"Jessie, would you like some green beans?" Dr. Quest asked.

"Yes, thank you." She smiled at him. There was silence around the
dinner table for a moment.

"Race would you pass the chicken?" Jonny asked.

"Here you go Jonny." Race handed Jonny the plate. Again, there was
silence.

"Jessie, would you like some?" Jonny asked, she turned her eyes on him
and glared.

"No thank you." Silence followed. Dr. Quest and Race exchanged a
worried look.

"Race can you pass the bread?" Dr. Quest asked.

"Sure doc," Race handed Dr. Quest the basket of bread then turned to
Jessie, "are you sure you don't want any chicken Ponchita?"

"No dad, I'm a vegetarian now." Jessie said crisply.

"Any other changes you feel like sharing?" Race asked sternly.

"Not particularly." Jessie took a bite of her green beans.

"Don't get smart with me young lady."

"Why not dad," she looked back at him, "I learned it from you."

"So Jonny, do you have any plans for vacation?" Dr. Quest asked, trying
to break the tension.

"Whatever." Jonny shrugged, glancing slightly at Jessie who was
enthralled with her bread.

"Whatever? No plans to see old friends or have any adventures?"

"Nope." Jonny turned back to his chicken. Dr. Quest and Race looked at
each other and sighed.

"So Jessie, how was Europe?" Dr. Quest asked.

"Oh it was fine," she looked up, "may I be excused?"

"Jessie..." Race said warningly.

"No, let her go Race," Dr. Quest met Jessie's eye, "I think Jessie's
still tired from her drive." Jessie nodded weakly. Race gave a small nod
and Jessie started to walk out of the dining room. She looked back and
smiled at Dr. Quest.

"Thank you." She whispered, knowing he could read her lips. Dr. Quest
smiled and winked, he remembered coming home his first year of college, with
bleached blond hair, love beads and new ideals. His parents hadn't reacted
any better than Race was reacting now.

Jessie walked to her room, looking back at the dinner table. Her mind
wandered once again to Europe, once again thinking of what might have been.

Last Summer

Jessie and Eric walked into a restaurant and noticed everyone else
sitting at a table. They sat down with the group, both attempting to smile.

"Hi guys, we were hoping you'd get here in time." Grant smiled at them.

"Jessie, your hair looks amazing." Laura told her with a smile.

"You think?" Jessie asked nervously, Eric hadn't said a single word to
her since leaving the salon.

"Definitely, it's very beautiful." Laura told her, the others nodded.

"I thought your red hair made you stand out, but this does even more."
Brenda agreed.

"Thanks guys." Jessie finally smiled, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. The waiter came soon after and walked to Eric first.

"Two burgers," Eric said boredly, gesturing to himself and Jessie. Her eyes opened wide.

"I'll just have a salad." She said to the water, trying desperately not to sound as upset as she felt. The waiter nodded and walked to Chris, meanwhile, Jessie turned back to Eric.

"I thought you were a vegetarian." She whispered, her eyes still opened wide.

"Nah, I just told you that to impress you." Eric smiled. "Did you even cook the first meal we had together?" "I ordered in from a vegetarian restaurant," Eric kissed her hand and smiled winningly at her, "I wanted everything to be perfect." And with that he turned away, giving Jessie a moment to think.

She was puzzled. Jessie supposed that she could see where Eric was coming from and in a way she was flattered, but it still bothered her that he had lied about something like that, and kept it up almost a month. She thought back to all the times they'd been together, Eric had never ordered meat and had even gone out of his way to order something vegetarian at times. In fact, he'd even pressured Jessie to become a vegetarian. Once again she plastered on a fake smile, though inside she was confused. If Eric could lie about that, what else could he lie about? She turned to him, ready to voice her opinion.