Disclaimer: I don't own Jessie, Jonny, Race, Benton, Hadji, or Bandit, OR WonderBurger (an awesome Ice Cream place in Kentucky ;). But I do own Ms. Tyler and Jason. (Yes Renee! 'Ms. Cornson' is our 8th grade
science teacher...I just couldn't spell her entire name... )
Again, a repost from, May of 1999... that was quite a while ago. Hope you enjoy!
CUTE!
"Okay, class, you have your assignment. Have a good weekend." Ms. Tyler smiled as her freshmen students made a beeline for the door.
Jessica Bannon breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she stepped out into the hallway. The weekend had finally arrived. Not that she was doing anything exciting. Race Bannon, her father, and Benton Quest had already left for New York, Hadji Singh was at some seminar in Augusta, leaving Jonny Quest and Jessie by themselves. Again.
As Jessie approached her locker, she shook her head. Jonny Quest, one of her best friends, was leaning against Jessie's locker, flipping through a truck magazine.
She pulled the magazine out of his hands.
"Hey!" He snatched it back. "Why'd ya do that?"
Jessie just shrugged. "You're in my way." Jessie reached for her combination lock. "How do you get here so fast, anyway? Your class is upstairs and mine is just a little ways down the hall."
Jonny grinned, his eyes twinkling. "Just a little Quest charm." He pointed to the economics book she had pulled out and was slipping into her backpack. "You have homework I see." His grin widened.
Jessie knew he was ready to gloat, but she just shook her head. "And you don't?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Nope." Jonny looked extremely proud of himself.
"You convinced your teacher not to give you any homework? Again?"
"Nope. We asked Ms. Cornson what would happen if the planets got out of their orbit. We kept her talking until the bell rang."
Jessie closed her locker, but before she could reply to Jonny, a guy leaned on the locker next to hers. When she looked up and saw Jason Carter, she felt her face grow warm. Jason was a senior and a football player, one of the more popular upperclassmen. Lately, he and Jessie had been 'seeing' each other.
Jonny gave Jason a brief glance before going back to his magazine.
"Hi Jess." he said in his deep voice. "Would you like to go to a movie tonight?" He said casually.
Jessie nodded, trying not to appear too eager. She didn't want to scare him off. "That'd be great."
"Cool, I'll pick you up at six." Jason said goodbye then walked away.
Jonny shook his head after Jason left. "What a weird guy."
Jessie frowned. "Whatever. He just wasn't real comfortable talking in front of you."
Jonny just raised an eyebrow. "Sure." He rolled up the magazine. "Ready to leave?"
"Yeah."
But even as he and Jessie started heading for home, she couldn't control the uneasy feeling in her stomach. When she and Jason had first started seeing each other, he was really sweet and really seemed to care about her. But as time went on, he seemed to lose interest. As if the thought of dating a freshman wasn't good enough anymore.
But that's just how men are, she reasoned. On the other hand, she argued, he never acted that way before. Jessie sighed to herself. Why are men so complicated?
Later that evening, Jessie and Jason were sitting in Jason's car at the WonderBurger, drinking their milkshakes.
"Imagine, a week on the slopes with just total fresh air to breathe. I can't wait." Jessie said excited, referring to the school's upcoming spring break trip to a ski resort in Utah.
"I know. You've told me a million times." Jason said.
Jessie grinned sheepishly. "I guess I HAVE been talking about it a lot lately. Kinda boring, huh?"
"You could say that." Jason shrugged. "But I find it, somehow, cute."
Jessie blushed, but inside, her stomach turned. There it was again. That one word. Cute. Lately, it seemed to pop up in all of their conversations. To Jessie, it was a constant reminder that he was a 'big senior' and she was still a 'little freshman'. It didn't bother her too much at first, but now...Now it drove her nuts.
"Jess?" Jason waved his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Jess. Come back."
"Huh? Oh sorry." she said weakly.
Jason looked at her funny. "Maybe I should take you home."
Jessie nodded. This time, her voice was strong. "Yes. Please do." she said without much emotion.
The entire drive was quiet, but that was just fine with Jessie. She knew that if she said anything, she'd end up regretting it. So she let her anger build up inside her as the wind from the open windows ripped through her hair.
When Jason pulled up at the Quest Compound security gate, Jessie didn't punch in the code. Instead, she calmly stepped out of the car and closed the door.
Jason leaned down to look at her through the open window. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
Jessie waved her hand, as if dismissing his words. "If you want. Bye."
Even the walk up to the front door was uneventful. Until she stepped inside the foyer. She slammed the door shut.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! STUPID STUPID STUPID MAN!"
Upstairs, Jonny glanced up from his computer. "Sonic Wave Jessie strikes." He cautiously went downstairs where Jessie was yelling at the top of her lungs and chunking couch pillows at empty wall.
"CUTE? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? EXCUSE ME FOR BEING A STUPID LITTLE FRESHMAN!" were the only words Jonny could actually understand. And she repeated them quite often.
Jonny watched her for a few minutes, knowing better than to get in the line of fire. He'd been smacked with enough pillows to know that they can still cause damage.
Finally, Jessie calmed down. Or at least enough that Jonny dared to even talk to her.
"Hey, Jess? What's wrong?"
Jessie turned around, her face the same color as her fire-red hair. "Oh. Nothing. Just your basic testosterone-enhanced male."
Jonny backed up. "Um...I don't suppose you DON'T want to talk about it."
Jessie grinned. "Nah. Not really. I'll just let Jason know tomorrow. No big deal."
As Jonny watched her head up the stairs, he began to feel a little sorry for Jason. Then he shrugged. "But he deserves it."