Fanfic: Mangoes
Mangoes
Jack Shephard stepped off the bus, his duffle bag hanging from his shoulder, as he ushered the younger kids off the bus. It was the first time in twelve years that eighteen-year-old Jack was excited to get off that bus. After spending nine years as one of the kids at this camp, and then three as a camp leader, he was finally going to say farewell to this nightmare. Next year, he will be off in college and no one will make him come back to this place.
Jack did not mind camps in general; it was this specific one that he hated. While his best friend Marc Silverman got to go to one of the other fun camps, Jack was stuck with camp Rich and Famous. Everyone here was the son of either a politician, a celebrity or just the plain filthy rich. It was snobby and showy and just another excuse for these people to brag about how much money they had.
He watched as the kids lined up, in their designer clothes and shoes, designer duffle bags, expensive fishing equipment, bejeweled bags, make up, and fancy hair do's. He sighed, rolling his eyes.
Six more weeks and then you will be done with this forever, he told himself.
He looked at his troop. He was assigned the boys aged thirteen, by far his least favorite. He was about to call them to line up and move to their cabin when he saw her. She was standing far from everyone else, alone, avoiding the others. She was carrying what looked like a worn out old army duffle bag. She was skinny, with scraped knees and pale skin. Her brown hair was in a clumsy braid, half of it disheveled and covering her freckled cheeks. He immediately noticed the lack of any designer clothes. She was in a simple white t-shirt, green shorts, and sneakers. She looked about eight and completely out of place. Jack chuckled, thinking that maybe the poor little girl got on the wrong bus.
He waited a little longer, for some reason he wanted to make sure the girl's name got called and she was not left standing there, being ignored by every one else.
"Katherine Austen!" he heard Mandy Johnson call, the troop leader for the nine year old girls group and then watched as the little girl dragged the heavy duffle bag and made her way to the group. We watched as the rest of the children looked at her oddly, some throwing taunting remarks at her while the rest just rolled their eyes and whispered disapprovingly. He didn't know why but he felt an anger rage through him, he wanted to protect this little girl from the other children, but the look on her face, not caring about what everyone else was doing and saying, calmed him down a bit. Maybe this girl was tougher than he gave her credit for.
He tried to check on her the next day, make sure the piranhas in her group had not devoured, but unfortunately, the thirteen-year-old boys and the nine-year-old girls had very few activities in common. At dinner, he made sure to sit next to Mandy Johnson, much to his dismay because the seventeen year old had been trying to throw herself at him all year long, and while he had politely rejected her advances, she was pretty insistent, so was his mother, who was best friends with her mother.
After managing to make some polite small talk, he asked her how her troop was doing.
"Oh my God! Jack they are the most adorable troop ever!" Mandy squealed, "They're just the perfect group of little girls!"
Doubtful, Jack thought, trying hard not to roll his eyes too obviously.
"Well, except this one girl. Katie…" Mandy said in dismay, "I don't even know what she is doing here."
"Her dad served with my dad in Vietnam," Billy Hardwick said, interrupting their conversation. His father was on the board that organized the camp, and one of the most influential lawyers in the country. "She was supposed to spend the summer with him, but he was called on duty. So he asked my dad for a favor," he finished, shrugging and going back to his dinner.
"Well, whatever," Mandy said, "she just doesn't belong here. She refused to do any of the activities I had planned and just sat sulking with her stupid baseball. She didn't even have lunch. I mean, I get it if she wants to work on her figure, but she is freakishly skinny. It's not attractive." Mandy went on with her rambling about the girl and Jack thought it would be best just to ignore her, his eyes roaming the mess hall in search of her.
She was sitting at the end of one of the tables, ignoring her dinner, nibbling on a mango and flipping the ball in her hand.
The next day during lunch, Jack grabbed his food and walked out of the mess hall. Not in the mood to spend another meal with the other troop leaders, he decided to head towards his secret hideout. He had found the place during his second summer in the camp, it was a slightly secluded area, not far from the rest of the camp, but private enough for no one else to know about, allowing him some time away from everyone else, time to spend on his own. He had not met anyone who had known about this place in all the years he had spent in the camp, so he was rather shocked when he saw two scrawny legs dangling from the big tree. He recognized the skinny legs and scraped knees immediately.
"You're in my tree," he said, causing the girl to jump back a little.
She looked down at him, eying him for a moment before saying, "I don't see your name on it."
"Well, you didn't look carefully did you," he said, pointing to the carving in the trunk he'd made years ago, "J. Shephard, it says so right here."
She looked at him, biting her lower lip and said, "You're not going to tell them where I am, are you?"
"What? And risk everyone finding out about this place? Of course not," he said, smiling at her, "but you gotta at least let me share it with you."
"Sure," she said, shrugging and going back to tossing the baseball in her hand.
"You're Katie, right?" he said.
She nodded, "yeah."
He sat down on the ground across from the tree she was in, leaning back against a log so he can see her, perched on the branch. "I'm Jack."
"I know who you are. You were staring at me the first day," she answered.
"I wasn't… staring," he said.
"Whatever… Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be having lunch with your girlfriend?" she asked him bluntly.
He swallowed hard, trying not to choke on his food, "My girlfriend?" he asked.
"Mandy, my troop leader, she tells everyone you're her boyfriend. It makes all the other troop leaders jealous." she said with a shrug.
"ugh!" Jack said, "she's NOT my girlfriend."
"Shouldn't you be having lunch?" he asked.
"I don't eat meat," Katie said plainly.
Jack stared down at his plate. Burgers. He remembered watching her ignore her dinner the previous evening.
"Here," he said, getting her attention before tossing her his mango.
She caught it with a smile. He got up and gave her his pocketknife, "nice catch."
"Thanks," she said, smiling, with a bit of mango juice on her cheek.
"So, you any good with this ball or do you just toss it around to annoy the other girls?" He teased, pointing to the baseball in her hand.
"Of course I'm good!" she said, "I'm the captain of our team, and I even made Timmy cry this year!"
"You made Timmy cry, huh?" he asked, with a teasing smirk.
"He goes to baseball camp every summer. He thinks he is such a hot shot, and I made him strike out!" she said proudly.
"Maybe you should come teach my troop a thing or two then," he said with a wink.
"Really?" she said, excitedly, "no one in my troops wants to play. They just want to sit around and chat and show off their stupid tutus! This girl Shannon just keeps on twirling, it is so annoying!"
Jack chuckled, "I'll talk to Mandy and see if I can get you to join my troop this afternoon," he said, knowing Mandy would appreciate it, and knowing that his troop will definitely be annoyed. All the more reason to get her to play with them, he thought.
That afternoon, Jack had the most fun he had ever had in camp as he watched a tiny little nine-year-old girl embarrass a bunch of spoiled brats.
A couple of days later, Sam Austen came to pick up his daughter. She spent a few days with him before she went back to her mother and stepfather in Iowa. Soon, she had forgotten about the older boy in camp who shared her secret place and his mangoes with her.
Years later, on an island in the south Pacific, they both have an odd feeling of déjà vu as Kate tossed Jack a mango before they head off to embarrass another brat who ended up needing glasses.
Jack Shephard stepped off the bus, his duffle bag hanging from his shoulder, as he ushered the younger kids off the bus. It was the first time in twelve years that eighteen-year-old Jack was excited to get off that bus. After spending nine years as one of the kids at this camp, and then three as a camp leader, he was finally going to say farewell to this nightmare. Next year, he will be off in college and no one will make him come back to this place.
Jack did not mind camps in general; it was this specific one that he hated. While his best friend Marc Silverman got to go to one of the other fun camps, Jack was stuck with camp Rich and Famous. Everyone here was the son of either a politician, a celebrity or just the plain filthy rich. It was snobby and showy and just another excuse for these people to brag about how much money they had.
He watched as the kids lined up, in their designer clothes and shoes, designer duffle bags, expensive fishing equipment, bejeweled bags, make up, and fancy hair do's. He sighed, rolling his eyes.
Six more weeks and then you will be done with this forever, he told himself.
He looked at his troop. He was assigned the boys aged thirteen, by far his least favorite. He was about to call them to line up and move to their cabin when he saw her. She was standing far from everyone else, alone, avoiding the others. She was carrying what looked like a worn out old army duffle bag. She was skinny, with scraped knees and pale skin. Her brown hair was in a clumsy braid, half of it disheveled and covering her freckled cheeks. He immediately noticed the lack of any designer clothes. She was in a simple white t-shirt, green shorts, and sneakers. She looked about eight and completely out of place. Jack chuckled, thinking that maybe the poor little girl got on the wrong bus.
He waited a little longer, for some reason he wanted to make sure the girl's name got called and she was not left standing there, being ignored by every one else.
"Katherine Austen!" he heard Mandy Johnson call, the troop leader for the nine year old girls group and then watched as the little girl dragged the heavy duffle bag and made her way to the group. We watched as the rest of the children looked at her oddly, some throwing taunting remarks at her while the rest just rolled their eyes and whispered disapprovingly. He didn't know why but he felt an anger rage through him, he wanted to protect this little girl from the other children, but the look on her face, not caring about what everyone else was doing and saying, calmed him down a bit. Maybe this girl was tougher than he gave her credit for.
He tried to check on her the next day, make sure the piranhas in her group had not devoured, but unfortunately, the thirteen-year-old boys and the nine-year-old girls had very few activities in common. At dinner, he made sure to sit next to Mandy Johnson, much to his dismay because the seventeen year old had been trying to throw herself at him all year long, and while he had politely rejected her advances, she was pretty insistent, so was his mother, who was best friends with her mother.
After managing to make some polite small talk, he asked her how her troop was doing.
"Oh my God! Jack they are the most adorable troop ever!" Mandy squealed, "They're just the perfect group of little girls!"
Doubtful, Jack thought, trying hard not to roll his eyes too obviously.
"Well, except this one girl. Katie…" Mandy said in dismay, "I don't even know what she is doing here."
"Her dad served with my dad in Vietnam," Billy Hardwick said, interrupting their conversation. His father was on the board that organized the camp, and one of the most influential lawyers in the country. "She was supposed to spend the summer with him, but he was called on duty. So he asked my dad for a favor," he finished, shrugging and going back to his dinner.
"Well, whatever," Mandy said, "she just doesn't belong here. She refused to do any of the activities I had planned and just sat sulking with her stupid baseball. She didn't even have lunch. I mean, I get it if she wants to work on her figure, but she is freakishly skinny. It's not attractive." Mandy went on with her rambling about the girl and Jack thought it would be best just to ignore her, his eyes roaming the mess hall in search of her.
She was sitting at the end of one of the tables, ignoring her dinner, nibbling on a mango and flipping the ball in her hand.
The next day during lunch, Jack grabbed his food and walked out of the mess hall. Not in the mood to spend another meal with the other troop leaders, he decided to head towards his secret hideout. He had found the place during his second summer in the camp, it was a slightly secluded area, not far from the rest of the camp, but private enough for no one else to know about, allowing him some time away from everyone else, time to spend on his own. He had not met anyone who had known about this place in all the years he had spent in the camp, so he was rather shocked when he saw two scrawny legs dangling from the big tree. He recognized the skinny legs and scraped knees immediately.
"You're in my tree," he said, causing the girl to jump back a little.
She looked down at him, eying him for a moment before saying, "I don't see your name on it."
"Well, you didn't look carefully did you," he said, pointing to the carving in the trunk he'd made years ago, "J. Shephard, it says so right here."
She looked at him, biting her lower lip and said, "You're not going to tell them where I am, are you?"
"What? And risk everyone finding out about this place? Of course not," he said, smiling at her, "but you gotta at least let me share it with you."
"Sure," she said, shrugging and going back to tossing the baseball in her hand.
"You're Katie, right?" he said.
She nodded, "yeah."
He sat down on the ground across from the tree she was in, leaning back against a log so he can see her, perched on the branch. "I'm Jack."
"I know who you are. You were staring at me the first day," she answered.
"I wasn't… staring," he said.
"Whatever… Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be having lunch with your girlfriend?" she asked him bluntly.
He swallowed hard, trying not to choke on his food, "My girlfriend?" he asked.
"Mandy, my troop leader, she tells everyone you're her boyfriend. It makes all the other troop leaders jealous." she said with a shrug.
"ugh!" Jack said, "she's NOT my girlfriend."
"Shouldn't you be having lunch?" he asked.
"I don't eat meat," Katie said plainly.
Jack stared down at his plate. Burgers. He remembered watching her ignore her dinner the previous evening.
"Here," he said, getting her attention before tossing her his mango.
She caught it with a smile. He got up and gave her his pocketknife, "nice catch."
"Thanks," she said, smiling, with a bit of mango juice on her cheek.
"So, you any good with this ball or do you just toss it around to annoy the other girls?" He teased, pointing to the baseball in her hand.
"Of course I'm good!" she said, "I'm the captain of our team, and I even made Timmy cry this year!"
"You made Timmy cry, huh?" he asked, with a teasing smirk.
"He goes to baseball camp every summer. He thinks he is such a hot shot, and I made him strike out!" she said proudly.
"Maybe you should come teach my troop a thing or two then," he said with a wink.
"Really?" she said, excitedly, "no one in my troops wants to play. They just want to sit around and chat and show off their stupid tutus! This girl Shannon just keeps on twirling, it is so annoying!"
Jack chuckled, "I'll talk to Mandy and see if I can get you to join my troop this afternoon," he said, knowing Mandy would appreciate it, and knowing that his troop will definitely be annoyed. All the more reason to get her to play with them, he thought.
That afternoon, Jack had the most fun he had ever had in camp as he watched a tiny little nine-year-old girl embarrass a bunch of spoiled brats.
A couple of days later, Sam Austen came to pick up his daughter. She spent a few days with him before she went back to her mother and stepfather in Iowa. Soon, she had forgotten about the older boy in camp who shared her secret place and his mangoes with her.
Years later, on an island in the south Pacific, they both have an odd feeling of déjà vu as Kate tossed Jack a mango before they head off to embarrass another brat who ended up needing glasses.