Jessie was hauling ass down the hall. She was crying. God. How could Eli say that to Mom? The tears were flowing down her face as she was running faster. Her tears were blurring her vision. It was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid patients. As she turned a corner, she ran into none other than Dr. Hartford. He stumbled back some, but she fell backward.
"Whoa! Jessie?" He looked at her, she had been crying hard. "Here, let me help you," Dr. Hartford put out his hand. She accepted and he pulled her up. "Are you all right?" He was trying to catch her eyes, but she kept avoiding eye-contact.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, she had been saying those same words for the last few days, they never seemed to make anything better.
His sympathy for her got the better of him. "You want to come into my office?" She looked behind her and looked back to him. Jessie nodded. "Come on, follow me," he smiled. He reminds me of Doogie Howser. She smiled as she trailed behind him.
They stepped into his office and he closed the door. He motioned for her to sit down. She took the seat in front of his desk. Instead of sitting behind his desk, he sat in the seat next to her.
"Don't you, like, have patients or something?" She wondered.
He smiled, "I was getting ready to leave for the night." She looked at him and cocked her head. Jessie didn't understand why he was in his office talking to some kid, when instead, he could be at home.
"If you were getting ready to leave, why did you want to help me?" She was confused as to why he would do something like that. Want to do something so...nice.
"You looked like you needed someone to talk to," he offered. He could tell that she was mystified as to his behavior.
"That's what my therapist's for," she mumbled, turning away. Then she mentally kicked herself for letting that slip out.
He was taken aback, it baffled him as to why she would need a therapist. But, after he mulled it over a second or two, he was able to see why. "What happened?" He was, of course, referring to her darting down the hall crying.
"My brother," his piercing blue eyes prompted her to continue. "He was arguing with my mother about something. Then he asked her how she could live with herself. I mean how could he say that? What the hell could possess someone to say that to their mother?" She was getting irritated just thinking about it and she got into a standing position. The doctor just watched her continue on with her diatribe with her arms flailing around the air for emphasis. "God, he was so...so...condescending. So, I busted into the room. I asked him why he said that. You know what he said?" She asked rhetorically, so Dr. Hartford didn't answer. Jessie looked at him and scoffed, "He said because it was true. Because it's true! That is his mother!" She pointed down the hallway to drive this point home.
"Are you finished?" He asked, slightly amused, and slightly concerned. She nodded vigorously, her chest heaving trying to get air.
"Thank you," she said earnestly before turning to leave.
He smiled, "Anytime." I hope she doesn't give herself a conniption.
Jessie and Eli rode home in silence. Eli was angry with Karen for what happened earlier. He blamed Karen for doing this to herself and her daughter. I was sticking up for Jessie. She doesn't understand that Mom is tearing her up inside. He looked over at his sister and noticed the defeated look. When he opened his mouth to say something, he shut it again. At this point he really wasn't up to anymore physical confrontations with his little sister. It was mostly because she could kick his ass.
They pulled up to the driveway and she hopped out, dragging her belongings with her. Eli turned off the engine and got out. He went around the side door, whereas, Jessie went in through the front. She rolled her eyes and got prepared to face everyone again. Whatever. Here we go.
Jessie pushed the door open and everyone, except Eli, was gathered around the TV. She just stood there a moment, more trying to place the movie than assess their expressions.
"Jess!" Lily shouted for the third time.
"Huh? What?" She asked as they all stared at her.
"Would you like to sit down?" Grace answered slowly.
"No, that's okay. I'm going up now," she stated motioning toward the stairs.
"Oh, hey, Jess," Lily called out. Jessie stopped and turned around, but didn't answer. She gave her a look to continue. "Are you trying out for the play?"
Grace stared at her mother and let her jaw drop. That bitch. She did not just do that. She knows I am trying out for it. She folded her arms and slumped down.
Grace turned to face Jessie as she began to answer. "Why the hell would I want to try out for some stupid play?" She asked, obviously appalled that Lily would even ask. Grace's scowl dropped off her face immediately. She wasn't sure if Jessie had seen her irritation and let it affect her reaction, or if she really didn't want to do the play.
"Oh," Lily said. She obviously figured that Jessie would be interested. "Grace is trying out for it tomorrow," she continued, trying to get Jessie to at least think about it.
Jessie turned to Grace, "Good luck tomorrow," she smiled at her. Grace knew Jessie was being sincere. She was shocked by the remark as much as the sincerity. A moment later, after looking at Grace's reaction, she headed upstairs. She headed to he sanctuary.
"Jessie!" Grace gasped while trying to catch up with her in the hallway. Jessie stopped and waited for Grace to catch up.
"What is it?" She asked impatiently, actually wanting to get to class.
"I wanted to tell you that I can't take you to the hospital right after school," Jessie looked bewildered. Grace reminded her, "The tryouts for the play are after school. You can wait in the auditorium until I'm done."
"Sure. Fine. I'll see you there then," Jessie said anxiously. Grace smiled and left. Jessie turned around and started to walk to her next class.
When the last bell rang, Jessie got out of her seat, grabbed her things and started to trudge her way down the hall toward the auditorium. She got there and sulkily plopped down in the back row. Nobody else was there yet, but they would soon start coming in.
"Are you auditioning?" A voice asked from behind Jessie. She glanced over her shoulder to see Mr. Dimitri.
"Uh, no. I'm waiting for my step-sister to finish so she can give me a ride...somewhere," she certainly didn't want to be spreading her personal life all around school.
He just nodded. "Well you should audition," he said looking at her. Jessie just shook her head and was looking for something else to focus her attention on. She settled on the stage.
"How long is this going to take?" She asked as he sat in the front.
He turned around. "Who's your stepsister?" What the hell does that have to do with anything? Jessie was puzzled.
"Grace Manning," she said, apprehensively.
He turned to his clipboard. "It should take about half an hour," he clarified, noticing the questioning look on her face. "The names are alphabetized. She is somewhere in the middle."
"Oh, okay. Than you," she answered, resuming her sullen position. Jessie closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep, but then the students started piling in. She grit her teeth. Thank God I'm in the back. Now I won't have to deal with them. At this point, she really didn't want to talk, not all that much at least.
"Hey there," a voice said from behind her. Jessie figured it was for one of the other forty people in there. "Hi," the voice said closer, softer. She jumped at the other person's touch.
"Hi," Jessie said, almost in a state of shock. She didn't recognize the other girl and wondered if she should.
"Can I sit down?" The other girl asked, pointing to the chair next to her. Jessie just nodded. Taking in the young girl's appearance, the other girl saw her shifting eyes. She looks about paranoid. "I'm Katie," she said tying to clear up any confusion.
"I'm Jessie," she was starting to look a little more relaxed. "Are you auditioning for this thing?" She nodded her head to the stage.
"Oh hell no!" Katie all but shouted. She started to giggle at her own weirdness, Jessie soon joined in.
From across the room, Grace watched the whole thing. Jessie Sammler and Katie Singer. Interesting. Well, at least Jessie looks less miserable.
"What about you, are you trying out?" Katie was interested. If she was trying out, she would be over on that side of the room. And if she isn't trying out, why is she here?
"There is no way I would try out. I have to wait for my stepsister to take me to the hospital," she blurted, mentally banging her head against the wall.
Katie was able to tell that Jessie let the last part slip out, so she didn't push it. "Who's your sister?" She caught the menacing scowl and corrected herself. "Er...um...stepsister," she flashed a sheepish grin. Jessie smiled back and pointed across the room at Grace. Katie's eyes followed Jessie's finger. "Grace Manning's your stepsister? That means you're Jessie Sammler." She stated with amusement.
"Yeah, why?" Jessie was suddenly feeling uncomfortable and agitated.
Realizing how she must be acting like a total ass, she stopped laughing. "Grace is in my English class. She's always mumbling about how she doesn't like a person named 'Jessie Sammler'. It's only natural that Jessie Sammler is none other than her stepsister."
Jessie smiled slightly at this little rant. "Grace and I don't exactly get along." Katie just looked at her, clearly wanting an explanation as to why. "Grace hates me," she stated matter-of-factly.
"Why?" Katie breathed out, obviously stumped as to why anyone could hate someone like Jessie.
"I don't know," she said, surprised by the question. "She already hated me before we even met. I think it was wrong to pass judgment before even meeting me!" Jessie looked over and gave a slight chuckle. "Sorry for babbling."
Katie just laughed it off. "It's fine." The truth was, that that is exactly what Katie had done. She thought that Jessie Sammler was going to be an ugly stuck-up bitch, but she only had Grace's description to go by. Walking up to Jessie, she thought this girl was going to be the typical dumb blonde cheerleader. My bad!
"So, why are you here?" Jessie asked, shaking Katie out of her daydream.
"Oh, two of my friends are in it. Sarah Grasser and Tad Mitchell, " Katie smiled.
"Tad?" Jessie said, barely able to get it out before she busted up laughing. Katie scowled at her before she, too, relented with a smile. "What kind of name is Tad?" She asked, still cracking up. Rolling her eyes, Katie just smiled. Noticing the look, Jessie wondered only half-serious, "Is he your boyfriend?"
"Tad? Hell no!" Jessie just looked at her. "He's just a friend."
"Okay," Jessie said, still smiling. Katie was just looking at Jessie. She has a nice smile. "What?" She didn't realize she was staring. Katie looked confused. "Why were you looking at me like that?"
Katie shook her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
Jessie smiled, "You ever stop to think, and forget to start again?" Katie chuckled. "You think I'm kidding?" She continued to smile.
"No. Just realizing that it has happened to me before." They both started giggling like a couple of schoolgirls, which they are, so it makes sense.
"Hi there," a male voice interrupted, in a cheesy, flirty sort of way. The two girls turned around. Katie smiled, Jessie didn't know how to react.
Katie saw Jessie's uncomfortable look and Tad's flirty look and decided it was time for introductions. "Jessie, this is my friend Tad. Tad, this is Jessie." Jessie smiled, so did Tad. Only Katie knew why Jessie was smiling. The name. She smiled too.
Jessie was looking in Tad's general direction. Suddenly her face fell and she got up from her seat. "Eli?!" She shouted to the other side of the auditorium. The whole room got silent, she didn't care. Jessie politely excused herself and went over to where her brother had entered. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you," he saw the puzzled look in her face. "Mom comes home today." He rolled his eyes.
"Let me get my stuff and tell Grace," she mumbled, still pissed at him. She went over to where Katie and Tad were just staring at her. "I have to get going. I'll see ya," she said, more to Katie than Tad.
Then, Jessie walked over to Grace, who was talking to her friends. "Hey, Grace." Grace turned around. Jessie continued. "Eli's taking me to pick up Mom. I'll see you later." Then, Jessie just walked off.
When Jessie got over to Eli, she grabbed him by his shirtsleeve and pulled him along. He was staring possessively at Jessie as he glared at Tad. Tad caught the look, along with Katie.
"Was that he boyfriend or something?" He asked her.
"I don't know, maybe." She shrugged.
