your stuff tomorrow. I don't want you in the locker room with Ox. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Coach." Richard said. "I know it's against some rule somewhere, but I just need you to know it was the right thing to do. Do you? Know, I mean?"

He reseated his cap before answering. "Well, I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but it sure was damn funny! See you 'round, Rich!"

After that Richard and Jack headed home. When they arrived at Richard's house, he asked, "Jack? Could you come in with me? I... I don't wanna tell Dad alone."

Jack smiled. "I keep telling you! You need me!"

They walked in smiling as Richard called out, "Mom! I'm home! Jack's with me!"

Judith came out from the hallway. "Richard! I just got off the phone with your coach! He called me to tell me you've been cut?"

"Yeah." Richard nodded. "It's OK, though. I've had enough of football."

She turned to Jack. "Oh, and I heard about you and Wendy, Jack! I'm sorry! Still, there's lots of other girls at your school!"

"It's fine, Mrs. Hargrave." Jack half-smiled. "I'll get over it. Can I use your phone? I wanna call my mom and let her know I'm here so she won't worry."

"That's fine, dear. Use the one in Richard's room. Come with me, dear. Tell me what happened."

As Jack headed down the hall, he saw Erica looking out at him from her bedroom door.

"I... I'm sorry you got hurt, Jack." she offered as he passed her.

"Thanks, Buttons." Jack replied sadly. "I... I gotta call my mom."

Erica watched him go into her brother's room through eyes that were starting to wet with tears, her heart breaking for Jack's sake.

"You what?" Judith asked.

Richard sighed as he paced the kitchen. "You don't understand, Mom! You don't know what he did!"

"What could Oscar have possibly done to deserve that!" she demanded.

"I'll tell you what! He spray-painted Jack's locker with the words, 'Couldn't Score With Slut Wendy!' So it makes it look like Jack wrote it to spite her by calling her a slut and frigid at the same time! Plus it makes him look like a looser! When Wendy saw it, she slapped Jack!"

Judith sat back down. "Oh, Richard! That's too bad about them, but what does that have to do with you?"

"His heart's broken and the whole school was laughing at him, Mom! I had to do something to even things up! So I set Ox up... made it so he would confess to the spray-painting in front of coach, plus get even with Wendy!"

"I can't conscience anything against the Evans girl, dear!" Judith shouted. "What's her comeuppance supposed to be for?"

"She dumped Jack for another guy, Mom! She filled his head with her lies, wrapped him around her little finger, made him fall for her, then dumped him when it got boring! She deserves to be called a slut!"

"She is a slut, Mom! I told you!" Erica growled from the kitchen entryway.

Judith was shocked. "Erica! Don't you dare use such language in this house! And you either, young man!"

The seventeen-year-old looked at his mother with a shocked expression, his voice dropping to a hush. "You knew?"

Their mother was struck speechless. "I... wh... a... What? Of course not! How could anybody know what would happen?"

Erica crossed her arms. "Because I told you it would, Mom! I told you on their Prom night!"

Judith stood up. "That's enough! I will not be spoken to in such a way! Now Erica you did no such thing! You repeated a rumor, which is bad enough! I want you to go to your room and stay there until Jack goes home and your father gets here!"

"Mom! I told you it was Wendy's sister who told me! She should know! She lives with her!"

"That's beside the point!" she defended her actions. "Nobody knew it would happen! I thought Jack would be good for the Evans girl, and her for him! Help settle her down and give him someone to date so..." She glanced at Erica and paused a moment to think of an excuse. "...so he wouldn't be alone! So, I put a bug in her ear about Jack and said that if she settled down with him, I'd see to it she had money for the summer to spend on their dates! You know her family goes to our church and I told them I'd help..."

"What?" Jack said, standing at the kitchen entrance next to Erica.

"Jack!" Judith gasped. "Oh, dear! I..." She tried to come up with another excuse, but Jack ran out their door before anyone could say another word.

Glaring at his mother, Richard's voice dropped to a growl. "My eighteenth birthday is in six weeks. I'll be out in seven." At that he stormed out of the house to catch up with Jack.

Erica just glared at her mother. "You already knew, didn't you? Before I even told you that night! You knew and you let Jack go months thinking Wendy really liked him!" She shook her head and quickly stomped to her room, slammed the door, and began to cry for Jack, thoughts flitting through her mind and wondering if her mother had not interfered if he might have asked her to go with him to the Prom.

Richard ran toward Jack's house as fast as he could move. When he caught sight of him, he yelled out, "Jack! Wait up!"

Slowing his pace, Jack's whole worldview had exploded and all he wanted to do was go home and stay there.

"Jack!" Richard caught up with him and stood in front of him. "Please stop!"

"Get out of my way, Rich! You can all just go to hell!"

"You're right!" he agreed. Seeing that it had the effect he wanted, confusion, he waited a moment until he could catch his breath. "Mom... Mom knew! She knew... Wendy... was a flirt... and God!... She didn't... say anything... I don't... think I can... ever... forgive her for that!"

Jack started to understand more of the half conversation he'd overheard. "So, she... she tried to use me? To help Wendy's mom not be embarrassed at church?"

"Yeah." Richard nodded. "Erica knows Wendy's sister, Ruth. Ruth told her, and Erica told Mom... on Prom Night, Jack! She knew all along! When you came over? She could have told you then! She could have warned you, but she didn't... to help Wendy's parents be less embarrassed at church! She used you!"

Taking another moment to try and slow his breathing, Richard continued. "I... I told her that after my birthday, I'm moving out. They can't stop me once I'm eighteen. I'll be a legal adult."

"You... you're leaving home while still in school?"

Looking over his shoulder at Jack's house just down the block, he asked, "Why don't we go to your place?"

"Sure. Come on." Jack sighed.

The two walking in the door, Mary looked up at them as she sat crocheting in the front room. "Jack, baby? Are you OK? You sounded so upset over the phone! I thought you were going to be at Richard's for a while."

Jack shrugged. "I was, but then something... happened. I... I don't know if I can go back there again."

Mary looked at Richard for some explanation.

"It seems my mom knew that Wendy was a flighty slut, pardon the language Mrs. Dunning, and she could have warned Jack or me, but she goes to church with Wendy's parents and wanted to help them not be so embarrassed by their slutty daughter. So she set Jack up to date her by bribing Wendy, hoping Jack would make her settle down. It's like Mom didn't even care that it would hurt him if she dumped him like she did a lot of guys before!"

Slowly, Jack realized the context of the talk he'd had with Judith in her kitchen on Prom Night and just what was really going on. Just why she'd been so generous to make sure they had a good time, and why she had made Frank give him 'the talk' and all that extra money.

"Son of a..." Jack stopped himself. "Sorry, Mom." Going to the kitchen table, they sat while Jack explained everything that had gone on that night.

"I can't believe it!" Mary said. "Judith? Are you certain, sweetie?"

Jack nodded. "Positive. I remember that night perfectly. Every detail perfectly stored in my big, stupid head!"