I'm screwed.
I got over my crush. I made a new guy friend.
I proceeded to fall deeper in love with guy friend than I've been since Andrew. Because, life! Im bestie-zoned!
Also, two months ago I had a stalker issue. I'm okay. But it was weird and terrifying.
This is my way of making up for leaving! And reminding all us forever-alonies that we have time.
Disclaimer: Every Witch Way is not mine.
When you fall in love, you know.
It's obvious, in the thundering of your heartbeat as it slams against your chest, in the shakiness of your voice, the dampness of your palms, and the stupidity of the words you say. The crush part of love you can't control. You say and do preposterous things and you kick yourself for them, later.
The other part, though, is the mental connection. It's making your loved one chicken soup when they're sick, asking if they've eaten today, and hounding them about wearing a seatbelt. A part of love is saying it in a thousand different ways.
Someday, everyone falls in love. Jessie hated that.
She hated it because her brother was so happy. Everyone was happy with their lives. She hated the fact that everyone was falling in love, if they hadn't been there for years. *cough* Jemma *cough* Jessie was fifteen, and she still had never had a boyfriend because Ethan was blinder than a bat without hearing.
It was obvious to everyone, including Jax, that she liked her best friend. But, he didn't seem to get it.
Her brother had a baby on the way. A freaking baby. And here, Jessie could barely get her best friend to stop being lovey dovey with his girlfriend long enough for her to spend time with him.
Part of her knew she was complaining about something weird. When it came down to it, she could have a boyfriend if she wanted one. Countless guys, even seniors, had approached her during her six months at Iridium High. However, none of them were five-foot eleven of sparkling, boyish eyes, a heart warming smile, and four years of memories with her best friend.
The day some boy could be that, was the day Agamemnon approved of Jemma. Jessie would marry this boy that knew how to replace Ethan with literally not even a second of memories.
That wouldn't ever happen. The formative years she'd spent liking him made it part of her, now. Even though she had two months on him, and he was a bit dumb, Ethan Prescott had made her fall for him with his charm and obsession with Captain El Capitan.
He chose Riley, though. The blonde, blue-eyed, five foot seven princess. Or, as she and Emily, who had become her best girl friend over the years called her, Queen Bitch of Iridium High: Van-Pelt 2.0.
It was a dig at Maddie, not Phillip. Jessie quite liked Phillip.
Riley Samantha Jameson got everything she wanted. Perfect grades, perfect hair, perfect friends, clothes, and more. You named it, this girl had the best version of it.
Jessie just hated that the girl who made middle school a nightmare for her was now probably screwing her best friend.
"Jess, relax. Ethan is an idiot, anyway. Don't be so pissed that he hasn't sent you his usual Valentine's Day flowers. Queen Biotch probably threatened not to give him anything if he did." Emily consoled. Jessie sighed, playing with her phone on her bed.
"I know. It just bugs me. My brother is married and about to have a kid, and here I am having never held anyone's hand other than your brother's. I want to have a guy appreciate me."
Emily nodded. "He does, Jess. E just needs to realize that the girl he always says he wants is right in front of his stupid face and it's actually just you he's describing."
Jessie gave a grateful smile and the two ceased talking. However, unbeknownst to them, Jax had been bringing them snacks, but stopped at the closed door upon overhearing.
"Em, babe. Can you come up here? My sister is being a teenage girl."
Emma laughed and dragged herself off the couch with an eye roll. Six months pregnant, and still handling his sister for him. Dear lord, her husband needed to either grow up and do this himself, or back up and let Jessie learn.
"Dr. Emma to the rescue. What's wrong, now?" She took the cookie tray.
"From what I heard, Ethan is a dick and Jessie is underappreciated."
"So... all freshman?" She asked. Jax laughed far harder than he had to.
"Yep. But it's Valentine's Day and she's mopey, so... can you make her not?"
Emma rolled her eyes and hip checked her husband, opening the door. There layed Jessie, with her shirt riding up and her arms holding her phone high above her head. The blonde she now called her best friend was in her spinning chair, facing Jessie, despite the fact that the witch was now quite occupied with glaring at Riley's Instagram photos with Ethan, the previous week.
If she let a guy put his hands within a foot of where Riley had Ethan's, her brother wouldn't let her out of the house until his grandkids had grandkids.
"Knock knock. Guess whose favorite sister-in-law brought cookies?"
"Are you not her only sister-in-law?" Emily frowned. Jax bit his tongue for a moment. He wasn't a fan of Emily. Emma just laughed.
"That we know of. Lord knows how many more siblings these two have." Everyone laughed at that. Over the years, Jax and Jessie made light of their lost time and the lies they'd both been told. They made a pact a long time ago that they could only trust each other (with the exception of Emma) and they had one another's backs. That's why he always sent Em to the rescue when his best solution for Ethan was to pummel the kid.
Jessie slowly sat up, licking her lips at the smell of the cookies Jax made her. As much as she teased him for being whipped, she'd be lying if she didn't love that Jax made her cookies and cake, sometimes.
If anyone asked, though, Emma always made them. That was the deal.
"Food. Yay. You'll never leave me for a slut." She pouted. Emma gave her an apprehending look, to remind her that she was not a fan of that word.
"Don't glare at me. I'm having a bad day." She took the tray and fell onto bed, practically swallowing a diabetes-cylinder* whole.
Emma sighed. Emily sighed. Then, so did Jax. "What?"
"You're fifteen. It's Valentine's Day. You should not be moping over some boy that likes another girl. What the hell would dad say if he saw this?" Jax crossed his arms and looked his sister dead in her cookie-stuffed face. She hadn't even bothered to leave her pajamas, since school was canceled. Her hair was a mess, and she looked tired.
"Let me die in peace, woman!"
"Jax." Emma looked at him. "Go away. It's girl time."
He clenched his jaw slightly, examining the pain on Jessie's face. Jax gave in with a sigh, and walked out the door.
"He has a point." Emma sat down. "You're young. You should be happy. You can't let Ethan ruin that."
"Ethan didn't ruin in. Samantha the Snake did." Jessie mumbled. Emma pulled her into a side hug.
"Look, I understand."
"Yeah, right."
"I do." Emma looked at the young girl. "Senior year, when your brother and I were on that break. I had to watch him with another girl, per the Council's orders. Which made it worse, because he was both unhappy and helpless to stop it... Don't tell him I called him helpless. His ego bruises easy."
Jessie and Emily tossed back their heads in laughter. Emma gestured for Emily to sit on the other side of her.
"Girls, I'm going to share with you a very valuable life lesson. One I had to learn the hard way."
"What is it?" Emily asked. Jessie made a noise to show she was also curious, having stuffed herself with more cookies.
"Love takes time. Even high school- late high school- is very early to fall in the kind of love that is going to last. Jax and I got very, very lucky. But someday, if you're patient, it's going to happen."
"But, not with him?" Jessie frowned. Emma rubbed her arm.
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But take your time, live your life! You're young. And if it's meant to be, it'll happen eventually. Just let him go, romance wise. Riley won't be around long. No one that hates your best friend sticks long."
"Don't Andi and Jax hate each other?" The girls asked in unison. Emma laughed.
"They have a love-hate relationship. When it comes down to it, they're family. And family can relentlessly tease each other, but they always care. Always."
"Ohh... Ethan and I are doing it wrong. When we fight it gets ugly..." Emily averted her eyes. Jesssie busted out laughing.
"Yeah! Like when he made you a pickle! You smelled like vinegar for weeks!"
"We weren't ever supposed to speak of that!"
Soon the girls were yelling, and Emma quietly excused herself from the room. Jax was laughing his ass off downstairs, making her eyes roll.
"I guess the screams of war mean you fixed it?"
"Yep. Your sister is much happier, now. At least for a while." Emma slung her arms around his neck, standing awkwardly to accommodate her stomach between them. He chuckled and kissed her quickly.
"You're a miracle worker."
"Mhm. Lets hope you're still saying that when her next crush comes along. He probably won't be as concerned with her feelings as Ethan."
"You ruin everything."
There you are! A cute little make-up one shot for me leaving. Sorry about that. Least I can make a nice reminded for all us youngsters that we're young. We have plenty of time to evaluate how many cats we need. :)
*That term comes from one of my friends. For Christmas I brought her "Diabetes In A Bag" for one of her gifts. It was a bag of cookies.