Alright and here we go with chapter two! Now this is personally my favorite chapter I think in this story. It has everything: blackmail, a tiny hint of romance, and comfort from family. It is also a long chapter so I hope it is definitely worth the read.

All rights go to the creators of Full House and Fuller House.

About You Now

Chapter Two

Even though Jackson and Ramona agreed to forget about the kiss, neither spoke with the other that next day. In P.E. they paired up with different people. No notes were passed during English. No conversations were had at lunch.

Ultimately the two remained as separated as they have been for the past two weeks now. Or at least that's how the two remained until science class later that day. Science class was their final period of the day, and it was about to become memorable.

At first, science class was a quiet affair. The teacher decided to put on a documentary and the class had to follow along with the video and answer the questions on the worksheet he handed out. Jackson sat at the lab table at the back of the classroom. At the beginning of the semester, Mr. Wright had assigned seats chosen. Jackson had chosen to sit next to Popko, and at first it was great, but now after their recent fallout, it was anything but.

Jackson tried to pay attention to the video at first, but he zoned out before the halfway mark was even hit. At one point Popko reached over and flicked Jackson in the head. He turned around and glared at his former friend. "What was that for?"

"Just for fun." Popko smirked cockily. "You're coming to my party tomorrow night. My parents are out of town and we'll have the house to ourselves for the party."

"I'm not going to your stupid party," Jackson said.

Popko raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I think you are."

Jackson narrowed his eyes. "Why do you think that?"

"Because I know something about you and Ramona. You two k-i-s-s-e-d."

His thirteen year old heart skipped a beat. How did he know about that? Did Ramona tell him?! No, he decided. Ramona wouldn't do that. Things may be awkward right now, but she wouldn't spite him like that.

He decided to play dumb. "What are you talking about?"

Popko merely rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm not an idiot. You and Ramona have been acting weird since your pathetic attempt to beat me up. It's not that hard to figure out. You two kissed and now you're avoiding each other."

Well he hit the nail on that coffin, Jackson thought bitterly.

Dread filled his stomach. Unfortunately, lying his way out of this one was not an option.

"What do you want?" he asked him quietly.

Popko nodded approvingly. "Alright. Now we're getting somewhere. You are going to come to my party tomorrow. Oh, and bring Ramona."

"And if I don't?" he challenged.

The second thirteen year old leaned forward threateningly. "You will do this because if you don't then I will tell everyone. You will be labeled a cheater, and Ramona will be the new school tramp."

He continued. "Ramona's reputation would be ruined. All of her hard work, down the drain. Her friends would shun her."

Jackson shook his head. "We only kissed. That wouldn't happen."

Popko raised a daring eyebrow. "Wouldn't it? You know kids these days. You know how hard society is on girls especially. They're mean. A girl can get a bad reputation just by kissing two different boys in one week. Now, Ramona is the other woman. That is even worse. Do you really want to risk it?"

Jackson shook his head. "Fine, you win. Both Ramona and I will be at your party tomorrow."

Popko smirked.

"Good." The bell rang signaling the end of class. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Jackson didn't move. Head in hands he wished he could go back in time and not come to school. His life would have been a lot simpler.

As soon as classes are released the clock tower immediately fills with students. Upon entering the school it immediately opens up to our main lobby and cafeteria. Separating the two is a trophy case that houses a large clock and next to it is a replica of the Eiffel tower. Rumor was that a decade or so ago there was a school dance and the theme was Paris. They put the Eiffel tower up and after the dance they never took it down. Now it remains there as part of the school. Everyone now refers to the space not as a cafeteria or a lobby, but as the clock tower.

It's confusing, but it works.

Jackson scoured the heads of his peers until a found a familiar looking face in the crowd of people. Ramona sat at one of the round tables next to another familiar looking face. Josh Hannigan was in the same P.E. class as me and Ramona, and from the look of the books that surrounded them he must have been in Ramona's history class as well. Josh was pretty popular and played on the school's soccer team as well. It was a general nice guy. For the most part, Jackson liked him only why did his stomach seem to clench at the sight of them together?

Shaking the feeling away he walked toward them.

"Hey you guys," he greeted them.

Josh looked up and smiled at him while Ramona simply watched him clearly waiting to see what he wanted.

"Ramona, can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked.

She looked like she was about to argue when Josh quickly interrupted her. "It's no problem. You guys stay here. I'll head over and get us some snacks from the vending machine."

Jackson nodded his head in thanks. He sat down next to his friend once Josh walked a safe distance away.

"We need to talk," he told her quietly.

"So talk." Ramona didn't remove her eyes from her textbook.

"Popko knows." Her eyes met his. "You know about us. About the kiss."

Her eyes narrowed. "How does he know? Did you tell him?"

Shaking his head, he told her, "Of course not. He figured it out. He watched our behavior and could tell that something was wrong."

Ramona was clearly annoyed. "That boy always did watch too much Criminal Minds."

He chuckled slightly at her words before continuing, "He wants us to go to his house tomorrow. His parents are out of town and he's throwing a party. He wants us both there."

"Why?" she demanded.

"I don't know," he confessed. "He just said we had to be there and if we didn't he would tell everybody about what we did."

She sighed at his words. "You know he probably has something planned for us at the party right?"

"I know," he stated. He had already figured that part out. "So will you come?"

"I don't really have a choice now do I?"

Before anything else could be said, Josh returned with two bags of chips and some bottled waters. "Everything okay?" He asked hesitantly.

Jackson tried to meet Ramona's eyes only to find that hers had returned to her textbook. "Yeah," he nodded grimly. "Everything is fine. I was just telling Ramona that our moms are going out tonight with my aunt so we'll be babysitting my brothers."

Josh nodded. He didn't seem to completely believe that but he didn't argue with his words.

Jackson picked up his backpack from where he had set it on the floor and stood up from the table. He quickly turned back toward them. "Oh, and Josh," he gestured to the two different chip flavors that he had bought, "you should give Ramona the barbeque chips. They're her favorites."

He turned around and made his way out of the school missing the brief smile that crossed Ramona's face.

Later that night Jackson walked into the kitchen to find Stephanie at the counter eating a brownie. "Hey Aunt Steph," he greeted.

She smiled at him, "Hey, what's going on?" She seemed to sense that something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"

Jackson shook his head. "Not really. I'm going to a party tomorrow and I honestly don't want to go," he confessed to her.

She sent him a questioning look. "Then why are you?"

He absently shrugged. "All of my friends are going so I kind of have to."

"Is Ramona going?" she asked. He simply nodded his head in response.

"Well Jackson just know that no one can pressure you to do anything," she told him.

"I know," he said. "Mom already gave me the peer-pressure talk."

Stephanie nodded in understanding. "Okay then how about we have a different talk. Did I ever tell you about the time I went to a party at my friend Gia's house?"

"No," he replied.

"Well when I was about your age, my friend Gia invited me over. She told me that she was having a party while her mom was at work. So we asked my dad if I could go."

"Grandpa let you go to an unsupervised party?!" That did not seem like his grandfather at all.

Stephanie scoffed. "Please, he never would have let me out of the house if I had asked him that." She smiled. "No instead when he asked if there was going to be supervision, Gia said, 'Mr. Tanner my mother would never let me have a party without her there.'"

Jackson was impressed. "Oh she's good!"

Stephanie nodded. Gia had definitely been good at getting what she wanted. "Anyway, when I went to the party I found out that it was a make out party."

"So what did you do?" he asked.

"I stayed for a little while, but I couldn't do it. I just kept hearing this voice in my head that, at the time, sounded annoyingly like my dad. So I called your mother," she told him.

"Why?" he wondered.

Stephanie smiled at his curiosity. "The morning of my first day of middle school DJ gave me some good advice. She told me never to let anyone pressure me into something I didn't want to do or that I wasn't ready for. She told me that if I was ever in a situation that I didn't feel comfortable in then I could call her and she would pick me up, no questions asked, and she wouldn't even tell dad."

"Really?" Jackson was surprised. His mother was always so overprotective. He honestly could never see his mom saying that.

Stephanie nodded. "The only problem was that when I called DJ, my dad answered and because he had laryngitis at the time I thought he was her." Jackson didn't like where that was going. "My dad came and picked me up from the party right as Gia's mom was getting home from work. Neither of them were happy to say the least. However, later that night my dad and I had a talk. He told me that it took a great deal of maturity to realize when you're in a bad situation and to know when to leave. He was proud of me for calling and asking to go home."

She thought about it. "In retrospect I did still get grounded, but it all worked out in the end. Now Jackson I am going to make the same deal with you. If you are ever in a situation where you are uncomfortable and want to get picked up then all you need to do is give me a call and I will come and get you." His aunt smiled. "Maybe someday when Max and Tommy are old enough you can make the same deal with them."

Jackson took in that moment to really appreciate his aunt. She was definitely his favorite aunt at times. His Aunt Michelle is cool as well, but she spends so much time in New York that he never sees her. She sends the kids money every year for their Christmas and birthday, but it's been about five years or so since he's seen her last.

"Thank you Aunt Stephanie," he said reaching over to hug her.

Deep down he was still nervous about Popko's party, but he did feel better knowing that he had a good exit strategy waiting to be used if need be.

I personally love that moment between Stephanie and Jackson. Okay confession time: that deal wasn't completely imaginary. My sister actually said that to me once I entered middle school. She is five years older and was already driving at the time. She has always been protective and actually raised me more then my parents did at times. She told me to call her if I was ever in any type of situation. Only once did I ever have to call her and it was because of a fight I got into with some friends during a school football game and I wanted to leave early. I won't get into the knitty-gritty details, but I thought that would be a perfect thing to add to these characters. I personally think that every teenager should have at least one safety net to call if they are ever in a situation like that. I will most likely make this same deal with any future nieces and nephews I get someday.

Anyway I hope you all liked this chapter as much as I do. I will try and get the next chapter posted soon!

~Kaylee