* Okay Just a quick note, I've have a few inconsistencies along the way
which a few people have noticed so just so you know: Eli is 17 and in 12th
grade. Grace is 15 and in 10th Grade. Jesse is in 9th Grade and is 14 and
Zoe is 10 and in Grade 5*
Chapter 25 | Secrets and Lies
"Hey did you hear we're getting at new timetable next week" Eli asked Grace on Thursday after school. "We are? No I didn't know" Grace answered, but her mind seemed to be on something else.
[Grace- How can he pretend that everything's normal?]
"Yeah, I think some of the teachers finally complained about having to take Maths classes in the woodwork workshop" Eli joked, slipping his arm around Grace who stiffened slightly as she continued walking,
[Grace- Because it isn't normal, he lied to me and that changes everything]
[Eli- I wonder what's bugging Grace. I mean, I hope she's not pissed over this Friday night]
"Oh crap!" Grace exclaimed suddenly, pulling away from Eli. "What's wrong?" Eli turned to look at Grace with concern. "I left my Math book in my locker, I gotta go grab it" "I'll come with you" Eli offered who turned around and started walking back in the other direction. Grace shook her head, "No, its cool, you go" "You sure" "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow" Eli leaned over to kiss her goodbye but Graced turned her head at the last minute and his lips brushed her check. "Bye" Eli called to Graces retreating figure.
_____
Grace lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
[Grace- I wish I could tell him that I know, but I'm scared that if I do tell him he'll get all defensive and try to deny it, and that's worse then him lying about it in the first place]
[At the same time]
Eli sat on the end of his bed, strumming his guitar
[Eli- Something's wrong, I can tell. At first I thought maybe she knows I lied about the Party but how could she? Maybe I should tell her . . .]
[Also at the same time] "Forty-seven . . . forty-eight . . . forty-nine . . . fifty" Jessie lay back on her carpet with relief after completing her first set of sit-ups. Only one more set to go.
She stayed still for a few moments to catch her breath before rolling over onto her stomach and pulling herself up into push up position.
"One . . . two . . . three" she counted silently in her head. It was all a part of her nightly training routine. She'd start off with a twenty minute warm up, jogging, star jumps, stretches and then she'd do one set of 50 sit- ups, 30 push-ups with a 5 minute break in between and then she'd repeat the two sets. One top of that she trained three times a week with the club and 3 hour private lesson once every two weeks.
"Fifteen . . . sixteen . . . seventeen" Jessie wasn't even feeling the pain yet. Although she hated the nightly workout sessions and often longed to miss even just one night she never did. She remained focussed and disciplined. After all she had to if she wanted to become a black belt. Problem was, she wasn't so sure that's what she still wanted.
[Jessie- Sensei Steve says I have the potential. And what he asked me tonight, I really wish I could say yes, I do . . . Stop! Face it Jessie, you don't want to do it, you know you don't, you just don't want to admit it, you don't want to let them down . . .]
"Twenty nine, thirty" Jessie allowed her arms to fold with relief beneath her. Only one more set of each to go.
_____
"Jess honey! Dinners ready!" Karen called up the stairs. It was her turn to have the kids for the night, although Eli had chosen to stay at Rick's instead. Karen normally had the kids three or four times a week, whenever they wanted really. Jess usually stayed over at least 3 times a week but Karen was seeing Eli less and Less often, even on the nights he was there he normally stayed out till late then slept in until after she went to work.
"I'll be down in a minute!" Jess call back downstairs, having just stepped out of the shower.
Karen had to admit that she missed having Eli around. Sure they didn't always get along, and she wished he'd take school more seriously but she still loved him and it hurt when he didn't come stay with her, it made her feel less important.
"So Jess, hows your training going?" Karen asked once they had sat down to eat. "Good" Jess nodded her head, reaching for a bread roll. Karen took a bite of her pasta, "have they decided when your grading will be?" "Their still unsure" Jess admitted, but she was relieved. The longer she had the better. "They're taking their time" "They just want to make sure that I'm ready" Jess defended them.
[Jess- Ready for what? To run the place?]
"But they've been talking about it since the start of the year, that's like 3 moths ago" Karen exclaimed.
[Karen- It's so obvious that Jessie can't wait for her grading, my daughter, a black belt! -Grins proudly-]
[Jessie- I wish I could tell her how I feel, but I know how disappointed she'll be. Look at her, she so proud]
_____
"Did they tell you when they'd be finished?" Lily yelled over the sound of a chainsaw. "Yeah, they said we should be ready to open within two weeks!" Jake yelled back, even though he was standing right next to Lily. "Two weeks! But the place is still such a mess!" "I know, but they'd better be ready, I've already started interviewing people" "Since when?"
Jake gestured to the door and Lily followed him outside. Closing the door behind him Jake continued the conversation.
"Actually I put an add in the paper over the weekend and had my first interview this morning" "Oh?" "No how did it go?" "I was just surprised, how did it go?" "Terrible. She turned up 20 minutes late, wearing this really short skirt and a top which" Jake paused in the memory, "Well lets just say it left not much to the imagination that's for sure. So anyway she turns up and she all apologetic and then she's like I hop you don't mind if I smoke and lights one up without waiting for my answer" Lily laughed, imaging the look on Jakes face. "So what did you do"? "Oh I just thanked her for coming in and told her that if I needed anything else I'd call her" "And?" "And what?" "How'd she react?" "She didn't, she just left. Anyway there's something I wanted to talk to you about?" "Okay" "Well I was wondering how you'd feel about me asking Grace to work at the restaurant" "What, as like a waitress? Lily asked Jake with surprise. She'd never considered the possibility of Grace working for Jake. "Yeah, I mean she's 15 now, I'm sure she'd like the extra money" "I don't know Jake" Lily said, leaning up against the restaurant window. "I mean, she's in 10th Grade this year, her schools getting-" "It'd only be on weekends and possibly a few hours after school. If it interfered with her schoolwork then she could leave"
Lily remained silent for a few moments, thinking it over.
[Lily- I wonder if Grace would, I know she doesn't think much of Jake right now, but it would give her a great opportunity to spend more time with her father]
"Well" Lily said with a small smile, "I guess it's fine by me but you'd have to speak to Grace about it"
_____
"So honey, hows Eli?" Karen asked Jessie. "His okay, I guess" Jessie took another bite of food. "Oh yeah, I think his got a new girlfriend!" Jessie exclaimed, remembering. "A new girlfriend? Who is she?" asked Karen curiously. "I don't know" Jessie shook her head, her brow furrowed. "So how do you know he has a girlfriend?" Karen questioned. "It's weird. His happy all the time for no reason, plus his on the phone all the time"
[Karen- Eli has a new girlfriend -Shakes head- this could be bad]
"Oh, does your father know?" Karen asked worriedly.
[Karen- I have to call Rick]
"Yeah he does" "And?" "And what?" Jessie looked at her mother pointedly. "What does he say"?
Jessie just looked at her mother and shook her head.
"Don't get me involved in this".
_____
"Rick, did you know Eli has a new girlfriend?" Karen jumped in not even bothering to say hello when he answered the phone.
Rick sighed. He knew she'd find out sooner or later.
"Yes I do" "Why didn't you tell me?" "I didn't think it was my job to" Rick sighed. "Not your job, his my son to" "I thought he'd tell you if he wanted you to know" "Do you even know who she is?"
[Rick- I have to tell her . . . Eli and I haven't even discussed telling Karen]
"Actually yes I do" "Jessie said you didn't" came Karen's suspicious answer. "Yeah we should really talk about that"
[3 minutes later]
"What do you mean Eli's dating Lily's daughter!" Karen asked her voice raised. "And you don't have a problem with that?" "No I don't. I think Grace is a very nice girl" "But she's Lily's daughter" "So? It's not like we are married" "That's not what I meant," Karen snapped. "It's like ever since you've started seeing this women she's taking over my life" "Taking over your life, she has nothing to do with you" "No? I have my daughter over here going on about how great she is, spending more time with her than me, and now Eli's dating her daughter, do I even have any say in this?" "Uh, umm . . ." "No I didn't think so"
Rick remained silent.
"No wonder Jessie doesn't know! When are you going to tell her about it, or is everyone just going to keep lying to her as well?"
"We just thought it was best-" "There you go again, you and her thought it was best, not me, but that doesn't matter, I'm not important am I, I'm just their mother!" "Karen, don't be like that?" "Like what, and don't tell me you expect to keep hiding this from Jessie as well?"
[5 minutes later]
"I can't believe your asking me to lie to my own daughter and your not giving me any choice" "Well I-" "No, don't even bother" Karen hung up the phone.
Chapter 25 | Secrets and Lies
"Hey did you hear we're getting at new timetable next week" Eli asked Grace on Thursday after school. "We are? No I didn't know" Grace answered, but her mind seemed to be on something else.
[Grace- How can he pretend that everything's normal?]
"Yeah, I think some of the teachers finally complained about having to take Maths classes in the woodwork workshop" Eli joked, slipping his arm around Grace who stiffened slightly as she continued walking,
[Grace- Because it isn't normal, he lied to me and that changes everything]
[Eli- I wonder what's bugging Grace. I mean, I hope she's not pissed over this Friday night]
"Oh crap!" Grace exclaimed suddenly, pulling away from Eli. "What's wrong?" Eli turned to look at Grace with concern. "I left my Math book in my locker, I gotta go grab it" "I'll come with you" Eli offered who turned around and started walking back in the other direction. Grace shook her head, "No, its cool, you go" "You sure" "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow" Eli leaned over to kiss her goodbye but Graced turned her head at the last minute and his lips brushed her check. "Bye" Eli called to Graces retreating figure.
_____
Grace lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
[Grace- I wish I could tell him that I know, but I'm scared that if I do tell him he'll get all defensive and try to deny it, and that's worse then him lying about it in the first place]
[At the same time]
Eli sat on the end of his bed, strumming his guitar
[Eli- Something's wrong, I can tell. At first I thought maybe she knows I lied about the Party but how could she? Maybe I should tell her . . .]
[Also at the same time] "Forty-seven . . . forty-eight . . . forty-nine . . . fifty" Jessie lay back on her carpet with relief after completing her first set of sit-ups. Only one more set to go.
She stayed still for a few moments to catch her breath before rolling over onto her stomach and pulling herself up into push up position.
"One . . . two . . . three" she counted silently in her head. It was all a part of her nightly training routine. She'd start off with a twenty minute warm up, jogging, star jumps, stretches and then she'd do one set of 50 sit- ups, 30 push-ups with a 5 minute break in between and then she'd repeat the two sets. One top of that she trained three times a week with the club and 3 hour private lesson once every two weeks.
"Fifteen . . . sixteen . . . seventeen" Jessie wasn't even feeling the pain yet. Although she hated the nightly workout sessions and often longed to miss even just one night she never did. She remained focussed and disciplined. After all she had to if she wanted to become a black belt. Problem was, she wasn't so sure that's what she still wanted.
[Jessie- Sensei Steve says I have the potential. And what he asked me tonight, I really wish I could say yes, I do . . . Stop! Face it Jessie, you don't want to do it, you know you don't, you just don't want to admit it, you don't want to let them down . . .]
"Twenty nine, thirty" Jessie allowed her arms to fold with relief beneath her. Only one more set of each to go.
_____
"Jess honey! Dinners ready!" Karen called up the stairs. It was her turn to have the kids for the night, although Eli had chosen to stay at Rick's instead. Karen normally had the kids three or four times a week, whenever they wanted really. Jess usually stayed over at least 3 times a week but Karen was seeing Eli less and Less often, even on the nights he was there he normally stayed out till late then slept in until after she went to work.
"I'll be down in a minute!" Jess call back downstairs, having just stepped out of the shower.
Karen had to admit that she missed having Eli around. Sure they didn't always get along, and she wished he'd take school more seriously but she still loved him and it hurt when he didn't come stay with her, it made her feel less important.
"So Jess, hows your training going?" Karen asked once they had sat down to eat. "Good" Jess nodded her head, reaching for a bread roll. Karen took a bite of her pasta, "have they decided when your grading will be?" "Their still unsure" Jess admitted, but she was relieved. The longer she had the better. "They're taking their time" "They just want to make sure that I'm ready" Jess defended them.
[Jess- Ready for what? To run the place?]
"But they've been talking about it since the start of the year, that's like 3 moths ago" Karen exclaimed.
[Karen- It's so obvious that Jessie can't wait for her grading, my daughter, a black belt! -Grins proudly-]
[Jessie- I wish I could tell her how I feel, but I know how disappointed she'll be. Look at her, she so proud]
_____
"Did they tell you when they'd be finished?" Lily yelled over the sound of a chainsaw. "Yeah, they said we should be ready to open within two weeks!" Jake yelled back, even though he was standing right next to Lily. "Two weeks! But the place is still such a mess!" "I know, but they'd better be ready, I've already started interviewing people" "Since when?"
Jake gestured to the door and Lily followed him outside. Closing the door behind him Jake continued the conversation.
"Actually I put an add in the paper over the weekend and had my first interview this morning" "Oh?" "No how did it go?" "I was just surprised, how did it go?" "Terrible. She turned up 20 minutes late, wearing this really short skirt and a top which" Jake paused in the memory, "Well lets just say it left not much to the imagination that's for sure. So anyway she turns up and she all apologetic and then she's like I hop you don't mind if I smoke and lights one up without waiting for my answer" Lily laughed, imaging the look on Jakes face. "So what did you do"? "Oh I just thanked her for coming in and told her that if I needed anything else I'd call her" "And?" "And what?" "How'd she react?" "She didn't, she just left. Anyway there's something I wanted to talk to you about?" "Okay" "Well I was wondering how you'd feel about me asking Grace to work at the restaurant" "What, as like a waitress? Lily asked Jake with surprise. She'd never considered the possibility of Grace working for Jake. "Yeah, I mean she's 15 now, I'm sure she'd like the extra money" "I don't know Jake" Lily said, leaning up against the restaurant window. "I mean, she's in 10th Grade this year, her schools getting-" "It'd only be on weekends and possibly a few hours after school. If it interfered with her schoolwork then she could leave"
Lily remained silent for a few moments, thinking it over.
[Lily- I wonder if Grace would, I know she doesn't think much of Jake right now, but it would give her a great opportunity to spend more time with her father]
"Well" Lily said with a small smile, "I guess it's fine by me but you'd have to speak to Grace about it"
_____
"So honey, hows Eli?" Karen asked Jessie. "His okay, I guess" Jessie took another bite of food. "Oh yeah, I think his got a new girlfriend!" Jessie exclaimed, remembering. "A new girlfriend? Who is she?" asked Karen curiously. "I don't know" Jessie shook her head, her brow furrowed. "So how do you know he has a girlfriend?" Karen questioned. "It's weird. His happy all the time for no reason, plus his on the phone all the time"
[Karen- Eli has a new girlfriend -Shakes head- this could be bad]
"Oh, does your father know?" Karen asked worriedly.
[Karen- I have to call Rick]
"Yeah he does" "And?" "And what?" Jessie looked at her mother pointedly. "What does he say"?
Jessie just looked at her mother and shook her head.
"Don't get me involved in this".
_____
"Rick, did you know Eli has a new girlfriend?" Karen jumped in not even bothering to say hello when he answered the phone.
Rick sighed. He knew she'd find out sooner or later.
"Yes I do" "Why didn't you tell me?" "I didn't think it was my job to" Rick sighed. "Not your job, his my son to" "I thought he'd tell you if he wanted you to know" "Do you even know who she is?"
[Rick- I have to tell her . . . Eli and I haven't even discussed telling Karen]
"Actually yes I do" "Jessie said you didn't" came Karen's suspicious answer. "Yeah we should really talk about that"
[3 minutes later]
"What do you mean Eli's dating Lily's daughter!" Karen asked her voice raised. "And you don't have a problem with that?" "No I don't. I think Grace is a very nice girl" "But she's Lily's daughter" "So? It's not like we are married" "That's not what I meant," Karen snapped. "It's like ever since you've started seeing this women she's taking over my life" "Taking over your life, she has nothing to do with you" "No? I have my daughter over here going on about how great she is, spending more time with her than me, and now Eli's dating her daughter, do I even have any say in this?" "Uh, umm . . ." "No I didn't think so"
Rick remained silent.
"No wonder Jessie doesn't know! When are you going to tell her about it, or is everyone just going to keep lying to her as well?"
"We just thought it was best-" "There you go again, you and her thought it was best, not me, but that doesn't matter, I'm not important am I, I'm just their mother!" "Karen, don't be like that?" "Like what, and don't tell me you expect to keep hiding this from Jessie as well?"
[5 minutes later]
"I can't believe your asking me to lie to my own daughter and your not giving me any choice" "Well I-" "No, don't even bother" Karen hung up the phone.