Chapter Four
Don't Go There
"How am I going to navigate this minefield?" Jessica complained to
Jeremy as she got into his car after their shift was over. "Will, working at HOJ?"
Jeremy shook his head. "Hey, it makes me every bit as mad as you. I
don't trust Will in the slightest. I saw him trying to make a move on you
all morning."
Jessica sighed. "He still likes me, and I know it." She shook her head,
closing her eyes. "Ugh! I hate Will Simmons!"
Jeremy nodded, backing out of the parking lot. "You're not the only
one." He let out a low whistle. "I think there's a whole list of people."
Jessica laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I think that you're
right." She rolled her eyes. "He definitely makes me feel uneasy."
***********************************************************
Will rounded the hall slowly after school on Monday. He was walking
towards Jessica's locker. Beautiful, sweet lighthearted Jessica. Okay, he
was so not over that girl. He still loved her. And he was going to win
her back.
He walked up behind her. She was looking through her locker for
something, and looking gorgeous. If only Aames wasn't in the picture.
"Hey Jessica." Will said smoothly, reaching out and placing his hand on
her bare arm. Jessica swirled around immediately.
"Get your hand off me!" she exclaimed, almost shrieking at him. Jessica
slapped his hand away. "Leave me alone, Will."
Will looked into her eyes. He'd always loved those eyes, shining like
clear, aquamarine oceans. Well, not now. Now they were more like
troubled seas.
"Come on, Jess. Please, just give me a minute," Will pleaded, "I know
that you're the girl for me. Give me a chance. I love you more than
Aames ever could."
Jessica shook her head, violently shoving books into her backpack. "You
just don't get it, do you? I want you out of my life, okay?"
Will reached for her arm again, but she pulled back. "Jessica, you
don't mean that, do you?"
Jessica slammed her locker shut. "Yes, I do. Now get a clue. I hate
you." With that, she turned around, leaving Will in a shocked silence.
After she was well out of sight, Will's mind once again regained it's
function, comprehending what she'd said. I hate you. Those had to have
been the cruelest words he'd ever heard.
Anger building inside him, Will gritted his teeth. He gave Jessica's
locker a hard kick. Without warning, it haphazardly swung open, and a
little leather book fell to the floor, open.
Will leaned down to pick it up, seeing the pages filled with Jessica's
neat, girly handwriting. Noting that the pages were dated, Will
realized that this was her journal. He shut it, and was about to put it back
in her locker when another idea popped in his head.
Will slammed Jessica's locker with a loud bang, and then swung his
backpack around, unzipping it and shoving Jessica's journal in.
Conner gazed at Elizabeth as he took a bite of his scampi. She looked
so pretty with her blonde hair down, as recently she'd been wearing it
up most of the time. He'd taken her out to dinner that night, to a
little Italian restaurant. Both Mrs. Sandborn and Megan were out for the
evening, and Elizabeth hadn't felt sick for the first time in weeks, so
Conner had decided to treat them to dinner.
"What are you thinking about?" Elizabeth asked softly, almost reading
his mind. He'd been about to ask her the same thing.
"How beautiful you are, and how much I love you." Conner answered
truthfully. He studied her face, the light from the candle illuminating it
slightly. Other then the soft glow of candlelight, most of the room was dark.
Elizabeth blushed slightly. "I was thinking about how much I love you,
and what our future will be like." She admitted. "It may be hard, but I
know that we're doing the right thing."
Conner nodded in agreement. "It's still hard to believe that in only
five more months we'll be parents." He reached across the table, placing
his hand over hers. "Are you scared?"
Elizabeth bit her lip. "Yeah. I am scared. I just hope that things work
out." She gave his hand a firm squeeze.
"Me too. But the important thing is," Conner stated, looking deeply
into her eyes, "Is that we love each other, because if we do, things will
work out."
Elizabeth nodded. "And we do love each other. I know that somehow,
someway, everything will be okay in the end."
Conner leaned over to gently kiss her, pushing a few stray strands of
hair out of her face. "You're right." He amended, watching her take a
bite of her pasta. After eating in silence for a moment, Conner noticed
she was fiddling with her promise ring, twisting it around on her finger.
Not good. Conner knew that had fast become one of Elizabeth's nervous
gestures, indicating something was wrong. He studied her face, trying to
see if she appeared to be sick or something. No luck. Just a slightly
concerned expression.
"What's wrong?" Conner asked, praying it was nothing serious.
"Well," Elizabeth started, biting her lip, "I know I should have said
something earlier, but I got my acceptance packet for SVU two weeks ago.
And to my knowledge, you haven't gotten any type of a response."
Conner felt his stomach turn slightly. This wasn't good at all. He
hadn't gotten his, and in fact had been worrying about that. "I haven't."
he confirmed.
Elizabeth's eyes flashed concern. "And we sent them in at the same time."
There went his appetite. When they'd filled out the applications
together, Conner had noted immediately that his grades weren't nearly as high
as Elizabeth, and that he'd just been above the requirements. He'd been
so involved with work and his concerns about Elizabeth, school had been
shoved to the bottom of his priority list. Sadly, Conner also realized
they slipped even more since.
"Conner?" Elizabeth prompted.
Conner felt his mouth go dry. He hadn't said a word about how much his
grades had slipped to her. He didn't want her to have to worry about
that, as well. "Well, um, Liz," he mumbled, "My grades were barely over
the requirements when we sent in the papers. And they've slipped even
lower…" he trailed off.
Elizabeth let loose a little gasp, studying Conner's face and letting
the full effect of his words sink in. She mentally went over the last
few weeks in her head. Mr. Collins yelling at Conner about not having his
homework… Mr. Quigley marking him down on an assignment because it was
late… Conner hastily shoving his mid terms into his backpack… In fact,
she hadn't seen Conner do any of his homework for almost a month, but
more often him scribbling it out during lunch or study hall.
"Sweetie," Elizabeth asked quietly, "Exactly how bad are things?"
Conner hesitated. Now that he thought about it, his grades had slipped
so much, he might not make. "Pretty bad." He said mutely, realizing how
bad things had gotten.
"How bad?" She asked firmly. Then her tone soften. "Conner, I'm not mad
at you, but I have a right to know what's going on."
Conner sighed. "Okay, I think that the highest grade I'm pulling is a
B-minus, and that's in gym. I think that the next best is a C or
something in English." He couldn't look her in the eye. He heard her take a
deep breathe.
"What's your GPA at?"
Conner closed his eyes. He might not make college this year. "Just over
three point oh." And he knew that the only thing that was holding it
that high were his grades from the beginning of the year. And they were
just going to slip more.
Elizabeth could almost feel her heart stop. No. Mentally, she went down
the SVU requirements. 3.41 was the average grade point average for
instate. SAT score was 1127. Conner wasn't going to cut it. "No." She
whispered softly. "No."
"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," Will half muttered as he read through
Jessica's diary. He was noticing a pattern in the entries: Jessica
gushing over Jeremy, Jessica's bargain purchase at the mall, Jessica and
Jeremy's latest date, Jessica's horrible shift at house of Java, how cute
Jeremy was on their date, how the cheerleaders had done an awesome job
at a game, how much she loved Jeremy… Was Jeremy the only thing that
she ever thought about?
"Apparently." Will said, rolling his eyes. "I think that I'm going to
puke if I see his name one more time." He flipped the page, and seeing
his name, he read out loud.
"… and Will Simmons is such a loser. He actually asked me out again
today, right after cheerleading practice. He was all sweaty and gross.
Will needs to grow up and figure out that I hate him. I love Jeremy now…"
Will dropped the diary on his bed, blood boiling. He had to prove to
Jessica that Jeremy was all wrong for her. He was all wrong, nothing too
it. Will was the one that was perfect for her.
"Don't you realize that we're soul mates?" Will whispered, as if
Jessica could hear his words. "You and me, we belong together, for eternity!"
he stated, in his mind speaking what he considered the truth.
Then Will flipped to the most recent entries. One was of him and one
was of….
No. She would have, couldn't have. Will let loose an angry yell.
Jessica, his Jessica, had lost her virginity to that creep. She and Will
hadn't ever gotten the chance to be that intimate. "She will pay!" Will
hissed, under his breath. "She is mine, and she will be with me!"
Slamming her diary shut, Will got off his bed, and walked towards his
mirror. Yes, yes. It would work. He would have what was rightfully his.
"Liz, I'm sure that everything will work out." Conner said, watching
the waiter leave to get the check. "I'll study harder, and put more time
in. I'll bring up my grades. At least my SAT scores are high enough."
Elizabeth nodded, searching his green eyes. He was genuine about this,
that was for sure. "You'll make it." Elizabeth said, hoping she sounded
positive and upbeat. "I know you will."
Conner nodded, praying she was right. Whatever he had to do, he'd get
into SVU, and they'd go through with the plans that they'd lain out for
the future. Things would be fine. At that moment, the waiter
reappeared, and Conner opened his wallet, and pulled out the right amount, plus a tip. "Ready to go?"
Elizabeth nodded, standing up. Conner offered her his hand, and
together they walked toward the door.
Once outside, they walked towards Conner's Mustang. They were almost to
it when Elizabeth felt it, doubling over as the intense, sharp, pain in
her stomach worsened.
"Liz!" She could hear Conner's frantic voice. "Elizabeth! What's
wrong?"
Fighting back tears, Elizabeth felt Conner holding her up, supporting
her. "I don't know." She choked, not know what was happening.
"Come on." Conner said, gently helping her towards the car.
"Something's wrong. You need to get to the hospital."
Don't Go There
"How am I going to navigate this minefield?" Jessica complained to
Jeremy as she got into his car after their shift was over. "Will, working at HOJ?"
Jeremy shook his head. "Hey, it makes me every bit as mad as you. I
don't trust Will in the slightest. I saw him trying to make a move on you
all morning."
Jessica sighed. "He still likes me, and I know it." She shook her head,
closing her eyes. "Ugh! I hate Will Simmons!"
Jeremy nodded, backing out of the parking lot. "You're not the only
one." He let out a low whistle. "I think there's a whole list of people."
Jessica laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I think that you're
right." She rolled her eyes. "He definitely makes me feel uneasy."
***********************************************************
Will rounded the hall slowly after school on Monday. He was walking
towards Jessica's locker. Beautiful, sweet lighthearted Jessica. Okay, he
was so not over that girl. He still loved her. And he was going to win
her back.
He walked up behind her. She was looking through her locker for
something, and looking gorgeous. If only Aames wasn't in the picture.
"Hey Jessica." Will said smoothly, reaching out and placing his hand on
her bare arm. Jessica swirled around immediately.
"Get your hand off me!" she exclaimed, almost shrieking at him. Jessica
slapped his hand away. "Leave me alone, Will."
Will looked into her eyes. He'd always loved those eyes, shining like
clear, aquamarine oceans. Well, not now. Now they were more like
troubled seas.
"Come on, Jess. Please, just give me a minute," Will pleaded, "I know
that you're the girl for me. Give me a chance. I love you more than
Aames ever could."
Jessica shook her head, violently shoving books into her backpack. "You
just don't get it, do you? I want you out of my life, okay?"
Will reached for her arm again, but she pulled back. "Jessica, you
don't mean that, do you?"
Jessica slammed her locker shut. "Yes, I do. Now get a clue. I hate
you." With that, she turned around, leaving Will in a shocked silence.
After she was well out of sight, Will's mind once again regained it's
function, comprehending what she'd said. I hate you. Those had to have
been the cruelest words he'd ever heard.
Anger building inside him, Will gritted his teeth. He gave Jessica's
locker a hard kick. Without warning, it haphazardly swung open, and a
little leather book fell to the floor, open.
Will leaned down to pick it up, seeing the pages filled with Jessica's
neat, girly handwriting. Noting that the pages were dated, Will
realized that this was her journal. He shut it, and was about to put it back
in her locker when another idea popped in his head.
Will slammed Jessica's locker with a loud bang, and then swung his
backpack around, unzipping it and shoving Jessica's journal in.
Conner gazed at Elizabeth as he took a bite of his scampi. She looked
so pretty with her blonde hair down, as recently she'd been wearing it
up most of the time. He'd taken her out to dinner that night, to a
little Italian restaurant. Both Mrs. Sandborn and Megan were out for the
evening, and Elizabeth hadn't felt sick for the first time in weeks, so
Conner had decided to treat them to dinner.
"What are you thinking about?" Elizabeth asked softly, almost reading
his mind. He'd been about to ask her the same thing.
"How beautiful you are, and how much I love you." Conner answered
truthfully. He studied her face, the light from the candle illuminating it
slightly. Other then the soft glow of candlelight, most of the room was dark.
Elizabeth blushed slightly. "I was thinking about how much I love you,
and what our future will be like." She admitted. "It may be hard, but I
know that we're doing the right thing."
Conner nodded in agreement. "It's still hard to believe that in only
five more months we'll be parents." He reached across the table, placing
his hand over hers. "Are you scared?"
Elizabeth bit her lip. "Yeah. I am scared. I just hope that things work
out." She gave his hand a firm squeeze.
"Me too. But the important thing is," Conner stated, looking deeply
into her eyes, "Is that we love each other, because if we do, things will
work out."
Elizabeth nodded. "And we do love each other. I know that somehow,
someway, everything will be okay in the end."
Conner leaned over to gently kiss her, pushing a few stray strands of
hair out of her face. "You're right." He amended, watching her take a
bite of her pasta. After eating in silence for a moment, Conner noticed
she was fiddling with her promise ring, twisting it around on her finger.
Not good. Conner knew that had fast become one of Elizabeth's nervous
gestures, indicating something was wrong. He studied her face, trying to
see if she appeared to be sick or something. No luck. Just a slightly
concerned expression.
"What's wrong?" Conner asked, praying it was nothing serious.
"Well," Elizabeth started, biting her lip, "I know I should have said
something earlier, but I got my acceptance packet for SVU two weeks ago.
And to my knowledge, you haven't gotten any type of a response."
Conner felt his stomach turn slightly. This wasn't good at all. He
hadn't gotten his, and in fact had been worrying about that. "I haven't."
he confirmed.
Elizabeth's eyes flashed concern. "And we sent them in at the same time."
There went his appetite. When they'd filled out the applications
together, Conner had noted immediately that his grades weren't nearly as high
as Elizabeth, and that he'd just been above the requirements. He'd been
so involved with work and his concerns about Elizabeth, school had been
shoved to the bottom of his priority list. Sadly, Conner also realized
they slipped even more since.
"Conner?" Elizabeth prompted.
Conner felt his mouth go dry. He hadn't said a word about how much his
grades had slipped to her. He didn't want her to have to worry about
that, as well. "Well, um, Liz," he mumbled, "My grades were barely over
the requirements when we sent in the papers. And they've slipped even
lower…" he trailed off.
Elizabeth let loose a little gasp, studying Conner's face and letting
the full effect of his words sink in. She mentally went over the last
few weeks in her head. Mr. Collins yelling at Conner about not having his
homework… Mr. Quigley marking him down on an assignment because it was
late… Conner hastily shoving his mid terms into his backpack… In fact,
she hadn't seen Conner do any of his homework for almost a month, but
more often him scribbling it out during lunch or study hall.
"Sweetie," Elizabeth asked quietly, "Exactly how bad are things?"
Conner hesitated. Now that he thought about it, his grades had slipped
so much, he might not make. "Pretty bad." He said mutely, realizing how
bad things had gotten.
"How bad?" She asked firmly. Then her tone soften. "Conner, I'm not mad
at you, but I have a right to know what's going on."
Conner sighed. "Okay, I think that the highest grade I'm pulling is a
B-minus, and that's in gym. I think that the next best is a C or
something in English." He couldn't look her in the eye. He heard her take a
deep breathe.
"What's your GPA at?"
Conner closed his eyes. He might not make college this year. "Just over
three point oh." And he knew that the only thing that was holding it
that high were his grades from the beginning of the year. And they were
just going to slip more.
Elizabeth could almost feel her heart stop. No. Mentally, she went down
the SVU requirements. 3.41 was the average grade point average for
instate. SAT score was 1127. Conner wasn't going to cut it. "No." She
whispered softly. "No."
"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," Will half muttered as he read through
Jessica's diary. He was noticing a pattern in the entries: Jessica
gushing over Jeremy, Jessica's bargain purchase at the mall, Jessica and
Jeremy's latest date, Jessica's horrible shift at house of Java, how cute
Jeremy was on their date, how the cheerleaders had done an awesome job
at a game, how much she loved Jeremy… Was Jeremy the only thing that
she ever thought about?
"Apparently." Will said, rolling his eyes. "I think that I'm going to
puke if I see his name one more time." He flipped the page, and seeing
his name, he read out loud.
"… and Will Simmons is such a loser. He actually asked me out again
today, right after cheerleading practice. He was all sweaty and gross.
Will needs to grow up and figure out that I hate him. I love Jeremy now…"
Will dropped the diary on his bed, blood boiling. He had to prove to
Jessica that Jeremy was all wrong for her. He was all wrong, nothing too
it. Will was the one that was perfect for her.
"Don't you realize that we're soul mates?" Will whispered, as if
Jessica could hear his words. "You and me, we belong together, for eternity!"
he stated, in his mind speaking what he considered the truth.
Then Will flipped to the most recent entries. One was of him and one
was of….
No. She would have, couldn't have. Will let loose an angry yell.
Jessica, his Jessica, had lost her virginity to that creep. She and Will
hadn't ever gotten the chance to be that intimate. "She will pay!" Will
hissed, under his breath. "She is mine, and she will be with me!"
Slamming her diary shut, Will got off his bed, and walked towards his
mirror. Yes, yes. It would work. He would have what was rightfully his.
"Liz, I'm sure that everything will work out." Conner said, watching
the waiter leave to get the check. "I'll study harder, and put more time
in. I'll bring up my grades. At least my SAT scores are high enough."
Elizabeth nodded, searching his green eyes. He was genuine about this,
that was for sure. "You'll make it." Elizabeth said, hoping she sounded
positive and upbeat. "I know you will."
Conner nodded, praying she was right. Whatever he had to do, he'd get
into SVU, and they'd go through with the plans that they'd lain out for
the future. Things would be fine. At that moment, the waiter
reappeared, and Conner opened his wallet, and pulled out the right amount, plus a tip. "Ready to go?"
Elizabeth nodded, standing up. Conner offered her his hand, and
together they walked toward the door.
Once outside, they walked towards Conner's Mustang. They were almost to
it when Elizabeth felt it, doubling over as the intense, sharp, pain in
her stomach worsened.
"Liz!" She could hear Conner's frantic voice. "Elizabeth! What's
wrong?"
Fighting back tears, Elizabeth felt Conner holding her up, supporting
her. "I don't know." She choked, not know what was happening.
"Come on." Conner said, gently helping her towards the car.
"Something's wrong. You need to get to the hospital."