Um, hey. Anyone remember me? At all?
Nope, didn't think so.
Ok, SORRY. I'm SORRY it's been so long. I really, honestly am. There's just been... stuff happening which kept getting in the way. Mainly exams, but other stuff too. So, once again, I apologise for the obscene delay and hope this chapter is ok.
Personally, I think it sucks, but there you go. Nothing happens, not that I want to give anything away...
As ever, menciones;
Quietly Losing Control: I'm guessing it's a little late to take you up on the whole chocolate biscuit thing. Shame though. Thanks for reviewing. :D
uknowwhoslittleprincess: You'll have to read on to find out. lol. Although, to be honest, not a whole lot happens in this chapter.
Living2Love: Oh dear, I hope you're not even madder. I've taken even longer to update this one... Sorry. Thanks again for your really lovely (but undeserved) compliments. I hope you like this and can I just say for the 100th time, I love Rob too.
Mrs. Nikki Slater: Is this a Paul fan I see? Thanks for the review. And yeah, Jess' mom was pretty annoying...
Anywien: Hangs head in shame I know, it takes me ages to update. I'm a terrible person. But I aim to get better from now on. I'm sorry. Please accept this chapter with my apologies.
iluvmybeagle: Whoa, thanks. :D I hope you aime this chapter!
StarQueen456: Merci buckets, I hope you like this chapter...
Nick: Sorry if my chapters are short. Sometimes they get pretty hard to write. But I hope this one's ok.
SingingSoftly: Not a sequel, exactly. But I am continuing with this. Is that alright? Thank you so much for your really lovely review; I'm glad you liked it. :D
Murfdurf22: Tis shocking, indeed. Hope this chapter's alright for you.
flonshoe: Hey! Of course I appreciated that review. Made my day, really. Sorry you had to reread the whole story again though. I'm thinking of putting up my other story when I get more or less done with this one. I'm not very good at the updating thing, as you know. Man, so much has happened since I last update... like Haily coming back. Anyway, I hope you like this one (and can remember what happened before) ;)
moovalous3: Damn these English spellcheckers! Thanks for your lovely, lovely review. And yeah, we're getting into new territory with these chapters. Previously unseen. Exciting, non? I love Doug too. Which is why I've decided to include him a lot more... dun dun dun. Thanks again for the review. And the huge compliments, bless you. Talk to you soon!
frostyqueen672: Here I am updating and in the process of finishing. Hope you like it!
Jesse'sQuerida: Sorry it took me so long, but here I am, finally updating. Not much happens, but at least it's something, right? Hope you enjoy this.
Rob4eva: lol, thanks. Glad my story made you happy. Even though I suck at updating. So sorry about that. Hope you enjoy this chapter too.
JeSsFrEaK2244: No! It's not over yet. I'm planning on subjecting people to this for a while longer, you know. Hope you like this chapter...
EasyTiger: Thank you. For cookies and chocolate I will do anything. Including writing stories with Rob in. Which is such a huge sacrifice. Hehehe. Hope you like this.
Angel Gemman: Thank you very berry much. Sorry you had to wait so long, but I hope you enjoy this chapter.
MCfanwoo: Your review was definitely not stoopid. It wasn't even stupid. Thanks very much and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Welcome to fanfic. Although, I've taken so long to update, you've probably been here for ages...
Banana Yellow Flip-Flops: Jess' mom is shockingly rude. Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this. PS, I love your name.
cassie89: Thank you very much. Please enjoy this. :D
Man, that takes up a lot of room. If I missed you out, please accept my apology and feel free to yell at me.
Disclaimer: You knew it belonged to Meg Cabot, didn't you? Anyone would've thought you'd read a disclaimer before!
I sat up and instinctively put my hand out to the side of my bed where I knew Chigger would be sleeping. After a long and heated debate with my parents, they'd finally conceded that having a large and affectionate German shepherd sleeping in your room wasn't such a bad thing. Obediently, he sat up and came and rested his head on my lap. I stroked his head distractedly as I tried to think of something to do.
It was pretty obvious that I had to go get him. Sean, I mean. Had to go save the kid from the unbearable pain I knew he was in. Had felt he was in. No way was I going to let him continue suffering like that.
But I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to sort it out. I mean, it wasn't like I could just go call the feds for back up. That would be like betraying Sean. They'd just go send him back to his dad, with whom he legally belonged, and lock his mom up for kidnap, or something. And that would suck.
I guess I could have called Rob. He'd have gone with me. But it would have taken too long for him to come over. I needed to leave then and there. Besides, weren't his friends supposed to have been watching the place? Weren't they supposed to be making sure Sean was safe?
I twisted my hands a little more violently through Chigger's thick fur and he responded by letting out a quiet whine. It broke me out of my troubled planning and I stood up quickly.
"Ok, boy, we have to go. Right now. We can... call Rob on the way."
I dressed at lightning speed and after cramming a load of stuff I'd seen people take in action films – you know, penknife, torch, string, that kind of stuff – I ran down the stairs, Chigger close at my heels.
In the kitchen, my dad was sitting at the table, eating his breakfast.
"Good morning, Jess, Chigger," he said happily, from behind the pages of his favourite broadsheet. He reached a hand out to lazily scratch Chigger behind the ears - despite his earlier doubts, my dad seems to have grown quite fond of him, "You're up a little early. Nervous?"
"Nervous? What?" I blinked at him, my mind still in overdrive on the whole Sean thing. Sure I was nervous, but how the hell did my dad know about it?
"About your test tomorrow."
"Oh, that," I shook my head a little, as I remembered. "Um, not too much. It's not like I haven't driven before..." I stopped as something suddenly dawned on me, "Actually, yeah I am. Don't you think it'd be a good idea if I got some practice in today? You know, went driving today?"
"Of course," agreed my dad, "You want as much practice as possible. How about on the way to school?"
I froze again. I mean, come on, what was this? First a driving test and now school? Someone really needed to tell the Big Guy that Sean was in trouble and I was the best chance he had of being rescued. I think I deserved a bit of a break.
Or maybe this was the price I had to pay for spending an amazing day with Rob yesterday?
Whatever. Life sucks.
I looked back over at my dad who was eying me, somewhat concernedly.
"Do you want to take the car on the way to school?" he asked.
"Uh, sure. That'd be great."
"Who would go with you? I have to go work. And unfortunately, your mother has to go help out with the new records at Mastriani's. I guess you could ask Ruth?"
"Oh, dad, um..." I was not going to drag Ruth into something like this. "Ruth has had to go early today for an... orthodontist appointment."
"Really?" he frowned at me.
I didn't blame him. The lie was a bit of a long shot. I mean, Ruth only lives next door. He only had to look out the window to see Ruth's car and possibly her moving around in the front room. But I had to try. I was desperate. Sean was desperate.
My dad looked troubled, but I guess he had to go to work pretty bad because he seemed to buy it.
"And Mike's gone for an early class."
"Hey, don't worry about it," I said airily, "I can manage it on my own. It's only to school, right?"
"Don't think I'm letting you take it out alone, Jessica," said my dad, warningly, "It's rush hour and you're taking the test tomorrow. I think the risk is a little too great."
"Aw, come on, dad." I pleaded, "I need the car. There's no one who can go with me."
Just then we were interrupted from our debate by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. I kind of welcomed the disturbance, actually, because it seemed pretty clear that I was losing and needed to think of a new approach. Which meant that the smile I greeted Doug with was slightly wider and more relieved than necessary.
My dad looked over at Doug, suspiciously. "Aren't you supposed to be working today?"
"I've got a day off today," yawned Doug, reaching lazily for some cereal, "In exchange for an extra job they want me to do next weekend."
He looked shrewdly at the way me and dad were positioned, with Chigger lying wearily on the floor between us. "What's going on?"
"Jess wants to take the car but there's no one who can go with her." said my dad, tiredly, as he turned his attention partially back to his newspaper.
I rolled my eyes at the vertical face of the front page. I still hadn't thought of a way to get my dad to give me the damn car. If only I'd managed to get my licence earlier, this whole thing would have been easier. It was turning out that ringing Rob would have been the better option, this was taking so long. Although no way did I want to have to disrupt Rob from work.
"Whad'you men nurrun cen go wiver?" asked Doug, incomprehensibly through a mouthful of cereal.
"Ew, Doug," I moaned, motioning to the numerous bits of cereal he had just managed to spray over the table. "Learn some table manners, man."
"Sorry," he apologised, reaching for a cloth, "Why can no one go with her?"
My dad sighed and took another sip from his mug of strong tea. It was the mug which says, "World's Greatest Cook" which I'd bought him for Christmas. He'd actually called it pretentious when I'd first given it him, but now I had a sneaking feeling that he kind of liked it.
"Your mother and I are working. Ruth's apparently unavailable and Mike's gone to college. And no way am I letting Jess out alone."
"What about me?" said Doug, surprisingly.
"What?" asked my dad, almost slamming the mug back down on the table.
"What about me?" repeated Doug, calmly. "I'm here today. I could go with Jess."
"But you haven't driven for ages," I burst out. I was seriously touched that he was willing to venture out with me. Really, seriously touched – my brother tries to avoid family outings as much as possible. But somehow I didn't think that Doug accompanying me on this trip would be the best arrangement.
"Doesn't mean I've forgotten how," replied Doug, a little defensively, "And I still have a licence."
"If you want to go," said my dad at last, clearly pleased, "That would be great."
Why did it have to be my dad who was handling this? If it had been my mum, she would have been too concerned and overprotective to even think about the arrangement.
"Ok," said Doug, "Jess, we can take my car. You drive me to school and I'll drive back."
Did he have to be so nice and thoughtful at the precise moment when it really wouldn't help?
"Thanks, but it's alright," I tried to keep any urgency out of my voice, "But honestly, there's no problem with me going alone. Dad, I'd be fine. Seriously."
Doug looked hurt. And that was the last thing I wanted to do. Hurt Doug's feelings, I mean. I fully appreciated what he'd offered. But there was no telling what kind of results him accompanying me could produce. I'm thinking along the lines of another Episode. And I wanted him to have one of those even less than I wanted to hurt his feelings.
It was a pretty tough, but necessary choice to make.
But it was still hard watching him eating his cereal with that dejected expression on his face. It's not you, I tried to convey with my thoughts, it's me and all the crap I have to do. But of course, my psychic powers don't extend to telepathy so he just continued on looking sad.
Until my dad stepped in.
"Jessica," he hissed, angrily, "How dare you just reject your brother's offer like that? I'm not letting you out alone so I suggest you allow Doug to go withyou. You should be grateful."
I understood why my dad was angry. I guess he was pretty keen to help continue this recent 'good streak' Doug had been having. What with his job at the comic shop and his thing with Tasha, he was turning out pretty ok in my parents' eyes. I mean, not like he wasn't ok before. He was. But he was slightly... different and now he was doing all kinds of normal-ish things. Whatever. My dad clearly didn't want me to go crush this new found confidence.
I looked from my determined dad to the dejected Doug and gave an inward scream of frustration. It was so not the ideal situation, but Sean was in trouble and all that mattered was getting to him as soon as possible.
"Doug, it would be great if you came with me," I said, desperately grabbing for the keys, "But we have to go right now."
And pulling my shoes on, I headed for the door.
"Seriously," I said again, "Right now. Now come on."
Doug followed me into the foyer, followed by my dad. He watched from the doorway as Doug got into the passenger seat.
"Hang on," said my dad quickly, as I closed the door to the back seat, "Jess, why are you taking Chigger to school with you?"
"I'm letting him out for a run on the way," I invented wildly, "See you later. Bye!"
I threw myself into the front seat and simultaneously slammed the door while starting the engine. I reversed so neatly out of the drive that I kind of regretted the fact that there were no examiners around to watch. But only briefly. I had way bigger things to worry about.
Like the fact that I was now on my way to single-handedly rescue Sean. Or the fact that somehow I had to get Doug out the car, without making him suspicious.
"Whoa," said Doug as I sped off down the road, "You're in a hurry."
"What?" I asked, distractedly.
"I said you're in a hurry. As in going fast," repeated Doug.
"Hey," he said, as I didn't reply but kept my grim face trained on the road, "Jess, are you ok?"
I didn't reply. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I heard him. I was too busy trying to sort out all the different stuff I had to do. I mean, just thinking about one of them was causing me enough trouble. But thinking about it all together and trying to make them all work? Yeah, that was damn near impossible. I wasn't managing anything, but instead making myself more and more panicked. And panicked is not a good mood to be in whilst fronting a solo child rescue mission. Luckily, though, I'm a pretty good driver so I wasn't weaving all other the road, or whatever.
"Jess!" interrupted Doug, practically shouting now, "What's wrong? What's going on?"
"Nothing," I replied calmly, remembering that the last thing I wanted to do was make him Episode. "I'm driving you to school. I'm tired, is all."
"If you're driving me to school," he said sharply, "Why are you driving in the wrong direction?"
"Must have missed the turning," I answered, vaguely.
"If you missed the turning, why the hell aren't you turning round to go and take it again? This better be you driving somewhere to let Chigger out."
I sighed and quickly pulled the car up at the side of the road. I killed the engine and turned to face Doug.
"I suggest you get out the car now." I said, firmly.
"Are you nuts? It's miles to walk back now."
"Fine, I suggest you get out of the car once I drive you a little further back into town."
"And I still wouldn't get out then. You don't have a licence, remember? Jess, what's going on?"
I looked ahead at the road and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. I wasn't sure whether to tell Doug the truth or not. I didn't want to worry him, for obvious reasons. But it was pretty clear that he wouldn't get out the car if I asked him. And I couldn't pretend that I was just driving ages away to another town simply for a random day trip. I was going to have to tell him. I'd already lost enough time and I needed to get there as soon as possible.
"Ok, Doug," I said, starting up the engine. "Sean has been kidnapped by some friends of his dad. I need to get to him. Soon. So you either get out the car now or I'm going to end up taking you all the way there. And I don't think that would be a good idea."
Doug widened his eyes a little, like he wasn't sure if he'd heard me right. But then he kind of slumped forward and groaned.
"Dear God, Jess. Can't you call the feds, or something? There's no way it's safe for you to go take all these guys on, on your own. You can't do this."
"I can and I am. The feds will just return him to his asshole of a dad. I have to get there right now. I mean it," I said, cutting off Doug's attempts at a protest, "I'm the only one who knows exactly where he is. There's no one else who can help. So you either get out the car now or you come all the way. I've already lost too much time."
Doug sat silently for a while and then his face seemed to harden.
"I'm coming. I'm not going to let my sister go off on some half-brained mission alone."
Immediately, I pulled the car back on the road and kicked up the speed. I bit my lip hard, so hard I could have drawn blood. I didn't see how this was going to affect Doug, but I hoped to God it wouldn't be in a bad way.
"So," began Doug, breaking the gloomy silence that fallen, "This your first time cutting school?"
"More or less," I answered, deciding to disregard the time me and Ruth had decided to go to some out of town concert.
In fact, when I think about it, I'm a damn good student. Well, apart from the whole beating people up and perpetually being in detention thing. In general, I don't cut class. And I was only doing it today to go save some kid's life. I do the work. Well, pretty much. I mean, occasionally, there are some really crap classes where it's just not worth listening. But I hand work they ask for in. And I'm getting by without the safeguard of being one of the school's sports stars.
Doug looked on interestedly as I swung the car for another right hand turn.
"How do you know where we're going?" he asked, curiously.
"I don't know, really," I answered honestly, "I just wake up and know. It's weird. I kind of instinctively know where to go. Just from my dream."
I broke off as I remembered the exact details of my dream. Well, of my nightmare.
"Who are the guys who have Sean?" asked Doug, breaking another silence.
I had been prepared for this question. Unfortunately, I didn't have the exact answer.
"I'm not sure," I confessed, "I mean, they're definitely in with Sean's dad. But I don't know if they're a gang or anything."
"Right, so we don't know how many of them there are?" said Doug, grimly voicing my thoughts.
"I guess," I said, forcing the words out with difficulty, "We'll have to see when we get there."
Doug nodded, clearly worried.
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He seemed fine so far. Worried, but then so was I. Only a fool wouldn't have been worried.
I urged the car to go just a little bit faster.
I was starting to wonder if this was such a good idea. I was driving with my episodic brother to go face an enemy I didn't know. No one knew where we were. I hadn't even told Ruth. Or - I thought, with a pang – Rob.
No, things did not look good.
In fact, I didn't think things could possibly get any worse.
But then, I'm a fool.
MWAHAHAHA. I finished another chapter! Be proud, even if it did suck.
Please, please, please review. Tell me if you liked it and if you didn't.
Constructive criticism is very much appreciated, you know.