Chapter 15

The next day was my first day of in-school suspension,
a day of boredom. You get all the bookwork from
your classes and sit at an isolated desk. All you do is
do your work for the day, can't talk, can't sleep, and if
you don't have enough work to do
the evil Mr. Oman assigns you more.

When the lunch bell rang we all
got up, heading for the door as Mr. Oman stopped us.

"You can't leave here boys and girls, sorry," he said
with the smirk that reminded me of Nick. I
looked at him and smiled at his blackish blue eye.

Mr. Oman left the room for lunch as the
noise started up.

A guy came rolling over in his chair to me.

"Is it true you did that to Nick?" He asked pointing
to Nick's eye.

"Yeah…" I said curious why he asked.

"Cool, even though I did worse to get in here," he said
rolling back to his isolated desk. I nodded a little
scared and went back to my work.

I put on my glasses as Nick looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, you just look confused."

"What business of it is yours?"

"Well I know you are bad…real bad at math,
and I noticed that was what you were
working on. Want some help?"

"From you? No, I'd rather
get help from Clinton," I said rolling my eyes.

"Fine, but I'm the one in Honors Trig," he said as I
sighed. I knew he could help, and at
the moment I needed it.

"Fine, come help me. One comment and
I cause another black eye," I said angrily as
he rolled his chair over to me.

"What are you doing?" He asked looking at my book.

"This," I said pointing to problem 18 in the book.

"Okay…let's see…just divide that with that and
add the squared numbers
together," he said as I looked puzzled.

"I thought you can't add those together…"

"Oh you can't. If you're doing this kind of
problem," he said flipping the pages to a farther
problem. "Don't worry about that right now, just
add them until the teacher tells you not too," he said
rolling back to his desk.

"Thanks…" I said sighing.

"No problem. Did you understand it?" He asked.

"Yeah…uh huh. I just…suck at math," I said
putting my pencil down and stretching.

"I used to be, don't worry about it," he said as
Mr. Oman came back in the room.

"I know you guys are not talking," he said sitting at
his desk and taking a bite of his spaghetti
school food. "That's what I thought," he said
with bread in his mouth.

I looked over at Nick and sighed. He was so
confusing. It was like he'd be super
nice one minute, and then be evil the next.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When it came around to 6th period, Mr. Oman
became so bored he had fallen asleep on his desk.

Everyone was whispering and writing things
on the board. I was reading my newest novel, 'A
Funny Situation.' It was basically the same situation
I was in with Nick. This girl likes this guy
whom she's known for years but when she all
of a sudden liked him, like it just…happened.
My eyes were fixated on the book,
I couldn't stop reading.

"Concentrating?" Nick whispered to me.
I looked up from the book and nodded.

"I'm really getting into this book," I said grinning,
thinking about Nick as the guy character.

"Cool, I didn't know you liked to read."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," I said
flirtatiously.

"You know that could change someday
if you let it," he said flirting right back.

"Maybe Nick…maybe," I said turning
my head back to the entrancing book.

"Yeah, maybe…" he said as he looked at me.

"Nick, I can't read if you're staring at me," I said turning
my head over to his adorable face.

"Oh…sorry!" He said smiling and
turning back to his isolated desk.

"Thanks," I said turning back to my book.

It started getting really good. She fell in love with him
and finally confessed after a long talk they had and
made love. I put the book in my bookbag and
sighed. I wish that was the way it would go
with Nick and I.

I put my glasses down and turned to Nick who
was asleep snoring aside a piece of paper. It had
my name on it! I rolled over to his desk and took it
with ease.

I took out my glasses and put them up to my face.
It was a pros and cons list about me!
I rolled back to my desk and began reading.

Hates:

1. She won't get over the past

2. She punched me(big one)

3. Always starting up fights

4. Flirts like crazy with the guys

5. Going to the prom with that asshole Eddie

6.


Likes:

1. She's beautiful

2. Ne

That's it! He fell asleep during this? I sighed and
put the paper back on his desk.

The bell rang soon after as everyone jumped from
their seats and awoke Nick and Mr. Oman.

"Class dismissed!" He tried saying, even though
most of the class was already gone.

I walked out, first day of hell accomplished.
It really wasn't all that bad…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You mean to tell me that you think Orlando Magic is
better than Miami Heat? No way!" I said to Nick
as we got off the bus.

"Yes way! Miami heat got nothin', Magic is phat
Jess!" He said as I opened the mailbox.

"Whatever you say Carter, see you tomorrow
for another day of hell," I said looking through the
mail swiftly.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked as
my heart pounded.

"Actually, I'm going to the football game
tonight, it's senior's night you know.
Get in free…" I said nudging him.

"High school football isn't my thing. I'll see you
tomorrow J," he said walking away. I sighed
and walked inside my pink house.

"I'm home Ry!" I yelled shutting the door behind me.

"J, guess what I bought you?" He said hugging me.

"Just tell me huh?" I said impatiently.

"Okay let me go get it," he said running down the
stairs to the basement. It sounded like a heard of
elephants. "Hold on!" He yelled running back up the stairs.

He had a rather large box with a fragile sign on the side.

"Ryan you got me a snake? How thoughtful," I said
sarcastically as I opened it. A small golden
retriever puppy was inside, begging to be let out.
"AWWW!" I said taking it out of the box.
"Ry you shouldn't have!"

"Actually they were free! And how could you say no
to a free adorable puppy?" He asked as
the puppy licked his nose with excitement.

"I know you couldn't, thanks Ry!" I said hugging
him and kissing his cheek. I let the puppy go play
and roam around as I got ready for the football game.

"Why are you going to this stupid game?" Ryan
asked standing in the doorway watching me.

"Because I haven't talked to or even thought of Eddie
in days Ryan. He cares about me, and I care about
him…to a certain extent. I mean I owe him
something right?" I asked. I turned on my Will Smith
cd as my puppy ran down the stairs looking for us.

"I'm going to go take your puppy out. I have a feeling
he needs to do some manly business," Ryan
said picking him up. "By the way, what
are you naming him?"

"Uh…Chaos," I said smiling. "He's crazy
isn't he?" I said as Ryan nodded.

"Come on C, we're taking a pit stop," Ryan said
walking up the stairs.

I shut the door and closed the blinds to change.
I came back up a few minutes later to hear the guys
upstairs talking.

"Hey guys," I said walking up. Chaos jumped
up to me as I picked him up and giggled lightly.

"Hey J, crazy puppy," Kevin said as the puppy
ran down the stairs.

"What did you name him?" Brian asked.

"Chaos!" I said as he came running back up the steps.

"You know that's Nick's nickname?" Howie said.
I shrugged, luckily Nick wasn't there.

"So…" I said shrugging.

"Hey, how was that suspension thing?" A.J.
asked as she sat down next to him.

"Very…very quiet. Nick was snoring
louder than Mr. Oman," I said as the guys laughed.

"Yeah Nick's like that," Brian said shaking his head.

The phone rang loudly throughout the house.
I quickly ran over to the cell phone laying
on the counter.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Jess it's Nick," he said quietly.

"Hey, why aren't you over here with the
rest of the guys?"

"Actually I was about to ask you if they
were over there…"

"Oh…well Nick, they're over here! You comin'?"

"Um…yeah I guess. Can I talk to Brian for a second?"

"Sure, no prob.," I said handing Brian the phone.

"Hello?" Brian said. "Yeah, uh huh. Just sittin',
yes, okay, bye." He pushed the off button and put it
down next to him.

"Is he coming over?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, he's got something he's
gotta do first before coming over though," Brian said
as I went into the kitchen.

"So J…where are you going tonight?" Howie asked.

"Senior night at the high school," I said taking
a chunk of the banana nut bread in the pantry.

"Football? I was quarterback
in high school!" Kevin said excitedly.

"Well Eddie is quarterback. He invited me to go.
What are you guys doing?" I asked sitting
back down aside Brian and A.J.

"We got a gig at some restaurant downtown,"
Howie said as everyone rolled their eyes.

"What? What's wrong with it?" I asked.

"Fancy means we have to dress up," A.J. said as
I laughed. They were so funny.

Chaos jumped up on me and A.J. wanting some lovin'.

"I think he likes you A.J.," I said scratching
Chaos' belly. Nick knocked on the door and
opened it shortly after.

"Hey Nicky! Come join the group, today's topic,
the puppy!" Ryan said as we all laughed.

"Wow your eye is really healing…" Brian said
looking at it carefully. I sighed and looked at my
arm, remembering I needed to take my pills.

I got up and walked over to the medicine cabinet,
pulling out my doctor's prescription.

"What's that J?" Ryan asked.

"My pain killers," I said shyly. The guys looked sadly,
then back at Nick who looked a little sad as well.

I popped 3 in my mouth and sat at the kitchen table,
rubbing my hand slowly.

"You know what she named her dog
Nick?" Howie asked changing the subject.

"Howie?" Nick asked as everyone laughed.
Howie on the other hand, was not amused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After an hour of just talking on the couches, we
decided to go outside.

"Hey Jess, I'll finish playing you…" Nick said
with a sly grin.

"Yeah sure! Just let me go in and change," I said
walking inside. I changed into an Adidas tank
top and some gym shorts. I put my hair in a ponytail
and put on my Nike hat. I was ready to kick some
butt!

I took Chaos with me outside and ran down to
the guys.

"I'm ready!" I said stretching my arms.

"Hey J…can I ask you a kinda important
question?" Kevin asked as Nick went to get the ball.

"Sure!" I said stretching my calves.

"How are you going to play with your
hand in…that?" He said pointing to my hand.

"I can play with it, I done worse to my hands," I said as
I heard the dribbling of the ball. "And if it starts to
hurt I'll stop playing!" I said as Kevin sighed.

The guys made a clear distance for us by sitting on
the hoods of the cars, and Aaron and
Angel were bombarding Chaos.

"Wasn't it your turn?" I asked trying to recall.

"I think so…yeah! Cause you
asked if we could take a break…" Nick
said as I slowly remembered.

"Oh yeah! I'll check it for ya!" I said
cheerfully. It was a good day so far,
and a stupid basketball game wasn't going
to change that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We played until Eddie came to pick me up.
I had totally forgot he was coming, I was so into
the game! It was now 84 to 98, I was
losing pretty bad.

"Jess? Hey Jess! Come on we
gotta go I'm gonna be late!" Eddie said nervously.

"Oh sorry! Guys I'll see you later. Ryan can you
bring Chaos back home for me?" I asked as
I ran to the house. I was a mess, sweating
and looking awful.

I changed back into the outfit I was wearing,
but left my hair up. I ran out to Eddie's truck and
waved at the guys. They all waved…but Ryan and
Nick. I looked at them until we
were out of sight,
What's up with them?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We lost the game unfortunately. 43 to 40.
It was close though! Eddie was so upset he didn't
talk the rest of the way home.

He pulled up to my house and looked at me with
sadness.

"I'm sorry I've been so angry. The one game
you come to we lose," he said as I smiled.

"I'm always bad luck to anybody, it's not
your fault," I said as he nodded.

"I know now though right?"

"Yep! Never bring me to anything," I said laughing.

"Never happen," he said coming close to me.

He kissed me, brushing his hand across my cheek
and down my body.

"Um…it's getting late, I gotta go," I said pulling away.
He nodded as I unbuckled my seatbelt. "I promise
you I will call you okay? Lately I've been going
though…"

He interrupted, "It's okay, really."

I kissed him lightly and shut the truck door.
I stood watching him speed off and looked at
Nick's house. I had never been in the back where
the lake was…now was a perfect time.

I walked behind Nick's house and down the
dock to the end. I sat down and dangled my
feet looking at the water and the stars.

It was so beautiful; I could have stared forever.
I then started thinking about everything. My mother,
Nick, Eddie, I went down a shame spiral in the span
of 5 seconds.

I started crying excessively, couldn't control it
anymore. I never let everything out until that night;
I held it all in just letting it bunch up inside me.
It was something about the view I guess…

"Hey J?" Someone called quietly. I turned scared…
seeing Nick standing above me. "What are you
doing here? What's wrong?" He asked sitting down
next to me.

I hugged him tight and held onto him,
crying my eyes out.

"Just hold me." He stroked my hair,
his hands felt so good.

We sat there for what seemed to be forever, just
holding each other. My tears were slowly fading,
and I finally let Nick go.

"I'm sorry," I said wiping my eyes.

"It's okay, Dr. Nick to the rescue," he
said playfully as I grinned.

"There's just a lot of things going on right now that I
can't handle, and this…this view I don't know.
It brought it all out," I said explaining myself.

"I've done that, a lot actually," he said looking
up at the sky.

"Good, I'm not mental," I said as he laughed.

"No, no you're not," he said shaking his head.

"I know that dad and Vicki…are…weird. And
I know that my mom is…broke. And I'm
not very smart in things I do…"

"What? Where did this all come from?" He
interrupted.

"Well you said all this to me, I'm just thinking about it.
And I know that I can't sing, and you
usually did deserve…"

"Jess?" He interrupted again.

"What?"

"I didn't mean any of what I said."

"Yes you did. Because all of it is true…" I said as a
tear came down my face.

"None of it is okay? I said it because at the time
I didn't…forget it. I'm sorry okay?" He said trying
to apologize.

"So you mean to tell me Vicki and my dad
aren't fucked up?"

"Well…they're not fucked up…but
they're weird."

"True…and I'm not stupid?"

"No…you just can't do trigonometry."

"Definitely true. I'm not a loser?"

"No…I just say that to make me feel better
about winning."

"Wow. Big one, what about the part with my mom?"

"That was way out of line, and I didn't mean to say
it the way I did, or to say it at all. You know
I got along with your mom, she was cool." He used to
bond with my mom, it was kinda creepy.

"Thanks Nick." I kissed his cheek and
looked out to the lake.

"I'm sorry I punched you. Technically both of us got
something out of it. Mine more
temporary but hey!" I said smiling.

We laughed and he nodded.

"I can't take pain killers for mine!" He said smiling.

"Ha ha!" I said laughing. He stuck his
tongue out at me as I laughed.

"Hey Nick?" I asked seriously.

"Hmm?"

"Are we becoming friends?" I asked
looking at him.

He turned to me.

"Maybe Logan…maybe," he said as we
both looked at the water in silence.

Index

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