A/N: Hey it's me again. I am back and, as you may have noticed, I updated But Not Forgotten as well. I'd sit here and explain, in detail, as to why I haven't updated, but I have the feeling that you would much rather read the story.
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"I am not going to go see a shrink!" Jessie enthuses to Karen, who is taken aback. She then gets up from the table and starts to walk off to her room.
"Jess, Leo says that he's really good though sweetie," she says in an effort to calm her daughter down as she follows her.
"You told him!" Jessie shouts as she stops dead in her tracks and turns around. "How can you tell him about a problem that doesn't exist?" She asks rhetorically.
"It does exist honey! Your father and I just want to help you. "We don't want to try and make it into a big deal though," she says, reaching out to hug her daughter.
Jessie shrugs her off and says, "It already is," before stalking up to her room leaving a crestfallen Karen at the foot of the stairs.
Jessie sits giving her bickering parents a petulant expression as they sit in the waiting room. Eventually the argument dies down after they realize what they are there for.
"So, Jess, have you given any though to inviting Grace and Zoe?" Rick asks.
"No, not really," she mutters lamely. He goes to say something else, but the doctor opens up the door and greets them. There is the traditional pleasantries and hand shaking.
"Is it all right if I speak with Jessie alone first?" Dr. Rosenfeld asks.
"Absolutely," Rick and Karen state simultaneously. Jessie groans and gets out of her seat and into his office. She sits down in a seat in front of, what she presumes to be, his chair.
He shuts the door and, without any preamble whatsoever, "So, you don't like to eat?" He asks, though it sounds more like a statement. Jessie rolls her eyes and tilts her head back
Grace is sitting in her last class of the day, staring at the clock every couple of seconds as if trying to will the hands to move faster. Get a grip Manning! It's only soccer practice. She chides herself before sneaking another glance at the clock. Soccer practice that Jessie will be at. She smiles with the though of her name. With one last glance, the bell rings and Grace makes her way to the girl's locker room to change. Once in there, she spots Jessie at her locker immediately and tries to hide her goofy grin.
"Hey," she says, trying to sound casual and hide her grin, though it looks more like a grimace.
"Hi," Jessie says softly before looking at Grace. She turns back to changing her clothes, but then turns back around. Suddenly, she appears to be more shy than usual. "Can I, um, ask you something?" Jessie asks.
Almost startled that Jessie is still talking to her, Grace turns towards her. "Uh, yeah," she says, feeling a faint glimmer of hope, but about what she isn't sure.
"I'm having a birthday party this Saturday and I wanted to know if you wanted to go," Jessie says, not making eye contact with Grace.
Grace's lips curl into a smile and she nods her head, but Jessie doesn't see because her eyes are downcast. "Yeah, sure. I mean, I don't know what I'm doing this Saturday, but it sounds cool," she says, then almost immediately regrets it. To avoid further embarrassment, she gets up and goes off to class. Jessie gives her a weak smile before it immediately falls…much in the same manner that Grace's heart fell into her stomach at seeing it. Why can't my mouth be connected to my brain like a normal person? Grace wonders while shaking her head.
"Come on in," Dr. Rosenfeld says while ushering Karen, Rick and Jessie into his office. Jessie situates herself into the seat furthest from the doctor's and Rick and Karen are just in front. He closes the door and sits down. "So, would you mind filling out the picture of this clearly difficult and unattractive young person here?" He asks good-humoredly and Jessie smiles shyly from off in the corner.
"She's a straight A student," Karen says almost immediately. "And she's on the soccer team," she adds.
"She also has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She's the youngest one they've had there," Rick says. Both are obviously beaming with pride and Jessie sinks down in her seat, embarrassed.
Rosenfeld turns to Jessie with a warm smile. "Parent Propaganda, don't believe a word of it," he says, getting a small smile from Jessie. "So," he says turning back to the defunct Sammlers, "we agree that Jessie is perfect," he says with a slight mocking tone. Jessie smirks again at her parent's discomfort.
"Grace, Jessie and Rick are here," Zoe says to her sister.
"Um, yeah. I'll be down in a minute," she says with a slight smile playing on her lips.
"Okay," Zoe says with a smile of her own as she goes downstairs. "Hey Jessie!" She exclaims with genuine excitement.
Jessie can't help but smile back. "Hey," she says softly.
"Hey, come on up and I'll show you my new CD," Zoe says with a smile as she takes Jessie's hand and leads her upstairs.
"Okay," Jessie says, as if she has a choice.
Once into her room, Zoe closes the door after them and looks at Jessie. "You know, Grace doesn't really hate you," she says bluntly.
"What?" Jessie says, more than a little startled.
"I said that Grace-" she begins slowly.
"I heard you," Jessie cuts her off. "I just don't believe it. Grace has a funny way of showing her non-hate towards me," she grumbles.
Zoe snickers. "You don't get it. Grace really likes you," she says with hard emphasis. "That's why she's all 'grrrr' when it come to anything related to you," she says with a grin.
"You have lost your mind," Jessie smirks.
"I think it's more Grace losing her mind," Zoe says with an impish grin. "She talks in her sleep," her grin gets more mischievous. "You want to know what she said last night?" She asks.
Jessie smirks. "I don't know, do I?" She asks. Zoe nods her head viciously. "Okay then."
"Grace said…"
Jessie and Zoe come down stairs. Zoe is wearing a huge grin as is Jessie. They see Grace talking to Rick and Jessie smirks.
"Bye Grace," Jessie says with a smile.
"Bye Jessie," Grace says sincerely with confusion at Jessie's grin. She shakes it off as Rick and Jessie leave. She turns to her mom. "Is Jessie in therapy?" She asks in a low voice, not sure if her troll of a sister is around or not.
"Grace, honey, you didn't hear that," Lily pleads with her hands on her hips.
"Is she anorexic?" Grace asks with concern seeping through.
"Grace," Lily warns.
"What, it's not that big a deal?" She says shakily as some of the color drains from her face. "Most of the girls in our school are anyways," she says with a shrug.
"Honey, stop it," Lily repeats as if Grace is stabbing a small animal with a hot poker.
"Fine, we won't talk about it," Grace scoffs as she trudges upstairs.
Zoe walks out of the kitchen, where she had been eavesdropping to find her mother getting ready to go upstairs as well. "What's going on?" She asks innocently.
"What did you hear?" Lily asks suspiciously.
"You and Grace arguing. I was just wondering what it was about this time," she says with a smile.
"Nothing that concerns you…or Grace for that matter," she says as she kisses her on the forehead. "Get to bed," she instructs with a smile.
"I'm going," Zoe says exasperated. Jessie can't be anorexic…can she? She thinks to herself as she passes Grace's room. "Night Grace," she says.
"Night," Grace replies.
"The oldest one does not like me," Jessie states indignantly with her arms folded.
"Stop saying that," Rick snipes and Jessie looks down at her lap, chastised.
Rosenfeld looks between the two of them before turning to Karen. "Are you dating anyone?" He asks.
Karen sits there with a torn expression. Jessie smirks. "Mom, Leo's your boyfriend," she says.
"Is it weird seeing your parents with other people?" Rosenfeld asks.
"Sometimes, but I…you get used to it," she says slowly, not looking at anyone or anything in particular.
Jessie is sitting in the bowling alley miserably as she slowly eats out of a bag of Cheetos. Karen comes up to her, griping. "Jessie, don't fill up too much on junk food, we're going to be getting pizza here soon," she says.
Jessie raises her eyebrow. "It's okay," she says to her mother with a small smile.
Karen takes the bag of chips from her. "Honey, it's wonderful to have a party, but you've got to take care of yourself also." Jessie resists the urge to roll her eyes.
Grace for her part, sits and watches in confusion and a little hostility. It's better than her not eating anything. She thinks bitterly to herself. Soon attention is diverted away from Jessie, much to her relief. Grace sees Leo and Karen goofing around some with the Camcorder and she smiles. She then looks at Jessie, who is nervously biting one of her fingernails.
Jessie watches as Grace gets up from her seat and goes up for her turn to bowl. She watches Grace sink a gutter-ball…twice and she smiles.
Grace comes back with a disturbed expression, but upon noticing Jessie notice her, she smiles. "Isn't it bizarre how parents get off on planning birthday parties she says as she sits down behind her?"
Jessie smirks. "That obvious, huh?" She says rhetorically. "Mom likes to pretty much plan out everyone's life, though."
"I think growing up is overrated anyways," Grace admits.
"Yeah, but at least when you're grown up you can make your own decisions," Jessie reasons.
Grace pauses a moment, but then continues. "I think parents only want you to grow up in the boring ways, like school and stuff. But in the cool ways, like being independent, they want you to stay young," she says.
"That's definitely my mom," Jessie says with emphasis.
"Well, I guess that stuff is hard to figure out," she replies.
"What do you mean?" Jessie asks with confusion.
"Nothing. I just guess it's hard for anybody to talk about that stuff." She pauses. "I know it would be hard for me," she says, now suddenly wishing that she quit while she was ahead.
"To talk about?" Jessie urges with a sudden feeling of her heart jumping into her throat.
"To talk about with somebody," Grace says lamely.
"It's my turn to bowl," Jessie says shakily after a minute, leaving Grace to look for a hole to crawl into and die in.
Lily shows up, ready to pick up the girls. She and Karen share a few forced pleasantries before she rounds up her two kids. "Happy birthday Jessie," Lily and Zoe say.
"Happy birthday Jess," Grace says slowly, lingering for only a second before she follows out her mom and sister.
After a minute, Jessie whips around to glare at Rick. "Who else did you tell?" She demands.
"Tell what?" He asks, suddenly nervous and frightened of his 14 year old daughter.
"Do you have to tell the whole world that I'm crazy?" She asks tearfully.
"What are you talking about?" He asks lamely, nearly shrinking in his seat.
"You know what I'm talking about!" She shouts at a, now, very frightened Rick.
"I told Lily," he admits quietly. "But I didn't think she would tell Grace."
"Rick!" Karen admonishes.
"Like that makes it any better," Jessie snipes as she turns and walks off.
Rick and Karen get up to follow her. "Jessie it isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least you'll have someone else to talk to about it now," he says stupidly.
"Because Grace and I have bonded so well," Jessie says sarcastically.
"I don't think Grace would tell anyone," Karen says, coming to Rick's aid.
"Yeah right. Everyone at school probably knows by now," she grumbles as she leaves.
"Okay, so everybody knows," Rosenfeld says slowly.
Jessie, chewing on her pinky finger says, "And it's really bad."
"Especially if you're fourteen," he says smartly. "You probably can't stand the prospect of going back to school and facing all those people lined up to laugh at you," he says not so smartly.
Jessie snaps. "It's not funny. It's bad enough having to see all those people as it is," she says with distress.
Grace sits down at the bench behind Jessie's in the locker room. "I'm sorry about the other day," she says as she sits down. "Rick and my mom were talking and they didn't know I was there."
Jessie turns to face her, trying to gauge Grace's sincerity. "It doesn't matter," she says, more to herself.
Grace takes in a deep breath. "No, you know what?" Grace asks rhetorically. "It's just here's the thing okay? If I were you, I would be embarrassed too if people knew I was seeing somebody. But there are a lot of times that I think it maybe it wouldn't be so terrible," she pauses and sees a confused expression on Jessie's face. "I mean, all the things I go through in my mind, like--" how I feel about you, she thinks with a far off expression before catching herself. "What I'm trying to say is sometimes I sort of wish that I could see somebody too," she admits.
"Really?" Jessie asks with a small smile.
Grace grins. "Yeah. That's all that I was trying to say the other day," she says as he gets up. She sees the smile and relief on Jessie's face and smiles. I finally said something right.
"Good day honey?" Lily asks as Grace walks through the door with a huge grin on her face.
"Yeah, it was okay," Grace says as she tries to hide her happiness.
"What has you in such a good mood?" Lily asks suspiciously.
"Nothing," Grace evades. "I just didn't have homework so I am free for the night," she lies.
Lily smirks, knowing her oldest is hiding something. "Is it a boy?" She asks with a mischievous smirk.
"No, it is not a boy," Grace scoffs.
Yeah right. Lily grins and Grace narrows her eyes. "I believe you sweetie. Go get ready for dinner," she instructs.
"It's not a boy," she pouts before stomping upstairs.
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Next one won't take as long. This episode was just so long and I took forever writing it.
