Chapter Seven; Jenny's Secret

After Jessie finished helping Jenny with her homework the two girls set up their own salon inside her bedroom. Jessie painted Jenny's nails a bright pink, while Jenny painted hers a dark purple. "Jenny, there's something I have to ask you." Jessie began. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but I'm just curious. What happened to your mother?" she asked her. "Do you mean my adoptive mother or biological mother?" Jenny asked her back as she finished painting Jessie's nails.

"You mean, you're adopted?" Jessie questioned. "No duh, I mean didn't you ever notice that I don't look anything like my father?" she asked her back. "Actually, no. I guess I never really thought about it before." Jessie said with a shrug before looking back at her and realizing that her friend had tears in her eyes. "Jenny, what's wrong?" she asked her worriedly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I was afraid that I couldn't trust you." She began with a sniff before brushing away her.

"Sweetheart you know you can tell me anything, now please tell me what happened." Jessie said. "Look I know you want an answer but the truth is that I didn't really know what happened to me. All I know is that when I was born my own mother didn't even want me so she just abandoned me out on the street." She explained as the tears continued rolling down her cheeks and Jessie simply looked at her. "Then when I got older I started being placed in foster homes,

but for some reason they would never keep me around long enough to try and teach me right from wrong. I even had one man threaten to whip the living daylights out of me before he sent me back to the shelter. And then when Andy and his wife finally adopted me they finally figured that I was old enough to know the truth. It wasn't my mother who abandoned me at all, it was my father, because I killed his wife when I was born." She said when she suddenly broke out into sobs and embraced Jessie continuing to cry inside her arms.

"Oh honey, it's not your fault at all." She reassured her as she rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head. "And now I understand a little bit more about why you were acting the way you were." Jessie explained. "It's because I'm a bad kid!" Jenny exclaimed as she sobbed even harder. "No you're not. If you were, you wouldn't be acting so upset and guilty about this even though it's not your fault in any way, you couldn't help that your mother died, it's just a fact of life and stuff like that happens, it's nothing to do with you do you understand?" Jessie asked her.

"I guess." She answered with another sniff before breaking out of the embrace and sitting up. "No, it's just like in school guessing's not good enough." Jessie began as she leaned back and grabbed a few tissues before handing them to her and telling her to blow her nose. "But if you already know that life is hard, why do you want to be a part of it so much?" Jenny asked her. "Because there's a whole lot more to life than that if you just give it a chance. And once that you find friends and people who care about you then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I promise you." Jessie told her with a grin before poking her in the chest.

"Jessie?" Jenny began slowly grinning back at her. "Yeah?" she questioned back. "You're alright." She said as she extended her fist. "Uh thanks, but what's this for?" Jessie asked her eyeing her with confusion. "Watch, I'll show you." Jenny said as she bumped it with her own. "Boom,.." she whispered letting her fingers sprinkle down from the sky. "Now you try it." Jenny told her. "Ha, that sounds like a gunshot, but alright." She said as they both bumped their fists together. "Boom,.." they whispered together before letting out a few giggles.

"Well come on I better get you to bed, I have to go home and get some rest too. I have a huge night ahead of me tomorrow night." Jessie said as she started tucking her in. "Why? Where are you going?" Jenny asked her brushing her hair from her eyes. "To a karaoke party, your father invited me." She explained. "Oh." Jenny said simply. "Great." She added. "Now have a good night sleep and I'll see you in the morning." Jessie told her before she bent down to plant a kiss on her forehead before walking over to the light switch. Jessie turned around and smiled down at her before turning off the light and quietly shutting the door behind her before Jenny rolled over to go to sleep.

…..

The next evening Bonnie started camping for Girl Scout camp while Jessie got ready to go to the dance. She decided to wear a white sleeveless shirt with a denim vest and blue jeans with a pair of brown shoes that had high heels at the bottoms of them. As soon as she got dressed she styled her hair up in a ponytail with a holder that matched her nails. Then she widened her eyes and examined herself in the mirror while she did her mascara. "How are you suddenly a makeup expert?" Bonnie asked her as she finished packing. "Jenny taught me how." Jessie answered.

"What!? No fair! I'm not even allowed to wear makeup." Bonnie said throwing her backpack over her shoulder. "Alright so I guess I'll see you later since my ride is going to be here in a few minutes." She said as Jessie finished applying her mascara and started applying a light purple eyeshadow. "Alright, bye." She told her as Bonnie simply just heaved a sad sigh. "You used to be a whole lot more fun when you were a toy." She muttered under her breath before leaving the room.

"I'm sorry, did you say something Bonnie?" Jessie questioned as she turned to look up from her work but realized that she was already gone. Jessie simply just shrugged before she puckered her lips and grabbed her tub of bright red lipstick. Then after she was finished she put the cap back on and put her makeup kit away before grabbing her leather jacket and putting it on as she rushed outside. "Hey Jess you ready?" Andy asked as he walked up her driveway to greet her.

"Yes but what about Jenny?" she asked him. "Don't worry about it, this is your night off. Hannah is babysitting her. She lives a crossed the street." He explained. "Alright then, what are we waiting for let's go!" Jessie exclaimed as she grabbed ahold of his arm and pulled him towards the car. "Well I admire your enthusiasm but that's a rather strong grip of yours." He told her. "That's because I've spent a lot of time arm wrestlin' my brother." She answered as she climbed inside the passenger side. "That's funny, I didn't know you had a brother." Andy said as he got into the driver's seat and they both slammed their doors behind them.