Chapter 8
Some parts of this chapter might not be accurate as I've never pierced my own belly button-got mine done professionally and that was bad enough haha
"Thank god you're okay what the hell were you playing at running off like that" Rachel said it was only then that she realised that her niece was stumbling as she walked it was obvious how drunk she was.
"Oh for god's sake Jess, what have you had to drink?" Rachel asked
"Vodka, a few fish bowls, Malibu, Bacardi …"Jess slurred
"You're 15 years old jess no wonder you can barely walk, I hope your prepared for a very sore head tomorrow young lady"
"I'm used to it I go out all the time" Jess said this was true Mel never used to care what her daughter did as long as she was out of her way.
"Well you shouldn't be, do you know how dangerous drinking so irresponsibly is, how it can damage your health, cause you to act in ways you normally wouldn't" Rachel lectured when her kid was born and got to Jess's age she wouldn't ever try and stop it from going out and having a couple of drinks as long as they were sensible however she could see how irresponsible Jess was being with her drinking.
"Oh get off your high horse I deserve a good time after the day I've had" Jess said having had enough of her aunt lecturing her
Rachel sighed heavily when she saw Jess clutching her stomach she had a feeling of what was going to come next "Get to the bathroom" Rachel sighed Jess ran upstairs and fortunately got there in time Rachel went in after her and held her hair back and rubbed her back. Once she'd stopped being sick she helped her up.
"Come on let's get you to bed" Rachel said her voice a little softer now.
Rachel helped her into her pyjamas and made sure she was comfortable
"Rach I'm sorry all that stuff I said, I feel dreadful now it's dead nice of you to take us both in" Jess said
"Okay love, just don't let it happen again, I'm not going to stop you going to parties as long as I can trust you and know you're going to be sensible and not get so drunk you can barely walk still we all make mistakes I suppose"
"You're right I am going to have a bad head in the morning" Jess sighed
"We've all been there Jess and you'll feel better now you've been sick" Rachel said before kissing her goodnight and then going to bed herself.
Rachel woke up early the next morning despite the fact she'd been awake till so late last night she got a surprise when she saw Hayley already downstairs.
"Hayley what are you doing up so early love?" Rachel asked
"I just woke up that's all" Hayley said
"oh okay do you fancy going shopping today me you and jess if she feels up to it after last night while your dad and Philip go to the football" Rachel suggested they all needed a few new things including a new uniform for Jess and Philip seen as they would be starting at waterloo road tomorrow seen as there old school was an hour's drive away so there was no way they'd be able to get there.
"Yeah I'd love to but what happened with Jess last night?" Hayley asked, Rachel contemplated whether to tell her or not seeing as she didn't want to portray it as being okay to go and get drunk.
"Um she went to a party last night so she might be feeling a bit tired from it" Rachel said Hayley accepted this before going and getting ready for the day.
A couple of hours later all 3 of them were in topshop looking for school stuff for Jess "Can I get these shoes Rach and that skirt will do" Jess said picking up a pair of shoes with a heal on them and an extremely short skirt.
"No to both, those aren't school shoes you'll not be able to walk in them and that is by no stretch of the imagination a school skirt looks like something you'd wear or a night out" Rachel exclaimed
"Go on please I can walk in pretty much any pair of shoes invented, look I'll prove it if you want" Jess said picking out the most ridiculously high pair of stilettoes in the shop and putting them on and walking around in them doing sexy poses and waggling her bum as if she were a model Rachel couldn't help but burst out laughing alongside Hayley, she really was a character Rachel thought to herself she'd never met a girl with as much confidence as Jess had.
"Stop mucking around you daft girl you're just showing off" Rachel scolded while still laughing
"Yep because I'm looking to impress that guy over there" Jess said pointing to an old man ogling at her "boy does he just for fill all my sexual fantasizes" Jess joked Rachel laughed loudly without meaning to
"Pack it in you really are overstepping the mark my girl" Rachel said
"anyway thanks for letting me get these I'll take them to the till"
"Wait I never said …" Rachel began however it was too late Jess was already at the till paying for the stuff, she had insisted on buying everything herself even though Rachel had offered to pay for anything she needed, Rachel sighed heavily as she watched her niece thank the lady at the till and then saunter off she realised she wasn't going to get much of a say in it when it came to uniform.
The three of them were in river island when Hayley's stomach began to really hurt, she wondered what could be wrong with her Rachel noticed Hayley holding her stomach
"You okay love?" she asked
"I've got a really bad stomach cramp" Hayley explained
"Oh I've got some aspirin in my bag, here you go" Rachel said delving through her bag and getting out two tablets she handed them to Hayley who swallowed them down.
"Thanks"
After a little while Jess and Hayley had got everything they needed to so they decided to go and get some lunch in the café at M and S Hayley decided to go to the toilet as her stomach was really hurting now, it was only then that she realised that there was blood on her underwear, she was shocked, she didn't really know anything about periods as her mother hadn't been very open about things like that with her, she had only told her the very basic facts. Hayley had never thought they would start this early as she thought she wouldn't get them till she was at least 13 or 14. Hayley didn't know what to do she wanted to talk to Rachel but thought it might be really embarrassing and awkward and she really didn't want to say in front of Jess as nice as she was Hayley couldn't help but feel a little bit intimidated by her, she decided she'd just use toilet paper for now and try and get Rachel on her own when Jess was trying something on and tell her then.
Hayley then went back and met up with Jess and Rachel, who were drinking coffees Rachel noticed how worried and anxious she looked straight away. "are you okay love?" Rachel asked concerned
"um yeah" Hayley replied Rachel could tell by her voice that she wasn't but didn't want to say anything in front of Jess because she had the feeling Hayley would be a bit embarrassed.
They decided to look in a few more shops before they went, jess decided to go into bank and immediately picked out a few dresses and tops all of which Rachel shook her head at because they were far too short and tight.
"Honestly its nearly winter Jess, you'll be freezing in that stuff and you need some casual day clothes as well as going out clothes and there far too short for my liking"
"Well I'm not going to have a good figure all my life so I might as well flaunt it while I've still got it" Jess argued causing Rachel to roll her eyes.
"I'm off to try these on I won't be long" Jess said before going to the changing rooms leaving Hayley and Rachel alone
"Hayley do me a favour" Rachel said
"What?" Hayley asked
"Never turn into a teenager" Rachel joked, Hayley giggled but Rachel could tell something wasn't right with her.
"Darling are you ok you don't seem yourself today" Rachel said
"Well I kind of need to talk to you but I didn't want to say anything in front of Jess" Hayley explained sounding nervous.
"Okay we'll go round here no one can hear us there" Rachel said leading Hayley to a side of the shop were they weren't any people around she was quite worried about what Hayley was going to tell her.
"I got my period and im really scared and I don't know what to do" Hayley explained sounding very frightened and tears started to form in her eyes Rachel put her arms around her supportively she knew what a big deal this must be for her especially since she was so young.
"Hey there's nothing to be worried about darling, we'll head off home after madams finished in here and I've got loads of stuff at home and we can have a chat honestly everything going to be fine" Rachel said
"Thanks Rachel" Hayley whispered
A few minutes later Jess came back out of the changing rooms she noticed that her aunt and Hayley were cuddling each other and it was obvious Hayley had been crying.
"What's up with you Hayley?" Jess asked
"she's just feeling a little bit poorly I think it's time we were getting off Jess, go and buy those things if you want them and then we're going" Rachel said Jess went to the till and paid for everything before joining back up with Rachel and Hayley they were walking out of the mall when Jess spotted a piercing shop she stopped and stared at it for while
"Jess what are you staring at" Rachel asked
"Nothing its just Rach could I get my belly done" Jess asked
"No you flaming well cant" Rachel replied
"Oh go on just one little piercing it'll go well with my belly tops"
"I don't care you are not getting your belly pierced end of" Jess sighed before moving on however she had no intention of leaving it there if Rachel wasn't going to let her get it done she would do it herself surely it couldn't be that hard.
Once they got back home Jess went upstairs an Hayley and Rachel went into Rachel's bathroom.
"How are you feeling love" Rachel asked
"Okay I guess I just didn't think it would come this early" Hayley said Rachel pulled her into her chest and stroked her hair.
"I know it's a big thing but you will get used to it honestly you will"
"I suppose so"
"Now if you go into my bathroom cupboard there's some pads in there do you know how to put them on?" Rachel asked
"Yeah we learnt at school" Hayley said going into the bathroom and sorting herself out.
The two of them talked for a bit longer before Rachel went back downstairs.
Jess found a site on the internet telling her how to pierce her belly button she knew she needed a belly bar so she asked Rachel if she could go to her friends. Jess knew her friend had her belly done and had loads of spare belly bars.
After she'd been round to her friends she went in search of a needle she eventually found one in one of Rachel's bedside draws she didn't even think about sterilising it as she just wanted to get on with it. She went to her bedroom and closed the door praying her aunt wouldn't walk in on her. She clamped the area and found this quite painful she was beginning to wonder whether this was a good idea or not, she then got out the needle and put the barbell at the end of it and screwed the ball on she then took a deep breath and put the needle through her skin not properly knowing if she was putting it in at the right angle, almost as soon as she did she screamed out in agony blood squirted out of her she had no idea it would be this painful and she was guessing judging by the amount if blood she'd probably put in wrong.
Rachel came running upstairs wondering what on earth could have happened she could hear Jess crying out in pain. She got the shock of her life when she went into her room.
"Oh my god, what the hell have you done" Rachel gasped looking round at the blood all over the white sheets. She then saw the needle and the piercing in her nieces naval.
"Owww it hurts" Jess cried
"I'm not bloody surprised you stupid girl" Rachel said rushing over to her
"Well I didn't fucking know this was going to happen did i?" Jess screamed still in immense pain
"Well what the hell did you think was going to happen, we need a way to stop that bleeding and quickly" Rachel said " Hayley get me an ice pack" Rachel shouted Hayley quickly went to the freezer and brought an ice pack up for Rachel she was extremely shocked when she saw Jess laying there covered in blood Rachel grabbed the ice pack and laid it across Jess' stomach while Hayley continued to stare at Jess.
"What the fuck are you staring at" Jess shouted she didn't mean to say that however when she was in as much pain as she was in she would yell at anyone no matter who they were, Hayley then went out the room very shocked at hearing someone talk to her like Jess had just done
"Oi don't you dare speak to her like that" Rachel shouted
"im sorry have you not noticed im bleeding to death here I think you could make an exception"
"Oh don't exaggerate its just a bit of blood and who's fault was it anyway" Rachel said, fortunately the bleeding had started to stop now, both Rachel and Jess were extremely relived
"Right now get that bloody thing out before it becomes infected" Rachel said gesturing towards the belly bar, Jess did as she was told for once in her life and handed the belly bar to Rachel who immediately threw it in the bin, Jess was feeling pretty bad now she really wished she could turn back time she knew the lecture she was going to get from her aunt now.
"Honestly Jess do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been, what if I hadn't found out about it and it had got horribly infected, or what if you'd pierced through one of your veins you could have had to have been rushed to hospital, did you have some sort of failure of common flaming sense" Rachel said to Jess who was now crying
"I'm sorry I didn't think" Jess cried
"Yes obviously" Rachel said her voice significantly calmer now "Im sorry for shouting I didn't mean to its just I care about you and I was so shocked when I walked in here"
"I never think about stuff properly if I want something I just do it and don't think about it" Jess sighed
"Well maybe it's a good idea to start thinking young lady, if you were that desperate to get it done couldn't you have snuck off into town sometime, not that I'm condoning that but I'd rather that than feel like I've walked into a scene from a horror movie just look at it in here looks like Sweeny Todd's been round or something" Rachel said
"Sorry about all the mess I'll get you some new sheets when I next go into town" Jess promised
"That's the least of my worries right now trust me and it should come out in the wash anyway" Rachel said stripping the sheets off Jess's bed.
"Right you have a lay down and I'll get you some pain killers and a cold glass of water" Rachel said noticing that Jess looked quite faint which wasn't surprising after what had just happened.
A few hours later everyone was in bed except for Rachel who was finishing off some work, she heard someone come downstairs and went to see who it was she saw it was Philip and wondered what he could be doing out of bed.
"Phil what you doing out of bed?" Rachel asked
"I er couldn't sleep" Philip replied
"Oh okay, I was just about to make a coffee do you fancy one?"
"Um yes please" Philip replied
"I'll just get them sorted then, go through to the living room put some TV on if you want love" Rachel said, Philip went through and perched on the sofa not sure what to do.
Rachel came back in with two steaming hot coffees and handed one to Philip she could see how tense he was and knew it was probably because he was worrying about starting school tomorrow, but she knew Philip and if she pushed him too hard he would finish up closing down.
"so how are you feeling about starting school tomorrow?" Rachel asked, Philip just shrugged his head in response
"You can talk to me you know Philip I do understand why you feel nervous and apprehensive but I promise everything's going to be okay" Rachel said gently
Philip put his head in his hands and let a few tears escape.
"Hey come on Phil tell me what's wrong" Rachel coaxed putting her arm around her nephew
"I don't want to start school tomorrow not again, everywhere I've ever gone to people just take the piss, I can't handle it again" Philip said
"Oh Phil, things will be different here I promise, I'm going to make sure of that"
"I just wish I could be more like Jess she's so loud and popular, why can't it be the other way round"
"Don't talk or even think like that Philip, you're every bit as important as she is you've got some great qualities your funny and your clever and don't let anyone tell you different, being loud isn't everything you know" Rachel said softly
"I know it's just everyone is always on about how amazing she is and then there's me"
"Phil you need to stop thinking like this everything's going to be different it's a chance to start a fresh make some new mates" Rachel said
"I hope so, im going to bed now Rach and thanks" Philip said before going back upstairs to bed
Rachel smiled at him before he went up and watched as he walked upstairs she really hoped everything would turn out okay for him tomorrow
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