Jessie woke up, popped a pill and rolled out of bed. She looked around and cursed under her breath, for a moment she had forgotten she was home. Jessie went into her closet and walked straight to the section she had hung up the day before. She chose black linen pants and a black tank top with a scoop neck. The outfit was only a little more revealing than anything she normally wore, but for some reason, Jessie didn't care. She brushed her hair then stumbled out of her room. In the hall she saw Jonny, dressed in jeans and black T-shirt that was looser than what he usually wore. His hair was still messy and his eyes looked vacant.
"Bad night cowboy?" She asked with a half chuckle.
"Can I have whatever you're on?" He asked.
"Sure, lemme get you one," Jessie looked at him and smiled, "it's just a little pain killer, I got them in September, don't take them often."
"Thanks Jess," Jonny said when she came back with a pill, he popped it in his mouth before smiling at her, "it's not that I drank too much last night, but it's..."
"Being home." Jessie finished with a smile.
"Yeah, so, down to the grind?"
"Let's go." Jessie smiled. Like they had done many times in high school, Jonny held out his arm and Jessie accepted it. Together, they walked down the stairs, not truly feeling their nerves until they walked into the kitchen for breakfast.
"Good morning." Jessie said brightly.
"Morning." Jonny said, almost as brightly. The two sat at the table where Dr. Quest and Race were already sitting.
"Good morning." Dr. Quest smiled.
"Morning." Race grumbled.
"So Jessie, we didn't get a chance to ask you how school was." Dr. Quest asked.
"Oh it's fine." Jessie smiled vaguely.
"Getting good grades?"
"Decent," Jessie laughed, "I'm not exactly getting the straight A's that I got in high school."
"Well that makes sense." Dr. Quest nodded. Jonny looked at him with his mouth hanging open.
"Dad, why's it ok for Jessie but not me?"
"I sincerely doubt Jessie is getting a C in Computer Science."
"I'm not even taking Computer Science." Jessie said with the wide eyed innocence she often used on Race.
"See, she's not even taking Computer Science," Dr. Quest looked quite pleased with himself, "how do you like Yale?"
"It's nice," Jessie gave a small smile, "it's a little weird not knowing anyone, but they think I'm mysterious. It's funny," she gave a little laugh, "a lot of them are sure they've seen me before, but without my red hair, they don't recognize me from the news or anything."
"Is that why you dyed your hair?" Race asked bitterly.
"Yeah dad, that's exactly why I did it." She muttered sarcastically.
"Jessie..."
"What dad? I'm just trying to have a nice normal conversation with Dr. Quest about school, Yale, the school I wanted to go to. Maybe you could try being happy you have a daughter in college, instead of upset you have a daughter with blond hair."
"It's not your hair Jessie."
"Face it dad, I've made my own decisions and I have to stick by them. I'm not your little girl anymore." With that, Jessie stood up and stormed away.
"Race?" Jonny turned to him.
"Yeah Jonny."
"I don't think Yale was all she expected." Jonny said.
"That would make sense Race," Dr. Quest nodded, "she knew how against it you were, maybe she's putting up defenses so not to admit defeat."
"No," Race shook his head, "she's just got the old Bannon stubbornness."
Jessie listened from the next room over and sighed. Jonny and Dr. Quest had no idea how right they were.
Jessie was already in the hotel room when Eric caught up with her.
"Jessie, stop, listen to me." Eric demanded, Jessie turned around, her newly dyed hair spinning behind her.
"What is it Eric, I'm listening."
"Can we sit down?"
"Sure, whatever." Jessie shrugged. The two sat down on the bed.
"Jessie, I wanted you so badly, but I knew you were hung up on Jonny, hell, everyone knew that."
"So what, you pretended to not like meat, figuring then I'd go to Yale with you?" She bit back.
"Yale?" Eric laughed, "you think I had the grades for Yale."
"You're not even going to Yale?" Jessie stood up, incredulous.
"No, I'm not going to any college."
"Then why the hell did you tell me you were going?"
"So you'd go," Eric shrugged, "because I knew Jonny the perfect wasn't going there. I'd done my research before our date, I knew more about you than you'd ever imagine. You were hot stuff in our school, there was a lot of info on you out there. Once I'd heard you had gotten into Yale, and your mom had gone there, I knew what to say."
"You lying bastard." Jessie opened her eyes in shock.
"I had to make tons of sacrifices for you, I had to eat crappy vegi burgers and I spent my prom night watching a teeny bopper movie practically sober. All because I knew what I was up against. We're not all perfect like the boy wonder, some guys actually have something called a personality."
"I gave up the best guy in the world, for you? Eric, you even convinced me to dye my hair, then you didn't even say one word about it."
"It's still too flashy, I wanted you to dye it brown so you would blend in. Red made you look like a slut, this makes you look like a tramp, but we both know you're not. You're just a goddamn tease."
"How the hell could I have been so wrong about you?"
"You're not quite as smart as you think you are I guess." Eric said, pressing his lips hard against her own. He pushed her on the bed and kissed her harder, his hands covering her body, starting to rip at her shirt.