AN: Just in case you're interested, the Supernatural writers had Dean living with Lisa and Ben for a year before Season 6 started, BUT when they started writing Season 6, all the dates and events happen as if that year never passed. I handled this by keeping Jessie at age 13 until fall of Season 6 (this episode takes place around May 2010 according to my research [Many thanks to Many a Vanished Scene on Livejournal]).

Thanks again for reading and reviews!


I was flying down the skateboard ramp, and up the other side. As I was jumping in the air at the top of the ramp, I moved my feet, flipping the skateboard 360 degrees and landing on it to fly back down the ramp again and up the other side, where I stopped and bowed to my watching admirers, Kara, Liam, and Ben, who were laughing and clapping.

Tom, who was waiting for his turn on the ramp, scoffed. "So, that was nothing."

I turned to face him, too proud of myself to let his attitude rankle me. "Let's see you do it," I told him.

"Fine, get out of the way, loser," he said, coming onto the ramp and shoving me away from the center. My temper rose, but I moved off the ramp so he'd have room to skate.

He executed the move perfectly, landing back on the end of the ramp and giving me a triumphant look. I growled.

A few months ago, Tom had decided that I was some kind of competition on the ramps. Everything I learned to do, he learned to do, so he could prove that he could do it better than me. The only thing was that he couldn't do it better than me, but he could do it just as good as I did, which made him think he was better than me.

I didn't know why he'd decided we were in some sort of competition. I'd never even spoken to him aside from civilities when we were taking turns. He, on the other hand, was rude to me pretty much all the time. I did my best to ignore him, but it was hard.

"See?" he said to me, lifting his chin. "Nothing. I even did it without all that safety crap you wear all the time."

"Fine," I retorted, putting my free hand on my hip. "Let's see you do something I can't do. I'll bet you ten bucks I can do anything you can do."

Tom rubbed his neck, thinking, then nodded. "I'll take that bet."

The other skaters gathered on the side of the ramp where Kara, Liam, and Ben were watching us "duke it out" on the ramp. For the next half hour, we switched places over and over, flipping our boards, performing all the different stalls at the top of the ramp with all the different styles of dropping in. I'd gotten really good in the last year, but so had Tom in his quest to prove he was better than me. By the time we were done, we were both winded.

I turned to the small crowd that had gathered at the side of the ramp. "So," I said, raising my voice so they could hear me. "Who thinks Tom won that bet? Was there anything he did that I didn't do just as good?"

The crowd all shook their heads.

"So is it a tie?" Tom asked from the other side of the ramp.

Everyone said "Yeah," and they sounded disappointed.

I turned to look at Tom across the span of the ramp. "Looks like you owe me ten bucks."

Tom's face closed off. "There's no way any girl is better than me or even as good as me. I'm not paying you."

I glared at him. "You're a misogynist," I yelled across the ramp.

He looked uncertain. "A what?" he asked.

"An asshole who doesn't respect girls. You're a bigot."

He looked like I'd slapped him for just one second before his face twisted. "You wanna prove you're better than me, then we should race."

Annoyed now, I dropped into the ramp on my board and rode up to his side. "Race where, idiot? The ramp is only so big."

He shot me an ugly grin. "Hilltop road. We race from the top to the bottom. Whoever reaches the bottom first wins."

I rolled my eyes. "Wins what, dorkface? The ten bucks? I'm not doing that for ten bucks. Besides, I don't need to be better than you. I don't care about you or your asshole opinions. Just because you have a problem with me, a girl, being just as good as you doesn't mean I have the same problem. I don't care about being the best. I care about having fun. Go to hell."

I turned then and climbed down off the ramp to join my friends. Tom didn't let up though. He called after me, seeming a little frantic. "Fifty bucks. I'll pay you fifty bucks if you beat me to the bottom of the hill."

I scoffed. "I'm not paying you fifty bucks if you beat me," I informed him. I didn't have fifty dollars. Honestly, I didn't even have the ten I'd bet. I just knew we were at least equal in our skating abilities.

"Fine," Tom said, surprising me. It probably shouldn't have. I could tell his pride was caught up in this, the same way my pride would get to me when I was trying to show off for my friends. All the trouble I'd gotten into this year had at least taught me that. But hey, if he wanted to pay me fifty dollars to hand him his ass, then fine.

"Deal," I said.

"Yessss," Kara whispered from next to me. "Show him how wrong he is."

"One condition," Tom said and suddenly I was wary. "You can't wear all that crap." He motioned to my helmet and pads.

My stomach dropped. Dean might not get too mad if he found out I raced down Hilltop Road with this little jerk, but if he found out I did it without my safety equipment, he'd have my ass.

"Jessie, you can't," Ben said, his voice low so Tom couldn't hear. "What happens if you fall and hit your head again? Dean says…"

"I know what Dad says," I hissed at him and turned my attention back to Tom. "No pads, but I get to keep the helmet." Tom face dropped in disappointment. I didn't know what he was trying to prove, but I was only willing to go so far to prove he was wrong.

Tom seemed to make a decision. "Fine," he grumbled, clearly not happy. "We meet at noon at the top of the hill."

I laughed at him. "You're all fired up to prove what a man you are, winning a race against a girl. Why don't we just go now? It's only a block from here."

He flushed and popped his skateboard up into his hand. "If that's what you want," he snapped at me. "It's your funeral."

"Not as long as I'm wearing my helmet," I commented. We glared at each other for a moment and then headed towards the entrance of the park, the group of skater kids and my friends following along.

Hilltop Road literally took you to the top of a hill. It had been recently paved and there wasn't a lot of traffic on it, which made it great to ride down if you wanted a lot of speed. The only problem was that it ran into another road at the bottom that wasn't as smooth and did have traffic, which meant that I was going to have to time it and stop the board before I went flying into that road. There was no way to know when a car was coming there and I wasn't dying for this idiocy.

"Jessie, Mom's not going to know where we are," Ben said.

"It's a half hour, Ben. We're a block away. It's close enough. Stop Jiminy Cricketing me."

Ben looked unhappy for a minute. "Look, just don't get hurt."

I stopped and turned to him, taking his shoulders in my hands. "I promise you, Ben Braeden, I will not get hurt. I will beat this jerk in this stupid race and come out fifty dollars richer and not a scratch on me." I was earnest and serious, and I knew I could do this. "Okay?"

Ben relaxed. "Okay."

I smiled at him and ruffled his hair, which got me a glare. After a few minutes we reached the bottom of Hilltop Road. Tom pointed at the stop sign. "That's the finish line."

"The hell it is," I snap at him. "Do you want to get us killed? We need time to slow down once we reach the finish line so we don't skate right in front of a car." Conveniently, a car drove by right then, proving my point.

Tom grinned evilly. "Look, if you're afraid…"

I gave him a look. "Yeah, that's it. I'm afraid. You ever hear of self-preservation, you prick? I mean, if you want to get killed, that's your prerogative, but it's not worth fifty bucks to me to risk my life by skating randomly into traffic. Come on, guys."

Ben smiled as we moved away from the group. The skater kids looked disappointed and Tom looked mad, but we didn't get far before he said, "Wait!"

I couldn't believe how much negotiating power I had just because Tom wanted to prove he was better than me, and I finally understood Dean's point over the last year about my pride overcoming my brain. We stopped and turned to face Tom.

He pointed to the tree that was about fifty feet from the stop sign, but still on the flat part of the road at the bottom of the hill. "That's the finish line. And we only get one push when we push off at the top of the hill."

"Okay," I agreed, putting my hands on my hips. "But honestly, Tom, I don't get the point of this. Why can't you just admit that we're tied. And even if we weren't, who gives a crap?"

Tom didn't say anything for a second. "You're scared," he finally accused me.

I rolled my eyes big time now. "Oh my god, fine, let's get this over with." I took off my knee and elbow pads, handed them to Kara, and headed up to the top of the hill where Tom joined me.

"You're going to lose," Tom said, putting his board on the ground and holding it in place with one foot.

I shot him a scornful glare and put my own board in the same position. "I don't know how many times I can tell you this. I. Don't. Care."

Tom glowered. "On the count of three," he said, moving his board back and forth on the ground, testing it. "One. Two. Three."

We pushed off, heading down the hill at a thrilling speed. We were neck and neck at first, but Tom started to pull ahead. I crouched down on the board, balancing carefully, trying to keep my profile as small as possible to gain the most speed. It worked, and I pulled up next to him, crouching even lower.

Tom glanced at me and crouched himself, but we were more than halfway down the hill by now. It was too late for him to get enough of an advantage with his weight and lower profile. My board started to pull ahead and I grinned as we passed the tree. I was half a board in front of him.

Kara, Liam, and Ben all started cheering, joined quickly by some of the other skaters. I stopped my board well before I hit the cross street and Kara threw her arms around me, still holding onto my safety gear. She smelled like sunshine and coconut sunscreen. I hugged her to me, smiling into her brown hair.

"You cheated," Tom said behind me.

I'd had enough and whirled to face him. "Look, buddy, you tell yourself whatever you need to so you can sleep at night. I'm going home."

The four of us left the group and headed back towards the park and then home. Tom technically owed me fifty bucks, but I sincerely didn't care. I'd proven myself and that was more than enough for me.


I told the story to Lisa over dinner, leaving out the fact that I'd taken off my elbow and knee pads. Dean had gone out for dinner and drinks with Sid, our next door neighbor. They did that about once a week since we'd moved here. Lisa scolded us lightly for leaving the park without telling her, but other than that, she was proud of how we handled it, especially with me for not losing my temper or letting my pride get away from me.

After dinner, we watched a movie and then Lisa sent us to bed before Dean got home. It was rare for him not to get home before I went to bed, but not unheard of. Later, I woke up just a little when he straightened my covers and kissed my forehead.

"G'night, Daddy," I whispered.

"Good night, sweetheart," he said.


The next morning I was doing my chores when I saw Dean's truck pull into the driveway. I hadn't known he'd even left. I abandoned the kitchen and went out the back door to find him. He wasn't in the driveway so I headed to the garage where I could hear clattering.

I stopped though when I heard Dean say, "Just getting a hammer." His voice sounded guilty. I plastered myself to the garage door so I could eavesdrop. Yeah, Dean had forbidden me from doing that something like a thousand times, but sometimes it's the only way a kid can get the real truth.

"So, I just ran into Sid," Lisa said. "Did you almost shoot a Yorkie?"

"Technically," Dean replied.

"What's going on?" Lisa asked.

"Nothing," Dean replied, obviously lying. Even I could tell just from his tone. I rolled my eyes. Why did he get on my ass all the time for lying and then he does the same thing.

"How come I don't believe you?" Lisa asked.

"I just - I, uh, I-I got this - I don't know, spidey sense." Dean's voice said he was worried and uncomfortable sharing.

"Okay," Lisa said. "Are you hunting something?" Her voice was patient and straightforward.

Dean sighed. "Honestly?" he said. "At first, I thought that I was. But I'm pretty sure that I got worked up over nothing. It's, uh, you know... It happens."

"Are you sure?" Lisa asked

"I'll tell you what, "Dean said. "Just because, you know, I have an OCD thing about this, why don't, uh, why don't you and the kids go to the movies, hit The Cheesecake Factory. You know, hang out with the teeming masses, and I'll do one last sweep just to be 100%."

"Okay," Lisa agreed. "Be careful."

"Careful's my middle name," Dean said.

I pushed away from the garage door as Lisa rounded the corner. She saw me and put her hands on her hips. "And how much did you hear?" she asked me with a sigh.

"We're going to The Cheesecake Factory and a movie while Dad eases his mind," I said.

She looked surprised. "You're not going to argue to stay here and help him?"

I shrugged. "With what? He said it's nothing and I'd rather have cheesecake. Besides, I don't think I'd win that argument." It wasn't that I didn't want to help Dean, but at the moment, I'd rather see a movie with Ben and Lisa.

Lisa looked confused for a second, then smiled. "Who are you and what have you done with Jessie?" she asked.

"Ha ha," I said. "I'll go get Ben."


We were gone for hours. We went to see How to Train Your Dragon and I got caramel cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, but I had to share with Lisa because the piece was too big for me. It was dark before we got back to the house. Ben and I were chattering at each other excitedly as we came into the house through the back door. Dean was standing across the kitchen, his back to us, his shoulders tight.

"Hey, there you are," Lisa said.

Dean whirled and demanded "Where the hell have you been?" He pulled the three of us into his embrace like we'd been missing for days.

Confused, Lisa replied "We… we were at the movies. You knew that."

Dean's grip tightened.

"Dean, ow," Lisa complained.

Dean finally let us go. I stepped back.

"What happened?" Ben asked the question that was hovering on my lips.

"Go upstairs and pack a bag," Dean said me and Ben, his words clipped but not angry. I frowned.

"Where are we going?" Ben asked.

"I'm taking us to a friend's house," Dean replied. "Go."

Ben looked confused, but Lisa put her hand on his shoulder and said, "It's okay. Go on up. I'll be there in a sec." She turned back to Dean and whispered "What the hell?"

I didn't move, still looking up at Dean to hear his answer to Lisa.

Ben turned to obey, but stopped. "Um..." he said. All of us turned to look as Sam moved into the kitchen doorway, looking self-conscious.

"Oh, my God," Lisa said.

Dean looked at Sam and then down at the floor before saying, "Lisa, Ben, I don't know if you remember…"

"Sam," Lisa said.

"Sam!" I exclaimed and flung myself at him.