A Different Perspective-Chapter 4
I cannot believe that this day has actually come. It's amazing…no school for almost two weeks! I'm sorry to anyone who doesn't have break now…or ever. That must suck. I'm really surprised that people like my stories because according to my teacher I have to "vary my writing techniques." Vary his ass. I vary plenty. I hate English teachers. (No offense if ur one or aspiring to be one or ur mom's one or something.) How do you vary when the only writing assignments are responding to what we're reading? Sorry, I'm still a bit sore about that b/c my grade's gone down in his class. Anyway, chapter 4… Please read and review. Enjoy!
Oh, and FYI…this is fourth season now. I just don't make any reference to anything from the season in this chapter. Sorry about that. I was trying to do 2 chapters on 3rd season, but I dunno…I just don't like 3rd season as much.
Disclaimer: Yet again, I don't own any of those characters, aside from Jessica.
The year I was in sixth grade was a strange one. My classmates changed a lot over the summer between fifth and sixth grade. Before, everyone hated me because I made sarcastic jokes and stood up to the teachers. However, in 6th grade, they all began to love me because of that. Well, not everybody, but a vast majority of people. The rest of the people became my enemies. Some people have enemies, but none too terrible. But me…my enemies hated me with heated passion. I don't know what I did to make them hate me. They were probably just jealous of my popularity. Anyway, at the beginning of the year, I got into a fight with this big 8th grader—Jennifer something. I can't remember her last name, nor do I care. Well, we got into this fight. I don't even remember why anymore. I ended up with a black eye, but she had a bloody nose. I was so proud that I gave her a bloody nose. I had never been in a real fight before. Plus, she was like twenty times the size of me. Not only was she big, but also I was small for my age. I looked like closer to eight years old than an eleven year old. However, I don't think that my mother was as pleased as I was.
That day, I walked into the apartment quickly, hiding my face behind my book bag. "Hey mom," I greeted as I quickly threw down a letter on the kitchen table in front of her.
"Bye mom," I said as I walked straight into my room.
I decided that the best way to handle telling my mom about my fight was to let her see the suspension letter without me in the room. Then, she would probably blow off some steam to Rachel and Phoebe, who were in there with her, before she got to me. We were seriously never alone in our home. There was always at least one of my mom's four friends, or her brother, whom I guess could be considered her friend, too. The two of them have the strangest relationship, though. Like, one minute their joking around like friends, and the next, their fighting like siblings. I guess it's hard for me to understand because I don't have a sibling so close in age to me.
Anyhow, after a few minutes I heard a knock at my door. It was one of my mom's angry knocks. I had gotten in trouble with her enough to recognize an angry knock. Of course, a lot of the times, it's because I left the damn towel on the floor or didn't rinse off my plates. If it's something else, usually I'm right there for her to confront me. This time, however, was a lot more serious.
I opened the door slowly, covering my eye with my hand.
"A fight?" she questioned angrily as soon as I opened the door.
"Sorry," I said simply as I left my room. I knew that a simple apology would not pacify my mother, and I would probably need witnesses to keep her from killing me.
My mom was standing at my door, while I was at the end of the living room.
"Jessica…how could you?"
She was trying to play the shame card, now. Make me feel ashamed for what I did. I was not about to play along with her.
"That bitch deserved it!"
"Excuse me? No one deserves to be in a fight, and you should never curse like that again!"
"Uh-huh."
"If you're not going to take this seriously…"
"What? There's nothing to take seriously! I got into a fight, big deal. You get into fights all the time. It's not like I have anyone to learn that it's wrong from."
She got this insulted look on her face, like I had totally lied to her. "I have never!"
"Come on, get off it. You beat that woman up because she told you that you're salmon tasted weird."
"She's right, you know." Phoebe added from the kitchen.
Off Rachel's look she asked quietly, "Oh was I know supposed to say anything?"
I tried hard not to laugh. That was classic Phoebe behavior. She doesn't always know when to keep quiet. She can also say the strangest things, at times.
I knew that I had hit a sore spot with my mother when she became even angrier.
"That's it! Go to your room now!"
"Oh no, my room. Could there be a worse punishment?"
I knew that I had crossed the line at that moment, but I didn't care. I couldn't stand how big of a hypocrite she was being. She got into fights constantly, even as a child. Sometimes my mother could really make me angry. She just couldn't admit that she was wrong, and I was right.
Once I uttered those words of disobedience, I looked into my mother's eyes. There was a mix of anger and sadness. I knew that I had hurt her by talking back to her, but it had to be done.
Suddenly, she averted her eyes, grabbed her jacket and purse, and stormed out of the apartment.
Phoebe and Rachel both turned to look at me once my mother left. "What?" I asked angrily and then stormed into my room, slamming the door behind me.
After about an hour, there was a knock at my door. I knew that it wasn't my mother because I knew how my mom's knocks sounded. I know it's weird, but like everyone knocks differently. Like Joey, for instance, knocks with a rhythm. My mother's, on the other hand, are hasty and loud, especially when she's angry. I didn't really recognize the knock though. I figured it was Chandler, who had heard about our fight. He would be there to give me a short lecture and then a joke. However, when I opened the door, I was surprised to find Phoebe there.
"Hey," she greeted, "You okay?"
I shrugged in response, and sat down on my bed. She came in and sat down next to me. It was strange to have her comforting me. Normally, the ones to soothe me after a fight with my mother were either Chandler or Rachel. It wasn't that I was any closer with Rachel than I was with Phoebe. It's just that Rachel's one of those types of people who are always trying to comfort others.
She rubbed my back consolingly. "Hey, it's gonna be okay."
"I know," I responded, trying to pretend to still be confident. However, I couldn't help, but feel a bit guilty for being so harsh on my mother.
"You're so tough. You would've been great on living on the streets, like me."
I chuckled at her joke, "I don't think I'd like that much."
"Well no one likes living on the streets," she informed me, "You just do it."
I nodded, but then realized where Rachel was. She was comforting my mother. I had never been in a fight with my mother before, where she needed comforting. I hadn't realized I had hurt her that badly, until that moment. Still, I wasn't going to back down, because I knew I was right.
"Oh my God!" Phoebe gasped, noticing my eye.
"It's nothing," I assured her nonchalantly, but she didn't buy it. I was so angry with myself for not covering my eye the entire time. However, I guess people would have eventually figured it out.
Of course when Phoebe noticed my eye, she had to put ice on it. I sat at the kitchen table, holding the ice to my eye, while Phoebe told me stories about her past lives. I never believe any of Phoebe's stories, but they're entertaining anyway. Not only because of the content, but also because of the spirit she puts into telling the stories. She truly believes that those things happened to her. It's just hard to accept that from someone as strange as Phoebe. I mean she thought that her father was the guy who's in picture frames when you buy them, before you replace them with your own pictures. After Phoebe told me about five stories, Chandler barged in. He never knocked--just opened the door. It wasn't only him who did that though. All five of my mother's friends did that. I didn't mind though. I guess I just got used to it. As long as you never do anything you don't want people to see while outside of your room or the bathroom, you're set.
"Hey Kid," he greeted as he went straight towards the refrigerator. I loved when he called me 'Kid'. I'm not sure exactly when that started, but I loved it. It wasn't that he was calling me 'a kid'; it was just his term of endearment for me. I asked him once if he would call his own children that, but he said no, because it was a name reserved for me. That made it even more special to me. He'll probably never stop calling me 'Kid' though. I mean I'm sixteen now, and he still does it. I bet I could be married with my own children, and he'd still call me 'Kid'. I don't mind though. I mean it's our thing.
Anyway, he went to the refrigerator and pulled out an apple. He obviously had not heard about the fight, or even noticed my black eye. Otherwise, he would've been confronting me by then. He sat down next to me at the table and turned towards me.
"Woah, what happened here?" he questioned, pointing to my eye.
"Nothing." He gave me a look, showing he didn't believe me, and I admitted, "I got into a fight today."
He shook his head, in a scolding, but joking manner. "What are we gonna do with you, Jess?"
I was glad that Phoebe kept her mouth shut, not mentioning my earlier confrontation with my mom. However, my mother entered the apartment while he was still there. Her jaw was set tight. It was obvious that she was still extremely angry with me. She stared at me coldly, giving me a change to apologize. However, I reciprocated her look. That only resulted in more rage on her part. She really hated to lose, especially to an eleven year old. When she noticed I wouldn't back down, she retreated to her room. I also tried to go to my room, but Chandler stopped me.
"Jessica," he began.
I cut him off, thought. "Not again." I didn't want to hear that my behavior was wrong.
"Come on. She's obviously upset."
"Yeah, well, let her be upset. She's wrong and she knows it. She just can't stand to lose."
"That's not right. Come on, she's really hurting."
"Uh-huh, your point?"
"So, you're honestly telling me that you feel no remorse for your words?"
"That is correct."
He looked at me, unconvinced. God, he knows me all too well.
"Fine, I'll apologize."
"There ya go, Kid," he said as he kissed my head.
I knew he wasn't ashamed of my behavior anymore because he had called me kid, again.
Later that night, I knocked lightly on my mother's door.
"Come in," she said as I entered.
I could tell had been anticipating me to give up before she did.
I sat next to her on her bed, and looked down at the comforter. I sure am not one to easily admit I am wrong. Especially, if I still believe I'm right.
"I'm sorry about what I, uh, said before."
She nodded, obviously waiting for more.
"I'll try not to fight anymore."
"Not try. Just don't."
"What if it's self defense?"
"Go get a teacher."
"What if I can't get a teacher?"
"Then…fine. But only if it's your last resort."
"Okay, I promise."
This pacified her and she put her arm around me, "Good. Now, let's get some more ice on that eye of yours, sweetie. You're gonna need to be able to see to do all the work I'm going to be sticking you with during this suspension."
I think that she truly believed that I wouldn't fight anymore. Of course, I fought all the time after that. However, I really tried hard not to fight on school property. That way, I wouldn't get suspended anymore. Plus, it would be easier to make up excuses for my injuries. I still do that, although, I don't get hurt much in fights anymore. Hey, I may be small, but I'm as tough as hell.
TBC…
Ok, there's chapter four. I hope u still like it. Well, I'm gonna begin to enjoy my break to the fullest now! A-woo-hoo! Ok, sorry. I'll shut up. Please leave me a review, thanks!:)