Here you go everyone. Another chapter.
Please review and let me know what you think.
I do not own. Pretty Little Liars belongs to Sara Shepard and Freeform.
The next day sometime after school I meet up with some of my friends to get some softball in. It's a little chilly, but that doesn't stop us from playing. I'm all into this game until Luna shows up out of nowhere with her brother and a few of their friends. Without thinking too much into it I ignore that they are getting closer to the field, just keeping my head into the game. That is till we hear a yell from behind the fence that divides the field and the section where the fans would sit to watch the game.
"Still playing with the liar!" their friend Jose yells. "Thought you had more sense than to allow an attention seeker like that to stay your friend."
I had just caught a grounder that got hit to me from Freya when he yelled, so I stuff my hand into my glove and squeeze onto the ball to keep me from saying something I might regret. I watch as Luna and Kyle stare without showing much sympathy towards what is going on. To not so much of a surprise, Emma and Rachel are right with them. Luna has seemed to gotten a little closer to them since I left basketball. Makes sense since she distanced herself from Carter and Tori when they took my side. We were really the only ones she hung out with from the varsity team.
"Got nothing to say, Four Eyes?" Rachel yells, a smile on her face. I'm sure she's missed calling me that ever since Amber and Tommy left Rosewood High.
They all end up by the fence where first base and right field is and I walk closer to them. I slant my eyebrows in anger, "Don't call me that." I say through gritted teeth, making me think all over again about how if Alison comes home I'll be right at the bottom of the popularity food chain again.
"Aww, boo-hoo. Brant doesn't like her old nickname." Emma says, pouting her lips in a mocking way.
I take a deep breath as they all laugh at me, "Didn't think much of you guys being bullies." I look at the Rouches while the other girls start to stand beside me one by one.
They both smile a little evilly at me. Luna's spark of madness coming out a bit as she watches me. "Guess you didn't know us as well as you thought."
"And here I thought you'd have my back because you were two of my close friends." I say in a sarcastic tone, but I do mean it.
"You lost that once my brother was sent to Juvie." Kyle tells me, his arms crossed over his chest in a pissed off way.
"You said you'd always be there for me, Lune." Now my tone is serious.
She doesn't even hesitate or show sympathy as she says, "Times change."
I try not to let my face show that her not having my back hurts, "No, people change. They changed you." I put a lot of angry emotion into those words as I point to her "friends".
Apparently this is the wrong move as Rachel grabs onto my hoodie and pulls me to her. My face is right up in hers as my stomach grazes the low fencing. "Want me to change your face, Brant?"
"Leave her alone, Rachel!" Kelly yells, pulling a bit on my arm as she tries to help me get out of her grip.
No one reacts fast enough to help Kelly as Rachel is so much stronger than me that she manages to pull me right over the fence. I land hard onto the grass and lose my breath from the pain that goes through my entire body. The girls yell in panic and jump the fence too as Rachel and them all laugh at me.
Carter and Danielle help me to my feet. "You okay?" Danielle asks.
I slowly nod, trying to catch my breath. "Y-Yea."
She stares up at me for a few seconds, her brown eyes looking a bit scared. As much as we are all used to having people bother me every once in awhile, it seems she's still terrified every time something happens.
I shift my eyes away from her and stare back at Rachel, "Jeez. Are you on steroids or something."
"Don't be such a smartass."
"I know why you called rape on someone who didn't even do anything." Emma says out of nowhere, smiling.
"She didn't say he raped her." Freya gets into it, "How many times is she going to go through this."
"Oh fine." Emma says, rolling her eyes at me, "I know why you called "attempted rape" and assault on him."
Now I roll my eyes, "Humor me."
"You've been into Noel this whole time. You just wanted a reason to get rid of Blake."
My mouth slowly drops, "What? Are you out of your mind?"
"Nope." she says, "I see the way you two look at each other. You guys are totally banging, and yet he is still safe and sound away from Juvie."
"You are crazy."
"But you aren't denying that you two are an item."
"We aren't anything. We are just friends." I mean, it's not exactly a lie. We had the one kiss and it hasn't happened since. But I don't need to give her the satisfaction of finding out that we have a bit of a connection.
Luna laughs, "Yea, sure. Friends with benefits." she shakes her head, "I can't believe you."
"Luna, I didn't…."
No time to finish that sentence as she gives me a good punch to the jaw, my glasses flying off from the force of the hit. This is a completely insane idea to do because she knows that I don't take threats like that well. My emotions kick in so fast from all the times I've wanted to kick her ass for doing what she has that I don't hesitate to tackle her to the ground. I punch her in the face so hard that her nose bursts into blood. Then she decks me again and gets me in the eye. We have no more time to hit when someone lifts me off of her and pulls me away.
"I hate you!" Luna yells at me as Kyle gets her to her feet and holds her back. Her nose is gushing with blood and looks like it's swelling up. "I can't believe we were ever friends."
Tori is standing behind me with both of her arms looped between mine, holding my arms behind my back to keep me from going after her. "Well then I guess it's a good thing we aren't anymore!" My right eye is starting to see blurrier than usual without my glasses. It feels like it's closing up from the punch. "Stay away from me."
"No problem." she starts to get pulled away, "And when Blake gets home don't you dare talk to him."
I laugh, "Wouldn't do that even if he wanted to."
"Bitch!"
"Jerk!"
And just like that, the words that we used to use from the TV show Supernatural as a playful thing between friends turned into hateful words as enemies.
I get home and am a little surprised to find the house empty. It's not even the weekend, but it seems like everyone is out. So I don't have to worry about anyone seeing me as I head upstairs to shower. When I look into the mirror I see that my eye is noticeably black and blue, and a little puffy. My jaw even has a bit of a dark mark on it too. Figures that when I have plans is when I get into a fight.
I wait about two hours, hanging in my room to catch up on my homework when my phone beeps. Wes is done with what he needed to do in Philly and is now on his way to Rosewood. Little did I know that when I'd head into the Brew to wait for him that the girls were going to be there.
Crap. I think to myself when I see them sitting over by their usual spot. So I go to the counter to order a coffee and bagel and hope for the best that they won't notice me.
With my wonderful luck though I don't run into them, I run into Andrew. "Jessie."
I turn around and look up at him, my face dropping. "Oh, hey."
His eyebrows go up, "What happened to your face?"
I shake my head, "Nothing. I just...I got into a fight with Luna."
"Luna?" his mouth drops a little, then recovers. "Wow."
"Doesn't look like I'm getting that friendship back."
He shrugs, shaking his head a few times. "Who cares. If her and Kyle think that you did this to Blake on purpose then it's their idiocy getting in the way."
I half smile, "Thanks."
He nods, "Well. I have to go." he goes to lean in to hug me, but I give him a look. "What?"
"You know I saw you being flirty with Spencer yesterday, right?"
His face drops a little, "I wasn't…"
"You realize she has a boyfriend. Who happens to be one of my best friends."
"I know that, but..."
"Then what are you doing?" I of course know what he's doing, but I rather play dumb.
He half smiles, "Jessie, it was just an innocent conversation between friends."
I slowly nod, trying to keep a smile on my face. "Of course."
He smiles a little at me, his expression now seeming confused and hurt. "I'll see you around?" He tries to sound friendly enough not to raise his voice. I think I hit a weak spot.
I smile and nod, "Yea."
He gives me a hug and then takes off. I feel a little bad attacking him like that. Because even though he was hitting on Spencer to get me pissed I have to appreciate that he was so into being there for me when he saw I was hurt. He gives me so many mixed feelings sometimes.
The girls never notice me for some reason. So I quickly order two coffees for me and Wes when I get to the front of the line and then we meet at the park instead.
"Whoa." he says when he sees my face, "Bet someone lost that fight against you."
I laugh, "Sure as hell did. I ripped her apart."
He slightly rubs his pointer finger onto my bruised jaw. "Wouldn't surprise me."
I smile a bit as he hugs me and then we sit down on the bench. We talk for awhile, just being random and having a good laugh. Then we take a walk. He seems to notice that I'm a bit distracted as well, so when he asks what's wrong I just tell him that I'm a little confused with my life right now.
"What's up?"
I shake my head, shrugging. "Everything." I take a breath, "My life has gotten so complicated with school, guys...friends."
"Example?"
I look up at him, his brown eyes are staring at me so softly it's like he is grasping every word. "I'm still having nightmares about Blake. It's making me physically exhausted because I feel like I'm always watching my back. It has a lot of people worried."
"You've been through a lot more than anyone at our age should. Yet you've been able to get through them all. This is going to take you a bit of time, but you will figure out how to be yourself again."
I slightly smile, then think about how to say the next thing on my mind before I do, "I'm also emotionally confused about my feelings with others."
He slowly nods, "So this is about a guy."
I half smile and nod. If he likes me I'm not making his hopes of being together any better. I can definitely see us becoming more than friends, but he doesn't live close enough to be able to make it work. The long distance thing has never been my forte. Plus I think I'm starting to like Noel more than him.
"Well...I think you are strong enough to move past all the emotions you are feeling. The confusion, fear. Whether you are ready for a relationship now or not is perfectly fine too. Just start slow, build up with the guy you like and see where and when things start to spark."
That's actually really good advice for someone who had no idea whether I was talking about him or someone else. After that we head back to where his car is because it's starting to get late so he can drive me home. The night was fun, not awkward. I feel like I've gained another really good friend.
Once I'm inside Uncle Byron scares the hell out of me. "What the hell happened to you!"
I honestly didn't even notice he was sitting in the family room until he yelled. He scares me so bad that I jump a good foot in the air. "Jeez, Uncle Byron. Clear your throat next time."
"Don't change the subject. What did you do to…"
"My face." I say, nodding. "Yea, everyone has been asking me that today."
He raises his eyebrows, "Well?"
I take a breath and sit beside him. "Luna. We got into a fight."
"What?"
"I took care of it."
"Jessie."
"Seriously, I'm fine."
"Please tell me you didn't start it."
I slightly smile, my reputation from last year of starting with people still lingers around. "No. She threw the first punch."
When I get upstairs luckily Aria isn't here. So I get into my PJ's and head straight to bed. The next morning though is when I have to explain what happened. Thankfully she doesn't give me a lecture and we just head to school.
School isn't the best place to be after that fight. What happened between me and Luna spreads like wildfire and everyone is either supporting that I hit her or against me because they are backing her up. So it is a bit of a rough day. I even get pulled into Hackett's office with Luna because he wants to know who started it. Even though it was off school property he does not appreciate that our actions is wilding people up in the halls.
"It was just a misunderstanding." Luna says, side looking at me. Her nose isn't broken but it's so dark that it looks like she rubbed black makeup on it. "It won't happen again."
He looks at me, "Was it?"
I slightly smile and nod, "Yea. Promise it won't happened again."
He eyes both of us and then tells us to leave. If we had started this at school then I'm sure we both would have been suspended or something. But since it wasn't and neither of us are talking then there is not much he can do about it.
So once we are out of sight of the office she side bumps me into a wall. "Don't touch me." I tell her as I push myself off the wall, so wanting to swing at her again.
She looks behind her shoulder to me as she walks away, "Then stop playing the victim."
"I'm not!"
"Tell Blake that." then she takes off down the hallway.
"You okay?"
I look behind me and see Ezra. "Yea." I half smile as I rub my arm. "I'm fine." I look up at him, "Are you? You've seemed a little distracted lately."
He smiles, "I'm fine. Just a lot of work stuff."
I watch him for a few seconds, "You know I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying, right?"
He laughs, his face not changing the way it normally does when he gets caught. "I'm fine, Jessie. Honest."
I continue to watch him, no change in emotion. Maybe I'm losing my touch. Then the late bell rings for last period to start and my heart sinks. "Oh crap."
"I'll give you a late pass."
We start to walk down the hall, "Should write one for yourself too."
He laughs, "I'm on my prep."
"Oh. Right."
When I get out of his class with a late pass in my pocket I walk down the hall to the stairs to head to ceramics. I get to the top and as I'm going to walk around the corner I feel a hand wrap around my wrist and pulls me backwards, pinning me to a wall.
For a second my mind races in fear, then I look up and see the blue eyes of Noel. "Hey." he has a bright smile on his face.
I smile, then hit him on the chest. "Asshole, you scared the hell out of me."
"Ow." He rubs his chest as he laughs, "You have a mean right hook."
"Which is why Luna ended up with a messed up nose."
He nods approvingly, "I saw." He reaches up to my face and gently touches my bruised jaw and eye, "I'm glad you stood up for yourself."
I lose my breath for a second as he grabs onto my hands and slips his fingers between mine. I don't even pull away as I say, "I've tried so hard not to let myself be that Jessie anymore."
"Sometimes you just need to let out some steam. It happens."
I watch his eyes for a few seconds as he just smiles down at me. Then I snap out of it, "Oh my God. I'm so late for ceramics."
"Skip it."
I laugh, "It's my favorite part of the day."
He raises his eyebrows, "Better than seeing me?"
"Yep." he gives me a look as I laugh and I scoot around him, "I gotta go." I head down the hall, "And so do you!" I yell behind me before I walk around the corner.
When I get home later on I find Mike and Mona cuddling on the sofa in the family room. It's still weird to process that they are a thing. Apparently Aria found out before he could tell her anything and she was not happy about it.
"Hey." I smile as I walk in.
They both had jumped off each other when they heard the door open, so now they look a little embarrassed. "Hey, Jessie." Mike says, "What's up?"
I shake my head, "Not much. Just tired."
"How are those shiners?" he smiles, pointing to my bruises.
I laugh, "Fine. Nothing I haven't gone through before."
"I heard Hackett pulled you out of class." Mona says slowly, as if she's not sure whether to talk to me or not.
I watch her for a second and half smile, "Yea."
"Did you get into trouble?"
I shake my head, "Nah. We kept our mouths shut, so nothing happened." I start to walk towards the study, "I'll be upstairs if you need me."
I don't even get to the stairs before I feel a hand wrap around my arm. I turn around and see that it's Mona. "Can I talk to you?"
My heart races a little, "Um..."
"Please?"
I take a breath and then nod, "Sure. Come upstairs."
We both climb the steps and she follows me into my room. Both of us sit on my bed, but not sitting next to each other.
"So...what's up?"
She takes a breath, "I wanted to thank you for being okay with this. Me and Mike I mean. I know it's not easy to allow someone who is like your little brother to date a person who hurt you."
"You did a little bit more than hurt me, Mona."
She slowly nods, her eyes saddening a bit. "I know." She looks down at her hands, "But I still appreciate that you aren't giving him a hard time about it. I have changed. I promise."
I nod a few times, not really sure how to answer that. Thankfully I don't have to when a figure pops up at the door. It's Aria, and the look of shock on her face kind of makes my heart sink.
"What's going on here?"
"Nothing. Just talking." Mona says.
"Great, well...get out." Aria tells her.
"Aria, chill out." I tell her as calmly as I can.
"Are you kidding me?"
"I..."
"I'll go. Mike's waiting anyway." She gets up and walks out the door.
I look at Aria, who still is watching me with a pissed look. "Did you have to be so mean about it?"
She nods, giving me a confused look. "Yes. It's Mona." she walks to her bed, "Why are you being nice to her?"
I go into my backpack and grab some of my books, "Because she is dating your brother. We need to at least make it seem like we are okay with it."
She shakes her head, "Actually we don't. Mike has no right to force us to like someone who tormented me last school year, while she kidnapped you."
I take a deep breath, "Maybe, but I'm just tired of looking over my shoulder with her. I want to just move past all this. Her dating him may actually change her."
She shakes her head, throwing some books onto her bed from her bag. "Someone like that will never change."
"Can always hope for the best."
She laughs, "Yea, until she tries to kill you again."
It gets really quiet after this. Neither of us even bother to say another word about Mona as we silently do our homework.
