1 Whatever it takes

Up until now I have kept the kids name a secret, but his name is Jordan and yes, he is a boy; sharp minded, and tall enough to try to be a hunchback so he won't call attention; which doesn't work. But people tend to leave Jordan alone so he can mind his own business, since he is tall enough to be intimidating when the subject of bullying and his hands could rival a snow shovel, no one wants to be target to a slap that can take your entire face at once; simple as that.

But no one actually knew what Jordan was like, he kept to himself on every occasion, talking only and if teachers required an answer, sitting alone at lunch and working seamlessly through P.E. making verbal activity unnecessary. Yes, he was loved by jocks, he was very good at sports and for someone so tall, his body notion and control were spotless, meaning Jordan could work with a team of people he had never seen before easily and without having to scream at all times.

He wasn't very interested in sports though and to be honest, there didn't seem to be much he was interested in. Jordan was the textbook lone wolf that everyone forgot was around because he was so quiet all the time; throughout his whole life being quiet as a mouse had been the most valuable skill. That ninja status was what kept him alive and safe. Good grades kept him from getting smacked around or yelled at, so teachers had no trouble with him and absolutely no one questioned what happened at home. The only person who knew he was a foster kid, was the principal and maybe his secretary, but besides that, not one single human being took interest in Jordan.

Want to know his last name? I'll ask for your patience and comprehension on this, allow this petty writer the pleasure of holding things off as if they were precious. In due time I will release them all and hope you find them as precious as I did.

However, I will let you know that Jordan is sixteen years old and he does like one thing. That thing will remain in my knowledge and his, though.

But.

Enough of my chit chat.

Jordan was once again walking through the corridors of his High School, he mulled the word over inside his head and wondered about "high", it was such a weird term to be used or related to "school". He had his usual attire on and walked silently to his first class of the day, although he could notice some new kids in the crowd he normally had to navigate through, how could he notice them? Because they were always the ones that couldn't help but stare at his tall demeanor. Whoever already knew him got so used that he was able to vanish and be the wall flower he was used to being.

As calculus was droned on by his not so enthusiastic teacher, his mind took a trip around the classroom, he observed the kids that carried on hushed conversations, the ones that had eyes so glassy they could only be daydreaming, the artsy ones with their pencils drawing furiously over a sheet of paper, the ones that actually were paying attention and the ones that were done with that class, either because they understood it all easily or because they were so confused that nothing made sense and was therefore deemed unimportant and hopeless.

Jordan wasn't done with the class; however, he did fit into the group of kids that understood it all so easily that it made no difference if he listened to the poor teacher or not; out of respect he, however, pretended to listen while in reality he was listing in his head the list of classes he had to go to, how much time he would have for lunch, at what time he'd manage to get home and then proceeded to wonder if he would have to cook or microwave something. Would Karen, his foster sister, be already asleep? Or would she be awake to make his ears bleed? The bell interrupted his thoughts and he picked his books up with the ease and speed of one extremely used to it.

"Hi."

Jordan turned and was admittedly startled to discover that someone was trying to speak to him. He looked downward into the eyes of a girl and wondered if she had an average height or was really as short as his eyes wanted him to believe. He raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us."

Jordan quickly scanned the room and found a group of sour faced teens that seemed to be waiting for their tiny friend.

"No, thank you."

He could see that his answer caught her off guard, but he simply shrugged his backpack onto his shoulder and moved to go to his next class.

"Why not?"

He stopped and turned to look into her eyes again, this wasn't exactly new territory for him, but Jordan wasn't too much into people being insistent, the normal responses had varied between "okay, man" or "suit yourself" or "maybe some other time then" and to every single one he only nodded and walked away. But "why nots" were reserved for a class of people he preferred to not meet.

"Are you new?"

He asked and she nodded. That explained a lot to him.

"Ask around" Jordan shrugged "I don't do people."

Once again, he turned and, this time, he managed to walk away without being interrupted.

~+~

Second period went smoothly and Jordan left still going through the new info through his head, all he had to do now was study hall and, most of the time, it was a useless activity to him. Jordan could understand the usefulness of study hall, he wasn't egoistic enough not to consider it needed and very much welcomed by some, he simply wasn't one of those who welcomed it. Not with much enthusiasm anyway.

Jordan would almost always spend the first minutes reading through what was written on his school books or citing what his teacher had spoken, then proceeded to pick a worn-out book from inside his backpack and read until the next bell.

Here, we just dabbled on what Jordan liked.

By the time third period had finished, Jordan had made an annoying discovery. Much to the decline of his normally neutral mood, the why-not girl was included in his biology class, and instead of avoiding him like any other student inside of that building, she decided to wait for him and indulge herself on questioning Jordan once again about lunch time.

"No."

Was all the answer he gave and was all the answer he had hoped to give. But alas, she was unrelenting.

"Why not?"

He sighed.

"I already told you, I don't do people."

"Well, it's not people, it's just me."

"And you're what? A tadpole?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth were still turned upward.

"Very well observed, shall I call you Mr. Sherlock from now on?"

"No. Don't call me."

He was walking as fast as the crow allowed him to and each of his long strides took at least four of hers, but still, she kept pace.

"Seriously, have lunch with me."

"Wasn't it us?"

"It was. Now it's just me."

"No."

She ruffed.

"Why not?"

"I-"

"Don't do people." She cut him with a perfect imitation of his voice, if he had some kind of speech difficulty. "That is no answer to my question."

Jordan stopped, he ran a hand through his face and turned so he could bury his eyes in hers to punctuate how serious he was about that subject.

"Look, very small and very annoying person who insists on asking the same dumb question; I don't do people. I don't have talks, I don't go out, I don't do friends. I dislike social interactions of any kind. So, if you could, please, leave me alone, I'd appreciate it immensely. Thank you."

She simply raised one eyebrow at him, her mouth slightly agape.

"Who talks like that?"

Jordan frowned at her and continued his journey to the cafeteria. However, once he was in line, he heard her voice once again, and his mind that had comfortably entered a state of calm numbness was awoken once again to alertness, and Jordan was not happy.

"We don't have to chat."

He attempted to ignore her and prayed that she would give up, but his shoulders betrayed him and tensed every time she opened her mouth and after an array of unanswered questions, she still refused to give up like anyone else and leave him alone.

"I know you can hear me; you're tensing up. Look, if you want to sit down to eat or stand up it doesn't matter, I'll be here and I'll just follow you around."

"Why would you do that? Why aren't you leaving? I clearly told you repeatedly that I don't want to be around you or any one, that I don't want to be friends and don't want to have lunch with you."

"Because I know you."

"How could you possibly know me?"

Jordan finally managed to seat in a very far away corner table and she was right behind him.

"Now I'm hurt. I was kind of expecting you to have recognize me by now, Jordan."

"What are you talking about?"

She smiled.

"I thought you disliked to talk, or to have any social interaction to that matter."

Jordan could only frown; she caught him.

They ate in silence and once it was over, she left without a word, but did give him a small wave before disappearing easily among the crowd of teenagers running back to their respective classrooms; and how did fourth period go for him? Miserably. Of course, he was now hooked to that mystery; he kept replaying their small interactions and passing past memories through his brain, scanning everything eagerly with the driving hunger of a very annoyed mind who couldn't bear to be wrong or know less than anybody.

But, to his dismay, school was over and still Jordan had absolutely no idea who that girl was and that fact was annoying him to the point of irritation. Jordan considered the possibility of that girl simply being a big fat liar, but he also questioned himself on what kind of pleasure would she get from lying to a kid no one really paid attention to and literally were afraid of bullying. So, she was either a sociopath that enjoyed torturing people for her own pleasure or, she was telling the truth and they knew each other and Jordan was failing miserably on this tiresome task of finding out who that shrimp was. To make matters worse, he could not get a glimpse of her when leaving, it annoyed him to no end that she could show up whenever she wanted, drop a bomb and disappear as if nothing was wrong with that kind of behavior.

Jordan sighed and ran a hand over his face, just trying to relax and forget the subject, it wasn't a matter of too much importance anyway and tomorrow he would see her again, they had classes together; plus, she would probably try to have lunch with him again. Besides, why should he get stressed about someone he didn't even thought was important enough to remember. It was just fruitless and useless and it was getting in the way of him using his faculties for things that were truly important. Avoiding Karen, for example.

Jordan wasn't much found of his foster sister; she was everything he deemed insufferable in a human being, she spoke too much and too loudly, she had no regard for others and pointedly chose to ignore people's signs of boredom or their when-will-this-be-over expressions. Which made avoiding her a very essential thing to do, because Karen did not care for answers or even if Jordan was indeed paying attention to what she was saying, all she cared about was talking. And she could talk for hours to no end.

When Jordan arrived, he could hear by the loud noise coming from upstairs, that his foster sister was either using her cellphone or skyping some poor lost soul like herself. He felt relieved, because it was easier to avoid a Karen that already had a victim between her talons; so, he easily moved toward the kitchen without making noise, he realized that their foster mother hadn't prepared dinner and Jordan quickly went with his routine of microwaved dinner and soda pop, before heading up to his bedroom where he could be alone and remain, mostly, unbothered by the other residents of the house. It was a given that sometimes someone would ask for his help, he didn't like to admit it, but he was a useful asset to the household, he was tall enough to grab stuff on high shelves, strong enough to help with manual labor and he knew his way around the basics of home repair. Because of that, now and then either his foster mother or father would ask him for help, he wasn't selfish enough to say no, and he actually enjoyed helping them with anything. He was indeed a cold person on the outside and with most of his lone wolf habits, but he liked to give back to the couple that accepted to put a roof over his sorry ass.

Which means he wasn't exactly surprised when Laura poked her head through his bedroom door with an apologetic smile already spread over her lips.

"Hey, Jordan, how are you?"

"I'm good, Laura, you?"

"Okay. Listen... are you busy right now?"

Although she answered positively, he could see signs of distress all over her face and she kept one of her arms glued to her back, hiding something that was either in her hand or all over her right arm.

"No."

She sighed and fumbled with the hem of her t-shirt, something she always did when nervous and stressed. Jordan, however, remained as calm and composed as ever, he knew that panicking or mimicking the person's nervousness would not help at all.

"Look... I'm sorry I keep asking you for favors, I-"

"It's no problem, really. I mean, you did give me a house, a place to sleep, food, clothes and so on."

Laura smiled at him, but he could still see a hint of that old apologetic state; so, he got up to make matters easier for her.

"What do you need?"

"Yeah, well, I was working and I kind of caused an accident."

Jordan raised one eyebrow at which Laura smiled apologetically again and revealed a hand, wrapped in a bloodied piece of cloth that she was hiding behind her back.

"You do know how to drive, right?"

"Where are the keys?"

Laura fished the keys from her pocket and handed it to him, even though she felt like a failure right now, she wasn't oblivious to the rush oozing in giant waves from Jordan's eyes, he was by no means nervous, but he was definitely ready to act; he was a good kid and she liked him a lot, of course there weren't many chances for her to show him just how much he was appreciated, but still, she wasn't going to give up. They ushered to her car and soon Jordan was driving fast toward the hospital.

"Thanks for this, Jordan."

"No problem."

Laura squirmed on her car seat, she did not deal well with blood and what had kept her from throwing up her bowels was the thought of being a disappointment to Jordan, as if by being the clumsy adult that she was, she would seem less of a parent in his eyes. Although she knew he never really saw them as his parents.

"You okay?"

"Yeah... I'm not a huge fan of blood."

"Okay, just roll down the window and we'll get on distracting you."

She nodded, her uninjured hand fumbling aggressively with the hem of her t-shirt and her teeth gnawing her bottom lip.

"It's okay, don't worry Laura, we'll be there in no time."

"I just... don't really feel like puking in front of you on top of all things."

She squirmed again.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be a responsible adult who you can depend on and here I am... depending on you."

Jordan made a funny face and turned to look at her quickly, before turning his eyes back on the road.

"This does not make you less of a responsible adult."

Laura didn't answer, but he glanced at her once again and by her expression he could see she wasn't convinced at all.

"Being a responsible person also means knowing when to ask for help and when you can handle things on your own. Plus, injuring yourself doesn't mean anything besides a fact, accidents happen to everybody."

Laura gave him a sad smile and sighed.

"You're way too mature for me to feel less at fault, Jordan."

He smiled sweetly, even though it never reached his eyes, and shrugged.

"Don't take it personally, it comes along when you have the life that kids like me do."

Her face crumbled instantly and that warmed his heart. Jordan knew that his foster parents were kind people, I mean, not everyone would treat a kid with the same historic as him so kindly and respectfully as they did; they trusted Jordan, they gave him the benefit of the doubt and followed through with the discoveries that he was dependable and trustworthy. It was more than most people in his life had done for him; but to know now that Laura actually and actively cared about suffering that had nothing to do with herself personally, changed his opinion of her. Maybe, she wasn't so detached as he had assumed and maybe her actions did not derive simply from the kindness of her heart, but of something deeper.

"I'm sorry Jordan, about everything. I... I know you probably don't want to hear it, but we were extremely happy that you never tried to run away."

It was his turn to offer her his mechanical sad smile.

"Sometimes... we have to take matters into our own hands... for our own protection."

That was all he was going to say about that subject.

"Oh! I just remembered!"

"What?"

"I have to call Peter; he'll get home and we won't be there and Karen won't be helpful at all."

At that she caught herself, but she knew she already had screwed up. But Jordan understood where her comment came from and he was not about to judge her.

"I understand, she can get very self-involved sometimes, I doubt she has even noticed that we left."

Laura smiled gratefully at him and fished her cellphone from her pocket, with some difficulty, but she succeeded and soon Jordan was quietly listening to their lovingly exchanges while he parked at the hospital's parking lot.

Once they entered Jordan knew he had judged properly, the amount of blood that had stained the cloth got him thinking that she would need to go to the emergency room. Once the nurse unwrapped the cloth and Laura saw the enormous gap in her hand and a couple of her nerves, she immediately turned white as a paper and the nurse produced a bucked just in time to catch her voluminous vomiting.

Jordan was asked to remain at the waiting room, but as he still remained stoically calm and composed, he asked to stay and give Laura some psychological support at which the nurse nodded and left, coming back a few moments later with a doctor and a suture kit. The doctor introduced herself, tested Laura for loss of movement, gave her a local anesthetic and sutured her wound calmly, while Jordan held Laura's free hand and let her squeeze as much as she liked.

"Are you okay kid?"

"Yes."

The doctor smiled; her eyes focused on the thorn skin.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Jordan watched her hands working expertly, her movements suave, delicate and firm.

"You're very composed for someone your age."

"Panicking doesn't help."

"You're right, it never does."

Laura moaned and Jordan could see the sweat beads on her forehead, she was about to throw up again and that would disrupt the work that the doctor was so diligently doing.

"Don't think about it."

He said to her.

"I'm trying."

"How was Peter?"

"Fine, he said he would be late though, he'll be doing some extra hours."

"Is money tight?"

She smiled.

"Not really, we're just... being prudent."

Jordan nodded. He believed her, yet inside his head he was already listing the options he had for part-time job and contributing to the house earnings.

"We're done! Nurse Norma will wrap up your hand and I'll be right back with your prescription. Nice meeting you kid, you should consider medicine, you know? Not everyone can be that cold blooded in a situation like this."

Jordan simply nodded and the doctor left. The nurse began to wrap Laura's hand and Jordan realized how strong, but gentle were her hands, he couldn't and wouldn't lie to himself, he was impressed. Those people dealt with stressing situations every day and yet, they remained calm, composed and their hands never once shook; how they could be gentle and firm was a marvel to his eyes. He didn't have to say much, because nurse Norma was talkative enough to engage in a conversation with Laura, but smart enough to let her do most of the talking, which kept Laura's face a safe pinkish color.

Soon enough the doctor was back, she handed Laura the prescription and they left to pick her meds up.

From there on it seemed like Laura's adrenaline was running low and Jordan caught her nodding off a few times. He did not think it was a problem if she slept, but he wasn't going to tell her that because he also knew that she felt like staying awake at that moment was her responsibility. They arrived home safely, and Laura, after sighing deeply, plopped herself on the couch and closed her eyes.

"You need to take your meds, but I wouldn't advise you on doing it on an empty stomach."

She groaned.

"I have to make dinner."

"It's okay, I'll handle it."

At this she opened her eyes, one eyebrow high up her forehead.

"You can cook?"

Jordan shrugged.

"It's nothing special, just enough not to die of hunger. But I can handle it tonight."

"Are you sure? I could ask Karen if you think it's better."

Jordan's face scrunched up.

"I doubt she can cook."

Laura smiled tiredly.

"You'd be impressed."

A small laugh escaped from his nostrils, but he was considering the possibility of letting Karen help for once; but, considering how tired Laura was and how stressful her day had been he believed a couple quiet hours and a nap were in demand. So, he shook his head.

"It's fine, I'll do it, she can cook tomorrow."

"Okay, if you insist."

"I do. Take a nap, I'm sure Peter will be here soon."

"Thank you, Jordan, for everything."

"It was nothing."

Jordan was by no means a talented chef, he was completely honest when he said that he knew just enough not to die of hunger, but there was one thing he could cook and cook very well and that thing was mac and cheese. He was almost done when he heard a knock by the kitchen entrance, when he turned his eyes met Peter's.

"Hey, Jordan, you okay?"

Jordan nodded.

"I'm fine."

Peter gave him a tight-lipped smile, buried his hands inside his pockets and nodded a few times before awkwardly walking closer and deciding to lean against the counter behind Jordan.

"Listen... I... I just wanted to thank you for today, for taking care of Laura and helping her when I wasn't around. I mean, we know you're a good kid, responsible and very dependable, but still... it meant a lot me. To us. Thank you."

And this was the moment that Jordan felt something inside him stir and change for the first time. He had accomplished what he had always wanted. He was exactly what most of the adults he had to meet were not, and that made him want to cry. Hearing those words from someone he thought was a good example of humanity and manhood made him feel as if a huge weight had been lifted and several years of abuse and judgement that were chained to him, suddenly disappeared. Jordan had never felt happier.

"Thank you."

He said, but it wasn't enough to say it while looking at the pasta being mixed with cheese, no, Jordan had to say it to Peter's face. So, he turned and buried his eyes inside Peter's, all his gratitude and relief pouring out of every pore he had on his skin and turning his gaze so intense and heavy it was hard to look away.

"Seriously. Thank you."

Tears pooled around Peter's eyes and he turned away abruptly, Jordan also returned his attention to his pasta filled pot. He heard Peter cleaning his throat a couple times and once again was assaulted by the idea that maybe those two were moved by more than just kindness.

"Say, should I wake her up?"

Jordan nodded.

"Please, I'll set the table."

"Oh! No, no, no, you made dinner, Karen sets the table. I'll call her and she'll be here in a second."

Karen. Jordan almost had the urge to scream a big no.

Peter left and soon enough Karen was at the kitchen grabbing silverware and plates.

"Didn't know you could cook."

"It's just mac and cheese."

"Boxed?"

Jordan shook his head and Karen shrugged.

"That's cooking whether you like it or not, hobbit."

Jordan refused to answer that.

Soon they were all seated, each with a hot plate of mac and cheese in front of them. Jordan ate, but all the while he kept a watchful eye over Laura, her face was flushed from sleep and her meds were lined in front of her plate, just awaiting her to fill her stomach. Even so, she seemed fine, eating with her non dominant hand did not pose a challenge for her.

"This is actually amazing, congrats hobbit."

"It really is good Jordan, thank you."

Laura said with a sleepy, but happy smile. Peter nodded and Jordan was glad they were not suffering or pushing themselves simply to make him happy. He was finished before anyone else and also before anyone could say anything, to his utter surprise and amazement, Karen said she would take care of the dishes so Peter could take care or Laura properly; Jordan could only gaze at her inquisitively. He went upstairs and fell asleep still wondering about the surprises that day had brought around.

Still, there was a certainty inside of Jordan that scared him.

Jordan was now absolutely and utterly sure he would do whatever it took to take care of his foster parents.

It was more than a feeling of gratitude; they had finally opened the door of that big drawer inside his subconscious that dealt with parenthood and family related feelings.

And that was terrifying.