Chapter 5

"So can we meet this boy?" Mrs. Wakefield asked innocently.

"Mom," Jessica rolled her eyes. "This is our first date. Plus, you've met Jeremy before. He works with Liz, remember?"

"Yes, we was very sexy," Mrs. Wakefield said, her eyes dancing mischievously.

"God, mom!" Jessica squealed as her mother laughed. Jessica was secretly glad though. She was lucky she was still close to her mom. She knew that Liz and her parents had been butting heads for months, having your mom on your side felt nice and oddly comforting.

"You look nice Jess. Where are you two going?"

Jessica glanced quickly into the hall mirror. Her jean skirt and purple tank top were simple yet alluring. "Some pizza joint out in Bridgewater."

"That's pretty far," her mother commented. "I'm glad you're going for lunch." Her mom gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder and headed towards the kitchen.

Jessica glanced quickly at her watch. Jeremy wouldn't be there for another ten minutes. She glanced in the mirror again. She smiled. With her purple shirt, she didn't look much different than the eleven year old Unicorn Jessica. However, Eleven-year old Jessica would have envied the heels, makeup, and figure that Jessica had now. She smiled as she remembered trying to smuggle make-up out of the house in her purse before dates and dances.

She also noticed how happy she looked. For the first time in months she was getting ready to leave the house and she didn't feel apprehension or dread. Maybe this year was turning around.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and looked over the see Liz drifting down the stairs. Jessica stared at her sister in amused shock. It wasn't like Liz to sleep in till eleven. Plus, her twin had been in such a funk for weeks.

"You look happy," Jessica said smiling.

"Back at you," Liz said, a smile playing at her lips.

"How was you date?" Jessica asked.

"Sssh," Elizabeth said putting a finger to her lips. "Mom and Dad don't know." Elizabeth smiled. "It was great. Cody is really nice and a lot of fun, though you'll never guess who we ran into, Conner!"

Jessica sighed. Elizabeth so did not need to go down this road again. "Liz, I though you were moving on."

"I am. It was just really funny. I think he was jealous. It felt really…nice you know."

"I know," Jessica said smiling. "You look good," she said gesturing towards her sister's blue sundress.

"I don't know," Liz said looking at herself critically in the mirror. "I should have used your approach for dealing with drama. You're a stick. I think I ate too much ice cream."

"You look fabulous," Jessica said standing next to her sister so that two blond girls were standing together. "I should probably eat a little more. You just got curvy," she teased.

Elizabeth smacked her.

The doorbell rang. Jessica flung the front door opened as butterflies fluttered in her stomach. "Hey, Jeremy."

"Hi, Jess. You look really good."

"Hey," Elizabeth said smiling at the two of them. "I'm gonna head out to meet Andy for breakfast. "

"House of Java?" Jeremy kidded.

Liz blanched. "Hell, no. You two have fun."

Jeremy grabbed Jessica hand. Jessica felt a shiver flow through her body. "Let's go," he said smiling at her. Jessica smiled back and followed him out to the car.

***

Jessica eyed the pizza joint appreciatively. It reminded her of her favorite restaurant, Guido's. So far the date was shaping up to be promising.

Jeremy and Jessica has settled comfortably into a vinyl booth that's tabletop was covered permanent marker scribbles, drawings, signatures, and more. Jessica eyed the jar of permanent markers at the end of the table.

Jeremy caught where she was looking and laughed. "Here, you can draw on it. At the end of the year they sand the top of the table off and start from scratch."

Jessica giggled and grabbed a marker. "This is fun. Is the food good?"

"Is it good?" Jeremy laughed, his eyes dancing. "They have the best pineapple pizza I've ever had. It's definitely worth the drive."

"Yum, that sounds good. It's hard to convince people that pineapple pizza is good. You're the first person besides my brother, Steven who's willing to eat it."

"It's my favorite," Jeremy admitted. "So, isn't it weird that we've never met before being a football player and a cheerleader?"

"Yeah," Jessica said thoughtfully and she doodled on the table. "I think I missed the Big Mesa game last year, though. I think I was sick. And I haven't been to the House of Java this year. I've had major drama since school started."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jeremy asked staring into her deep blue eyes.

Just as Jessica was going to speak, their server arrived.

"Have you decided what you want?"

"Uh, a medium pineapple with extra cheese," Jeremy said quickly.

"And a little bowl of pizza sauce," Jessica added.

Jeremy stared at her quizzically as the sever walked away. "I like to dip my crusts," she explained. "And about this year. Let's just say I fell for the wrong guy. He had a long time girlfriend and when she found she decided to take all of her anger and pissiness out on me."

"Uh…wow," Jeremy said gulping a large swig of water. "That sucks."

"Yeah, and then I get blamed for it like I was somehow supposed to know," Jessica said angrily. "But I really don't want to talk about it anymore. It's so over."

"Great," Jeremy said thankfully. Jessica's admission had made her pretty and delicate features turn cold and hard. Jeremy knew he should just fess up. Tell her about Amanda and let her know that they couldn't be anything more than friends. However, Jeremy liked her company. He liked her laugh and her smile and wanted to see if it had the potential to turn into anything. Plus, he hadn't done anything wrong…yet. "So what are you doing besides cheerleading? Do you have a job?"

"I did, I worked at this health and organic place, Healthy. I quit though, my boss was obnoxious. Liz is always chasing after internships so I'm thinking of looking for one in fashion. Maybe fashion merchandising or design. I think I might want to go into that in college."

"That's pretty cool. Have you done it before?"

"No, but I'd like to try. My mom's an interior decorator, and I've worked with her before. But I think my talents are better suited to clothes. Plus it gives me an excuse to justify my shopping as 'research'!"

"That sounds great. I'm thinking about going into archeology. But I'm not sure if I want to go straight into that until grad school. I'm thinking maybe majoring in history and geology."

"Wow, ambitious," Jessica said looking impressed.

The server reappeared and set a pan of steaming pizza in front of them. "Enjoy your meal" he said with a smile.

"Yum, this looks delicious. From now on I'm on a strict pineapple pizza diet," Jessica said laughing.

"Dig in," Jeremy said noting the huge slice Jessica had grabbed. He was glad to see Jessica eating. A lot of girls acted like pizza would kill them on the spot.

"Oh my god," Jessica moaned. "I've died and gone to heaven. This is amazing!"

"So are you," Jeremy blurted out. He immediately wanted to kick himself. Yeah, like that comment wouldn't lead her on!

Jessica quickly blushed and looked down at her pizza. "Thanks."

They had in silence for a couple of minutes. Jessica knew she shouldn't rush into a new relationship. Things with Will had ended like a week ago. She knew that she should be by herself for a while and hang with her friends, focus on school and cheerleading. But Jeremy was making her feel happy. There was no drama, no competition. He seemed like a nice, funny, thoughtful guy who liked her. "I'm having a great time," she said looking into his brown eyes. "This has been the most fun I've had in a long time, believe me."

"Yeah, me too. Do you want to take off?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Jessica said eyeing the empty pizza pan. "I just don't want this date to end."

"Who said it's over?" Jeremy said, his eyes dancing.

"You mean there's more?" Jessica said, surprised.

"I was hoping you'd maybe want to head back to Big Mesa and go on a hike or something at the park."

"Okay, I'd like that," Jessica said shyly as she climbed into Jeremy's car. "I haven't done that in a while."

Jeremy drummed his hands on his thigh, but didn't start the car. "I'm having a really good time," Jeremy said.

"I know," Jessica said, glancing over at him. "You already said that."

"I just wanted to let you know. I mean, I've worked with Liz for three months and haven't been attracted to her. It's weird, but I'm not even though you guys are twins," Jeremy rambled. "I really shouldn't be saying this or doing this, but I want to see you again, and I want to kiss you."

Jessica looked at him with bemusement. "What are you not allowed to date or something?" She was about to say more when Jeremy's lips cut her off. She responded quickly to his warm kiss and the sweet pineapple taste of his mouth. Shivers went through her body. Just as quickly as it had started, he pulled away leaving Jessica breathless and definitely wanting more.

He flashed a quick smile. "So about that hike?"

***

Amanda's hands trembled as she tore open the envelope. Her first college response! It was from Ohio State. Amanda had never told anyone, but she was pretty psyched about the school. She could picture herself in a red sweatshirt cuddled with Jeremy under a red blanket cheering on the Buckeyes while sipping warm hot chocolate. Amanda had wanted to live somewhere with snow and fall, and Ohio State was a good school. She unfolded the thick packet of letter and let out a scream. She had gotten in! Which meant Jeremy had probably gotten in, too since he was just as smart as she was. Ohio State even had an archeology program! This was perfect! She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Jeremy's number. His phone went straight to voicemail. That was weird, she noticed. Jeremy always had his phone on unless he was at school or practice. She knew he didn't have practice. He had told her he would be doing homework all morning, and he usually welcomed distractions when we was doing homework. Plus, she had hoped about maybe watching a movie together that night. She dialed his home phone number. His mother picked up.

"Hello, Mrs. Aames, it's Amanda. Is Jeremy there?"

"No, he left around eleven to hang out with some friends," Mrs. Aames said. "He should be back any minute. Do you want me to tell him you called?"

"Uh, sure. Thanks." Amanda hung up. Well, now would be a great time for her to start her homework. Jeremy was sure to call back and want to get together.

After an hour, he still hadn't called. Amanda wasn't too worried because he'd probably gotten distracted with Trent and Stan. She wanted to call him again, but she'd already left a message and didn't want to look needy. Jeremy had never failed to call her back, even if it was just to check in.

Jeremy didn't call back that night. For the first time, Amanda felt alone. And for the first Saturday night in years, Amanda didn't have a date with Jeremy. Where is he? She wondered. Had he even gotten her message? Or did he get her message, and just didn't return her call. Amanda didn't want to know the answer to that question.