I'm through playin' it safe
It's time I laid it on the line
Wanna dance out on the edges
Get a little reckless in my mind
Cause even a heart that's locked away, can find a way to break
I won't hide it now, I'm through making that mistake
One fall, that's all I don't know who it's gonna be
Out there, somewhere
Someone is waiting just for me
No pain, no gain
There's not a chance that I won't take
Cause love is always worth the ache
- - "Love is worth the ache" Carolyn Dawn Johnson
Making the Connection : Part Two
[ 5 ] You Have Mail!
Jessi Lindsey's eyes fluttered open. A muffled musical tone was playing somewhere and it had woken her up. She raised up and glanced over to a pile of junk at the edge of her desk. When she realized what was making the sound she dug through the papers and extracted the phone. "Hullo?" She said groggily.
"Jess? S'at you?"
"Yeah." She replied, running a hand through her long red-violet hair. She looked at the clock on her computer and noticed it was nine the next morning. She had fallen asleep while she was working online.
"Where have you been. I've been trying to call you all morning." It was Maggie, Jessi's sister. "Caleb was about to go over, he was so worried." Caleb Cooke was Maggie's husband and one of Jessi's bodyguards. In fact he was her main guard. They had made the joke about how when Maggie finally found herself a man he was protecting her baby sister.
Jessi smiled briefly at that. "Tell him not to. I'm okay. I just fell asleep with the internet on. Sorry about that."
"Oh," Maggie laughed, "that's all right. We just didn't know what had happened to you, and you know how Caleb is when we don't know where you are."
"Yeah." Jessi answered. Caleb was very overprotective of both Maggie and Jessi. Sometimes he was over bearing but Jessi only need remind herself that not only was it his job to protect her but she was family to him now and he would do anything for his family. He was an incredibly wonderful man, and they were both very lucky to have him in their lives. Maggie more so because she found love with a man like that. It was a very rare find. "Tell Caleb not to worry and give Matthew a big hug and kiss from me. I'll see you later today. I have some work to do and when I'm finished I'll call you."
"All right then. See you later, Jess."
"Bye."
They hung up and Jessi sighed. She leaned back in her computer chair, wondering what it would like to be normal again. She was so sick of having to live like this, stuck in her house day after day, and when she did go out she had to have Caleb and an assortment of other guys around her.
"I just want to be normal!" She cried, slamming her hands against her desk, shaking her computer. It knocked the screensaver off, revealing her desktop. She leaned forward and looked at the monitor. In the center of the screen was a notice. She had a new message in her inbox.
[ 6 ] Second Thoughts
Morning at Xavier's school dawned like any other. Light invaded Kurt's room with the fervor of a troupe marching into battle. He rolled over and threw his arm over his eyes. He had been up longer than he had expected the night before. He had written and re-written the e-mail to the mysterious Renegade Angel, making sure it was as perfect as he could get it and then he still wasn't satisfied. She probably wouldn't write back and he wouldn't blame her.
What was I thinking anyway? His bravery had vanished as he slept and now he wasn't sure if he had done the right thing. So the girl was interesting, at least as interesting as anyone could be in just two paragraphs, and she seemed to be very smart. If she had any good sense she would not return his e-mail.
Thoroughly depressed again he climbed out of bed and went to get dressed. The day ahead of him was already looking as dark and dull as the days before. It might have been sunny outside but it might as well have been raining and storming.
"The idea seemed good at the time." Kurt muttered to himself as he pulled on his shirt and began buttoning it. "Oh, well." He glanced at the clock and realized what time it was. He was late for breakfast, really late. Logan had probably already been and gone, and that was saying something. Without further thought he teleported down to the kitchen, expecting it to be empty.
Once again he found himself running into Bobby Drake. He was seated at the counter leaning on one hand while forking some eggs into his mouth with the other. He jumped as Kurt appeared. "Mr. Wagner!" He cried, "man, I'm going to have to get used to that." He shook his head.
"Good morning." Kurt greeted, trying to sound cheery. "I thought you ate with all the other students."
"Not this morning. I wanted some quiet, so I came in here. No one seems to mind. Speaking of quiet, what'd you do last night after I went to sleep?"
Kurt sighed and took a seat. "Well, I decided to contact a girl. I read a post of her's on one of those sites you gave me, but I don't think she'll reply."
"Oh?" Bobby raised his head, interested. "Who was it?"
"Her name was Renegade Angel." Kurt informed. "But I guess that doesn't matter."
"Whoa, Renegade?" Bobby asked, "she'll write you back. I wrote her once to ask her about one of her posts, she wrote back almost immediately. That was the only time I've ever contacted her but she's really nice from what I can tell. She's really cool, not to mention how she's a big supporter of civil rights. Lately she's been digging into mutant rights."
"You really think she will write me back?" Kurt asked, hopeful.
"I'd bet my complete collection of Lethal Weapon on it!"
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "That is good, right?"
Bobby nodded, "very good."
[ 7 ] Reply, Send
Jessi stared at her computer for a long moment before reaching for her mouse. She got mail all the time from people on the sites she frequented, but as of late she had not been as excited about it as she used to. Mostly they were of no consequence, just measly little dribbles from nameless individuals. What once used to be filled with thoughtful inquisitiveness and genuine intelligence was quickly becoming the victim to the same brainlessness of the world she was trying to escape by going on the internet.
However, there still were those occasional mails that were actually interesting. Those were the ones her inbox was worth checking for. She opened her new message and saw back, waiting for it to load. She didn't have to wait long for words to appear on the screen. Words that would change everything.
First of all, I have never done anything like this before. In fact I don't know why I'm doing it now. Something about your article got my attention and I was curious to learn more about you. I understand if you are too busy to answer me, or are not interested, but if you are then I would be most pleased.
My name is Kurt. I'm twenty-six, but I've been told I look younger. I've recently relocated to the United States from Germany. I am still trying to get used to the idea of living here. A friend of mine set me up with this address and at first I didn't know if I was even going to use it or not, but here I am…
It was the tone of the message that kept Jessi's attention as she read on, learning just a little bit more about this "Kurt." She found herself smiling at his mix of apparent awkwardness and humor. When she finished she was surprised to see the arrow already hovering over the "Reply" button as if on it's own device. She hadn't done that for a long time. She shook her head and clicked on it, excitedly thinking up what she wanted to say.
[ 8 ] Moving FW:
With the return of his confidence Kurt decided to go check to see if his e-mail had been returned. It was almost shocking to see a message waiting for him. In the subject line read the words: "Definitely Interested." Without another thought he opened it.
Kurt,
Hi. My real name is Jessica, but most just call me Jessi. I'm 24. I live in Texas… It's really hot here now - - actually it's always really hot here where I live. Although thanks to my profession I don't have to worry about getting out in the heat much. How is there where you are?
Speaking of places you said you were from Germany, right? Is it really pretty there? I heard it was a very nice place despite the history. Well, anyway, welcome to America. I hope you're liking it here so far.
I was surprised to receive your e-mail. It's a little weird for me to do something like this, but I wanted to say I enjoyed reading your letter to me. I haven't gotten anything that called for my attention in a while. It's nice to know there's still fascinating people out there. So, if you ever want to chat go ahead and flag me down somewhere. I would be delighted to.
I hope to hear from you again soon, Jessi.
"She wrote me back." He smiled, staring at the screen. And like Bobby had said, she was very nice. In fact, she liked him.
[ 9 ] Warning!
"Anything exciting happen to you today, Jessi?" Maggie asked, leaning over the playpen where her one year old son Matthew was tossing some blocks around. She picked him up and handed him to his Aunt.
"How's my lil guy, how ya doin' Mattie?" Jessi smoothed the boy's bit of sandy hair back before turning to her sister, "actually yeah. His name's Kurt."
"Kurt? His? A guy, Jessi? I thought you sworn off trying to meet new guys after… Derek."
"Yeah, well, it turns out not all men are jerks. In fact this one sounds really, dare I say, sweet. He said he just moved here from Germany. How cool?"
Maggie raised up from straightening the playpen to regard her sister solemnly. "Jessi, be careful. You know how I don't like you meeting all these people on the internet. They could be psycho killers or something. You hear about it all the time, women going to meet their 'dream date' somewhere and never coming home. Even guys fall under the trap. He could be anyone."
Jessi frowned. "It's not like I'm gonna go meet the guy in a dark alley or something. Jeez, sis."
"It's just a word of caution, Jess. Please don't blow me off. Especially you should understand how dangerous the world can be. You do remember last year don't you?"
"That's kinda a dumb question, Maggie. I don't think I would forget being stalked. Waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of my alarm going off and realizing I'd left the dogs outside is not the best feeling in the world." She sighed and dropped onto the couch, careful not to jar her nephew, who seemed content. "Plus he doesn't even know who I am. Anyway, he doesn't sound like a lunatic."
"They never do, but the next thing you know you're seeing them on A&E on one of those serial killer specials or they try to blow up Washington or something." Maggie said, taking Matthew back. "I'm happy you've found someone to talk to, Jess, I really am. Being locked up in that house of yours all day is not a good thing. At least I know that you have an outlet for your feelings with these people."
These people, Jessi thought amused, it's like they're a whole different kind of human.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you. You understand?"
Jessi nodded. "Of course, sis." She stood and pecked Maggie on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's perfectly safe, but I'll let you know if he tries to assassinate the president, okay?"
Yeah, okay. That's a really bad joking without meaning to make one, that last line. But, oh well. Thank you for all the loverly reviews for chapter one. Hoped you liked ch. 2, too.
Like, no like? Drop me a line. It's going slow right now, but I hope to pick it up a bit. Get more of a plot goin, no? See ya round. Toodles.