The alarm on Jen's cell phone went off at exactly 5:45 AM. She quickly shut it off and listen closely for any movement in the large Garcia-Masterson house. Nothing. No one in the house would even dream of being up this early, save for her stepfather, who left the house at five to be at work in the next city over by six. But he was long gone by now. Jen sat up as quietly as possible and pulled her favorite black hoodie on over the tank top she'd worn to bed. It was actually Jonesy's hoodie, but after she'd spilled pink fabric paint on one of the sleeves he'd told her to keep it. On her way out of her bedroom, she tucked one of her new chick-lit novels under her arm. As mindless as it is, there are very few girls that can resist a good chick book. Jen was no exception. She moved as lightly as possible through the halls ways of the house and down the carpeted stairs. The kitchen was immaculate, as usual. There was no way her mother would allow for a dirty kitchen. As much as her stepbrothers would mess up the rest of the house, this room was her mother's sanctuary, and even the smallest drop of spilled juice was wiped away before it had time to settle itself on the marble counters.
Someone had left the tea kettle on the stove. This was odd. No one even drank tea besides Jen and her mother (Courtney, Jen's sister, was a major coffee girl). Who would have left it here? Jen lifted the lid to peer inside. Ew. That same person had left the water in it as well. Who knew what kinds of dust particles and bacteria had found their way in through the spout and settled in there? She sighed as she washed it out. Stupid. No one thought about these sorts of things. She refilled the kettle with fresh water and returned it to the burner, then settled herself on the counter top. Even though it was miserable to wake up so early, Jen liked having an hour or two to herself before the rest of the house was awake. There was no other time for her. The boys stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning playing video games, her parents spent the evenings going over bills and sharing funny stories from their day over orange juice, and Jonesy, Wyatt, and Jude dominated their living room in the afternoon (Jen tried to avoid that situation, because, although she loved her guy friends to death, their 'man time' usually ended up being chauvinistic and gross).
The water whistled. She snatched the kettle off the burner, the sound quickly dying out as if saying 'Thank god that's over!'. She listened closely. Not a stir. Thank goodness. She browsed her tea options and chose Cherry Green Tea as today's winner. She poured a cup of water over her tea bag and made her way out to the deck. The weather was getting colder as fall drew nearer. She could feel the slight chill in the air nip at her bare feet and legs as she set foot on the wooden porch. When she, her sister, and her mother had moved in, they had put a wicker couch, a small round table, and a cozy rug or two on the already enclosed deck. It made for quite an inviting nook. She grinned to herself at the thought of curling up in her favorite wicker rocking chair and reading her book. Her good feeling left as quickly as it had came when she saw that her spot was already occupied. By Jonesy.
Yes. Jonesy (freakin' Jonesy!!!) was in her chair. With a cup of hot cocoa. With glasses perched on the end of his nose and he was READING A BOOK OF HIS OWN. Jen didn't know what to think. She'd been so excited about her alone time. She never had time to herself. All by herself. Why was he here? It was like he had a talent for messing up her plans. Her mind raced. 'He's in my chair. That jerk is in my chair! And he's got a hot drink. HE must be the one who left the kettle out. Doesn't he know about dust and… and bacteria?! Gah! Doesn't he care about our health and well-being?! And he's reading! Does he even know how to read? Like, how to read REAL books? He doesn't even LIKE books. What exactly IS he reading? Sci-fi. Figures. He's so predictable… and he's IN my CHAIR!!!'
Jonesy looked up from his book and smiled. "Mornin' Jen!"
"What-- the Hell?!" Jen hissed.
"Uh… Good morning? Like, you know, a salutation you give someone when you see them before noon?" Jonesy said, peering over the rims of his glasses. He flashed her a smirk, realizing he'd inconvenienced her yet again. It gave him a small satisfaction.
"No! I mean, why are you in MY rocking chair reading a book, when I'm clearly here with MY cup of tea, MY book, and MY need for solitude?" Jen looked truly forlorn. Why did Jonesy ruin everything?
Jonesy frowned. "Because I've been up since 5 making MY cocoa, reading MY book, and enjoying MY morning. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep enjoying MY morning with out any interruptions for YOUR tea, or YOUR book, or YOUR crappy early-morning attitude." Jonesy took a good long sip from his cocoa as if he were trying to point out just how delicious it was.
"Maybe you wouldn't have to deal with MY attitude if you would just sleep late like every other teenage guy on the planet!" Jen was digging her nails into the paperback.
"Maybe I can't sleep because I have things other than 'woe is me, I have to put up with Jonesy!' on my mind!" Jonesy was now gripping the arms of the rocking chair.
"Well maybe I--wait. What do you mean you have stuff on your mind?" She was suddenly overcome with concern. "What's going on?" Jen set her book down on the table and took a step towards Jonesy.
"It doesn't matter. You just read your book." He abruptly grabbed his now-empty mug of cocoa and marched past her.
Jen made an attempt to grab his arm. "Jonesy, wait."
"Don't touch me." He slapped her hand away. "I don't want to talk about it. Don't bring it up again." With that, he stormed into the house, leaving Jen alone in the cool fall air. By herself. Just as she'd wanted. Jen sank to the floor. She felt guilty, concerned, and pissed all the same time. How dare he treat her that way? But also… could she blame him? She did act like a total harpy to him sometimes. Most times. But he always picked on her too! And she'd obviously been concerned about him! But still…
Jen sighed. Stupid conscience. She quietly picked Jonesy's (surprisingly thick) book up from the small table, dragged herself back into the kitchen and felt the kettle. Still hot. Stupid kettle. She grabbed a new mug from the kitchen cabinet and filled it with water, then stirred in Jonesy's favorite hot cocoa mix. Stupid hot cocoa. She blew on the beverage briefly in an attempt to cool it off. Stupid heat. Jen started up the stairs with Jonesy's book tucked under her arm. Stupid book. When she reached Jonesy's room, she took a deep breath and knocked gently on his door.
"What?" came his annoyed voice through the thick wooden door.
"You forgot your book." Jen said.
"Just leave it at the door."
"Just let me give you your dumb book." Jen said, rolling her eyes. Stupid Jonesy.
"It's not dumb." The door opened. "It's a classic space odyssey about two--" Jonesy noticed the mug. He raised an eyebrow and pointed to it. "What's that?"
"I'm sorry. I'm a jerk."
Jonesy stared at it, considering the options. He took it carefully from her hand and gave it a cautious sip. "Needs milk." he said, which meant 'it's-cool-I'm-a-jerk-too-whatev' in Jonesy.
"I'm glad you forgive me." She smiled, as she pushed the book into his hands, walked down the hallway and slipped into her room without a look back, leaving Jonesy speechless in his doorway. He looked into the mug a second time and chuckled. Stupid Jen.
***
"Get down here! I'm leaving without you!" Jonesy called, still pulling on his shirt, a piece of whole grain toast still hanging precariously from his mouth.
"Honestly, I don't know how two people can oversleep on the same day." Jen's mother commented as she stuffed an apple into Jen's backpack. Jonesy threw her a bag of pretzels from across the kitchen as he stuffed several bags barbeque potato chips into the pockets of his baggy black jeans.
"Do you really need all those?" She asked.
"I'm here! I'm here!" Jen ran into the kitchen, pinning her hair back from her eyes. "Grab me a sports drink okay?" She reached into the fridge and pulled out what was left of the family's gallon of milk. She lifted it over her head and drank straight from the carton, though careful not to put her mouth on the rim of the actual container.
"I get the rest of it!" Jonesy ordered.
"Aye, Cap'n!" Jen said. She was now using the toaster as a mirror while she put on her mascara, whilst her feet slid themselves into her favorite pair of sneakers.
"Don't just stand there fooling with your makeup." Jonesy said hurriedly, as he slammed her favorite blue sports drink onto the counter next to her.
Jen stuffed the tube into her purse and grabbed the drink as she simultaneously pushed the milk carton into Jonesy's arms. "I'm done! Let's go."
"Bye Dad! Bye Emma!" Jonesy called over his shoulder while Jen waved to them. The door slammed behind the two teens as they rushed to Jonesy's car. The two parents stared in silence for a moment before Emma slowly lowered herself into a nearby chair.
"That was--" Emma was cut off.
"Why is it so cold!?" Jen came bursting back into the house and dashed upstairs. Jonesy could be heard complaining in the driveway. ("Are you kidding me? What kind of person doesn't realize that it's cold in October?") Jen raced back through the kitchen, pulling a black jacket over her blue tank top. "Bye you guys! Love you!" Jen ran down the driveway and jumped into the passenger side of the car, which Jonesy had already started.
"Honestly!" Jonesy said. His angry metal band music was filling the car.
Jen turned it down a bit. "Don't start."
"Fine, fine." Jonesy slammed onto the gas and the car let out a roar before shooting forward.
Jen immediately felt sick to her stomach. "Oh boy…" She hurried to get her seatbelt on. She had a feeling she'd need it. As they flew down the road, Jen mentally conjugated French verbs for her upcoming test. Jonesy uncapped the milk carton between his legs and took a large swig. How had they both gone back to bed and slept for three hours with so much tea/cocoa caffeine in their systems? It was the most ridiculous, inconvenient thing Jen had ever heard of. And of course, it would have to be the day she had a club meeting before school. She'd missed it by at least two hours. In fact, she and Jonesy had missed first period by a good hour, too. She sighed. It was turning out to be quite a day. Jonesy spun his car masterfully into his school parking space.
"Go! Go! Go!" he shouted as they jumped out and raced toward the building. Jen could hear the car faintly double honk as Jonesy pointed the remote behind him to lock it.
"Why are you running?" she asked Jonesy. "You don't care about school."
"No, but I care about my presentation with Wyatt" he replied.
Jen gasped. "Is that today?"
"Of course. It's always the day everything goes wrong." Jonesy remarked, picking up his pace a bit.
"You're screwed." Jen mused, matching Jonesy's speed.
"Not if I get there in the next seven minutes. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"It's me."
Jonesy shrugged. "True." They reached the door and Jonesy threw it open as hard as possible, allowing them to only lose a little speed as they crossed the threshold.
"Good luck!" Jen called as they parted ways.
"I'll need it." Jonesy replied. His footsteps echoed off the walls. "No! Stairs!" Jen heard him cry as he fought his way to the second floor. She reached her class in time to catch the end of her history teacher's War of 1812 lecture. She slipped into her seat next to Caitlin, panting from her mad dash.
"Rough morning?" Caitlin whispered.
"You have no idea." Jen quietly tore a corner of paper out of her notebook and scribbled down the morning's events from first tea to hurried milk and passed it to Caitlin.
Woah! What do you think he meant 'stuff on his mind'? Caitlin wrote.
I have no idea! I'm concerned about it, but he said not to bring it up. Jen replied.
Do you think it has to do with girls?
Probably not. Jonesy doesn't brood over women. He just lets them come and go as they please.
True. He's pretty chill about girls. I'm really curious now…
DON'T ask him about it!
I won't! I'm just saying I'm curious.
"If you'd like rejoin my class, Miss Cooke, I'd greatly appreciate it." their teacher said.
"Sorry!" Caitlin stuffed the note under her book. He gave her a withering glance and went back to his lesson. Caitlin shrugged in Jen's direction and motioned that they would talk about it later. Jen sank down into her seat. Ugh. Only 6 more hours until she could go home.
***
Jonesy grabbed the doorjamb and used it to redirect his momentum into the classroom. "I'm here!" he shouted. The class giggled.
"Congratulations, Mr. Garcia. I believe your friend Wyatt's been waiting for you." The stout, bald teacher referred to only as 'Smith' motioned to Wyatt who was looking at Jonesy with an expression of relief. "I hope you're ready to present, because you have…" he checked his watch. "Oh dear! Five minutes! Better hurry, then, mustn't we?"
Wyatt leaned over to Jonesy and whispered. "Where were you, man? You look exhausted."
"It's only been a few hours and this day has already been ridiculous." Jonesy replied. "I'll tell you about it later."
"All right! Enough whispering! Start. Four minutes, now." Smith looked at the two boys expectantly.
"Here's goes nothing." Jonesy said under his breath. "A molecule is arranged into…" He began. This day could not end quickly enough.
***
I thought that there weren't enough Jen/Jonesy fics out there, so I decided to write one. Enjoy!