See previous parts for disclaimer…
Part 23
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Part 24
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Manning House – Brunch, the next day
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"Where's the bacon?" Zoë asked frantically looking around the table for her crispy goodness. "What?" she asked as she saw her mom and sister, and Eli start to snicker. "What?" she asked again. "Come on, where's the bacon?" she asked again as Rick stood up to answer the ringing phone.
"Just a second," he said into the receiver before placing it on his shoulder. "Jessie, Katie's on the phone," he said preparing to jump out of the way when she pounced towards him to grab the phone, as was usually the case. He had been a casualty of young love, and didn't want it to happen again.
"Can you just tell her that I'm not feeling well and I'll call her later?" Jessie responded dully pushing the food on her plate around absently, and thus missing the astonished looks from everyone gathered around the table, including Zoë who had for the moment forgotten about the bacon.
"Jessie," Rick started slowly not sure what was going on, but knowing that having him lie to Katie for her couldn't possibly be the best solution. "I'm not going to lie to her for you, you're obviously feeling fine, so if you have something that you'd like to discuss or not discuss with Katie then…"
"Fine!" Jessie in an alarmingly loud, but relatively calm voice as she stood up from the table. "Tell her the truth, tell her I'm not here," and with that she headed towards the door, opening it and escaping into the afternoon sunlight before anyone could stop her or say anything to her. She just couldn't talk to Katie, not after what she'd done the night before. She'd made complete ass out of herself, she couldn't even understand what had been going through her head to make her act that way. All she knew was that the humiliation she felt knew no bounds, and that she absolutely couldn't talk to Katie.
"I'm sorry Katie," Rick said still watching the door in amazement. "She's not here right now, can I take a message?"
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School - Monday
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"You've gotta be shittin me!" Katie exclaimed looking at Andrea like she had just sprouted antennae. "This is like the most ridiculous assignment I've had the intense displeasure of having to not do," she continued as everyone around her laughed and Tad slung his arm around her shoulder, muttering 'there's our girl' to a response of 'here, here's'. There wasn't an assignment known to man, that Katie couldn't blow off with the nonchalance of a true professional.
"I wonder what your old lady's gonna have to say to that?" Russell asked as he spotted Jessie just across the schoolyard.
Katie looked up just in time to catch Jessie's eyes as she glanced over at them, and as always was lost for a moment looking at her. Then she remembered, she remembered being ditched all weekend long, and she remembered being pissed at being treated like the bad guy for not wanting to take advantage of the girl she was in love with. She remembered to look away, and that's just what she did, turning her head slightly to side, leaving Jessie staring at the side of her face.
"Whoa, is it just me or did it suddenly just get chilly?" Tad asked mock shivering as Jessie continued on her way towards the school after Katie totally turned her back on her.
"Don't," Katie responded darkly turning to face him. "Just don't."
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Manning House – Two days later
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Jessie stared down at her plate before closing her eyes and sighing deeply, then digging at her eyes tiredly. "Can I be excused?" she asked finally not able to take any more sitting around.
"You've barely touched you food," Rick commented upon hearing Jessie's request. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but he had noticed that she hadn't been eating much lately, and knew that with her history it was a big deal. He'd underestimated things the first time around and he wasn't going to make the same mistake this time.
Jessie glanced over at her dad then back down at her plate which she hadn't touched. "I'm not hungry."
"You should try and eat a little," Rick said not backing down, making a mental note to call Karen and see if Jessie was acting the same way at her house. If she was falling back into old patterns they were going to have to talk about what to do. "It's good."
Jessie was quite for a moment, acutely aware of the silence of the room, and of the feel of everyone's eyes on her. Painfully aware of the fact that everyone at the table was watching her, and knowing what they must be thinking, that she was relapsing, and their consequent pitying. "If you like it so much, why don't you eat it?" she said finally shoving the plate away from her and jostling the rest of the dishes on the table.
"Jessie," Lily began feeling the need to mediate before things got out of hand. "I could fix you something else if…"
"I don't want anything else," Jessie replied crankily. "I'm NOT hungry! What? I'm not allowed to not be hungry like day of the goddamn year?" she continued flinging herself against the back of her chair and crossing her arms, indignation her halo.
"That's right," Rick responded. He'd had about enough of her attitude, she'd been almost unbearable to live with for the last few days, constantly snipping and complaining and throwing a temper tantrum at the slightest provocation. He'd say it was like living with a three year old, only she'd been an absolute angel when she was three.
"What are you gonna do, force-feed me?" Jessie asked snottily looking over at him with a look that said 'deal with it'. Then when he didn't respond, she stood up and huffed out of the kitchen, flouncing up the stairs leaving a very uncomfortable family at the dinner table.
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Karen's House
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Jessie scratched at her notebook as her mind drifted back to school, and the memory of Katie and Sarah standing together in the hallway laughing away together merry as could be, then looked back down at her page scratching carelessly some more. She'd been trying to find Katie to apologize, to try and make up, cause she was absolutely miserable without the other girl around. But when she'd seen that, that irrational part of her brain that seemed to be controlling her more and more lately, took over and got all offended making her huff away bitterly.
"Is Katie coming over?" Karen asked wandering into the living room and seeing Jessie working alone. On Thursday nights, Katie was usual over there with her working away on whatever it was they were working on. It had become somewhat of a routine for them, one Karen actually enjoyed. It was nice to have the house filled with sounds, and laughter and life.
"No," Jessie responded curtly not bothering to look up.
"Why not?" Karen asked thinking that Jessie hadn't been filling the house with anything other than snideness and dark clouds lately.
"Because we broke up," Jessie responded as if she was discussing the weather, still not looking up.
Karen looked at her in surprise; she certainly hadn't expected that one. Moving further into the room she sat down on the couch. "Why?" she asked gently. She had actually gotten quite attached to the idea of the two of them together. Katie was genuinely a nice girl, and Jessie was so happy when they were together that Karen couldn't help but see the beauty in their relationship, even if she still worried for what it would mean to her daughters future.
"Because," Jessie replied peevishly as memories of her disastrous seduction came back to her.
"That's not much of an answer," Karen pointed out wondering what could possibly have happened between them. "Is it?" she continued trying to coax some more information out of her daughter.
"Fine," Jessie said turning around for the first time since her mother started talking. "The real reason we broke up is that she asked too many questions," she said looking at her mother pointedly.
Karen stared at her for a moment, her expression clearly showing that she wasn't impressed by her daughter's response, and then she got up and moved into the other room as Jessie turned back to her paper ripping it out of her notebook and throwing it to the side.
"She still got that bee up her ass?" Eli asked his mother as she came into the kitchen.
"A whole nest from the looks of it," Karen replied shaking her head.
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Comments would be very much appreciated, so if you can spare a second please tap, tap away! jbstories@hotmail.com
Part 23
---------
Part 24
---------
Manning House – Brunch, the next day
-------------------------------------------------
"Where's the bacon?" Zoë asked frantically looking around the table for her crispy goodness. "What?" she asked as she saw her mom and sister, and Eli start to snicker. "What?" she asked again. "Come on, where's the bacon?" she asked again as Rick stood up to answer the ringing phone.
"Just a second," he said into the receiver before placing it on his shoulder. "Jessie, Katie's on the phone," he said preparing to jump out of the way when she pounced towards him to grab the phone, as was usually the case. He had been a casualty of young love, and didn't want it to happen again.
"Can you just tell her that I'm not feeling well and I'll call her later?" Jessie responded dully pushing the food on her plate around absently, and thus missing the astonished looks from everyone gathered around the table, including Zoë who had for the moment forgotten about the bacon.
"Jessie," Rick started slowly not sure what was going on, but knowing that having him lie to Katie for her couldn't possibly be the best solution. "I'm not going to lie to her for you, you're obviously feeling fine, so if you have something that you'd like to discuss or not discuss with Katie then…"
"Fine!" Jessie in an alarmingly loud, but relatively calm voice as she stood up from the table. "Tell her the truth, tell her I'm not here," and with that she headed towards the door, opening it and escaping into the afternoon sunlight before anyone could stop her or say anything to her. She just couldn't talk to Katie, not after what she'd done the night before. She'd made complete ass out of herself, she couldn't even understand what had been going through her head to make her act that way. All she knew was that the humiliation she felt knew no bounds, and that she absolutely couldn't talk to Katie.
"I'm sorry Katie," Rick said still watching the door in amazement. "She's not here right now, can I take a message?"
===============================================================
School - Monday
-------------------------
"You've gotta be shittin me!" Katie exclaimed looking at Andrea like she had just sprouted antennae. "This is like the most ridiculous assignment I've had the intense displeasure of having to not do," she continued as everyone around her laughed and Tad slung his arm around her shoulder, muttering 'there's our girl' to a response of 'here, here's'. There wasn't an assignment known to man, that Katie couldn't blow off with the nonchalance of a true professional.
"I wonder what your old lady's gonna have to say to that?" Russell asked as he spotted Jessie just across the schoolyard.
Katie looked up just in time to catch Jessie's eyes as she glanced over at them, and as always was lost for a moment looking at her. Then she remembered, she remembered being ditched all weekend long, and she remembered being pissed at being treated like the bad guy for not wanting to take advantage of the girl she was in love with. She remembered to look away, and that's just what she did, turning her head slightly to side, leaving Jessie staring at the side of her face.
"Whoa, is it just me or did it suddenly just get chilly?" Tad asked mock shivering as Jessie continued on her way towards the school after Katie totally turned her back on her.
"Don't," Katie responded darkly turning to face him. "Just don't."
==============================================================
Manning House – Two days later
--------------------------------------------
Jessie stared down at her plate before closing her eyes and sighing deeply, then digging at her eyes tiredly. "Can I be excused?" she asked finally not able to take any more sitting around.
"You've barely touched you food," Rick commented upon hearing Jessie's request. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but he had noticed that she hadn't been eating much lately, and knew that with her history it was a big deal. He'd underestimated things the first time around and he wasn't going to make the same mistake this time.
Jessie glanced over at her dad then back down at her plate which she hadn't touched. "I'm not hungry."
"You should try and eat a little," Rick said not backing down, making a mental note to call Karen and see if Jessie was acting the same way at her house. If she was falling back into old patterns they were going to have to talk about what to do. "It's good."
Jessie was quite for a moment, acutely aware of the silence of the room, and of the feel of everyone's eyes on her. Painfully aware of the fact that everyone at the table was watching her, and knowing what they must be thinking, that she was relapsing, and their consequent pitying. "If you like it so much, why don't you eat it?" she said finally shoving the plate away from her and jostling the rest of the dishes on the table.
"Jessie," Lily began feeling the need to mediate before things got out of hand. "I could fix you something else if…"
"I don't want anything else," Jessie replied crankily. "I'm NOT hungry! What? I'm not allowed to not be hungry like day of the goddamn year?" she continued flinging herself against the back of her chair and crossing her arms, indignation her halo.
"That's right," Rick responded. He'd had about enough of her attitude, she'd been almost unbearable to live with for the last few days, constantly snipping and complaining and throwing a temper tantrum at the slightest provocation. He'd say it was like living with a three year old, only she'd been an absolute angel when she was three.
"What are you gonna do, force-feed me?" Jessie asked snottily looking over at him with a look that said 'deal with it'. Then when he didn't respond, she stood up and huffed out of the kitchen, flouncing up the stairs leaving a very uncomfortable family at the dinner table.
===============================================================
Karen's House
---------------------
Jessie scratched at her notebook as her mind drifted back to school, and the memory of Katie and Sarah standing together in the hallway laughing away together merry as could be, then looked back down at her page scratching carelessly some more. She'd been trying to find Katie to apologize, to try and make up, cause she was absolutely miserable without the other girl around. But when she'd seen that, that irrational part of her brain that seemed to be controlling her more and more lately, took over and got all offended making her huff away bitterly.
"Is Katie coming over?" Karen asked wandering into the living room and seeing Jessie working alone. On Thursday nights, Katie was usual over there with her working away on whatever it was they were working on. It had become somewhat of a routine for them, one Karen actually enjoyed. It was nice to have the house filled with sounds, and laughter and life.
"No," Jessie responded curtly not bothering to look up.
"Why not?" Karen asked thinking that Jessie hadn't been filling the house with anything other than snideness and dark clouds lately.
"Because we broke up," Jessie responded as if she was discussing the weather, still not looking up.
Karen looked at her in surprise; she certainly hadn't expected that one. Moving further into the room she sat down on the couch. "Why?" she asked gently. She had actually gotten quite attached to the idea of the two of them together. Katie was genuinely a nice girl, and Jessie was so happy when they were together that Karen couldn't help but see the beauty in their relationship, even if she still worried for what it would mean to her daughters future.
"Because," Jessie replied peevishly as memories of her disastrous seduction came back to her.
"That's not much of an answer," Karen pointed out wondering what could possibly have happened between them. "Is it?" she continued trying to coax some more information out of her daughter.
"Fine," Jessie said turning around for the first time since her mother started talking. "The real reason we broke up is that she asked too many questions," she said looking at her mother pointedly.
Karen stared at her for a moment, her expression clearly showing that she wasn't impressed by her daughter's response, and then she got up and moved into the other room as Jessie turned back to her paper ripping it out of her notebook and throwing it to the side.
"She still got that bee up her ass?" Eli asked his mother as she came into the kitchen.
"A whole nest from the looks of it," Karen replied shaking her head.
===============================================================
Comments would be very much appreciated, so if you can spare a second please tap, tap away! jbstories@hotmail.com