Jessie Bannon nervously drove into her old driveway. She parked her black BMW in the same spot she had been parking it since the day over three years ago that her father had bought it for her. Everything looked remarkably the same to her. It was odd, Jessie had been sure that because she had changed so much, everything else would have too. Her car door opened and she stepped out, one velvet ankle boot after another. On her legs were black leggings, an oversized black sweater that covered her slender form, her autumn colored hair flowed down her back and her lips were painted a light brown. All Jessie carried was a black suitcase in one hand, and a black duffel bag in the other. Slowly, she walked to the front door, almost afraid of what she would find behind it.
As the door opened, Jessie peeked inside to notice that things hadn't changed too much. She took a step into the living room, noticing it was empty. She could hear voices in the kitchen, but paused before heading in. She hadn't seen anyone for months, save for a single night with Jonny. They didn't know about her highlighted hair, her all black wardrobe or the cloud of sadness that seemed to follow her around. They didn't know, and Jessie wasn't sure if she was ready to tell them. With one last look towards the area of the kitchen, she turned and headed up the stairs to her old room. Up the stairs to her old life.
Jessie stepped into her room and smiled despite herself, if anything looked exactly the same, it was her room. Her bed still perfectly made, her books lined up alphabetically with A Brief History of Time on the floor. Jessie walked into her closet and smiled, even her clothes, the many colorful ones that she hadn't brought to school with her, were still separated by color. Jessie looked back at her bed and her eye noticed one thing that was different, a gray piece of paper with her name on written on it. As she walked closer to it, she noticed it was an envelope and her name was written in something that looked like a sloppier version of Jonny's handwriting. Curiously, Jessie sat down on the bed and opened the envelope, inside was a short letter, written only a few days after Jessie had come home to pick up her things for school.
"Dear Jessie," the letter began, "I'm sorry we missed you, but dad was called to Russia and he and Race insisted I come along. Not much has changed this summer, we all miss you, but none more than me. Bandit still sleeps in your room half the time, but at least he sleeps. I keep wishing that I had told you the truth earlier, I keep thinking of how happy we would be right now. I love you Jess, and I always will. Love always, Jonny."
Jessie felt a small tear fall down her cheek as she reread the letter two more times. She put it back in the envelope and placed it under her pillow. She then laid her head on the pillow, curled up and fell into a deep slumber. Only a moment later, Bandit jumped on the bed, barking his approval that Jessie was home.
Jonny boredly looked out the window as a yellow taxi drove him up his driveway. Unlike Jessie, he hadn't taken any of his cars with him to school and at the moment he was grateful, Jonny was rarely up for driving these days. He paid the taxi driver what seemed to be an exorbitant amount before stepping out of the cab. He only had a single black duffel bag which he easily carried over his shoulder. Jonny looked around and allowed a small smile before he arrived at the door. Instead of entering, he knocked slowly on the door, his mind momentarily on the few twelve packs of beer he had placed in his duffel bag amongst his clothes.
"Jonny." The door opened and Dr. Quest smiled at him.
"Hey dad, hey Race." Jonny casually smiled.
"Hi Jonny." Race grinned.
"Jonny, do you want anything to eat or drink after your flight." Dr. Quest asked.
"No thanks." Jonny said, biting his tongue not to ask for a beer. When he had visited for Thanksgiving, Jonny paid attention to everyone's drinking habits. Race never seemed to drink, as he was technically always on duty as a bodyguard and Dr. Quest favored wine.
"Here, let me take that to your room for you." Race reached for Jonny's bag.
"No, that's all right Race," Jonny said quickly, holding his bag close, "where's Jessie?"
"Not here yet." Race answered.
"I saw her Beamer parked in her usual spot." Jonny told them, almost emotionlessly.
"She's probably sleeping," Dr. Quest rationally, before the others could think the worse, "she had a long drive."
"I'll go check." Jonny said, walking up the stairs, anxious to get away. He put the duffel bag in his room, then walked to Jessie's open door. He smiled, there she was. Her dyed hair spread out over the pillow, curled up with Bandit near her feet. Jonny went to cover her with a blanket but paused, her clothes were too warm for a Florida winter. Instead, Jonny kissed her cheek, faintly tasting a tear stain before heading back downstairs.
"Yeah, she's curled up on her bed like a baby, Bandit's with her."
"I wondered why he suddenly ran upstairs twenty minutes ago." Dr. Quest laughed.
"I wonder why she didn't say hi." Race whispered.
"Race, dad, how long has it been since you've seen her?" Jonny asked as they walked towards the kitchen.
"June, when she said goodbye to us." Dr. Quest replied.
"I saw her on Halloween," Jonny whispered, "she's changed a little."
"Estella called last week," Race nodded, "she told us to be prepared. Though she didn't say what for."
"Jessie has changed many ways, only some of which are physical."
"Wait a minute," Race looked Jonny in the eyes, "you saw her on Halloween?"
"Yeah, she looked beautiful." Jonny smiled wistfully.
"Son, I believe Race is wondering why you didn't tell us at Thanksgiving." Dr. Quest put his hand on Jonny's shoulder.
"Thanksgiving wasn't exactly the best example of a Quest family dinner." Jonny scowled walking away.
"Jonny." Dr. Quest called over sternly.
Jonny sauntered over, still scowling. "Yeah dad?"
"This vacation won't have the same problems that Thanksgiving had."
"Hey, we got Jessie and Hadji for this one," Jonny laughed, "you've got two more people to worry about attitude from."
"I doubt any of them will give us half the trouble you did."
"Dad," Jonny looked Dr. Quest in the eyes, "you don't know them the way I do. I should be the last one you're worried about."
"No, but perhaps I should be worried about your grade in Computer Science."
"You know about that?" At this Jonny looked down in shame.
"The dean is an old friend of mine, I called curious about how you were doing. Jonny what's wrong, you could teach that class? In fact you probably learn about Quest World in the class."
"Not till next term dad." Jonny muttered.
"Couldn't you test out of the class?""Probably." Jonny shrugged.
"Don't you want to Son?"
"Not really." Jonny shrugged again.
Dr. Quest and Race exchanged a worried look.
"When did you become so apathetic?" Dr. Quest asked.Jonny shrugged again, though in his heart he knew the answer, the day Jessie flew to Europe, and took his heart with her.
"Hey everyone." Jessie suddenly said through a yawn. Jonny held back a small laugh, it would be interesting to see everyone's reactions to the new Jessie. She walked in the room, her hair neatly brushed, wearing the same all black clothes as before.
"Hey Jess." Jonny said casually. Her hair looked lighter than last time in contrast to her black outfit.
"Hello Jessie." Dr. Quest said, trying to mask his surprise at her hair, Race was less subtle.
"Jessica Estella Maria Bannon."
"Yeah dad?" She asked innocently. Jonny had to hand it to her, she could still pull off the innocent look better than anyone he knew.
"What did you do to your hair?"
"I dyed it." She said simply.
"But why?" Race asked in shock. Jessie turned on him.
"Because dad, I'm nineteen years old now, that's right, nineteen. And maybe, just maybe, I wanted to try something new." Jessie tossed her hair and stormed away. Jonny gave Race an apologetic look before rushing after her.
"Jess, wait up."
"I suppose you're going to tell me he's right." She said, choking through tears.
"Jessie, I already told you that I liked it."
"Yeah, but you just want to get in bed with me," she hissed bitterly.
"Jess, that's not true." "Oh? So you don't want to have sex with me?" She looked up at him, her voice a combination of surprise and disguist."Not now." Jonny exclaimed.
"So you do want to have sex with me?" Jessie crossed her arms.
"Yes! I mean um eventually. I mean..." Jonny started to stammer.
"See! You're a man," Jessie threw up her arms in disgust, "men are all the same! You, daddy, Eric, they're all the same." Tears were running down her face now, though Jessie seemed oblivious to them.
"Jessie, I would never hurt you." Jonny reached for her hands.
"You hurt me last February Jonny." Jessie pulled her hands away, glaring at him.
"I'm a different person now. You should know that better than anyone," Jonny looked her in the eyes, "right Athena?"
"Well Phantom, I'm sure you know then that I am hardly the girl you fell in love with. That girl is dead and buried." Her eyes blazed of fire as she stomped away. Jonny looked after her and sighed. The more some things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Jessie meanwhile sat on her bed, looking wistfully out her window. Though her body was in her bedroom, her mind was elsewhere, looking for her lost soul.
Last SummerThe plane had landed in France and Jessie was ecstatic. On the plane she had talked and become friendly with a couple of other travelers, though more than anything, she was thrilled to have the time alone with Eric. Before heading to their hotel, the students just wanted to walk around Paris for a little, examining the many beautiful and miraculous sites. Jessie happily skipped along as Eric laughed at her happiness.
"Paris is always beautiful." Jessie sighed, looking at a fountain.
"Just how many times have you been to Paris?" Eric cocked an eyebrow."Gosh, I don't know, but I think it gets even more beautiful each time." Jessie smiled, turning around to see everything. Grant and Laura, two of the other students, laughed, Jessie's enthusiasm was contagious.
"Jessica Bannon, is that you?" A voice said behind her. Everyone turned to face an older man who had a smile on his face.
"Bonjour Monsieur Bejou," Jessie smiled back, then she turned to the others, "Mr. Bejou is a diplomat my family knows."
"How is everyone doing?" He asked her politely.
"Splendidly, Jonny's going to college this fall, Harvard." Jessie flashed the smile she reserved for the officials she'd met many times.
"That's fantastic, and how about you?"
"I'm going to Yale, this summer I'm touring Europe with a student group." She gestured towards the other people."That is wonderful, give my regards to your father and Dr. Quest." .
"Of course I will, au revoir." Jessie waved as he walked away.
"You're family friends with a French diplomat?" Chris gasped.
"Sure." Jessie shrugged. Everyone stared at her in awe.
"Hey honey, I have an idea." Eric took her hand, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?"
"They say everything changes after graduation, right?"
"I guess." Jessie said, she had never heard any such saying, though it made sense.
"Well, maybe you should do something different to your hair."
"My hair?" Jessie gasped, her hands flying to her red hair.
"Yeah," Eric smiled, "maybe get it lightened."
"My hair?" She whispered.
"It'll make you look even more beautiful." Eric smiling, giving her a lingering kiss on the cheek.
"Really?" Jessie looked up at him wide eyed.
"Yes, really," his voice was soft and seductive, "let's go to a hair salon, you guys want to come?" Eric asked the rest of the crowd. There was a chorus of no's as they all headed towards the hotel, Eric reached for Jessie's hand. "Ready?" He flashed her a devistating grin.
"Sure." She said in a small voice.
Together, they headed towards a local hair salon. Eric walked to the front counter and demanded an appointment. The woman behind the counter gave him an odd look and started spitting out an answer in French. Jessie gave Eric a sideways look before continuing the conversation in flawless French.
"Excuse me ma'am, but can we get an appointment soon?""Of course, Marie is available now to do your hair, what did you want done?"
"Um," Jessie looked at Eric for a moment, "highlights I believe." "Very good, Marie is over there." 3"Thank you." Jessie forced herself to smile as she walked over to a tall woman with beautiful blond hair.
"What'd you say?" Eric asked. "Marie will see us now, for highlights.""Great." Eric grinned as they walked over to Marie. Again, Jessie started a conversation in French.
"Hello Ma'am, we'd like to do something to my hair." .
"You have beautiful hair, what would you like to do?"
"Lighten it, highlights perhaps."
"I know what would be lovely," Marie took a strand of Jessie hair and nodded, "we could dye your hair a strawberry blond, then add some streaks perhaps we could put some platinum highlights to frame your face, then highlights in every color from light blond, to your natural red throughout the hair. And I could cut some layers on the bottom, no more than an inch of course, just to give you some volume. Would you like me to cut some bangs for you?"
"No! I mean no thank you," Jessie did something that resembled a smile, "it took me too long to grow them out."
"So, shall we start?"
"Um...." Jessie looked over at Eric who nodded at her, "sure, let's do it." Nervously, Jessie sat down as her signature hair began to be transformed.