Alright, this chapter was a bit rushed, but not really.
Enjoy!
Before Schmidt could respond, Jess rushed to the door in a pair of polka dot pajamas and glasses with thick, black frames. "Cece!" she said. "Hey! Come in, come in!" Hesitantly, Cece accepted the invitation into the loft, as she looked around at the old, brick walls.
"Hey, babe, are you okay?" she whispered to her friend. "You don't seem...broken."
"Broken?" Jess asked with a laugh. "Why the heck would I be broken?" Before Cece could speak, Jess led her to the guest bedroom, quietly closed the door and locked it. Suddenly, she broke into tears. "I... I'm broken..."
"Oh, honey..." Cece pulled her friend into a tight hug. She began to slowly rub her back in an attempt to comfort her. "I'm so, so, so sorry... You're too good for Spencer, anyway. He doesn't deserve you. You're kind, caring, talented, funny, smart, beautiful, and an amazing person and friend – he's just a low-life with long hair and mediocre guitar skills."
"I... I miss him...so much..." Jess said in between sobs, not even hugging Cece back. "I mean, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
"No. No, no, no, no, no. You did nothing wrong. If anyone did anything wrong, it's Spencer. He cheated on the most amazing girl in the world."
Hearing Cece say the words 'Spencer' and 'cheated' in the same sentence just made Jess cry more. "Okay, Jess," Cece said, pulling her away from the hug and looking into her eyes. "Tell me this: do you feel comfortable staying with four strangers? Who are men?"
Jess responded in between sniffles. "They seem nice."
"Yeah, but how can you trust them? How do you know they won't murder you or steal your stuff?"
"Cece, I'm fine – I'm not a twelve-year-old and you're not my mother. If I can handle guys on the streets, I'm sure I can handle these guys."
With a cocked eyebrow, Cece asked, "Why are you comparing creeps on the streets to these people?"
"I don't know – I say random things when I'm hungry! You out of all people should know that!"
"Okay, I feel like you're more hangry than hungry..."
"That's probably the case!"
"Well, I'll let you eat," Cece said with a sigh, as she started opening the door to exit, "and when you're not hangry anymore, call me so you can talk like Jess – not crabby Jess, alright?"
Jess hesitated before she responded with, "...Fine, but I'll call you, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
The two didn't talk after Cece spoke. Instead, they exchanged smiles, Cece exited the loft subtly without getting the guys' attention, and Jess stayed in her room, plopping herself on the bed. She thought about how much she wanted to strangle Spencer and his hoe of a girlfriend – actually, she could be a really nice hoe, she thought. But at the same time, she wanted to hug him and strangely braid his long, brownish hair.
There was a random knock on the closed door, making Jess jump off of the bed and onto the floor. "Hey, Jess?" a voice said on the other side. "It's Nick – Schmidt made scrambled eggs and was wondering if you wanted some. Also, the guys wanna talk to you about some stuff they apparently can't tell me about, but, um, don't feel like you need to talk to them – they're not as normal as they look."
"I'll...I'll be right out," Jess responded, as she slowly stood up from the floor.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine – just a bit tired."
"Okay... Well, come out whenever you're ready."
"'Kay."
When she knew Nick was gone for sure – by listening to his footsteps – Jess looked into the desk mirror to see if she looked at least somewhat presentable. Wait. Why am I checking to see if I look okay? Jess thought, as she groaned and quickly walked out of the room, but as she was getting closer and closer to the dining area, she slowed herself down a little. She spotted the four guys at the table, all eating their eggs. "Um," she mumbled, trying to get their attention. "What's up?"
All of them look up from their eggs and, since his back was facing her, Nick casually turned around to look at her. All they could do was stare, but Nick seemed pretty calm, for the first time in forever. "Oh, the eggs are right here," he said, pointing to the seat to his left and turning around, back to his eggs.
"Yes, well, I made them," Schmidt randomly stated with a grin on his face, as everyone (except for Nick) watched Jess sit down – she just ignored their stares and ate the eggs.
After about five minutes of eating and complete silence, Jess said, "So Nick told me you guys wanna ask me something?"
"Oh, yeah," Schmidt continued. "My boys and I were wondering—how long will you be staying here?"
"Okay, Schmidt," Coach said, "put a dollar in the jar. How many times do we have to tell you that 'my boys' is not a thing?"
With a sigh, Schmidt stood up from the table and went to the counter near the couch to put money in the so-called 'Douchebag Jar'. Right after, he went back to the table to sit down and hear Jess's response.
"Well, uh," Jess began, "I'm kind of going through a break up right now and I don't really have a place to stay. I mean, I'd stay with Cece, but she already has someone living with her and her apartment's really small. So, um, I'd say...about a week at the most. I only have a week's worth of clothes anyway, so—"
"You could wash your clothes here anytime," Nick spat out, but his eyes widened when he realized what he just said. Jess turned to him. "As long as you're here, you could always wash your clothes, because, um, it would just be a lot of work for you to, uh, ask us to drive you to a laundry...place. That's what I meant to say."
Couldn't he remember the word 'mat'? thought Schmidt, holding back the urge to roll his eyes.
"Thanks, Nick." Jess didn't know whether to feel grateful, weirded out, or both; she assumed both, so she acted like she was just grateful. She then turned back to the group. "But, yeah, that's basically my living situation for now. If you guys want me to stay somewhere else—"
"No, no, no, we'd love to have you," Winston interrupted. "If you have to stay here for three years, that's fine – we can manage, right, guys?"
"Um, thanks, but I don't think I'll need to stay here for three years," Jess responded with a laugh.
"But if you're gonna be living with us for more than a week, I gotta ask you something: are you allergic to cats?"
"...No...?"
"Y-You said that like you didn't know the answer, but I need you to answer honestly. Are you allergic to cats?"
"Winston, I'm pretty sure she'd know whether she's allergic to cats or not," Schmidt said. "Just make sure Ferguson doesn't shed everywhere – I have a... client coming over tomorrow, and she's mildly allergic to cats."
"Ferguson?" Jess asked.
"Oh, Ferguson is Winston's ex-girlfriend's cat."
"Uh, nuh-uh," Winston declared, "He was Daisy's cat, but now he's mine, and he will forever be mine and only mine."
Schmidt gave Jess a smile. "We have fun here."
Alrighty, that was chapter four! Please leave a review if you liked what you read, or DM me for suggestions. :)
~MJ
