Here's chapter 8! I'll talk to you guys at the end of this.
Enjoy!
When Jess returned home that night, all hell was breaking loose.
Having stayed with Leslie in Terabithia all afternoon and—when it got dark—on her front porch until her parents called her in and they had to part, he had had lots of time to imagine what kind of place his house had become in the short span of about eight hours. And when he walked through the front door, he figured out that his imagination hadn't exactly been running wild.
He couldn't even hear words in all the shouting, and he didn't try to. Jess practically ran for the stairs before anyone could take notice of him (from the voices coming from the living room, it was his parents and elder sisters he had to avoid) and bolted to his room. To his horror the bedroom door was locked.
"Who is it?" came May Belle's high-pitched voice from the other side of the door as he knocked frantically.
"It's me, stupid, open the door," Jess said in irritation, and the door opened. He hurried in and May Belle shut it behind him.
"Hi," she said in sad relief after locking the door again. "We thought you were Brenda."
"Or Ellie," Joyce Ann added from hers and May Belle's bed. "Or Dad or Mom."
"My God, how long have they been yelling?" Jess said with alarm, hearing a fresh round of screaming echo up to the small room. "You said Brenda told them the news this morning..."
"Oh, they haven't been yelling all day," May Belle said, looking at the ground. "Dad had to go to the office and he got back about half an hour ago. Then Brenda said something to him and they just started up again."
"And why would you have locked the freaking door?" Jess said, heart still beating rather quickly. "It's not like anyone would come in and hit you."
"Everyone sure sounded like they would have," May Belle said quietly, lower lip trembling and her eyes filling with tears.
Jess blinked at his sister in confusion, then looked over at Joyce Ann. She looked ready to cry, too.
He sighed helplessly and put an arm around May Belle's shoulders, leading her over to where Joyce Ann sat on their bed. He sat down and hugged Joyce Ann, too, as she started to cry. "Look," he said, turning to look from one sister to the other, "this will all blow over eventually, right? Everyone's just still in shock for right now so Mom and Dad and Ellie and Brenda are just...they're just angry at each other. But they wouldn't be angry with you...well, Brenda might be. She's just stupid; I mean, look what she—"
May Belle burst into tears; Joyce Ann just cried harder. Jess sighed bitterly again and started again, "Everything will be fine. Mom and Dad are just angry with Brenda, and Ellie for dropping out of college, but mostly Brenda. They aren't angry at you just because they're yelling."
"Mom yelled at us to come inside," Joyce Ann asked, sniffing and looking up at Jess with glittering brown eyes. "She sounded like she was mad at us."
"She's frustrated, Joycie," Jess said, trying to sound as soothing as Leslie would have if she was there comforting the two girls rather than he. "But she's not angry with you. No one is. In fact, you two are probably looking like the good daughters compared to Brenda and Ellie. Okay?"
His sisters nodded half-heartedly.
"And trust me, no one would ever come up here and hit you," Jess said, attempting to smile. "Unless you went and burned my sketchbook or something like that. Then you should be worried."
May Belle gave a weak smile; Joyce Ann giggled slightly.
"Maybe Leslie and I can take you downtown tomorrow for some hot chocolate," Jess offered, and his sisters' eyes lit up. "We can get you out of the house for a little bit tomorrow."
"Okay," May Belle and Joyce Ann said, both sounding happier. Jess smiled and got up, and walked over to his own section of the room, taking off his shoes and throwing them at the foot of his bed. He had untied his tie and let it hang loose around his neck after the meeting with Greg Jacklyn; now he ripped it off and tossed it on his bed.
"Hey, Jess?"
"Yeah, May Belle?"
"What were you and Leslie doing today?"
Jess blinked. "What do you mean?"
"You know. You went downtown somewhere this morning but you guys went on a walk and, well, you didn't show up until now. And it's already eight o'clock."
So that's why his stomach was growling. He hadn't eaten anything since that morning.
"Oh, well, I don't know. Stuff," he said casually as he pulled out his sketchbook and a pencil. "You know, like talking, running."
May Belle eyed him. "That's all?"
"Yeah..." Jess said, confused, starting to draw. Joyce Ann snorted.
"At my school if a boy and a girl hang out together alone the principal comes and makes them split up," she said smartly. "Even when they're not touching lips."
Jess's hand slipped so that he accidentally made a big mark on his paper where he hadn't meant to. "What?"
"Touching lips," Joyce Ann said, as though it was the simplest thing in the world. "That's what all the older boys and girls do at my school when they're alone together."
"It's called kissing, genius," May Belle informed her.
"Fine, then. They're always kissing."
"Leslie and I don't do that," Jess told them quickly, face suddenly feeling warm. "It's must be different at your guys' age."
"You met Leslie when you were ten," May Belle told him, as if he didn't know. "That's younger then I am."
Jess shrugged and started to draw, and eventually his sisters stopped gazing at him for information and went back to their own things to do.
OOO
The next day the two girls waited patiently until Jess had woken up and was ready to head downstairs before going down to the table for breakfast. They walked cautiously behind their elder brother, looking at their parents apprehensively as they entered the kitchen.
Brenda and Ellie were mercifully not at the table. Jack was reading the paper, as usual, and Nancy was at the counter buttering toast.
"Good morning," she said pleasantly as the three of them sat at the table. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," Jess said and his sisters nodded timidly. Jack looked up and reached over to ruffle May Belle's hair.
"You look like you saw a ghost," he told her. "And you, Joycie."
"Are you mad at us?" Joyce Ann blurted out.
Nancy looked up and Jack frowned. "Why would we be mad at you?" Jack asked as Nancy walked over to the table with the plate of toast.
"You were yelling yesterday. A lot," May Belle muttered to her father's coffee cup.
Nancy sighed bitterly. "So I assume you know about Brenda?" she asked Jess.
"Yeah," he answered. "They told me."
"That means the Burkes probably know, too," Jack said.
"I don't think Leslie would have said anything to her parents unless she knew it was okay with you guys, first."
"Are you mad at us?" Joyce Ann repeated as Jack opened his mouth to reply to Jess. Instead he sighed and answered his daughter.
"Look, you girls," he said, putting his hand to his head in exhaustion. Looking at him closer, Jess saw that he had black circles under his eyes. "Your momma and I aren't mad at you—why would we be mad at you? Brenda did a stupid thing and she's going to have to live with her mistake, and we're just frustrated about that."
"And with both Brenda and Ellie dropping out of college..." Nancy said quietly, sitting down across from May Belle. "You girls need to understand we don't feel like the greatest parents right now."
"Where will they stay?" Joyce Ann asked.
"Here, of course," Jack said. "But I am not looking forward to—"
"Jack," Nancy hissed, and he quickly stopped talking.
As his mother and father continued soothing his sisters, Jess finished his breakfast as fast as humanly possible before bolting out the door, telling May Belle and Joyce Ann to wait for him by the truck. As he went outside, however, he saw Leslie already sitting on the back end of it, PT chewing a stick below her.
"Hey," she said before Jess could open his mouth. "I got here a couple of minutes ago but I didn't want to…well—"
"I know," Jess said, leaning over to pat PT, then getting up on the truck and sitting next to her, careful not to fall into the truck bed. "You want to come with me downtown with May Belle and Joycie? Last night they were really upset…."
He told her what his sisters had said to him, and that he had promised to get them out of the house for a little while. Leslie listened silently, staring at the ground.
"Poor girls," she said softly once Jess had finished. "I guess if one thing happens in a big family like yours everything comes crashing down for everyb—"
The rest of her words were drowned out by blaring music, coming from a beat-up silver car that came rolling up to the Aarons house. PT barked and ran under the truck. Jess's heart leapt—it was his elder sister's car.
"Oh, great," he muttered to Leslie as Ellie and Brenda got out of it; Ellie tossing a cigarette to the ground and stamping on it and Brenda slamming her door shut so hard the rearview mirror rattled. They started walking up to the house, muttering about something; both froze when they saw Jess and Leslie.
Jess looked at his sisters. Maybe it was just knowing that she was pregnant…but to him Brenda looked different. It was a difference he didn't think he could describe if he was asked…well, besides describing the way she was glaring at him and Leslie in fury.
"What?" spat Brenda as the two of them stayed silent. "What the hell are you looking at?"
Leslie gave Jess a worried look as though to say, your sister, not mine and Jess swallowed nervously. "Nothing."
"You know, if you two want a place to make out I wouldn't do it there," Ellie snickered at them as Brenda started to speak. "Go up to that hill where you can sit in your truck and no one will see." She pointed eastward and she and Brenda let out cruel laughs.
"You're right, Ellie. Oh, but Leslie," Brenda said sweetly, turning to Leslie who sat facing her with an emotionless expression, "girls like you wouldn't do stuff like that, right? Or at least know how." She took a drag on the cigarette in her hand. "First you have to dress like a human being…and owning a TV is recommended."
Leslie yawned.
"Or," Ellie added, "you'd have to actually have a life."
Jess felt his temper flare. "Leave her alone."
"Why, don't like hearing the facts about your girlfriend?" Brenda snorted. "You don't like hearing that she's a freak?"
"Please don't say those sorts of things to me," Leslie said indifferently, her tone much less harsh than it usually was when she was fending off Jess's older sisters. "I don't deserve it any more than you do."
Ellie stood staring at Leslie with her mouth half open. Brenda's smile faded.
"Go inside," Jess said angrily as both his sisters suddenly started to speak. "Get out of our sight. I mean it."
Brenda laughed and Ellie let out a noise that was like a giggle and a snort.
"I don't remember you becoming the boss of us," she told Jess than turned back to Leslie. "So what were you planning to do today? Going to work on those little stories of yours?"
Leslie looked uninterested in the conversation, which was why Jess didn't launch himself across to his sister and rip her apart like he would have liked to do.
"Or maybe go to the hillbilly store to buy some more clothes?" Brenda suggested. "Hey, on your way to that make out hill we told you about be sure to go that way." She pointed to the dirt road and to the right, the road that led to Terabithia. "There's some sort of construction down there. Not that you'd be interested in normal clothes, Leslie, but did you know that they're going to build a clothing store?"
"No, they aren't," Leslie burst out.
"What, you can't read any more than you can think?" said Brenda rapidly, clearly eager to feast on Leslie's sudden change of tone. "It says Miranda's Outfitting! coming soon to this location on a big bulletin down that way. You didn't see it?"
Leslie gasped. Jess felt his heart skip several beats.
"What do you mean, there's a big bulletin down that way?" he asked quickly.
"I guess they're blind, too," Ellie muttered and they both laughed.
"You two are funny," Brenda cooed.
"Yep, we are," Leslie said, sounding bored again, though still looking rather worried. "Hysterical."
"You're even funnier than our little brother, Leslie," Brenda said in a sugary tone.
"Hilarious."
"Maybe you are blind and stupid but I bet there are some freaks out there who like that funniness, Leslie."
"Um-hmm."
"I bet those guys at your school love it," Brenda said sweetly. "Do you deal it out to them like you do to Jess?"
Leslie snapped.
"Oh, yes, I do," she said sarcastically, with a fury in her voice that cut Jess off as he started to speak. He glanced at her in alarm. "Yeah, maybe I should work on that…I'll try not to deal out funniness to everybody who asks for it."
"Or letting them take it from you," Brenda said with a nasty grin.
Leslie's face lost its color. Jess looked from her to his sister in shocked confusion.
"Yeah, I'd work on that if I were you," said Brenda, not taking her small eyes off Leslie. "You might find that life gets a little easier that way."
"Thanks for the advice," Leslie snapped out. "I will work on stuff like that to make my life easier. You know, like not smoking or not getting pregnant while I'm still in college."
Ellie glared at Leslie, arms crossed across her chest. Brenda's smile faded; in an instant she looked ready to kill.
"You little bitch," she hissed at Leslie, taking a step toward the truck.
Jess leapt to the ground. "What did you call her?"
"She heard her," Ellie said cruelly as Brenda snarled, "Shut up, Jess! You—"
"Excuse me?" Leslie said in a deadly tone, interrupting her, stepping back onto the ground and facing Brenda with gleaming eyes. Jess, his heart beating extra blood through his veins from anger, instinctively stepped between them. "Unless you want a black eye to go with that thick head of yours—"
"Shut the hell up, you little whore, or I'll—"
"What's going on here?!"
The four of them looked toward the house; Jack was walking out the door—May Belle and Joyce Ann at his heals, looking scared. Nancy stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed.
"Leslie's being a bitch, that's what's going on!" shouted Brenda, cheeks splotched red from fury.
"Shut up!" yelled Jess in her face. "That's not true, and you—"
Wham! Brenda's hand whipped out and struck Jess across the cheek; he was so startled he didn't hear Leslie cry out with surprise or May Belle and Joyce Ann's screams; even Ellie leapt back as though electrocuted. Jess put a shaking hand to his throbbing face as Leslie charged in front of him.
"Get away from him!" she shouted as Jack reached the scene; he grabbed Brenda's wrist as she flung it back to hit Leslie this time, and Brenda started shrieking.
"Daddy! Tell her to get the hell away from here! You heard what she said!"
"I heard the whole thing," Jack growled at her. "Inside. Now. Ellie, you too."
"I didn't do anything!" yelled Ellie. "God! We were just—"
"Now!"
Ellie gave Jess and Leslie death looks and stomped away, toward the house, shoving her little sisters out of her path. Brenda snarled, "I'm not going anywhere until—"
"You can walk, girl, or I can carry you," snapped Jack. "Your choice."
"But—"
"NOW!"
Brenda let out a scream of frustration and followed Ellie; this time May Belle and Joyce Ann were careful to stay out of the way. Jess stared after his sister, dumbfounded. He knew girls had different feelings for lots of things, knew how to put up with them ever since he was thirteen and Leslie had started getting crabby toward him for a couple days once a month, but what had just happened was beyond anything he had ever dealt with before in his life.
Jack looked at Jess, as though understanding what he was feeling, and at Leslie, still in front of Jess defensively. Leslie bit her lip.
"M-Mr. Aarons," she managed to say, "I…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"How many times," he told her, "have I told you to call me Jack?"
Leslie stopped talking.
"I heard what happened. Don't be sorry," Jack told her, shaking his head. Leslie gave him a grateful look and, as Jess's face stopped smarting, he took his hand away from his face.
"Ouch," Jack said, shaking his head again as he looked at the mark Brenda had left. "What got into her?"
Jess shrugged.
"You okay?" Leslie asked sympathetically.
Jess suddenly found that he was smiling. "You know, the last time Brenda hit me I was five, 'cause I decapitated all her Barbie dolls."
Jack chuckled momentarily, then his face went serious as they heard Nancy shouting at Brenda and Ellie from inside, and them screaming at her back. The three of them were silent for a second, then Jack nodded toward May Belle and Joyce Ann. "They said you were going to take them downtown," he said. "See if you can keep them out of the house for a couple of hours while we deal with your other sisters, Jess, okay?"
Jess nodded. Jack started to turn away, a sad, tired expression on his face, stooping down to whisper words to May Belle and Joyce Ann who were still by the door.
"What did she mean…letting guys take it away from you?" Jess said to Leslie as his sisters started walking toward him.
Leslie cast him a strange look. "What do you mean?"
"Brenda said—"
"Hi!" May Belle said, looking at Jess worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Jess tried to smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he told them. "Ready to get some hot chocolate?"
"Yeah!" they said, their faces lighting up as they saw their brother in a good mood. As they got into the truck Jess held Leslie back.
"Brenda said something about letting guys take…I think she said funniness from you," he asked her softly so his sisters wouldn't hear. He laughed, suddenly realizing how ridiculous it sounded. "What did she mean by that?"
Leslie just looked at him sadly.
"She meant what she said," she answered him before climbing into the truck, PT jumping up after her. Jess frowned for a moment or two before, sighing, getting into the vehicle himself and starting the ignition.
OOO
That night Jack insisted Leslie come over after dinner so that Ellie—though mostly Brenda—could apologize. Ellie did, rolling her eyes and sounding sarcastic, but Brenda refused to speak at all, finally giving a loud "Hmph!" and storming up to her room. Ellie followed her. Jess glared after them both as his father turned in his seat to face the stairway.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Jack shouted after them. "If you two can't act your age then you both are back in your apartment by next week!"
"Fine!" snarled Brenda from upstairs. "Sorry!"
Jack turned back in his chair, sighing heavily; Nancy sighed as well and put her face in her palms. Leslie went over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay," she said softly. "Really. They both are going through a lot right now, especially Brenda. I understand that they both are going to be a little moody from now on. I'm not upset if they snap out at me."
"I know, but they have no right to take out their anger on you, honey," said Nancy, looking up at Leslie in despair. "As much as you are part of this family they still can't just be cruel to you whenever they want."
"Besides, we can't have them take out their anger on anyone else," Jack said, glancing over at May Belle and Joyce Ann, who were watching TV in the other room, pretending that they couldn't hear anything that was going on in the kitchen. "Though I don't think they're going to come back down anytime soon."
Nancy started to cry silently. Leslie reached down and put her arms around her.
"It will be okay," she said soothingly. "All in time."
Jess smiled slightly as his mother stood up to embrace her, giving Leslie a big hug to show her her thanks. Jack stood up as well and Nancy turned to him.
"I j-just feel l-like we should have p-prevented this…."
"We'll be outside," Jess said quickly, seizing Leslie's hand and practically dragging her to the door.
"Be in by ten, Jess," Jack said and Nancy attempted to smile. "See you, Leslie," she said, wiping her eyes.
"'Bye," answered Leslie softly. Jack, over Nancy's shoulder, mouthed a "Thank you," to her before Jess closed the door.
"Did you get a call yet?" he asked her almost frantically and it took a moment for the sudden change of subject to sink in. Eventually she shook her head.
"No. You?"
"No," Jess sighed. "But it's only the first day since we've reported. Maybe we'll get a call tomorrow."
He saw Leslie nod her head in the dark. "And we have to do something about that bulletin board."
"If we destroy it—"
"We won't destroy it," Leslie said impatiently. "If we do Mr. Jacklyn will know it was us. I think we should make another bulletin…or a sign or something…and put it right next to the Miranda's Outfitting! one. That way if they destroy our bulletin—"
"Then it's more evidence for us to show the Council," Jess said, beaming at her. "Brilliant."
Leslie sighed and sat down on the front steps. "I just hope they don't find out."
"Who? The city council?" Jess asked, sitting down next to her.
"No…" Leslie said, nodding to the kitchen door where Jack was talking to Nancy soothingly. "And my parents," she added in a whisper.
"Yeah…." Jess ran a hand through his hair.
The slight November breeze ran through the night to reach them; it blew through the trees and made Leslie's hair whip out momentarily. Jess looked at her. She was staring at the ground, sea-green eyes downcast, and he couldn't sense that familiar energy that seemed to burn off of her wherever she went, the happy, wondrous, creative energy that seemed to keep her—and him—alive.
"What's up?" he asked her. She looked at him, surprised to find him looking at her.
"Oh…." She looked back to the ground. "Nothing."
"Leslie…"
She sighed. "Just…everything. I mean, your sister...and your whole family is going through so much and Terabithia's in danger and …." She trailed off.
"And what?"
Leslie shook her head and got up from the porch. Jess looked up at her.
"What, Leslie? What else?"
"I have to go," she told him, brushing her hair out of her face as the wind started blowing again. "I just remembered…Bill wanted me to read a chapter of his book before bed tonight. I'll see you tomorrow morning for school, okay?"
Jess just stared at her.
"Fine, then, Mr. Aarons. See you later." She turned and started walking toward the dirt road.
"You want me to walk you back?" Jess called after her, still confused.
"No." She got to the end of the Aarons's property before turning back and giving him a small smile Jess could see in the dark. "Thanks, though."
Jess lifted a hand and lowered it to wave goodbye, and watched her walk away. The moonlight made her porcelain skin look almost white; her golden hair glowed like it was the moon itself. That is not possible, he thought to himself then he smiled.
With Leslie, anything was possible.
Nearly fifteen minutes later Jess suddenly realized that Bill had told them he wasn't planning to work on anything new until Christmas.
Well, I suppose now would be the right time to apologize for my very long update...so I'm sorry!!!! I'm sure you readers of mine will understand when I say that I have a lot of rough things going on in my life right now (besides school and work)and that this fanfic, unfortunately, falls down to the bottom of my "things to deal with" list. You may all have my word that I will not abandon this story nor will I stop writing it; however my updates are going to be very slow from now on.
If you guys would rather have me wait to update until I have the entire thing finished and I can update the whole story in a week rather then have you guys wait for a month (or months) for the next chapter, PM me and let me know, or please drop me a review and tell me.
Thank you as always to all my anonymous reviewers who I can't reply to (Maria, polymath, PollenandSalt, and a very helpful review with no name to it) and of course to those of you I can. I appreciate you guys so much; it is all of you who keep this story alive! Again, I should not, have not, and will not give up on this story, and again I am sorry for the late update and for the slow updates yet to come.
Thank you! Please review!