Jess's second day of school went a lot smoother then the first. Knowing that she would likely have a lot of spare time Jess texted Dr. Deaton first thing in the morning and asked if he had any veterinary books that she could borrow to read when she had spare time.
When they got to the clinic Dr. Deaton was waiting in the parking lot with a tall stack of text books which he handed in the window to Jess while Derek got Anne out of the back seat of the car.
Climbing back into car Derek turned to see Jess trying to shove as many as possible into her bag. "No! No, no no, you can pick two. The rest are staying in the car. You have enough shit to carry without loading yourself down with a ton of unnecessary books."
Pouting Jess spent the rest of the drive to school flipping through the texts trying to choose which two she wanted to pack. Managing to narrow her choices down to three she turned to Derek and wailed. "I can't choose just two! All three of these are vital to my education!" Clutching the books to her chest Jess pouted out her lip and opened her eyes as wide as she could lip quivering slightly.
Rolling his eyes Derek started tossing the rest of the books into the back seat ignoring the three books Jess was shoving into her bag. "Just promise to get help carrying your bag as much as possible." Derek said wisely choosing to pick his battles. Reaching the school Derek got out of the car and snatched Jess's bag before she could pick it up. "Get...help...with...your...bag!" Derek growled out sternly. "Or tomorrow you won't get to bring any extra books." Slinging the bag over his shoulder Derek handed Jess her thermos cup and turned to lead the way into the school.
Staring at the steaming cup of tea Jess stood in shock for a moment before hurrying after Derek. "When the heck did you get me a tea?" Jess asked trying to think back to the ride to school but not remembering any stops in a drive through.
"When you were undressing your borrowed books with your eyes." Derek grumbled holding the door open for Jess.
Walking into the school Jess was surprised to hear several voices calling her name. Looking up Jess saw Allison, Lydia, and Danny waving excitedly at her while Jackson stood leaning against the lockers brooding quietly. Waving back shyly Jess turned to Derek and reached for her bag and tried to tug it off his shoulder.
Shaking his head Derek looked past her to the group standing a little ways down the hall. "Oy, tall, dark, and hyper over there. You going to come carry her bag or are you going to let the badly injured girl carry a heavy bag by herself?" Derek called.
Pointing at himself and turning to Allison and Lydia to see if they thought it was really him that Derek was talking about, Danny blushed. Rushing over he took the bag from Derek, blushing bright red and staring at Derek a little too long to be considered normal.
Standing on tip toes to plant a loud smacking kiss to Derek's cheek Jess turned and threading her arm through Danny's she started to drag him away before he embarrassed himself. Laughing at the slightly confused look on Derek's face. "I'll see you after school. I'll text you a list of groceries to pick up for supper tonight once I think of what to cook. I'm thinking something easy like a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a side of veggies." Jess called over her shoulder to Derek. Turning to Danny as they reached the rest of the group Jess stepped back away from Danny and held her hand out to him wagging her fingers expectantly. "Do you have my membership card yet?" Jess asked jokingly.
Bouncing excitedly beside her Danny dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a hot pink laminated card. "Of course! Made it last night!" Handing it to Jess with a flourish he stood back and watched her reaction.
Looking down at the card in wonder Jess examined it closely. Other than the hot pink color and excessive amount of silver sparkles lining the edges of the card it actually looked like a professional membership card. Reading the info on the card Jess felt her eyes tearing up slightly.
Overly Dramatic Drama Queens Club
Member Status - VIP Founding Member
Official Club Title - Queen of Drama
Card Issued to - Jess Black
The back of the card read
"This card entitles the holder to lifetime friendship with the Danny Mahealani'
Throwing herself at Danny Jess hugged him as tight as she could with her one arm and clung to him sniffling quietly.
"Whoa! No, don't cry!" Danny panicked glancing down the hall. "At least not until we are sure tall, dark, and broody has really left." Danny said anxiously rubbing Jess's back. "That man is some delicious, delicious eye candy. But he also scares me a bit. I swear he growled at me when I took your bag from him." Danny said sounding puzzled.
Wiping away a few last tears and carefully putting the card in the pocket of her phone case meant to hold an I.D. Jess tucked her phone back into her sling and followed the group of teens to their first class. The day passed fairly quickly with Danny carrying her bag and sitting with her in all her classes.
At lunch Danny led her over to the Drama Club kid's table and introduced her to some of the kids, making a point of saying that they were the losers in the Official School Sanctioned Drama Club and were not members of the very exclusive Overly Dramatic Drama Queens Club. The kids booed in response before going back to moaning that the schools official Drama Club was as usual underfunded again that year. Jess quietly asked the kids if they planned to hold some sort of fundraiser to raise funds for the club. The question was met with groans and comments that bake sales and silent auctions were too lame for words.
Rolling her eyes at the group Jess scoffed. "Well if those are the only ideas you can come up with then it is no wonder that you guys are underfunded."
A leggy blonde turned to sneer at Jess and said. "Well if you think your so clever what are your ideas for fundraisers?"
Taking a sip of her juice to give herself a moment to think Jess smiled as she was hit with several idea at once. "Supper with a character auction. Members of the club use old costumes to dress up as famous characters from popular plays and pack a picnic basket of foods eaten in the area or time that the play represents. Silent auction style with a menu and picture of the person in the costume. The winner of the basket gets to have a supper in the cafeteria with the character who has to stay in character and tell the winner all about the plot of the play. If we hold it in the cafeteria then just a few teachers can chaperone the event and since we are reusing costumes the only cost will be the food and baskets. And we can probably get parents to volunteer to help make the meals." Finishing her explanation Jess took another sip of her juice as the Drama club members stared at her in shock.
"That sounds amazing!" Danny gushed excitedly. "Do you have any other ideas?"
Smiling Jess nodded. "You could do a joint fundraiser for the Drama club and the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. You could dress the shelter animals that need homes up in little outfits and make backdrops for them and take pictures of them. Then make a calander. Include a blurb about the pet available for adoption used for each picture. Pets get a chance to get adopted and you split the profits from the calender sales evenly between the Drama club and the Animal Clinic. You could also blow up the pictures into posters and sell those as well."
As the table exploded in excited planning as the kids started working to figure out details Danny leaned close to Jess and whispered. "This is why you are the Queen."
"Does anyone know anyone at the Clinic to talk to them about this?" One of the teens asked looking around the table.
Peaking up over the edge of the large Veterinary Sciences Text she had pulled out and started flipping through Jess smiled. "I work there. Or I did. Not able to work right now and I haven't actually spoken with Dr. Deaton about if my job will be waiting for my when I recover. But he dogsits my dog each day and he lent me a bunch of books this morning...so I think I still have a job when I recover. Huh, I suppose I should probably talk to him about it at some point...but even if I don't work there anymore my Foster Brother Scott works there." Suddenly realizing that she hadn't spoken to Scott all day Jess frowned and started looking around the cafeteria. "And if Scott doesn't want to help I leave my dog their every morning so I can run the idea by Dr. Deaton myself if you like." Closing the book and placing it back in her bag Jess turned to Danny. "Any idea where Scott has gotten to? I just realized I haven't talked to him at all today."
Glancing around the cafeteria Danny shrugged. "I think he is a little wound up about his big date tonight. I am sure he will talk to you about it tonight or tomorrow."
The rest of the day passed quietly except for some confusion when Jess was called out of math to go to the office right before class ended. Danny offered to bring her bag to the gym for her and keep an eye on it until Jess got there. Reaching the office Jess was introduced to a slightly hyper man who introduced himself as a teacher advisor for the Drama Club. He explained that SEVERAL very excited members had approached him to tell him all about Jess and her two marvelous ideas for fundraisers. After agreeing to officially join the school Drama club Jess promised to speak with Dr. Deaton sometime that week about her idea so her could think about it over the weekend and hopefully give her an answer by Monday. Leaving the office with it's glaring secretary Jess headed for gym. Sitting on the bleachers Jess made up the menu for the night and sent the ingredients list to Derek apologizing for leaving it so late. Putting her phone back in her sling Jess opened up one the the texts and started reading about some advanced stitching techniques for use on internal organs. Hearing someone approach Jess ignored the figure hovering over her for a few minutes before she finally sighed and looked up to see the Coach staring down at the graphic pictures with disgust.
"What the hell is that? And why are you looking at it?" The Coach asked, shooting Jess a deep look of concern.
Smiling Jess held the book up and started pointing and identifying the organs in the pictures. "Liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys. With examples of different stitches to use when stitching organs as opposed to skin. I am studying."
"Oh, you want to be a doctor when you grow up. To help people." The Coach smiled clearly relieved by her answer.
Scoffing Jess shook her head. "No way. People suck. I'm going to be a vet and help animals." Turning her book back around Jess leaned forwards slightly over the book to look closer at the pictures. Smiling slightly as the befuddled Coach turned and walked away shaking his head.
When gym class ended Danny swooped in and stole her bag promising to bring it out to the parking lot for her after he got cleaned up. "It's my best chance to see tall, dark, and menacing up close. Please don't take that away from me." He pleaded.
Giving in with a laugh Jess headed to the parking lot. Seeing Scott and Stiles up ahead Jess waved and called to them, frowning when they quickly turned and hurried away. Thinking hard about what could be causing the boys to act so weird Jess almost walked right passed Derek and the large group of teens that had gathered again to fuss over the friendly dog that he brought to school with him.
Catching Jess's sleeve as she walked passed Derek pulled her to a halt. "You alright?" Derek asked quietly noticing the frown on her face. "Where is your bag?"
Startled Jess jumped before recognizing Derek.
"Sorry, just trying to figure out why Scott and Stiles are avoiding me." Jess muttered stepping close to Derek and leaning heavily against his chest. "And Danny has my bag. Our last class is gym so he is taking a quick shower before he brings it outside to me. He is such a sweetheart. He has been carrying my bag and sitting with me all day. And at lunch he introduced me to the official school Drama Club and before I knew it the teacher advisor was making me an official member. I've never been part of a school club or team before. I think it might actually be fun. I managed to come up with two ideas for fundraisers to raise money for the club and they voted to try and do both of them." Jess said cheering up ad she told Derek. A few minutes later a still dripping Danny came trotting out of the school carrying Jess's bag. Running up to them he smiled at Derek and handed the bag to him beaming proudly.
Taking the bag and tossing it onto the hood of the car Derek stared at the strangly perky teen boy. "What? Are you waiting for a tip or something?" He growled scowling at the boy and wrapping his arms around Jess who was still leaning against his chest.
Face falling for a moment Danny blinked and looked from the scowling Derek to the exhausted Jess he was hugging to his chest tightly before his face slowly broke out into a smile. "I will see you tomorrow my darling dearest heart." He said bowing to Jess with a courtly flourish of his hand and ignoring Derek's light growl in reaction.
"Until we meet again dear heart." Jess replied closing her eyes and resting her forehead against Derek's chest. Reaching up Jess grumbled and poked at Derek's chest. "Stop growling and tensing." Jess whined resting her hand on his chest and starting to rub gentle circles. It makes your chest too hard."
Looking down at the girl in disbelief Derek was shocked into chuckling at her reasoning. "Get in the car you kook." Derek said with a chuckle gently pushing her towards the passenger door while grabbing her bag off the hood. Opening the driver's door he tilted the seat forward and gave am ear splitting whistle. Anne shot out of the circle of admiring teens and vaulted into the back of the car. Climbing into the car Derek completely ignored the groans of the teens who had been petting her. Looking over to the passenger seat where Jess was slumped Derek frowned. "Relax, Scott and Stiles probably just snooped a bit while in your truck and found the stash of ladies feminine supplies in the glovebox and now are too embarrassed to face you." Derek suggested flying down the road towards the McCall house.
Smiling brightly Jess turned to Derek. "I can totally imagine them doing that." Jess said the paused. "Wait, how do YOU know where my stash of period supplies is kept?"
Grinning impishly Derek shrugged. "I had to make sure there wasn't anything lying around that could get you in trouble if Melissa or Scott found it. So I searched your truck when I took your big first aide kit to be cleaned. You running a little low on pads. Do you want me to grab you a pack next time I am at the store?" Derek said calmly, seemingly unbothered by the topic of menstruation supplies.
Thinking about the fact he had a sister close to his age as his only family for so long Jess smiled softly for a moment. "Um, yeah if you don't mind. I never remember the name or size I like to use. I just always keep the packaging and use it in the store to check which ones to grab."
Derek nodded. "Alright I'll get some soon then. I actually have some errands I need to run tonight so we will have to be a bit flexible with the cooking tonight."
Getting home the pair headed straight to the kitchen. Standing infront of the open fridge seeing all the leftovers from the night before Jess bit her lip and glanced at Derek. "How annoyed would you be if I suggested we just eat from the leftovers tonight and save the chicken to cook tomorrow?" Jess asked staring down at her feet. "If you would rather have the chicken I am sure I can manage it on my own. I just thought if we did leftover it might be easier and there ARE a lot of leftovers. But you went out to the store to get the ingredients because I told you it is what I wanted to cook tonight. So that is what I should cook. It's no problem though. I can do the chicken." Jess babbled nervously. "I'll just do baked potatoes instead of mashed since I can't really peel them...unless I parboil them and skin them before I finish boiling them...that could work. And I can use the bastor to get the drippings for the gravy one handed and just turn the oven off and open the oven door if the chicken finishes while you are out. I just need you to fill a big pot with water and put it on the stove and slide the dressed chicken into the over for me before you leave." Jess said brightly.
Wrapping his arm around Jess Derek laughed softly. "Relax, leftover will be fine. And now we have supper planned and groceries bought for tomorrow night already." Derek said gently, guiding Jess to the couch. Placing her bag beside her he asked. "Is there anything you want me to get you from your room before I head out? Your laptop or your new kindle maybe?" Picking up the remote he set it on the side table beside Jess.
"Um, my laptop would be nice." Jess said slowly settling back into the cushions of the couch. Anne instantly jumped up and settled against her side.
A minute later Derek was back with both her old and new laptop and a blanket. "Wasn't sure which one you wanted so I figured I would bring you both." Setting the laptops down on the side table Derek laid the blanket over Jess's lap and stood staring at her for a moment. "Snacks!" Derek said loudly snapping his fingers and taking off back up up stairs. A minute later he was back with Jess's basket of snacks which he set on the coffee table infront of her. The basket was still full to overflowing with snacks and drinks. Looking over the scenes again Derek nodded happily. "There, ready for anything. I'll lock the front door behind myself. If Anne needs to go out just send her out into the backyard ALONE. Do not leave the house. Please." Derek begged shamelessly turning his puppy dog eyes on her.
"Alright. I promise I will stay inside." Jess promised solemly.
Dashing forward Derek dropped a kiss atop her head and whispered. "Thank you." Before he turned and strode out of the house. Only stopping long enough to lock the front door behind him.
Opening up her old laptop Jess spent the evening answering emails. Whenever she had made a friend in the last year that she wanted to keep on touch with she would give them her email address. Jess regularly sent group emails with updates to everyone and there were many concerned emails from friends who had noticed the lack of updates. Sending out a long group email giving the basic info of what had happened to everyone Jess started replying more personally and adding more detail in an email to send to just Joe and Miguel. Cursing the slow old laptop Just glanced at the new laptop and sighed wishing she had the computer savvy to get her old info and pictures moved from the old laptop to the new model. Remembering several disastrous attempts to move files from old phones to new phones Jess decided she would need to ask around at school tomorrow and find someone who knew what they were doing in help her.
After reassuring her honorary family and her few friends Jess started reading the emails sent by former colleagues from auto shops and vet clinics she had worked at. She had a large amount of people who would send her links to articles and demonstration videos that they thought she might find interesting.
Finishing an article about dog pack behavior Jess suddenly remembered Derek's comment about how birds preend while wolves groomed. Opening a web browser Jess began searching for articles and videos about wolf pack behaviors. Several hours later Jess was shocked when the door opened and Melissa entered the house.
Amazed by how much time had passed Jess started to get up apologizing for not having the leftovers reheated and ready to eat but was waved back into her seat by Melissa.
"Are you kidding me. I am just unbelievably happy not to have to get take out or make a TV dinner for my supper. Having to scoop it onto a plate and microwave it is NOT a problem. Is Scott home yet? I'll ask if he wants a plate as well." Melissa said all in a rush jogging up the stairs before Jess could even reply.
A moment later Scott slunk in the door with a goofy grin on his face. Seeing Jess he paled and turning away he ducked into the kitchen.
Suddenly there was a thud from upstairs. Both Jess and Scott glanced towards the stairs. A sudden bellow and screams had them both rushing for the stairs. Scott was way ahead of Jess and was already bursting into his room by the time Jess got to the stairs. Hearing Stiles, Melissa and Scott talking loudly but calmly Jess slumped in relief against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
A minute later Melissa came stomping down the stairs shaking her head and muttering about she had done enough parenting for the night. "At least I have ONE well behaved child in this house." She muttered. Gently grabbing Jess by the arm Melissa led her into the kitchen and motioned for her to sit on a stool at the island. Pulling down a pair of plates Melissa started pulling out leftovers and filling them. "Tell me all about what you have been up to. I've been so busy at work we've barely had a chance to talk since you started school yesterday."
Smiling shyly Jess happily started telling Melissa all about her first two days of school and about the impromptu dinner party they had the night before. While she talked Melissa heated up the plates and got them each a glass of juice and a fork.
Glancing up just in time to see Scott and Stiles dissappear out the front door Melissa sighed heavily. Angrily spearing some gnocchi and sliced sausage she shoved it in her mouth and chewed angrily for a moment before groaning loudly.
Jumping up in concern Jess asked frantically. "What's wrong!"
Waving away her concern Melissa slapped the counter several times while she chewed her bite of food and swallowed. "THAT is freaking delicious. Last night I thought it was just the fact it wasn't cafeteria slop for once that made it seem to taste so good. But no. That is incredible." Quickly taking another bite Melissa moaned again. "I wish we could eat this kind of stuff every night." Suddenly freezing Melissa turned to Jess with wide eyes. "Chores. Once your better you need chores of some sort. What do you think about the only single chore you would be responsible for would be making supper most nights?" She asked eyes sparkling. "I would buy whatever groceries you tell me to get or give you money to buy them. And you would get nights off every week. And if there are enough leftovers or something we just need to toss in the oven or get up in the microwave you wouldn't have to be here at supper time if you had other plans." Melissa rambled excitedly. "And of course you don't have to start until you arm is out of the sling and you are recovered. And if you are ever sick of course you won't need to cook that day. Or if you have something for school. Or if you have work." Turning to the girl hopefully Melissa waited for her reply.
Smiling at the excited women Jess laughed softly. "That sounds amazing to me. I love cooking." Taking a bite of her own dinner Jess added. "Oh, and we are having a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and garlic Parmigiano green beans for supper tomorrow night. Derek was busy tonight so he couldn't give me a hand which is why I figured everyone could just eat leftovers tonight. But he promised to help me tomorrow."
Cheering happily Melissa continued eating and asked Jess to tell her more about the fundraiser ideas she had come up with.
It got quite late before the front door opened and Scott stumbled in the door covered in dust. Waving off the ladies concern he mumbled about just wanting to take a shower and go to bed staring hard at his feet the entire time.
Realizing how late it was Melissa put the plates in the sink with a bit of water. Locking the door she smiled at Jess ruefully. "Derek is a grown man and has a key. So I won't wait up for him and I suggest you don't either. Morning will be here before you know it." She said before turning and heading upstairs to bed.
Leaving everything but her pills, water bottle and phone downstairs by the couch Jess let Anne out one last time before heading upstairs herself.