Jake Bradley would not let her be. Apparently, leaving an underage girl alone in a seedy bar was against his code of honour. In the end, it seemed way less suspicious to join his group than to insist on being left alone. That desire for solitude would clash completely with her usual persona. Always alone at home, she was almost never seen so in public.

So, feared questions and inquisitive stares for the lonely bitchy cheerleader in the group of jocks with a good reputation, she sat at their table.

All she got was a simple: 'What brings you here today?'

They formed a well-mannered group these guys. With years of practice behind her belt, Jack had an excuse ready to go. Explaining her presence in a bar late at night and her mood, she said that she had just broken up with her boyfriend. Even for people she barely knew, she must not appear to be her usual mean but perky self. Jackie knew how she was seen. People noticed her because she made her presence know, for good and bad reasons. Tonight, she acted like she didn't want to be seen. She figured that a break-up was a good excuse for that kind of odd behaviour. Plus, it was not like those guys would ever see her with Hyde again.

Tonight, she had broken-up with the gang, her Steven included. Remembering the way he always seemed to be disgusted by what she liked, what she said, what she stood for, she figured Hyde would be happy to get rid of her. She had thought it was just an act, his behaviour, and that, deep inside him, he cared for her. But, she knew now how wrong she had been. How could this be love? Reproving her in from of his friends constantly, never wanting to put an effort into their relationship, being distant all the time; how could this be love? Before, she had focused on the exceptions. What had kept her faith in them alive were the few sweet words, the soft tone he took to speak to her at times, the sparkles that appeared in his eyes sometimes, the way he always touched her: her knee when they sat on the couch, her cheek when he spoke to her, her back when they stood… But, those were irrelevant compared to the hard cold truth that he did not like her. He said it time and time again. He proved it tonight. He refused to help her. She was not going to ask him for the moon. All she wanted was for him to listen to her and tell her that everything will be okay. Wouldn't that have been wonderful to hear?

She should not have been so surprised. That was a lot of effort to expect for someone as annoying as she was to him, to all of them. She had started hanging out with them as the abrasive girlfriend who would not go away and she had not let go. She liked them and she wanted them to accept her desperately. It was enough now. She had tried and failed. It was time to grant their wishes and leave them alone. Fez might miss her, she thought. But only for superficial reasons, she was cute to look at and he was exceptionally horny. That was not a good enough reason.

Maybe that was going to be a good for her that whole no more family thing. Perhaps her life needed a massive purging. No more cheerleaders, no more basement gang, no more boyfriend, no more father and still no mother. Everybody must go, big giveaway!

It was going to be different, and lonely. It was going to be lonely. But, Jackie had started to think she could take a lot of lonely. She had done well in that department for many years. No real friends, nobody to talk too, only superficial contacts and appearances: she knew that well. Wasn't it how it had been for years before Michael brought her into the basement? Now she would simply have to live without the fake friends' portion of the deal, and the social standing. She could forget everything about social standing. A bitchy rich girl had loads of privileges that a bitchy poor girl with an absent mother and a father in prison could never dream of.

One of Jake's friends was speaking to her, she noticed. How long he had been trying to get her attention, she had no idea. Wishing it had not been too long, she finally answered. The other guys were getting up. They were leaving. They all asked her one by one if she needed a lift, and when she said no, if she was okay to drive. She had to swear she was okay and prove she was not a tiny bit drunk in order for them to let her go, and then they all stared at her into she was safely in her car.

What to do now? Jackie didn't want to go back home yet. But, she thought she should try to get some sleep. After all, tomorrow she had to:

1. Walk to school. She could not waste gas anymore.

2. Listen carefully during class. She could not get into trouble since there was nobody at home to sign her warnings or meet her teachers.

3. Quit as the head cheerleader and start a war within the troop simultaneously. She could use gossip and a few lies to do that, it should be easily.

4. Deal with the aftermath. Even for the rest of the school, her resignation will come as big news. There was going to be an avalanche of rumours. Jackie prepared herself to have to state countless times that no, she was not pregnant.

5. Face the basement gang, maybe even Steven. She hoped that will not be the case. They might just notice she was not sitting at their table at the cafeteria and not care.

6. Go to the grocery store.

7. Make dinner. That one was not going to be easy…

8. Get a job. Let's hope she was not going to be stuck at the Cheese Palace again.

Yes, she ought to try to get some sleep.