The Love Triangle
(DISCLAIMER: We do not own any Horton Hears a Who characters mentioned except for Jodi and Janice. We also do not own any brands/songs mentioned.)
CHAPTER 3 (Jojo and Jodi version)
"What?" Janice laughed. "You think I like Jojo? Like, like-like?" Jodi shrugged, feeling a bit left out. Janice laughed again, for about five minutes, while stuffing Who-chips into her mouth. Jodi stared, then signed,
'Ok, am I missing something? If you don't, then what was up at the movies?' Jodi stifled a laugh when some crumbs flew out of Janice's mouth.
"Oh, you Silly Willy Billy Goat! ... Actually, I don't know... I thought he was just being friendly. Oh well, I don't like him, so you can have him aaaaall to yourself." Jodi blushed, lightly punching Janice's arm. "Anyway," Janice continued, holding her nose flute, "you know I'm, like, scared of commitment." Janice then started playing "The wheels on the Who-bus go Round and Round" adding a few extra notes (played a bit off key, but still sounded good).
Jodi turned her attention back to the tv, seemingly watching Who-Idol, with a light blush on her face.
'So, Janice doesn't like Jojo?' Jodi thought. 'But, what was up, then? I mean, even though Janice has liked other guys before, she never forgot about my mute-ness. Why did she forget with Jojo? And, while we were in the bathroom, she didn't understand some of what I signed. Usually, she can understand even if I sign backwards or something.'
Jodi's very sensitive about her mute-ness, and Janice always made sure to pay extra-attention to Jodi's signing, just like Jodi made sure not to run too fast because of Janice's limp.
Jodi got Janice's attention, and Janice stopped her version of "Who-ville Bridge is Falling Down".
'Ok, you don't like Jojo. But, why did you forget about my mute-ness? And you didn't understand everything I signed. Why?'
"Oh! I was worried about you. And, I had a lot of sugar. You know how I get when I eat sugar." Janice got on the floor and did a hand-stand, making weird faces at the mirror. Jodi hung upside down off of Janice's bed.
'Ok, guess that makes sense. Sorry I blew up in the movies. I don't know what got into me.' Janice squealed, jumping up and running in circles around the room.
"OH! It's cuz you're in luuuuuuuuuuuv!! Well, well, Jodi. I got a feeling you'll be a possesive GF!" Janice giggled at Jodi's even redder face. Jodi jumped up, giggling, and started chasing Janice.
Janice stuck her tongue out at Jodi, before suddenly collapsing on the floor. Jodi silently gasped, running toward Janice to make sure she was ok, and sighing in relief when she heard Janice snoring.
'Figures,' Jodi thought, picking Janice up and putting her in bed. 'I knew this would happen. It always does when she eats sugar.' Jodi smiled at her "sister", and wrote a note that said, " 'Night Janice. I'm gonna head home. Sorry for what happened at the movies, and thanks for the great night! See you later! Jodi." Jodi then opened Janice's window and jumped onto the tree outside her window. Reaching the ground, Jodi started running toward her home.
Jojo sighed in relief when he reached his room. His mom and dad started arguing, leaving him to sneak away. Lying down on his bed, he thought about his night with Janice and Jodi.
'I'm just not sure.' He thought. 'I get this weird feeling around both of them. It either means that I like them or ... or something else. I just don't know.' Jojo shut off his light and drifted to sleep.
The next day, his parents seemed to forget about the incident last night, but just to be on the safe side, he swallowed his pride and answered his dad during his 30 seconds during breakfast. Sighing in relief when it was over, Jojo grabbed his skateboard, ready to head to the skatepark when...
"Jojo! Wait a minute. Your father and I don't want Hetti to get the Who-Flu that five of your sisters have, so please bring Hetti with you." Jojo nodded, making sure to smile when Hetti came next to him, because he didn't want her upset. Taking her little Who-hand in his, he led her to the skatepark.
Hetti was his favorite sister. She was so young and innocent. She's the only one who accepted the way he was before, when he didn't talk. She would come to him when something was wrong, and he would play with her. She was a great comfort when he had a bad day. Hetti would climb onto his lap and say, "Jojo, why you sad?" Even though she is the youngest in the McDodd family, she and Jojo connect the best.
Finally reaching the skatepark, Jojo picked Hetti up, holding her on his shoulders to make sure she didn't wander and get hit by skateboarders. Hetti clapped and giggled when she saw a few of the skaters doing tricks. Jojo smiled at her enthusiasm, bringing her toward the kiddie play section. Putting her down, he started to walk with her, but she pulled away, making a face. Jojo knelt in front of her.
"Come on Hetti, You need to be in here so you'll be safe from skaters." Hetti shook her head.
"Don't wanna! Wanna stay wif Jojo!" Jojo nodded.
"Ok, why don't you want to go to the kid section?"
"Kids tease me. Call me names cuz I can't talk wight. So, wanna stay wif Jojo!" Hetti started running toward the skaters.
Jojo panicked. He didn't want Hetti to get hurt. Running after her, Jojo pushed his way through the crowd. He certainly didn't want to lose her, because then he'd never find her.
Jodi dropped off ten of her brothers at the kid section of the skatepark, glad to be alone. Her other brothers were sick, and she had to bring the ones who weren't to the park so they wouldn't get sick. She sat down at a bench and watched the skaters. Suddenly, she saw a little Who-girl run in the path of a nearby skater. Jumping up, she launched herself at the young Who, pushing her out of the way.
Jodi picked up the girl, who had started crying out of surprise and brought her to the bench Jodi was sitting on before. Setting the girl on her knee, Jodi began drying her tears, stroking her back to calm her down. The girl stopped crying after a few minutes, and sniffled every once in a while. Jodi smiled softly at the girl, when Jojo suddenly broke through the crowd, visibly relaxing when he saw Hetti. Then he saw who was holding her.
Jodi.
Jojo watched Jodi make some funny faces at Hetti, and Hetti began laughing. When she calmed down, she started talking to Jodi.
"You like my big Bwother. He not talk too much, but make me feel better. I Hetti, who you?" Jodi spelled her name into Hetti's hand.
J.O.D.I.
Hetti giggled. "You would like Big Bwother. His name Jojo." Jodi snapped her head up at that name, then saw Jojo a few feet away, smiling softly at Hetti and Jodi.
'She's a natural with Hetti,' Jojo thought. 'She got her to stop crying, and to laugh.' It was then that he noticed Jodi looking at him. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he walked towards them as Jodi stood up with Hetti in her arms.
"Hetti! Why did you run off? You could've gotten hurt!" Jojo hugged her after Jodi put Hetti back in his arms.
"Not wanna be teased! Wanna stay wif Jojo and Jodi! Pwease?" Hetti put on some puppy dog eyes, but they weren't affective against Jojo. Jodi, on the other hand...
'Aw, Jojo, she won't hurt anything. And, I've gotta stay here for about three more hours anyway because of my brothers. Why not just let me watch over her? I swear I won't let anything bad happen to her.' Jodi signed, tickling Hetti's sides. Hetti giggled.
"Pwease Jojo? Pwetty pwease wif a chewy on top?" Hetti set her stare from "stun" to "kill". Jojo sighed.
"Alright, you can stay with Jodi. You sure you don't mind, Jodi?" Jodi shook her head, taking Hetti back into her arms. Jojo smiled and went over to some of his other friends.
After about an hour, Hetti was beginning to fall asleep, so Jodi stood up to find Jojo. He had gone to the other side of the park after a while to go on the bigger ramps. While looking around, she made sure to steer clear of a certain group of skaters. They always bothered her, and she didn't want anything to happen to Hetti. But, they found her anyway.
"Hey, mutie!" The biggest boy there, Jackson, yelled out. "Why don't ya tell me 'bout yer day." He said, laughing while his other gang members laughed. Jodi did her best to ignore them, hugging Hetti closer to her body. Jackson cooed mockingly.
"Aw, wittle Jodi gots a wittle Who wit her. What's her name?" Jackson struggled to keep the smirk off his face, but it disappeared when Jodi began walking away from him. Jackson's hand shot out and grasped Jodi's upper arm tightly. Jodi winced.
"I never said ya could go anywheres, doll." Jackson roughly rubbed Jodi's cheek. "Ya caught meh by su'prise last time, but I'm not 'bout ta let it happen again." Jackson pulled Jodi closer, plucking Hetti out of her arms, then shoved Jodi onto the ground. Hetti began crying, and Jackson smacked her.
"Cut yer bawling!" Jackson then dropped Hetti into his right-hand Who's arms. His name was Ron. Jodi growled when Jackson jeered at Hetti, but when Jackson was about to hit Hetti, that's when Jodi lost the last bit of her patience.
Now, Jodi is normally a very passive Who-girl, so it takes a lot to tick her off. Jackson picking on Hetti was more than enough.
Jodi launched herself at Jackson, catching him by surprise and succesfully knocking him to the ground. She got in a couple good punches to his face before the rest of Jackson's gang grabbed her. She punched and kicked, but it didn't do any good. Hoowever, she saw an opening, and kicked Ron's wrist, making him drop Hetti to the ground.
Hetti stood up, sniffing and looking over at Jodi. Jodi pulled against the two Who's holding her, twins Tim and Jim, and mouthed a silent "yelled" order. (she looked like she was screaming, but no sound came out)
'HETTI! RUN TO JOJO!' Jodi stuck her foot out and tripped Jackson when he tried to grab Hetti. Hetti screamed and ran away, looking in all directions for Jojo. Jackson growled at Jodi.
"You'll pay fer that. Hold her still, boys." Tim and Jim smiled evilly, knowing what was coming up. Jodi knew too, having had to experience it before. Jackson landed three punches to Jodi's chest before Jojo smashed into him. Jackson looked up, paling slightly when he saw the mayor's son. Jojo stood there with his arms crossed, silently daring anyone to make a move. They released Jodi and ran, Jackson trailing behind them. Hetti, who was standing behind Jojo, ran up to Jodi, who had collapsed from the pain she felt. Jojo was right behind Hetti.
Jojo kneeled by Jodi, lightly touching her face. Jodi stirred a little, a grimace on her face, and signed without opening her eyes,
'Hetti's...okay?' Jojo nodded, saying yes. Jodi smiled. 'Good.' Then passed out, her head almost hitting the pavement before Jojo caught it. Jojo picked her up, telling Hetti to stay close to him. Hetti nodded, grasping Jodi's hand in her own.
When Jojo reached his home, he sighed at the irony. There was a note that said,
'Jojo, your mom and I went to Dr. LaRou to make sure none of your other sisters were sick. We brought all of them, so it'll just be you and Hetti. Make sure she eats ALL of her roast beast. We'll see you later.
Dad.'
"Figures." Jojo muttered. He turned to Hetti.
"Hetti, make some tea for Jodi, 'kay? I'm gonna lay her on the couch." Hetti nodded, then shook her head.
"No couch. Daddy's getting it fixed, 'member?" Jojo sighed again.
"Alright, bring the tea up to my room. I'll put Jodi in there." Hetti nodded again, scampering off to the kitchen. Jojo climbed the loooong flight of stairs, kicking open the door to his room. He gently laid Jodi on his bed, putting her under the covers. Sitting next to her, he rubbed her hand, trying to wake her up. After about five minutes, Jodi silently groaned. Jojo jumped, having almost fell asleep. Jodi opened her eyes, staring at Jojo for a minute before softly smiling. She silently mouthed,
'Thanks, Jojo.' Jojo grinned.
"Want me to call your parents?" Jodi shook her head.
'No, they're at the doctor's for my brothers. My Brothers!' Jodi shot up, but regretted it when she felt a sharp pain. Jodi put a hand to her chest, breathing deeply. Jojo sternly, but carefully, pushed Jodi back to a lying position.
"You're hurt. Who do you want me to call?" Jodi thought for a minute.
'Janice.'
Janice was lying on her bed, listening to the latest cd of her Who-idol, when the phone rang. Picking it up, she happily said her normal greeting.
"Roses are red, violets are green, you ended up calling, so what do you need?"
"Janice? It's Jojo."
"Jojo? How do you know my number? You're not stalking me, are you?"
"No. Jodi is here, she punched in the numbers."
"Really? That's cool. I was wondering where she went off to. I had a hunch it was her house, from this highly suspicious note, but I wasn't completely sure."
Jojo had his Who-phone on speaker, and Jodi rolled her eyes at Janice's obliviousness, but had a small grin on her face.
"AnyWho, what'cha need Jo-man?" Jojo looked confused.
"... 'Jo-man'?"
"Yeah, duh!" Janice made a face into the receiver, as if Jojo could see it.
"Right... Jodi needs a favor."
"Well, what is it? You've spent so much time rambling on that it's a miracle I'm still paying attention."
"O..kay... Can you go pick up Jodi's brothers from the Kid part of the skatepark? There's ten of 'em." Janice squealed loudly, forcing Jojo to cover his ears.
"Of course! I love her brother's! They're soooooooooooooo undeniably cute!! I'm heading over there... Wait a minute, how do YOU know that?"
Because she told me."
"And why can't Jodi pick them up?"
"Because she's hurt."
"WHAT! Is she okay?!" Janice screamed.
"YES! She's fine." Jojo was getting annoyed with Janice's loud voice.
"Oh. Okay! So, where is she?"
"Right here."
"Where's here?"
"In my room."
"Where in your room?"
"What is this, twenty questions?"
"WHERE IN YOUR ROOM?!" Janice screamed... again.
"On my bed." Jojo ground out, fed up with her screaming.
"Oh. OH. OH! My my, Jojo. Aren't you rushing it a bit? I mean, you just met yesterday." Janice smiled evilly.
"Wha-? Wait, WHAT?" Jojo looked at Jodi, who's face was a bright red. He hurriedly turned back to the phone. "It's not like that! She's hurt and-"
"You're letting her use your bed 'cause she's 'hurt'. Gotcha. Don't worry Jojo, I won't tell anyone." Janice winked, forgetting that she was on the phone, and slammed it down before Jojo had a chance to respond.
Jojo slowly turned back to Jodi, who was still red. He opened his mouth, closed it, then said,
"Your friend is weird."
'Don't I know it.' Jodi mouthed.
After Hetti had brought up the tea and left, Jojo started tending to her wounds. She had gotten both her knees scraped, and both her elbows, along with horrible looking bruises on her arms and chest. Jodi ground her teeth while Jojo wiped the cuts on her knees.
"What happened back there? I mean, Hetti came running to me, screaming and crying about how you were being attacked."
Jodi looked away for a minute, gathering her thoughts. She turned back to Jojo.
'Jackson was a friend of mine, a long time ago, but we sorta drifted apart. Then, about a year after our friendship was officially over, he tried to kiss me, after he touched me. I couldn't stop him because he was too strong. He touched me, but didn't kiss me because I got away. I guess that embarrassed him, because he's never stopped trying to get me back for it. Looks like he succeeded today.' She winced as Jojo tightened the bandage a little.
"Too tight?"
'It's fine.'
"Okay. So, he's been trying to hurt you for years? Elbow." Jodi extended her arm, allowing it to go limp in Jojo's hands. She nodded.
'Yep. I guess he thought I'd be vulnerable since I had Hetti in my arms, and I guess I was, in a way.' Jojo sighed.
"I'm sorry. If I had just made Hetti go to the Kid's section, this wouldn't have happened." Jodi shook her head.
'No. If didn't have Hetti with me, then I wouldn't have tried to fight him in order to protect her. She still got smacked, though.' Jodi sighed, then sucked in air through her teeth when Jojo touched the bruise on her arm. Jojo rubbed an ointment on it, and Jodi immediately relaxed, feeling the healing affects. Jojo paused, and odi groggily opened one of her eyes to see what the problem was. She saw Jojo's blushing face, and realized that she had bruises... on her chest. She made a silent eep, scooting away from Jojo a bit. He sighed, still blushing.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I have to or else you won't be able to move for a week."
'I could live with that.' Jodi mouthed, sitting up slowly, then getting into a more comfortable position. Jojo gave her a pointed glare, to which she shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.
"The only place I can see bruises is here," Jojo lightly ran his hand over the part of her chest just under her collarbone, but above her heart. "and here." He pointed to the ribs right under her chest.
'Fine, go ahead.' Jodi gave in. She knew her parents would forbid her to leave the house if they found out that she got attacked.
After Jojo finished, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air, neither of the teens looking at each other. Jojo noticed that it was five pm, so he told Jodi he was giving Hetti her roast beast and asked if Jodi wanted something. Jodi signed no, so Jojo left and was back in about twenty minutes. During that time, Jodi kept herself entertained with a couple magazines she found. When she finished the last one, Jojo came back in the room at the exact moment that the phone rang. Staring at it, then each other, then back, Jojo picked it up, and put it on speaker for Jodi.
"Hey Janice, did you get Jodi's brothers?"
"Yeah, yeah, I did. Did she want them to go to her house or stay with my bro's?"
"Dunno. Hang on." Jojo put a hand on the receiver. "Jodi, did you want Janice to take them to your house or hers?"
'Hers, but make sure she calls my parents.' Jodi signed.
"Yeah, they can stay at your house, but make sure you call Jodi's parents. Oh, and tell them that she's staying at a friend's house."
Janice said she would, so with a quick good-bye, Jojo hung up. Jodi looked a little concerned; she knew something was wrong. When Jojosat on the bed, she put a hand on his shoulder. Snapping his head up, Jojo's troubled brown eyes looked into Jodi's concerned gray ones.
"I'm fine, Jodi." Jojo smiled at her concern for him. "Just a little... confused."
'About what?' Jodi mouthed.
"Well... What's wrong?!" Jojo saw Jodi go wide-eyed for a second, then fall back slightly before Jojo caught her. Jodi coughed a couple times, then shook her head.
'I'm fine.' She signed with some difficulty. 'Just a little pain. Must've moved too fast or something.' Jodi laid her head on the pillow, scooting over a little so Jojo had more room to sit. He nodded to her, and turned around so he was sitting cross-legged while facing her. After about ten minutes of comfortable silence, Jodi "spoke" up.
'Hey, Jojo?' Jodi mouthed, tapping his hand.
"Yeah?"
'Um, do you think...' Jodi blushed. 'do you think you could, maybe... sing?' Jojo went wide-eyed. 'You don't have to if you don't want to.' She hastily added. Jojo smiled.
"Sure, if you really want me to." Jodi nodded. "Okay, which one?" Jodi shrugged, pointing to him. He thought for a minute. "I know which one."
Jojo closed his eyes, drumming the beat with his hands, waiting a couple seconds before softly starting.
"Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart
It's the end of the world in my mind
Then your voice pulls me back like a wake up call
I've been looking for the answer
Somewhere
I couldn't see that it was right there
But now I know what I didn't know
Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has twice as many stars in the sky
It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again
Cuz of you, made it through every storm
What is life, what's the use if you're killing time
I'm so glad I found an angel
Someone
Who was there when all my hopes fell
I wanna fly, looking in your eyes."
Jojo half-opened his eyes, looking straight at Jodi.
"Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has twice as many stars in the sky
Because you live, I live
Because you live there's a reason why
I carry on when I lose the fight
I want to give what you've given me always
Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has twice as many stars in the sky
Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has everything I need to survive
Because you live, I live... I live."
Jojo fully opened his eyes, and saw that Jodi was asleep, a small smile on her face. Jojo gently stroked Jodi's cheek, fighting to keep his eyes open. He finally gave up, and let his head fall on the pillow, a couple inches from Jodi's head. The last thought that went through his mind before he fell asleep was...
'I think I'm in love with Jodi.'
Omg, total kawaii-ness!! ...Now that I got the random-ness outta- hang on, not completely gone yet. Omg, 4043 words!! A'ight, I'm good.- my system, how'd you like this chapter? I think I'm goin' too fast... Eh, oh well.
R & R! Oh wait, you already Read. Oooh, so I guess it's just R... Okay then... R! ...Doesn't have the same affect. Or effect. What ever...