Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me.
Chapter 12-Detention
"Is this everything?" Grace's voice echoed through the room in dismay as she glanced around at the various manila folders strewn about the tiny office. Eight filing cabinets were pulled open with more folders inside. The mahogany desk was littered with papers and notebooks. In short, the office was a complete disaster.
Benton glanced up from the cramped space on the floor he had managed to clean up so that he could sit. His eyes were tired from trying to decipher the cramped handwriting from several notebooks piled beside him. With a sigh he shut the notebook he was reading and tore off his glasses, rubbing his eyes.
"I couldn't find it within myself to throw out any of Rachel's research. I thought that one day I would find time to go through it all and save what was vital to her former colleagues, but I never got a chance. It's been sitting in her office since she passed away." Benton sighed. "And now I need to go through it to find everything she ever wrote about that damn gem…but I…I don't know where to begin. This is her office—I don't have any idea what kind of order she kept in here."
Grace took in Benton's grave face with a catch in her heart. She could tell that by going through his late wife's things it was tearing him apart. With a soft sigh she made her way over to Benton and crouched down in front of him, placing gentle hands on his knees. "How about I take over from here? I used to work with Rachel…I think I have an idea how she had things organized."
"Are you sure? I would hate to leave you here to do all of this…there's so much to go through."
"I'll be fine."
Hadji's voice chimed in agreement from the doorway. "I will help her. You should rest, Dr. Quest."
Benton took a deep breath as he cast a long glance around the office. He finally nodded and got to his feet. At the doorway he looked back at Grace with a sad smile. "Thank-you. I'll…I'll check in with you two later."
Grace nodded in understanding and watched him go as Hadji came inside the room. He observed the look on her face before speaking. "You really love him, don't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Does a flower blossom in the spring?"
Rockport High School
Jonny put on a smile as he entered the school doors. There was Samantha standing beside his locker with a silly grin on her face. He kept his face straight as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek, her way of greeting him for the day. Without a word Jonny opened his locker and began to look for his text books once again, trying hard to ignore the cheerleader beside her without her catching on. Sure she was pretty and a decent kisser, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't help but compare her to someone else. Someone who was the direct opposite of Samantha.
Across the hall Jessie was yawning as she opened her own locker. She hadn't slept well at all and seeing Jonny with Samantha wasn't doing any wonders for her brain, if anything the red head was starting to feel sick to her stomach. She made sure to keep her eyes averted from the twosome, all the while grumbling under her breath about men being the spawn of everything evil.
"I'm gonna head to class…I'll see you later," said Jonny as he closed his locker, his eyes glancing down at the blonde beside him. Samantha pouted, forcing Jonny to hold back a twitch in his eye. Pouting was normally attractive in a girl but he couldn't help but think that Samantha's lips were too thin and that she looked like a fish. Then he couldn't help but notice other things about her that just didn't make sense too him. Her hair was too glossy. Her eyes didn't twinkle. Her smile seemed cheesy. Her ears were too small. She wore too much make-up. She was too perky. She overdressed every day. She wore too much perfume. She wore too much jewelry. Her gum chewing was annoying.
"Fine," sighed Samantha after a moment, a smile on her face. "I'll save you a seat at lunch." She pulled Jonny down to kiss him on the lips, drawing out the kiss longer than need be.
"S-sure." Jonny quickly pulled away and dashed off in the direction of his classroom, his eyes straying over to Jessie only once to see her eyes flashing in anger.
Samantha toyed with a strand of blonde hair and made her way over to Jessie the moment Jonny was out of sight. "I want a word with you, Bannon."
"And I don't want to hear it. I don't speak bimbo talk," replied Jessie coolly, slamming her locker shut.
"Stay away from Jonny. He's mine now."
"You can have him. Good luck though, he's quite a handful." Jessie made to brush past the blonde and head to her own class when she felt a hand grab her arm. Jessie turned with raised eyebrows to look at Samantha who stood about three feet shorter than her.
"I know there's something going on between you two still. I can see the way he looks at you and not me. I'm not stupid. Stay away from him, you got it? I'm ten times better than you are and we both know it…so why don't you go find yourself a new boyfriend, 'cause Jonny's mine and I won't lose him to someone as plain as you."
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, you and I both know I could take you out in three seconds flat. Don't push my buttons. I have a lot of unrestrained anger right now…and I don't have a problem taking it out on you, got it?" Yanking her arm out of Samantha's grasp Jessie turned on her heel and disappeared down the hallway, leaving the blonde fuming in anger.
Rockport High School Cafeteria
Lunch Time
"Jonny!" Samantha's pitiful wail made the teen glance up from his tray of food. He caught himself before he groaned aloud and pasted a smile onto his face as Samantha slid into the seat next to him.
"Hey, Samantha."
"Jo-on-ny, aren't you gonna ask me what's wrong?"
Jonny's forehead creased in thought as she tried to figure out how to politely tell her no. Instead he said, "Uh, what's wrong?"
Samantha took a deep breath before speaking. "It's Jessie. She's been saying mean things about me all day. She even started a rumor!"
"A rumor? Jessie? Are you sure, 'cause that doesn't sound like her."
"Of course I'm sure, Jonny. I heard it with my own two ears. She doesn't like me. Like in P.E. today she tried to kill me during dodge ball! Jonny, my life is in danger! You have to do something!"
Jonny rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Jessie isn't trying to kill you. There's only one person on her death list and that's her dad's ex-girlfriend." He groaned at the look on Samantha's face that told him she clearly didn't believe him. "Alright, alright, I'll talk to her later."
"You should talk to her now," stated Samantha. "She's just sitting down."
Glancing over to where the blonde was pointing Jonny sighed. He didn't feel like talking to Jessie, and even if did he wasn't going to say anything about Samantha. He knew the red head; her death list only consisted of one person: Jade. Jessie wouldn't waste her time on someone like Samantha. Jonny slowly got to his feet at another look from Samantha and meandered in Jessie's general direction. He pulled out a chair across from her and plopped down in it.
"Hey," he said.
"If this is because I nailed your little girlfriend in the head with a dodge ball today, I'm not sorry because in dodge ball you're supposed to move around—not stand in one spot inspecting your nails," replied Jessie without bothering to look up from the text book propped up beside her tray of food.
Jonny made a face. "Aw, Jess, you didn't really hit her, did you?"
"She was in the way. I can't control the ball when it's in the air. If I could do that then I would have a nice little missal on its way to Jade right now."
"Yeah, I know…but d'ya think you can maybe not provoke Samantha in any way for a while? Don't even look at her—she's driving me up the wall with all her whining."
Jessie's eyebrows rose as she finally glanced up at Jonny. "Look, it isn't my fault that you have bad taste in women and are now dating a Barbie doll, okay? If she's annoying you why don't you just dump her?"
"It isn't that easy," murmured Jonny with another frown.
"Oh please, hotshot. Admit it, you don't get women. You don't understand the first thing about the female sex. You're clueless."
"Hey, that isn't true."
"Uh-huh. First Jade, now Samantha…I'm starting to see a trend."
"Oh gimme a break, Jess—I wasn't the one who went out with Brad."
"One date, Quest. It was one date—and I dumped him in case you hadn't noticed. And at least I learn from my mistakes," shot back Jessie, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Jonny snorted. "Oh sure. This coming from the girl who can't stand any form of competition."
"Excuse me? Jade was not competition—she was a psycho bitch! And Samantha…I don't even know why I'm defending myself. I have no competition because I'm not after any guy. I've haven't been setting my standards high enough…and trust me when I say no guy here fits the bill of the perfect man."
"Why are you like this?"
"Like what? Tell me exactly what I am, Jonny. I'm intrigued to see what you think." Jessie sat back in her seat with crossed arms.
"Aggravating first of all—you always get so fucking defensive whenever I talk to you. And you're always pissed…you're starting to remind me of Jade," snapped Jonny.
Jessie's face darkened at the comparison. "Jade? Did you just compare me to Jade? Jonny, are you that blind?"
"Everyone keeps telling me that! What the hell am I not seeing, huh?" Jonny's voice rose in anger, gaining unwanted attention from some of the nearby tables, but neither he nor Jessie noticed. Both were too busy losing their tempers.
"God, you're such a guy!"
"Oh yeah, that explains everything. Thanks for making it so clear, Jess. I feel like a fog has been lifted from my eyes."
"Oh screw you."
"Go to hell. You're taking everything I say out of proportion."
"You don't even know why I'm upset!" shouted Jessie. "You don't get it!"
"Then tell me! Dammit, I'm tired of playing these games, Jessie! Every time we talk you're either being cryptic like Hadji or unreasonable! I don't get you—you and your mood swings! It's a fuckin' joke."
"If you would just open your eyes you'd see—but you're too damn afraid of your own shadow! You'll never grow up—you'll never let go of the past—you'll never see what you already have!"
"There's nothing to see!"
"I hate you!"
"I hate you too!"
The two teens paused mid-tirade, both studying the other. They were standing on their feet by now, both panting with the amount of yelling and screaming they had done. Neither was paying attention to the fact that the entire cafeteria was watching.
And then they acted. Jessie's fist flew threw the air, connecting with Jonny's face. His head whipped back and he gritted his teeth in pain, but before anyone could say anything his own fist was flying back at Jessie, hitting her in the cheek. Girls screamed as Jessie stumbled backwards, but the red head quickly shot forward, scrambling over the table and tackling Jonny to the ground.
Samantha's eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched Brad step into the fray with a few other members of the football team. It took two players each to separate the feuding pair, and by then the Principal was in the cafeteria.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, looking back and forth between Jonny and Jessie. Neither one answered, their eyes locked on each other with raw anger showing. "No answers? I see. I am growing sick and tired of your games, Mr. Quest, Ms. Bannon…I think it's time I did something about it. As of now you are both suspended until further notice. I will call your parents and schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning. But I don't want to see either one of you until then. Out!"
Jonny pulled himself out of the grasp of the footballers holding onto him, seething with anger. He shot Jessie a murderous look before stalking out of the cafeteria with Samantha on his heels.
Jessie pushed Brad away, ignoring his concerns of the growing bruise on her cheek. She grabbed her text book off the table and picked her back pack off the ground before exiting the cafeteria as well.
By the time she made it to her locker Jonny was already shutting his with a loud slam. They didn't say a word. Jonny allowed Samantha to tend to his purple eye as Jessie pulled a few text books out of her locker. She slammed it shut and was soon walking out of the school building.
The school bell rang two seconds later and Jonny quickly gave Samantha a kiss good bye before heading into the parking lot. One glance in the direction of his car sent him running. "Aw, hell no. Fuck!" Jonny watched helplessly as Jessie drove off with his car. His hands dug into his pockets, and upon finding his keys the blonde began to curse Race for ever teaching Jessie how to hotwire vehicles.
Quest Compound
Benton glanced up from the kitchen table as the front door slammed shut. Jessie came into the room, her face settled in a scowl. The older man glanced at his watch suspiciously. He glanced over at the phone where Race still stood, listening to the person on the other end.
"You're home early," observed Benton. His eyes widened at the slight bruise on her face. "What happened?"
Jessie shrugged and was about to head upstairs when Race hung up the phone with a slam. "Don't even think about moving, young lady!"
"Race, have you seen her face—" Benton's words were cut short as the front door slammed yet again and Jonny came stalked into the kitchen, his eye now a darker shade of purple. "What's going on here?"
"I'll tell you what's going on—Jessie's insane! She stole my car and I had to take a fucking cab home!" started Jonny.
Race quickly stepped in to catch Jessie as she tried to hurl herself at Jonny. Benton stood up as well and came around the table to hear what Race had to say.
"It seems our children had a little fight during lunch—with each other of all people. The principal has suspended them until further notice, and he wants to meet with us tomorrow morning—without Rocky and Rambo here."
"Alright," said Benton, his face stern. "What's going on with you two? You've never acted like this before."
"It's nothing," said Jessie. "Just Jonny being stupid like always."
"You hit me first! I don't even know what she's pissed about!" stated Jonny loudly.
Benton raised his hands in the air, indicating he wanted peace and quiet. From the hallway Hadji, Estella, and Rachel entered to see what all the yelling was about. Benton spoke once again. "Look, something's going on with you two. You've been at each other's throats for over a week now—I don't know what it is, but I want it settled soon."
Jessie groaned. "There's nothing to settle! I've already said everything I've wanted to say."
"Like hell you have," snapped Jonny. "You haven't said a damn thing that's made any sense."
"Jesus Christ, Jonny, how fucking blunt do you want me to be? If you don't know what's going on they obviously it doesn't even matter. I'm tired of explaining things to you!"
"All you've been telling me is to open my eyes! What the hell does that mean? I'm tired of it, Jess! If you're not gonna tell me then I don't want to know."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Enough!" Race's voice echoed off the walls of the kitchen, silencing the entire room. "Both of you upstairs and in your rooms now! I don't want to hear another damn word out of your mouths for the next twenty-four hours, you got it? I don't know how I'm gonna punish you yet, but believe me it's gonna make hell look like paradise when I'm through with you."
Jonny and Jessie lapsed into silence, letting Race know they understood his warning. Race let go of his hold on Jessie and watched as she grabbed her things off the floor and disappeared up the stairway. A minute later Jonny too was up the stairs and out of sight. Two pairs of doors slammed shut and the house returned to silence.
Estella spoke first. "What is going on?"
Benton sighed as he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily. "I'm not sure…but whatever it is its getting worse. I don't know how we're going to survive a few more months of this—they're getting out of hand."
Grace moved over to Benton's side, placing a reassuring hand on his back. "I'm sure they'll work this out soon. They can't possibly stay mad at each other forever, can they?"
Hadji glanced up the stairway, a strange look on his face. "I believe they have forgotten how to communicate. They have lost touch with one another…it will take a great miracle for them to find their selves once more."
A/N—Yeah, so I'm a little behind in posting…but I actually enjoyed this chapter. Although I must say I intended Jonny and Jessie to only have a food fight and get detention…but the other part came out instead. It's kinda weird, I know, but it's not gonna last long. They're both confused right now…it'll wear off soon, I promise.