It was Monday morning, Jess knew that her Mum would have gone into school early to make sure everything was ok. Tom drove her round to her house where she could quickly change into her uniform. Bex was bringing her school bag with her and she had made sure that her hair and make up were done. She locked the door and jumped back into the car. "Thank for doing this Tom."
Tom smiled at her. "It's ok. I've enjoyed having you around, I think you might need to talk to your Mum today though, I reckon she might have some questions."
"Yeah…just a few…I'm more worried about Dad and Maria…"
"There is that…I'll drop you as close to the entrance as I can so you can go in and meet Bex in the common room, that way you should be ok…"
…
Jess jumped out of the car next to the doors to the school. She had already said thanks to Tom over and over again. He drove away to park in his normal space while her and Josh walked towards the sixth form common room. She pushed open the door and was greeted by Bex rushing towards her for a hug.
"I missed you Jess…it's been awful…" Jess hung tight to her sister, she had felt awful about leaving her and Harry, but at the same time she knew that she had to do it.
"I'm sorry….I just couldn't deal with it…what did they say?" Jess pulled away slightly. She had been careful to make sure that her make-up covered her bruise. It had started fading slightly now. She really didn't want any questions yet. Maybe it had been a one off, maybe now her Dad would make more of an effort to make her stay round and they could get on better.
"Not much…Maria said that you'd had an argument and stormed off. Dad ending up having an argument with Mum down the phone, he even drove round there to check that you weren't there…" Bex stopped. "You have spoken to Mum right?"
Jess slowly shook her head. "I sent her a text to let her know that I was alright…I couldn't tell her where I was though…then she would have had to tell Dad and I couldn't go back there this weekend…I couldn't deal with Maria going on ab out what a let-down and disappointment I am."
Bex nodded. "You really should talk to Mum…she'll be worried about you…and I'm pretty sure that Dad wants a word to." Bex rubbed her sisters arm. They both knew that she would get a talking to from both parents.
Jess smiled back at her. "I'm waiting for Mum to come and find me…I've missed her…Dad on the other hand I may keep avoiding for a bit."
"That might be hard…pretty sure you've got maths with him second lesson."
Jess quickly pulled her timetable from her bag and ran her finger down the column for Mondays lessons. Bex was right, maths second with her Dad…but didn't that mean. "Perfect…Dad second and Maria fourth for general studies…could this day get any better?"
Bex laughed before nodding towards the door where Karen stood looking towards her daughters. "Good question."
Karen pushed open the door and walked over to where they were standing. "Jess…we need to talk, when are you free?"
Flicking her timetable back open Jess double checked. "You can have first, third…or even fourth."
Karen checked her clock. "Well how about now then? I have a meeting later that I can't move." Jess nodded before giving Bex a quick hug and following her Mum out of the common room.
…
Karen shut the door to her office before sitting on one end of the sofa. Jess sat on the other. Karen looked towards her youngest daughter. "What happened this weekend Jess? Neither me or your Dad knew where you were? I mean I know now that you were at Tom's…but we didn't have a clue."
Jess nodded. "I know…I just, well I couldn't tell you where I was because you would have to tell Dad, and I didn't tell him because I didn't want to go back there…" She started picking under her nails.
Karen put a hand on top of hers. "I understand that, but Jess the courts have settled a custody agreement…you have to stay with your Dad at weekends. If you don't then they may re-assess what's going on…" Karen broke off. She had already spoken to Tom that morning who had told her he was worried about Jess…more specifically the relationship between Maria and Jess. "I spoke to Tom…he's worried about you." Karen lent forward and gently lifted Jess' fringe. Even through the layers of make up the bruising was slightly visible. "Did she do that?"
Jess turned away, she didn't want to talk about it. Her wrists had started pounding… "Yeah…but she lost her temper…I guess I pushed too far."
"That's no excuse for violence Jess…I need to talk to her."
"No Mum…she's my teacher as well, and she could make things nasty for everyone. She'll say that I made it up to change the custody agreement. I'll try again next weekend…I promise."
Karen nodded. She wasn't happy about it, but she needed to respect what Jess wanted. "Ok…but you let me know the second anything else happens. You're my little girl Jess…I want to look after you."
