Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it. But I do own an adorable soccer ball plushie!=( - )=
Author's Note: Surprise... I'm baack with a new chapter and a new name! Wow, four months have past... but I have my reasons, look on my profile (it has been a long and horrific four months, for poor lil ol' me). It's going to be a bit complicated to talk about myself in the third person... or will it... Cipher does not know these things very well.
Summary: Sometimes, off the field life isn't as easy as it should be, and during those trying times of the "heart" and "spirit", you wake up and realize something. You've just got to get over it and just bend it!
Just Bend It
Chapter Eight: There's A Time For Everything
Pinky, although she did not seem it, was a patient person. It probably came with time, not to mention child birth and child rearing. Pinky dragged Jess out from the pouring rain and into her house, not caring that her sister was ruining her favorite pink apron. After Jess stopped crying she put her sister on the couch before she went to the kitchen and called her mother. She told her that Jess was over and they were having some sisterly bonding time, and of course Shaheen Bhamra bought the excuse right away.
Then Pinky went and put Megana in front of the t.v. in the family room, putting the t.v. on her daughter's favorite cartoon. And just to make sure that the child would be distracted for a long time, Pinky set her daughter's afternoon snack down on a table in the family room with Megana's favorites; carrots, chocolate chip cookies, and milk.
When she walked back into the foyer, she saw Jess sitting in the same place, in the same exact position she left her in. Pinky ushered her to the master bedroom and gave her some dry and loose clothes to wear. After putting Jess' wet clothes in the dryer, Pinky brought Jess the same afternoon snack she gave to her daughter. Once Jess began to eat slowly, Pinky finally spoke two words. "Now, spill."
And spill, Jess did.
Jess told her everything, from the small fights that began after her first year at Santa Clara to the fight that they had in front of his parents to the break up that just happened.
After Jess finished talking, Pinky sat with her hands her lap, quietly observing her sister as she munched on a cookie. "Well this was a surprising, but fitting end."
Jess looked up from her cookie, very shocked. "A surprising, but fitting end?"
Pinky shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "I did not think the goreh was all that bad, in fact he was beginning to grow on my. But with all the conflicts between you two plus the added stress of mom, soccer, an old friend who used to be a girlfriend, and let's not forget you not being able to outright tell mom and dad what's going on, you two were bound to break up." Pinky sighed softly. "And I'm not saying that it's not a good thing or a bad thing."
"Not a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Y'know I'm beginning to feel as if there's an echo in the room. Yes, I'm saying it's not a good thing or a bad thing. Look Jess, you know I've been supportive of this whole thing, even if I did use it to tease you, but look at the stress this is causing you, it must be causing him that much stress, too. And let's not forget that while you're here all you ever seem to do is go see Joe and you forget about your family. You barely spend anytime with mom, me, Megana, Teetu, or dad. And we both know that mom would have a fit if she ever found out, she might even try to disown you.
"I thought Joe was an okay guy for you to date, but is he the guy that you can marry?" Pinky paused. "Although I must say, I'm sure your children would've been absolutely adorable if they had his color eyes and your hair."
Pinky's flippant comment made Jess laugh and Pinky smiled, glad to hear Jess laugh. "Just think about what I've said, alright Jess."
Jess was silent.
"Alright Jess."
"Alright."
The phone rang and Pinky got up to answer it. "I hope you have an empty stomach because I'm making potato lasan kari with masala bhath for dinner and I've got mango ice cream for dessert."
As soon as Pinky disappeared into the kitchen Jess fell back into the couch. 'A domestic Pinky, who would've thought I'd ever live to see the day....'
For the last few days of her vacation Jess spent more time with her family and less time with her friends. She helped her mother and sister in the kitchen, sometimes even falling into the viscous gossiping circle that they formed. She helped her father with the law, she gave Megana a few pointers on how to handle the soccer better, even taking her niece to the park once in a while and playing a few "matches" against her, in which Jess would always lose terribly. She even talked to Teetu more than she ever had in the last three years, learning that he was quite a soccer fan and loved that Megana loved playing soccer. She sometimes talked to Jules over the phone and had a few visits from Tony and Ameet, who always made her laugh really hard.
Whenever Joe came over to play cricket with her father, Teetu, and few more guys on the block, Jess avoided eye contact with, she avoided body contact with him, avoided being in the room with him alone, and if it was possible she avoided being in a one mile radius of him. Even when all the men called for her to come and investigate why Joe looked so upset... they usually poked at him until they were bored and shrugged off his brooding and downcast demeanor as woman troubles.
Joe pretended not to notice, every once in a while he would catch Jess' eyes and she could see that there was something he had to say to her. So when Jess saw that, she usually realized that she had an errand to run. Once in a while they would end up in a room alone and Joe would try to talk to her. And every time Pinky's words would pop into her head... 'Joe was an okay guy for you to date, but is he the guy that you can marry?'... and she would always run out of the room to go looking for some misplaced item.
Jules laid across Jess' bed as the Indian woman packed her belongings. They would be leaving for Santa Clara in the morning, for the last time. After coming back in the summer, they would both be taking their credits to a local college and playing for the Harriers. This off course would mean that they would have to leave their glorious job at 'Soccer Mom' at which they would receive discounted gear. But, if Van Gogh could sacrifice part of his ear then they could sacrifice almost dirt cheap gear... after they bought as much stuff they could buy before they went back to England.
Jules sighed for the sixth time in less than a minute.
Jess stopped packing her suitcase to look at her friend, who was conveniently drawing patterns on her bed with her finger. "Yes Jules."
Jules met Jess' eyes with the most innocent expression ever seen by mankind (unless you've seen the eyes on a puppy that wants you to take it home), at least it would have, if Jess had not been exposed to it whenever Jules wanted a favor, got in trouble, needed help, wanted to copy her homework, broke something... or anything to that effect. "I've said nothing."
Jess shrugged her shoulders and went back to packing, until she heard another sigh. She turned around to see Jules staring at her with puppy eyes. "Jules, what is it?"
Jules sat up on Jess' bed and tucked her feet underneath her. "It's just that I've been talking to Joe these past few days and he's all torn up–"
Jess groaned. "Look Jules, but he and I are just not possible. I've been through this with Ameet and Tony, do I have to go through this with you?"
Jules sighed. "No... but I'm just wondering why you gave up?"
'Joe was an okay guy for you to date, but is he the guy that you can marry?' Pinky's words echoed in Jess' head as she looked at Jules. When Pinky told her to think about what she said, Pinky had no idea how much Jess would think about it. It was almost as if Pinky's words had a subliminal message that made those words echo over and over in her head, like a tape stuck on repeat.
Jess rolled her eyes. "I'm not giving up, I'm acting reasonably."
And that was all that was said about Joe.
Mrs. Paxton was in tears as she tightly hugged both Jess and Jules good-bye.
Mr. Paxton carefully pulled his wife off their daughter and her best friend. "Honey, you'll be seeing again in just a few months."
Mrs. Paxton dabbed her eyes with a yellow and purple handkerchief that matched her outfit. "I know, but you know how bad I am with goodbyes." With that Mrs. Paxton broke down into more sobs with a plentiful amount of tears and mumbled incoherent words, if you could count them as words.
Jess and Jules waved to Jules' parents as they walked to a woman who would take their flight tickets. The were about to reach the woman when they heard a familiar voice calling out Jess' name.
It was Joe.
Jess turned around to see brown haired man running towards her. She took a deep breath and waited.
Joe stopped running once he was standing in front of Jess. "I can't let you go back to America like this."
"But you do. We can't function as a couple. We're too different, we come from two different backgrounds. It can't work, but then again, it never was supposed to."
Joe cupped her cheeks in one of his hands, looking into her eyes for something. "So this it. Nothing more."
Jess nodded her head 'yes'.
Joe moved to kiss, but Jess would not allow it. She stepped away from him and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, throwing a small smile at Joe. She turned around and began to walk towards the woman, Jules waved to Joe before she followed Jess' lead and they both boarded the plane that would take them back to California.
Taking Jules back to her favorite boy toy and taking Jess' back to some rest and some non-Joe filled thoughts.
PS: Thank you chrisfaithalin ears9, clovergrl,organized-chaos, HAA, Sarinx, What's Their Name, Trojan-Soldier, Charlie, AngelBaby, SuckerForGrint06, swordsrock, kaitie, sunni07,Vero, Mercurian Orchid, iss, hotbabe221, Anonymous, and MuzE for the kind reviews, interesting threats, the compliments (especially when you called Cipher evil!), the pleadings, and for over all making Cipher feeling very happy. If I left your name out, plese don't maim me, I'm very fragile.
PPS: Right now it's about 11:48 pm and I'm a bit worn out, I had to babysit my 9 month old nephew who is teething, therefore very, very cranky. But I promised you a new chapter for Thursday, therefore I must deliver... and here it is. Expect to hear from me in one to two weeks. Please excuse my errors, I can never find them when I edit it myself. Just give me a few weeks and I'll correct them once I find them.
That's it for this chapter. Reviews? Praise? Critique? Praise the shiny button on the bottom, it likes being clicked.