-1I do not own Saved By The Bell. Neither do I own any of the original characters or storylines referred too. They all belong to Peter Engel/NBC productions. Neither am I anything to do with those companies. This is just a story by a fan of the show for other fans of the show

'Thinking About Tomorrow'.

This story is set around the same time as the SBTB episode 'Wrestling With The future.'

It was what she had worked for her whole life. The whole reason she had always aimed for and made sure she got straight A's in school, but now it appeared all her hard work just hadn't been good enough. Neither Harvard or Yale wanted her and to make matters worse, even Screech had gotten in to Princeton. An Ivy League school had accepted Screech, but not her yet. Okay, she was still waiting to hear from Colombia, but it wasn't looking good. All she had ever dreamed of was going to an Ivy League college, majoring in pre-law and then going on to law school. That dream, now appeared to be diminishing fast. It was alright for all her friends, they had all been accepted at the schools they wanted. Zack was being coy though, he said he had a few offers, but couldn't decide which one to take. He hadn't mentioned any schools as such and said he wasn't going to until he had made his choice, but that just made it worse, the fact that he had a choice.

Jessie continued to stare blankly at the page of her history textbook, she couldn't really concentrate to take any of it in, not when her whole future was hanging in the balance.

The house was quiet, her Mum and Stepdad had gone to New York to visit Eric where he was staying with his Aunt and in trouble at school yet again. She was beginning to wonder if they ever regretted letting him to return to New York to live, even though he had never really been happy in LA.

A little while later she was interrupted by a knock on her bedroom window, assuming it to be Zack wanting her to get involved in one of his latest mad schemes or something, but she was surprised to find it was Slater.

'Slater, what are you doing here? I heard you had a date with Chelsea or Charlene or whatever your latest airheads name is tonight.'

'Her name is Chelsea and I was supposed to , but I cancelled.'

'Why, what went wrong? According to Zack, you really liked this latest one.'

'I did sort of, but I wanted to come and see you instead.'

'What for? We don't go out anymore, we split up months ago.'

'No but I'm still your friend Jessie and I still care about you. I wanted to see if you were okay.'

'Why, shouldn't I be?'

'The guys told me about you getting rejected from Harvard and Yale. I thought you might be upset.'

'Why should I be upset? I'm fine, like I told the guys, stupid schools, I didn't want to go to them anyway.'

'Then why on earth did you apply to them Jessie?'

'Okay, okay, so I was lying. Of course I wanted to go to those schools. You think I worked this hard my whole life just to end up in some community college? Why wasn't I good enough Slater? Why didn't they want me? What more could I have done?'

'Nothing Jessie. The admissions boards of those schools are idiots. Who wouldn't want you?'

'Harvard and Yale obviously. I mean, Slater, just what is the point of all this now?', Jessie picked up her history textbook from the bed and threw it on the floor.

'Hey, Jessie, calm down.'

'Calm down, how am I supposed to calm down', Jessie raised her voice and then sat back down on her bed, staring blankly at the TV, trying hard to hold back tears.

'I'll go if you want me too.' Slater was starting to think this visit wasn't such a good idea after all. He wasn't sure even he could calm her down and get her to see it wasn't the end of the world while she was in this mood. It wasn't like he didn't have problems of his own to see to as well.

'No, its okay. I'm glad you came by, honest. Nobody else seems to understand why this means so much to me.'

Slater sat down next to her and put his arm round her like he always used to. Old habits didn't die hard, not that he particularly wanted this one too. Okay, when they were together they had spent so much time fighting, but it didn't stop him missing being with her any less. The truth was he still loved her, had never stopped loving her, even though she infuriated him at times, he just hadn't ever found a way to tell her. That was why he had come here now, he couldn't stand the thought of Jessie being upset. He had to make her feel better.

'I don't know Mama, what are we going to do? I've got my own problems too, like my Dad hating me because I want to go to Iowa and not be in the army. I always knew I never wanted to be in the army, not that my Dad ever wanted to listen and still doesn't. He just doesn't seem to understand. I was so excited when I got in to Iowa and now its like its been ruined. Nothing is going to stop me going though.'

'Good for you Slater, you've got to do what you want to do. It's your life, not your Dad's.'

'I know that Jessie, it just hurts he can't be pleased for me. Anyway enough about that, I came over here to cheer you up, not go on about my own problems.'

'Right now, the only thing that could cheer me up is an acceptance letter from Colombia. It's my last hope. I should have done what Screech did and applied to lots and lots of schools.'

'You could have applied to Iowa.'

'Why on earth would I want to go there?'

'Apart from the fact its an extremely good school, I'll be there.'

'Slater, if you think I would follow you halfway across the country, even if we were still going together, you are very much mistaken', but she smiled as she said it, making it obvious she was teasing him and cuddled up to him.

The fact was ,that wherever she ended up going to school, in just a few short months time, there was going to be thousands of miles between them. It was only now that it really started to hit home. She didn't tell anyone, but she actually missed being with Slater and had always regretted their mutual break up. But there wouldn't be any point in them getting back together now, not when they would be separated by distance in just a few months.

Slater however, seemed to have other ideas.

'Jessie, you know I love you. I'll always love you, wherever we are' and then he was kissing her fiercly and she found herself kissing him back just as much.

When they drew apart, he pulled her back close.

'I miss you so much Jess.'

'I miss you too, but we both know it couldn't work out. Apart from the fact we will be going our separate ways once high school is over, what did we ever do but fight?'

'Make up after the fights', Slater suggested and they both smiled at the memories.

'True, I'll give you that.'

A little while later after watching a sitcom on the television that made them both laugh, Jessie's mind went back to college again.

'Don't tell me your thinking about the mail your hoping will arrive tomorrow morning?'

'How did you know?'

'Its obvious Jessie. Look, if the worse comes to the worse, you know you can still get in to a good school, even if you end up on a waiting list for admissions for a late application. I hope you do get in to Colombia, but if you don't, please don't think it's the end of the world, because you know it isn't.'

'Thanks, Slater, you always manage to make me feel better when I'm down. I guess all I can do for now is wait and see what Colombia says.'

'And if it's a no and I hope it isn't, because I know how much you want it, remember there is always Iowa and a whole host of other schools that wouldn't be mad enough to turn a brainiac like you down. See, I always manage to get a smile out of you somehow.'

'Because you could always make me see the bright side', she told him, sinking more comfortably in to his arms.

They wallowed away the rest of the evening making out and watching TV, anything that would keep them from thinking about their current worries about the future, the future, that was now only a few months away.

'Jessie, its gone midnight, I better get going. But Jessie, I meant everything I said, I love you', he kissed her on the cheek.

'I love you too Slater', she finally admitted.

'Now while your waiting for the mail in the morning, I guess I am going to have to try and sort my own problems with my Dad out. Trust me, that is going to be far from easy. I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to concentrate on the wrestling match tomorrow, I mean, my Dad's barely talking to me.'

'Slater, don't let it ruin your chances of becoming state champion. And when you do win the match, you and I are going to go out and celebrate.'

'Thanks Jessie, I'll see you tomorrow okay', he kissed goodbye and then headed out of her window towards her drive and his new car that had been an eighteenth birthday present from his parents.

The following morning Jessie left it until the last minute and was about to leave for school when she saw the mailman coming up the driveway. She almost snatched the envelope addressed to her out of his hand. She quickly thanked him, then got in to her car and put the envelope on the dashboard. Suddenly , she was so nervous, she had butterflies. It was here at last, a letter from Colombia, but she couldn't open it, while it stayed unopened she still had some hope of being accepted. For now, she was going to have to concentrate on the school day and the pep rally for Slater's wrestling match later. She could still hardly believe Lisa had talked her in to joining the cheerleading squad yet again. And how wrong she had been about it looking good on her college applications. It certainly hadn't impressed the admissions boards at Harvard and Yale.

She parked in the allocated seniors lot, next to Slater, who she had gathered had come in early to get some extra practice in, then she put the letter in her book bag and went in to school. History was tough, so was French . She didn't even have time to think about the letter in her bag again until lunchtime. She was too nervous to eat and just sat sipping her coffee in the cafeteria.

'Hey Jessie, hows it going?', Slater sat down next to her.

'So how did it go at home?'

'Not good. I tried talking to my Dad again, but I'm sure he still hates me. I'm just a big dissppointment to him I think. I've lost all enthusiasm about the match later.'

'But we are putting on a pep rally for you and everything.'

'And I'll be there. I 'm still going to wrestle. It's just that right now, other things seem more important, like getting back on the right side of my Dad.'

Slater spoke with sadness, wishing he could still feel the same excitement again that he had first felt when he had been offered his wrestling scholarship to the Universtiy of Iowa.

'I hope you get it sorted Slater. You can't throw it all away just to make your Dad happy. And we are all going to be there cheering you on today and I'll keep my promise, I will take you out to celebrate after.'

'Thanks Jessie, I got to get going to my next class', Slater kissed her, not caring who saw. He wanted the school to know they were back together, well he hoped they were anyway, it was about the only thing that seemed to be going well right now.

Jessie hadn't even told Slater she had a letter in her bag from Colombia, her first class after lunch was psychology, another tough one, but the last class of the afternoon was English Literature and that was when she had time to think. They were reading a classic she had read for leisure years ago and therefore she had already completed her assignment on it, so she spent the entire letter willing the letter in her bag to say what she wanted it too.

So it was all over at last and they had so much to celebrate. Jessie had gotten in to Colombia, the letter had been one of acceptance. Slater was now state wrestling champion and everything was okay with his Dad again, who thanks to some intervention by Zack, had finally sat down and listened to what Slater had had to say.

'Oh my god Slater, I am so relieved. I really thought my life was over. I'm so excited about going to Colombia.'

'I'm so proud of you Jessie. I know how hard you have worked for this over the years. Though I can't pretend to be pleased about the distance going to different colleges is going to put between us', he took hold of her hand across the restauarant table as they waited for their main courses to arrive.

'Well Slater, we've got a few months left of high school yet and then a whole summer ahead before we go off to college, so lets just forget about it for now and cross that bridge when we come to it', Jessie smiled across the table at him, feeling happier than she had for a long time.