004

When Jack woke up again he sighed deeply and stayed lying on his bed with his eyes barely open at all.

Tapping on the table beside him with his hand he tried to feel his cellphone that was still ringing with the alarm clock.

Being annoyed enough after a few seconds of not getting it into his hands he frowned, grumbled, and finally stood up.

Stretching himself and yawning got him to sober up a little more and then he picked up his phone and deactivated the alarm while looking at the clock.

'Crap, I completely slept through the last day...' It was already 7:06 am in the morning of the next day. At least it was a Saturday so he could relax somewhat.

Rummaging inside his clothes he tried to get himself a fresh set of clothes for later after getting a shower.

But the variety of clothes barely could impress Jack at all. 'I didn't have much of a fashion sense, did I? Not that it matters what I wear.'

He just took out a red and white striped shirt and a black zipped hoodie with a crow at the back spreading its wings while lightning struck as his top choice and a dark pair of denim jeans that got the ragged look with a few rips in them for his legs.

The last items he was grabbing were a pair of boxers and his towel and he started going straight to that bathroom.

When he walked out and entered the living room he could already see his aunt sitting on the couch and reading something while relaxing in her pajamas and a towel on her head.

"Good morning.", said Jack to her.

"Oh, good morning sleepy head." Leah smiled and half-closed her book to look at him.

"Sorry I slept through the day even though you wanted to talk with me yesterday."

"Don't sweat it. You were tired enough and I didn't want to wake you up while you were so sound asleep. Are you going to the bathroom?" Now she looked at his towel and clothing. "Make sure you turn the hot water knob slowly. I haven't gotten it fixed yet. The least thing right at the start of the day would be getting an accident, right? The water can be really scorching hot if you aren't careful."

"Will do, thanks for the heads up." Jack smiled softly now.

That smile got his aunt starring at him with raised brows. "You really got Alice's smile. That's a good thing that you seem in a better mood today...Anyway, breakfast is already done and sitting on the kitchen table, so get yourself ready first and then eat something. I hope you like pancakes. If not, you are free to use the kitchen with whatever is in the fridge."

Jack heard his late mother's name and didn't know how to react at first but when he heard the second part of her words he chuckled lightly. "As long as they are done well, I won't complain."

"Hey, I am not a bad cook!" Leah huffed lightly. "I think..." the second part was more of a mumble and she started to focus her attention back on her book.

Jack went into the bathroom and took a shower. And no kidding about the malfunctioning knob. He literally nearly burned himself with the hot water that was coming out of the showerhead.

After a few minutes of an enjoyable shower, he dried himself up and got into new clothes. The pajama he wore a second ago was carried by him to his room.

When he finally sat down at the small table near the kitchen his aunt walked over and gave him a plate and cutlery so that he could start eating.

She herself also took a portion for herself.

But unlike what Jack had thought, the atmosphere remained quiet without any questions.

Tha in itself though was a little bit weird so Jack tried to get a conversation going again.

"You were right, these are not bad." What he meant with his words were the pancakes. They had just the perfect sweetness and thickness to them.

"See? I told you I'm not a bad cook." Leah grinned lightly. "But don't expect anything too fancy from me, please."

"Duly noted. Uhm...About college. When is the time I will be visiting it?"

His aunt noticed that he was actually starting to talk more and that made her rather happy. She thought he would need a lot more time to open up or get over his thoughts. But she was positively surprised that he is starting to keep going forward.

"Good that you mention that. The principal was adamant that you join classes as soon as possible when I talked with her. That is if you want to get passing grades. So the longer you wait, the harder it will be."

Jack sighed. "Man...another 2 years of school waiting for me."

Leah raised one of her brows when she heard this. "No, it is 4 years..."

"Wait? It's not just a Community College but an actual University? Damn...Then I don't even remember my major."

"It's Computer Science. That is at least what you crossed out when you sent me the documents I sent you to fill out. Did you really forget all that?" Leah sighed a little.

"You know, I didn't extort money from that man for no reason. And actually, here in Summerville, the campus is both for students that want an associate's degree and those that go further and want a bachelor's degree. It's something that I can applaud the current mayor for doing well. And it's not something I say lightly. He is otherwise a damn sleaze bag."

Now Jack frowned after her mention of that man. He knew she meant his father so he just took another pancake piece into his mouth and looked away towards the outside world that was just behind the balcony window.

"Ah, sorry about that. But at least he is useful for something, am I right?"

Jack raised a brow to that. "I guess. But that kinda throws my plans a little bit all over the place."

Now his aunt smiled. "Oh? Do you already have a future plan? Well, let me hear it. What is my nephew brewing in that head of his?"

"I'm going to become a professional musician." His answer was quick and straight to the point.

That got Leah to widen her eyes for a short moment before she started thinking about something. "Hmm, I think it should be not that much of a problem actually. I am sure they got a music club where you can practice."

"Really? Well, I hope they won't disappoint me with their instrument variety then."

After he said that Leah started to look at him with a smirk.

"What?" Her gaze was kinda unnerving now since she even stopped eating.

"Well, what are you playing? Guitar? Drums? I am kinda interested now to know what you specialize in."

"A lot, actually. Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Violin, Saxophone...But I mainly use my Vocal Chords."

"A singer!? That is an interesting goal you have. You must be extremely talented to play so many instruments at the same time. Hehe, make sure to let me listen to some of your songs before they come out then." Leah chuckled heartily and teased him.

"...We will see." She probably didn't believe Jack completely.

Well, all things considered, in his previous life, Jack did drop out of High School when he was 16 so he had enough time to invest in music to get a decent level of skill in it.

He was sure he could bring some of it back to this body and even improve on it. It was just a matter of practice and cultivating bleeding calluses.