The Next Day

Getting up at 05:00 during the week made Jenny's weekends suffer because her internal clock would not let her sleep in. She had a good three hours to kill before anyone else woke up and then another three hours before the family would leave for John Gage's picnic. She decided to study for an hour and a half then go for a jog. The didn't realize how difficult the physical fitness aspect was going to be until she was put through the hell of push ups, pull ups, and multiple mile jogs. But she was proud of herself from going from no pushups to fifteen, even if Jared would would go on about how he could do twice as many as she could. He also called her twig after she had dropped some weight.

She was studying for her next test which was the basic first aid and extrication techniques which was going to be on Friday. She couldn't wait for tomorrow, when they were going to go over vehicle extrication and basic first aid. It was going to be a small taste of what she was going to be doing in the future.

At 06:30 she changed into shorts and a tank top and decided to go for a run. She needed the run so that she could clear her head. It was the first time that her instructors/extended family would be in the same place. The picnic provided the greatest chance of a slip up. It didn't help that there were five people that knew her secret and one of them had to be Uncle Johnny. She knew that it was him that she had to babysit.

She returned home at 07:15 after jogging a good four miles. She didn't come to up with any good way to keep everyone except by following her father around and quickly changing subjects if there was a slip up. She hopped into the shower and then changed into a pair of acid washed jeans and an oversize teal shirt. She pulled her hair up into side ponytail after she blow dried it.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The aroma of eggs and bacon wafted in the air. She was glad to see her father sitting at the table with his cup of coffee on his right side and the newspaper in his hand. It was a relief to see him in the mornings because that meant that he left work in one piece.

"Good morning sweetheart." Jen's mother called out above the sizzling bacon.

"Morning Mom. Morning Dad." She got out a glass from the top of the cabinet and went to the refrigerator so she could pour some orange juice. She sat down across from her father. His paper fell down to the paper. He yawned while try to get words out of his mouth. She couldn't believe the bags under his eyes. "Geez Dad, are you okay?"

He yawned once again. "Yes I am, my Jenny-bean. It 's just picking up Johnny's days have been a little rough. But it will only be for another couple of months. And Johnny's having fun, I hope." He tried to give her a convincing smile but she knew better. "So, tell me about your classes. How's the semester going? Straight A's?"

She tried to think of a way to change the subject. It hit her. Her father wasn't much of a classical reader. He wasn't much a reader period. "The nursing classes are just working on first-aid so far. And then I'm really enjoying my English classes. We're studying Shakespeare now then we're going to be reading Moby Dick. It's a lot of reading and writing and studying. But so far, I'm getting an A in classes." The last part was true. She spent so much time studying that she was scoring tops on the written tests.

"That's great, honey," commented her mother. Her mother carried two plates over to the table and set one down in front of her husband and Jen.

Her brother came down wearing his night clothes, which was just red gym shorts with white trim and a white mickey mouse shirt. He sat down next to his sister and started grabbed a piece of her bacon. She gave him a dirty look and elbowed him in the gut. When Joanne put down a plate in front of Chris, Jen grabbed his bacon.

"Wow, dad. How much sleep have you been getting!" Chris commented. His father sat in silence. It was too early and he was too tired to go over the conversation once again.

"Dad, maybe you should stay home and get some sleep. Don't you have to cover Uncle Johnny's shift tomorrow," Jen offered. She had her fingers crossed under the table hopping her father would take her advice.

Roy took a few seconds to think about it. Laying in his comfy bed under the sheets was very tempting. He shook his head. "I'll take a nap before and after the picnic. I haven't talked to Johnny since...hmm, when was the last time I talked to him? He called last week for a quick update on his crew and that was it. Plus I'm sure he's got stories from the academy to tell me. And I'm curious to hear about the female recruits."

"Me too," Chris said. He hadn't talked to Jen for awhile since she had started the academy and he started working at the hospital. The rest of breakfast conversation mainly focused on how well the Dodgers were doing and whether or not they could win the world series.

After breakfast, Jen and Joanne helped cut up fruit for the fruit salad they were making while Roy was taking his nap and Chris was outside washing his car. Once Jen and Joanne finished making the fruit salad, Jen decided to go outside and help out her brother.

Jen was barely outside before her brother sprayed her with the hose. She was secretly grateful for the water because it was so hot outside. "Maybe you should be the one in charge of the hose, since you'll be a hose jockey in eight more weeks." Chris then stuck out his tongue.

Jen smiled. She realized that she was a third of the way done with the academy. It was a difficult month and it will be a rough two more months but it would be all worth it. "So, I think Linda likes you." Jen said to changing the topic in case a neighbor, her mother, or her father, would come out. She was starting to get too paranoid about her secret coming out.

"She seems too attached to this Mike or Mark or whatever his name is. She's cute though. But she kept on cursing that dude out. She went on and on about the stuff he does to her in class. Do they pick on you as much as they pick on her?"

Jen had to laugh as she thought back to the antics Jared had pulled. "Yeah." She paused a moment thinking about her squad and Linda's squad. "I'm lucky though. I've got David in my squad. He's the only one who doesn't treat me like I have the plague or leprosy."

"David, the one that was at the ice cream parlor?" He looked up from drying off the car and saw Jen nod her head. "He seems like a cool dude."

"Yeah, he is." She grabbed a towel and started drying the wheels. She looked down at the ground. "Chris, thanks for the support. I don't know what I would do without you and David always being there to back me up."

Chris smiled. "You missed a spot." Chris said coming up behind his sister. Jen knew that Chris wasn't one for displaying emotions or saying things from the heart. She looked up and noticed his smile and took it as a promise that he'd always be there to support her for anything she puts her mind to.

A/N: Please review. I love to hear constructive criticism. And those who think it knows where this is going, you know more than I do. I'm not yet sure what ending I will give...maybe I will write a couple endings. Who knows.