"Do you want to come in?" Jessie asked shyly as they pulled up, still holding hands.
Katie turned her head to look her at friend. "Sure," she said. "Only if you really want me to," she teased.
Jessie rolled her eyes with a smile. "Come on," she said. "Bonehead," she mumbled with a grin.
"Hey! I heard that you know," Katie said defensively. Jessie just snickered as Katie mock-pouted. Together they walked up to the house, giggling.
Karen was subtly watching to two from the window with a grin of her own. She decided that she had had enough eavesdropping and opened the door. "Hey you two," she smiled.
Jessie was startled and she quickly looked over at her mother, dropping her hand, much to Katie's dismay. However, Jessie gave her a warm and reassuring smile. "Hey Mom," Jessie turned and smiled.
"Hi Ms. Sammler," Katie said, finally prying her eyes off Jessie with a wounded expression. "How are you?" She managed a smile.
"I'm great. What about you?" Karen was thinking back to earlier today when Katie had seemed somewhat nervous about seeing Jessie.
"Same," she smiled before looking over at Jessie once more.
"Well, do you girls want to come inside or sit out here and get rained on?" Karen asked with a smirk. The girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes before continuing inside the house.
"This is your room," Katie said as they walked upstairs. Jessie gave her a strange look. Katie smiled. "It's not at all how I pictured it."
"Oh? And how did you see it?" Jessie asked with amusement.
"I'm not sure. It's just that this room seems so...princessy," Katie said with a smirk.
"Princessy? Did you just say...princessy?" Jessie asked incredulously. "I'll show you princessy," as she pounced on Katie, tackling her to the bed.
Jessie had pinned Katie down, or so she thought. Katie wiggled her arms free and started to tickle her sides. This, of course, caused Jessie to squeal like she was being poked with hot forks. Now Katie had Jessie pinned down. She would have fought back, but she was weak with laughter. "No fair," Jessie whined after her laughter died down.
"Well, you started it. And besides, I'm taller," Katie said, earning a glare from Jessie.
"I could sooo kick your ass right now," Katie gave her a skeptical look. "But, I won't. I like you too much. And anyways, I can't breathe."
Katie smiled at Jessie, who was desperately trying to struggle out from underneath her. When Jessie looked up, she saw Katie staring down at her with an affectionate expression. This made her stop wiggling and stared back up at her. They both realized how close their faces were to one another. It was Jessie's turn to lean in, and this time, no one pulled back.
Grace walked into the kitchen with a big grin on her face. Lily was the only one in there, so of course, she couldn't help herself. "What are you so happy about?"
"Nothing. What makes you say that?" Grace asked, tauntingly.
"I don't know. Maybe it was your I-know-something-you-don't-know grin," Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"I know who has a crush on Jessie," she stated proudly.
"Is that all? Everyone knows. Tad was just here, like, five minutes ago," Lily said.
"Nope, not him. You'll never guess. Why was Tad here?" She asked, changing the subject.
"He was looking for Jessie and her friend, oh, damn. What's her name?" Lily asked, drawing a blank.
"Katie," she said, her grin growing wider, making it look like her face was going to split in half.
"Right. So?" Grace gave her mother a questioning look. "Who has a crush on Jessie?" Grace smiled and shook her head. "Grace," she drew out the name in a threatening tone.
"Oh, wow. Look at the time. I've got homework," she teased before bounding up the stairs.
"That was not right. You're not supposed to tease your mother!" She yelled after her. Now the question was going to eat away at her. She sighed and smiled.
"Morning," Jessie yawned out while stretching on her way downstairs.
"Good morning," Karen said with a smile as Jessie came in. "Sleep good?"
"Yeah. You?" She asked on her way to the refrigerator.
"I slept fine," she smiled at her daughter. "You and Katie seem to be getting pretty close," she said happily. Jessie shot her a worried look, but quickly erased it before it became too obvious. "She seems like a good friend." Karen continued, thinking back to the two of them giggling madly yesterday.
"Yeah, she is," Jessie replied with a blissful smile plastered to her face.
"Well, are you ready for school?" Karen asked, getting up.
Jessie sighed. "No. But I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" She grabbed her things with a, now, glum look.
"Jess, wait up!" Tad yelled, jogging up to her.
Jessie stopped and waited for him. Before saying anything. "Hi Tad. What's up?" She really didn't want to deal with him, but she didn't want to be mean.
"Where were you this weekend? I tried calling and going over to your house, but they told me you weren't home. They wouldn't tell me where you were either," he let out in one breathe.
Jessie forced a smile. Great, now I have my own personal stalker. "I was busy," she really didn't want to talk to him about this, much less anything else.
"Hey Jess," Katie smiled. "Hey Tad," she said warily. Tad sort of backed down, noting his friend's hostility.
"I have to get going. I have class, wouldn't want to be late. You should look into it Katie," he smirked.
"Bite me," she said as he walked off. Jessie giggled and Katie turned to her with a smile.
To Katie's shock, Jessie pulled her in for a hug. After they pulled apart, Jessie said, "Thank you. Ughh! Tad just bothers me," She stated shaking her head, making Katie laugh.
"Tell me about it. It must be a jock thing," Katie replied. "Well, at least that's what bothers me about him. What bother's you?" She joked.
"Don't get me started," Jessie rolled her eyes. "I think he's stalking me. He said he was calling me and going to my house. Am I the only one who thinks that's creepy?"
"He's a freak," Katie shrugged. "Wait. You mean Grace didn't tell him where you were?"
Jessie shook her head. "Shocking, huh?" They smiled and walked together toward their respective classes.
Once getting there, Katie had gotten a little nervous. "So, uh, Jess, do you want to hang out or something after school?" She asked while looking down at her feet.
"Well, yeah," Jessie replied in a 'well, duh' tone. "I'll see you later, bye." Katie waved as she left in a chipper mood.
Jessie's class had just let out and she was lost in her thoughts of her and Katie in only forty more minutes. But from behind, someone reached out and grabbed her wrist. She whipped around with an expression of pain written across her face. "Tad!" Jessie pulled her arm back. "What are you doing?"
"I called your name like three times. You didn't hear me?" Jessie shook her head. "Are you okay?" He asked, noticing her rubbing her wrist.
"I'm fine. Just don't grab me like that?" She said in an evasive tone. Jessie was looking around for someone to come to her rescue.
From a distance, Grace had been watching the two and had resisted every urge to come over, until now. "Hey guys," Grace said, walking up to them.
Jessie smiled appreciatively at her. "Hi Grace," she replied relieved. She turned to Tad and smiled. "I have to go," before walking off, Grace following her.
"What was that all about?" Grace asked, amused once they were in the privacy of the girls bathroom.
Jessie groaned. "He is so annoying. I swear he follows me everywhere. I just want to strangle him ," she rolled her eyes.
There was a short pause where Jessie subconsciously rubbed her wrist. "I didn't tell him," Grace said. Jessie gave her a confused look. "About you trying to kill yourself," Grace whispered, looking around.
Jessie's body went rigid. "Oh, that," she said, avoiding eye contact. Just then, the bell rang. "I have to get to class," she said, looking up.
"Me too," Grace said. "I'll say hi to Katie for you," she smirked before Jessie made it to the door.
Jessie whipped around. "I...um...we...argh...never mind," she mumbled before heading out. Grace chuckled on her way out.
Once the bathroom was empty, a stall door opened. Sarah stepped out. "My God," she said looking toward the door. "Interesting," she gave a mischievous grin, then she walked to class.
"Hey Grace," Katie began, walking up to Grace in the hallway. Grace turned and gave her a curious expression. "What happened earlier?"
"What do you mean?" Grace asked, now very confused.
"I talked to Tad and he was acting all weird a few minutes ago. He mumbled something about Jessie, but I didn't understand him."
"I have no idea what he could have been talking about," she replied honestly.
Katie saw Sarah down the hall, whispering something into someone's ear. "Maybe Sarah knows. Thanks anyway," she smiled. Grace shook her head, not knowing what was going on.
"Sarah, do you know what's going on?" Sarah smirked at Katie. "What is going on? Tad was acting all weird, mumbling something about Jessie," Katie said, knowing that something was up.
"Don't tell me you didn't hear," Katie looked at her with a 'Huh?' expression. Sarah rolled her eyes. "Your buddy tried to kill herself. It's all over school. You didn't know?"
"I knew, but I wasn't about to spread it around school. God, you are such a gossip whore," Katie fumed and walked away, leaving a stunned Sarah behind her. Katie walked outside to get some air and wait for Jessie.
"Katie," Jessie said slowly while walking up to her. Katie turned toward her. "What's going on?" She asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Why Jess? What happened?" Katie suddenly sounded panicked.
"Everyone was talking about me and whispering stuff behind my back. What's going on?" She cried out.
Katie couldn't help herself. She pulled Jessie into a hug and Jessie wrapped her arms around Katie, sobbing into her shoulder. "Sarah found out about...Thursday and she started to tell everyone."
Jessie continued crying and holding onto Katie by her car. "We should go," she mumbled into Katie's ear. Katie nodded her head, the two broke apart, got in and left.
Grace, who had seen the whole thing from a distance, just sighed. She knew that whatever Sarah was up to wasn't good for Jessie. At least she has Katie now. At the thought, Grace smiled.
