It was your average day at Mt. Horizon. Shelby and Scott went off to the docks to make out, Juliette sat on a stool and watched as Auggie painted, Ezra followed Daisy around like a puppy dog, and Jet was alone. As usual. Not that they weren't her friends - they were. They all just had love interests. Thats the bad thing when there are four girls and only three boys. Someone is bound to be left out. And its Jet. It always seems to work out that way. When her family went on outings - to dinner or a play - she was always ignored. At school, at least in elementry school, she was picked last for the team, even though she was a great athlete. In high school she got in with the wrong crowd and did drugs, among other things. And even then she was left out. Then her parents shipped her off to Horizon. Horizon was the first place she ever felt accepted. Juliette was one of her best friends. Shelby and Daisy were good friends, but they had each other. And all three of them had love interests. Not Jet. Not ever Jet.
At any rate, that was when Jet began to get a little depressed. She didn't like feeling left out again. She sat on a bench and opened a book. She wasn't really reading, but thinking. Still, she was surprised when Sophie came up and sat next to her. For some reason, Jet was still a little angry at Sophie for bothering Juliette right after she got raped. Still, she closed the book.
"Hey, Jet. Is there anything wrong?" Sophie asked. She had been watching Jet all morning and noticed how hurt she was when Scott and Auggie came for Shelby and Juliette, and when Ezra and Daisy went off together.
"No. Nothings wrong. Everything is the same as it has always been. And as it always will be," Jet said, staring ahead, not offering an explaination.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"No. Not really."
Sophie stood up. "Well, if you want to talk, you know where to find me."
Jet watched her walk off, and shook her head. Jet didn't understand how anyone could be happy like that.
Jet continued to feel worse as the day went on. Juliette noticed, but Jet couldn't explain to her what was wrong. It wasn't that Juliette wouldn't understand, Jet didn't really know why she was so upset. It wasn't only the relationships they all had - it was something else. Maybe it was her past coming back to haunt her, she didn't know.
That evening, Sophie knew something was up. Jet didn't eat any of her dinner and didn't say a word during group. Jet always cleared her plate and talked more than anyone during group. After awhile, Sophie realized that Jet never talked about anything before her teenage years. It wasn't even on file. Sophie had to find out what happened. Jet could have had some traumatic experiences then and it was coming up to an anniversary of one. Sophie found Jet in the lodge, reading again.
"Jet? Can I talk to you, please? In the office?" Sophie asked. Jet looked half-scared, half-relieved and followed Sophie silently.
"Listen, Jet. You've been kind of "off" lately. You didn't eat or talk during group. And it got me thinking that we know nothing about you before you were twelve. I was getting worried that something might have happened then that you're remembering now. Would you mind telling me?" Sophie said, as gently as she could, but nonetheless, Jet blew up.
"You'd like to know, wouldn't you! Okay, I'll tell you. My mother was an abusive alchoholic - physically and verbally. She never missed the chance to put me down, to say I was stupid, worthless. I don't think I ever heard a kind word from her. Seriously. I can't remember any. Well, I had a little brother. He was seven years younger than me. My mom absolutly loved him. She actually compared me to him, saying that I couldn't do this or that when I was that age. And my father - well, he was the kindest man I ever knew. He always knew what to say after my mom hurt me. She never really beat me, but she would slap me if I was "disobedient" or "defiant." Then, one day, he and my brother were coming to my horseshow. It was my first major one. I was jumping and on the flat and a whole bunch of things. My father had come to cheer me on and my brother came because he loved horses. My mom wouldn't go. She hated horses because I loved them, and she never came to support me in anything I did. Well, when they were going home, my brother and dad got hit by a guy who ran a red light. My dad died on the spot and my brother smacked his head on the dashboard because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt correctly. He died in the hospital. My mom was so angry. She said it was my fault. She wouldn't speak to me at all after that. Then she decided she couldn't live with someone who killed her husband and son, and sent me into foster care. I went to eight foster homes in two months. Then, this nice couple let me stay with them. They were nice to me and treated me like a daughter and wanted to adopt me. They went through lots of legal stuff to adopt me. My mom somehow gave up guardianship of me. I don't know. But in short, my dad and brother died five years ago, when I was eleven. I don't know where my mom is and I don't care. She can go to hell," Jet said, crying now. She hated to cry. Sophie sat next to her and tried to put an arm around her, but Jet wouldn't let her.
"Jet, I'm sorry. I had no idea about any of this. You-"
"You can go to hell, too." Jet stood up and tried for the door, but Sophie caught her.
"Why, Jet?"
"You just had to know my story, didn't you? Nobody knows it except me and my parents and now you. I wasn't planning on telling anyone, but you had to know. And no, I don't feel better about telling you. In fact, I feel worse. So just leave me alone!" Jet shook Sophie off and ran out of the building, leaving Sophie, hurt and confused, in the office. When Jet got to the picnic area, she stopped short. She sat at a table and put her head down to cry. Scott and Shelby walked by a few minutes later.
"Jet, you okay?" Shelby asked. Jet nodded. She wasn't really paying attention, but staring off into the woods, a plan formulating in her mind. Shelby followed her gaze.
"Don't do it, Jet. If you get caught, you'll get in a lot of trouble," Shelby said.
"I have to."
"Why?"
"Because...because...if they come find me, I'll know they care."
"But they do care. Why run to find that out?" Scott asked. Jet shook her head. She wasn't in the mood to explain things. She felt her pockets. She had a few bills and about fifty cents. Wordlessly, she jumped up and headed for the woods, leaving Scott and Shelby staring off after her.
"She's gonna get in lots of trouble," Scott said. Shelby elbowed him.
"Shut up, Scott. She's in pretty bad shape. Don't forget you ran, too. And you trashed someone's house." Shelby kissed him. "I just hope she's okay."
"She will be."
Two hours later, Jet came to a main road. In front of her was Rusty's. It looked pretty deserted, so she thought it would be safe to go on in. She walked in and flopped into a chair. She looked around her.
The restraunt was nice, kind of a diner-y feel to it. A jukebox sat in a corner, silent. A Chinese woman stood behind the counter pouring coffee for two men. A little Chinese girl sat on a stool, swilveling around and around. The woman came up and introduced herself as Annie.
"I'm Jet. I only have..." she counted her money. "Two-sixty."
Annie noticed how tired the girl looked and took pity on her. "Well, the kiddie burger is two dollars. I'll throw a drink in on the house." Jet thanked her and watched her go off. She slipped into a world of her own and didn't notice when Annie picked up the phone to call Peter.
"Yeah, Peter, this is Annie. I've got one of your kids over here. Her name's Jet. She just ordered a burger. She has money, and looked tired and hungry, so I served her. She's okay," Annie whispered.
On the other end, Peter let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Annie. I was a little worried about her. Seems she got upset about a conversation she had with Sophie and ran off. I'm glad she went to your place."
"My guess is that she probably thought she ran farther than she really did. I just think you should let her eat before coming to get her."
"Well, I'll leave now. It'll take me about fifteen minutes to get over there, but I'll let her finish. Thanks again, Annie, I'll be over in a bit. Bye." Peter hung up the phone and looked at Sophie. She was upset about Jet running.
"Its okay, Soph. She's at Rusty's."
"I just feel so horrible. I wasn't pushing her. Well, I did bring her in here because I wanted to talk to her privatly. I was just worried and then she told me her story and then told me to go to hell then left. I probably should have left her alone."
"No, Soph. Thats okay. I'm not going to make her punishment too severe, since she didn't run far and even went into a restraunt to order food. At least she's eating. I'm going to get her. I'll be back soon."
Annie waited patiently for Jet to finish and Peter to come get her. By the time Peter got there she was too tired to resist or fight. Peter thanked Annie again and took Jet to the car. There, he gave her the lecture on running and explained that she would be on shuns for the rest of the week. Four days of no talking or interacting with others. Jet knew she deserved it. At least she could do some thinking for the next few days.
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