Meanwhile...
With James...
It seemed like Ray wasn't kidding when he said that a storm was on its way to Simport. James was only hoping that it was really nothing more but a soft rain, but he didn't expect that it would've been one similar to a hurricane. Both the large amount of rain and the heavy winds combined would be enough to send anyone to the hospital if one were to go out there. If he had known that it was going to be this bad, then he probably would've had enough time to get to either Ray, Raven, or Jenny's house and stayed there until...who knows when this was going to end, so that he didn't have to deal with Victoria's bullshit during his wait. At least for what it's worth, at least his mother and step-father made it back home before the storm began.
Throughout the first hour of the storm, everyone was pretty much doing something to keep themselves busy for the time being. James's mother and his step-father had just finished placing away their groceries, and were now sitting on the couch talking to each other. Victoria had just finished up unpacking her belongings, and was now silently reading a book to herself. As for James, he had remained in his bedroom and just played video games on his laptop. Unfortunately, he had gotten bored after awhile, so he stopped and then just sat there in his bed, waiting for this storm to finally end so that he can go off to hang out with one of his friends. Hopefully, this storm ends soon.
As he sat there, he decided to give Jenny a call to see where she's at, and to see if she was doing alright. He already knew where Ray and Raven were at and he knew that they were safe, so now he had to see where his crush was at right now. Not to mention, he hadn't spoke with her after their talk yesterday morning, so he felt like it was only best that he gave her a call now. He places Jenny's number into the phone, then waited for her to answer.
After a few seconds of waiting, Jenny finally answered the phone. "Hey James, what's up?" The geeky girl asked on the other line.
"Hey Jenny. I'm not bothering you at work, am I?" James asked. "I was just calling to see how you were doing right now, and if you were somewhere safe. So...how are things, Jenny?"
"I'm fine. As for work, you're not bothering me whatsoever, because I'm not even at work today. I called Agent Walker earlier today to see if I can take a day off work, and thankfully, he allowed it." Jenny took a bit of a pause, then finally spoke again a few seconds later. "I'm at home now, watching StarCruiser X in the living room...it would be fun, but my little brother, Kevin, is acting like a nuisance." She sighed. "Siblings...am I right?"
James gives a scoff, knowing exactly how that's like. "Tell me about it...my step-sister is older than your little brother, and she's probably even worse to live with."
"Oh, now don't say that...just because you and Victoria argue a lot, doesn't mean she's a bad person."
"Jenny, don't side with my step-sister on this one...don't you know how much of a pain in the ass she was back in high school? She's probably the worst student that I have ever spoken to in that entire school. I don't even think Chaz, Summer, Crystal, Yuki, or Goth Boy is as stuck-up, bossy, and inconsiderate as she is." The goth then rubs the side of his forehead, leaning back onto his own bed before continuing to talk about his step-sister some more. "Oh, you want to know what the worse part about living with somebody like her is? It's the fact that she literately has the nerve to sit there and blame me for both of our parents marrying each other. So to her, me telling her off to Trevor for being massively impulsive to me, all of this is somehow my fault. Unbelievable, am I right?"
"Well in truth, all of this is certainly your fault, Louiston." Victoria's voice rang out from close by, causing James to glare at his bedroom door. He saw Victoria standing there, glaring back at him. "If thou had only listened to me rather than act like an immature buffoon, then my father wouldn't have had to speak with your mother."
"Oh, of course...I knew she'd join the conversation once I mentioned her..." The geeky goth muttered while sitting up. "I'd argue with you, but I'm kind of busy talking with Jenny right now. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you would just go the hell away."
"Thou is speaking with Jennifer?"
Hearing Jenny being mentioned caused Victoria to step into her step-brother's bedroom. Despite her annoyance towards James, she never really had anything much against his best friend whatsoever. Heck, Victoria would probably say that back then, Jenny was a lot more competent a person to befriend rather than James himself. It almost surprised her that she never once attempted to even call or text the geeky girl throughout her entire week in Vermont...but then again, she knew that during her time away from Simport, she'd probably be busy hanging out with James.
"I did just say I was, didn't I?" James asked her, clearly sounding sarcastic as he asked that. "Now get lost already, will you? I'm still in the middle of talking with her until you came in to interrupt." Right before he could even continue talking with his crush, Victoria swiftly took his phone out of his grip. "What the hell, Victoria?!"
"My deepest apologies, but it had been much too long since me and Jennifer had spoken to one another." Victoria said, now holding her step-brother's phone. "I also don't have thy friend's phone number in my own, so I must use thine instead."
"Well yeah, but..."
"It will only be a few minutes. Thou can wait that long, yes?"
James was about to yell and argue with her some more, but then relented, choosing not to do that. Considering that Jenny was still on the phone the time Victoria just walked on into his bedroom, it was probably not a very good idea for him to be losing his cool with his step-sister. Also, with his mother and step-father downstairs, the last thing he really needs is for them to hear him and get berated for doing so. Defeated, James just sat back down onto his bed, hesitantly allowing his sister to talk to Jenny now.
"Whatever...I don't have time for arguing with you, anyways..." James mutters as he sat back down onto his bed. "Just don't be too long on my phone please? I still want to talk with her, you know." Victoria just silently nodded, before exiting the geeky goth's room, leaving the goth alone once again.
After receiving her step-brother's phone, Victoria went off to her own bedroom so that she can talk to Jenny...
Stepping into Victoria's bedroom, one would be quite surprised to notice that her room was nearly completely different compared to James's room. Her bed was normally made every morning, and there weren't any posters on the walls around it. Her bookshelf had romance novels, rather than comic books. There wasn't even a single video game in sight in her entire bedroom. Her desk was even a lot more organized compared to James, who usually has action figures and comic books on the sides of his laptop most of the time. The only thing that stood out on her desk was a plastic skull she had ever since she joined her drama class in high school.
When she was finally in her bedroom now, she could faintly hear the sound of Jenny saying 'Hello' on her step-brother's phone. She went over to her desk, then sat down at it, prepared to continue the call that James was previously having. She places the phone up to her own ear, then spoke.
"Ah, fair Jennifer!" Victoria said happily. "I must say, it hast been much too long since we last spoken."
"Victoria?" Jenny asked, rather surprised to be hearing from the drama teacher's daughter instead of her best friend. "I guess it has been too long...also, no need to be so formal, you can just call me 'Jenny'." Victoria chuckled a bit, before the geeky girl spoke again. "So, how have things been with you recently. How was Vermont?"
"Quite wonderful, dear girl. The sights were beautiful and the weather was quite delightful. Thou would've enjoyed it very much." She giggled for a second, before leaning into the desk to ask the geeky girl something now. "So, now tell me, hast anything new occurred for thee recently?"
"Well, no. Not really, except for..." Jenny then giggled a bit, as Victoria raises an eyebrow, seemingly interesting in where this was going. "...I got a love letter in my mailbox the other day from a possible 'Secret Admirer'. How cool is that?"
"Oh, joyous of days, fair Jennifer! That hast to be the most delightful news these ears hast heard in awhile!" The step-sister shouts, excited to hear this. "Does thou hast any clue who thy secret admirer is?"
"I have one idea, but...I doubt you would even know who I'm even referring to..."
"I will have to hear the name first before I know who you are referring to. Go ahead, tell me. I'm most curious."
"Okay...his name's Rob Jarrett. He's this dude that I have met awhile back. He likes a lot of the same things that I do, like video games, StarCruiser X, comic books, a lot of other things like that. I know it might seem like a bit of a stretch to just...assume that it's him, but honestly, I can't think of anyone else who would probably be my secret admirer."
Victoria looked behind herself, before deciding to bring up one person who could be Jenny's secret admirer. "Did you not assume James yet? I thought that he would be your first assumption of who your 'Secret Admirer' could be."
"What?! James?!" Jenny asked rather shocked to hear that being suggested to her. "No way, Victoria. There's no way that it could be James. Clearly, whoever wrote me the letter was somebody shy, and if I know James, I can tell you that he's not a shy person whatsoever. If something is on his mind, he's saying what's on his mind, whether it would be something causal or something cynical."
"I see. My apologies then, I was only making an assumption myself."
"It's totally fine, Victoria. But...regardless, I highly doubt that it's James." Jenny then took a bit of a pause, before she decided to turn this conversation about romance onto her friend now. "Anyways, speaking of 'love'...I don't think I have ever asked if you have a crush on anyone around Simport yet. Haven't I yet?"
"Hmm...no, I don't believe thou hast ever asked me yet." The girl then chuckled, before deciding to confess her crush to Jenny. "But...I doubt there is any sort of trouble mentioning it to thee, fair Jennifer."
"Okay. Go for it...who is your crush?"
Victoria gave out a slight chuckle, before finally confessing. "My crush is on Ray."
"Ray? That one goth dude that James is friends with?" The drama teacher's daughter lets out another chuckle with a blush, before Jenny spoke up about this. "I don't think that's really a good idea, Victoria. Ray already has a girlfriend, and...as far as I know, I don't think they are going to break up anytime soon."
"Pity...I always thought that the two of us working together on that one school play together was a sign of us being meant to be..."
"Don't be too glum, dude. I'm sure you'll be able to find a man who would be good enough to date one of these days." Jenny took a bit of a pause again, before she finally spoke again about an entire minute later. "Okay, I believe now is a good enough time for me to end this call. My dad's wanting me to help make lunch for the three of us."
"Ah, very well. It was a pleasure speaking with you again, Jennifer."
"Yeah. It totally was." Jenny took one more pause, before speaking one more time to Victoria. "You know, it's fun talking about boys with another girl aside from James for once. It feels very therapeutic for me, in all honesty. We should hang out and talk more often."
"The feeling is mutual indeed, fair Jennifer." The step-sister stood up from her desk, before turning towards her bedroom door. "Perhaps, one of these days after this storm drops its final raindrop, we shalt meet with each other at the coffee shop, or perhaps even a different location too?"
"Sounds lovely. However, I will have to see when I have a day off this week in order for us to hang out."
"Splendid."
"Anyways, I got to go now. It was nice chatting with you again, Victoria."
"Of course, the feeling is very much mutual too, fair Jennifer. Good day now." After that, the phone call had ended there, leaving Victoria to leave her bedroom in order to give the phone back to her step-brother.