New Girl in Town Pt. 09

"Thanks, mom." Staci says then tugs Jessica towards the kitchen. "Come on, Jess. My capable hands are ready to grab hold of some ice cream before we delve into whatever mess you've gotten yourself into."

****

When the ice cream bowls are empty and set aside Staci and Jessica slip into the bubbling hot tub.

"The cookie dough ice cream really helped, Staci. How'd you know?" Jessica asks her as she settles into a seat.

"I took you for either a cookie dough kind of girl or mint chocolate chip. I then figured for this sort of thing, nothing beats cookie dough." Staci answers with a smile. "So, Jake kissed you..."

"We kissed." Jessica corrects. "I had joked about us being on our fourth date so he joked about not getting a kiss yet. I brought it up again when we got back home and then we were kissing. I don't want to give you any wrong ideas about exactly what happened."

"Okay, I got. So it was mutual kiss. How was it?" she asks.

"Oh Staci, he was so sweet and tender with me. I felt the same rush the first time I kissed him. He even pulled back after a couple of moments thinking we were done I guess but I just had to pull his lips back to mine. I didn't want it to end." Jessica tells her.

"Sounds yummy. How'd it go wrong?" Staci asks.

"Sean," Jessica answers.

"Sean? Your ex Sean?" Staci asks confused.

"He popped right into my head. I had just felt the brush of Jake's tongue on my lip and suddenly Sean pops into my head. It terrified me." Jessica explains.

"Why would he pop into your head? And why when you were making out with Jake?" Staci asks.

"Staci, I wasn't totally honest with you when I talked about Sean before." Jessica admits.

"That's becoming clear." Staci tells her.

"I lead you to believe that Sean and I did it right before we moved when in truth we did it about a month before school let out last year." Jessica tells her.

"Okay. I assume what you told me happened during your first time was accurate." Staci answers. "Ugh, I don't even like calling it your first time because he did it so badly."

Jessica nods. "True but it was my first time, no way around that and yes that was all accurate. I just didn't get really into the aftermath of it all."

"Are you ready to get into it now?" Staci asks.

Jessica shrugs and shakes her head. "Not really but if I don't talk about it now, I'm not going to get past it, am I?"

Staci shakes her head and moves to Jessica's side. She puts her arm around Jessica's shoulder and gives her a hug.

"I'm here for you, Jess. You know that, right?" She asks.

Jessica nods and gives her a faint smile. "Sean and I had gotten together over a weekend. When I got to school on Monday, everyone knew. He'd told all of our friends and they of course spread it over the school like a wildfire. That really didn't bother me much. He and I had been a couple forever so I thought most people would figure that it was inevitable that we'd do it at some point. That's when I started hearing the whispers about how Sean said I did everything he asked me to do and how much of a lousy lay I was anyway."

"That son of a bitch!" Staci exclaims angrily.

"I didn't believe it, Staci. Sean wouldn't say such things about me. I knew Sean. He was my first love; he'd never say such things about me." Jessica tells her. "I believed that up until I heard him actually saying that exact thing. I caught him telling his group of buddies that they could all have a go at me now if they wanted. He said that all he had to do was tell me to and I'd do it because I was so in love with him. He then warned them that I sucked at giving head and that I would just lay there like a dead fish. He hoped... hoped that they were into that sort of thing and then they all laughed."

Staci moves in and gives Jessica a tight hug. "He's a fucking piece of trash, Jessica. He'd better pray he never crosses my path or I'll castrate the son of a bitch!"

"Thanks, Staci. The best I managed was to slap the crap out of him right then and there." Jessica confesses. "Now you see why I thought of him when I was kissing Jake."

Staci shakes her head. "Not really, Jess. I mean come on, you know Jake."

"I thought I knew Sean, too! God, I was with him for nearly three years and I was too stupid to see him for who he really was." Jessica says.

"You're not stupid, Jessica. Don't ever say that you were stupid. You just had someone who didn't deserve your trust, shatter it." Staci tells her.

"So what do I do, Staci?"

"Tell me, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Jake?" Staci asks.

"His chest and his abs. His whole torso really." Jessica answers immediately.

"That's not exactly what I was looking for, Jess." Staci giggles.

"I know but you also haven't seen Jake without a shirt on either." Jessica tells her.

"When did you?" Staci asks surprised.

"When Shelly took me out to get some gear for volleyball she cut through his neighborhood. He was out cutting his grass." Jessica tells her.

"Sneaky, sneaky Shelly," Staci giggles. "You know she set you up, right?"

"I don't even care." Jessica states dreamily.

"That nice, huh?"

"Very nice, but I don't see how it's very helpful." Jessica tells her.

"You smiled for first time since you got here." Staci answers.

Jessica manages a small laugh. "Thanks for that but still..."

"You need to talk to Jake." Staci advises.

"Yeah, I can see that going over really well. Hey Jake, when we were making out the other night, I started thinking about my ex who's a real piece of garbage, by the way, and that's why I slammed my door closed in your face." Jessica states.

"What's the alternative, Jess? Are you just going to act like this weekend didn't happen?" Staci asks then notes the look of hopefulness that crosses Jessica's face. "That'll never work, Jessica and you know it."

Jessica sighs. "I know but I can hope, can't I?"

"Do you really want things to go back though?" Staci asks.

"No," Jessica admits. "Even if he somehow agreed to it, I'd just sit there beside him wanting him to kiss me again."

"So you're going to call him back then?" Staci asks.

"I'm not sure what I'd even say to him at this point." Jessica tells her then sighs. "But I know that I can't put off talking to him any longer."

"Hey, what about your mom? Does she know what happened with you and Sean?" Staci asks.

"I was too embarrassed to tell her. I think she assumes that we just broke up due to the move. I didn't see any reason to change that perception. She liked Sean." Jessica explains.

"Then she most definitely needs to hear the truth about that bastard and you need a more mature perspective on how you're relating him to Jake. I know you trust Jake, Jess but something it making you forget that." Staci states.

"What do I tell Jake in the meantime?" Jessica asks.

"You leave Jake to me for now but you and he need to speak about this before tonight. There's a lot of damage that's been done but from the way I see it, it's not terminal yet. The more time that passes though..." Staci says leaving the implication dangling.

"Got it," Jessica answers and pulls herself from the hot tub. She reaches for her clothes and struggles to get into them without drying off.

"You are really out of it." Staci says as she climbs out and tosses a towel at Jessica.

"If I messed this up too bad and Jake won't take me back, Staci..." Jessica begins.

"That won't happen." Staci interrupts her. "Don't think it. Don't put it out there in the universe. Just take the next step."

"Home. Talk to Mom." Jessica answers.

"By then I'll have talked to Jake and he'll be expecting your call but I'd suggest..." Staci begins to suggest.

"Telling him all this in person, I know." Jessica answers as she snaps her jeans closed. "Okay, I'm going to fix this no matter how rough it gets."

"You've got this, Jess and I've got you. Once you and Jake are together, all of us will help the both of you get over this shit Sean pulled with you." Staci tells her and finds herself on the receiving end of a huge embrace.

"You may have saved me, Staci." Jessica whispers.

"I'm learning that it's what you do for those you love." Staci chokes out past the lump of emotion in her throat.

"Love you too, Staci." Jessica answers. "Now I'm going to get Jake back."

****

I've put Bobby's guitar away as to not embarrass myself any further when my cell phone plays the incoming message music from the Persona 5 video game indicating that I have a message.

"You are such a spaz." Bobby points out when he hears it.

"It's a great game." I defend before I look at the message.

"What is it?" Marybeth asks.

"It's Staci?" I answer confused. "She wants me to call her."

"That could a good thing, right?" Ray asks.

"Or it could be that Jessica told her to give the please fuck off call." I state.

"Okay, I know that I've known Jessica a lot less time than all of you but that doesn't sound like something she'd do, Jake. Especially not to you," Marybeth tells me.

"Where have you have been all my life, Marybeth?" I ask her then turn to Bobby. "That's how you reassure someone, Bobby."

"Hey, don't you have a phone call to make?" Bobby asks giving me a playful shove.

"Yeah, no more putting it off I guess." I tell him and dial Staci's number.

"Hey, Jake." She answers after a half a ring.

"Hey Staci," I respond then hit her with what's been weighing on my mind since last night. "Can I recover from whatever I did wrong last night, Staci or did I mess things up to much?"

"Jake, you didn't do anything wrong or mess anything up. That was the first thing that Jessica made that crystal clear to me. This... thing with Jessica really has nothing to do with you." She tells me.

"Funny, it feels like it's all about me." I answer.

"I know how you must feel sweetie but I promise you that you have nothing at all to do with how Jess reacted last night. She's gone to talk to her mom, and then she's going to call you to meet up. Please meet with her, Jake." She tells me.

"Her mom?" I ask. "Is it... is it that bad?"

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this, Jake it's bad but you can get through this and most importantly you can help get Jess through this." She tells me as I hear her voice hitch with emotion.

"What do I need to do, Staci?" I ask her.

"Just wait... wait for Jess to call you and then... and then just be you." She tells me.

"Wait, huh," I can't help but chuckle.

"What?" Staci asks.

"It's just kind of funny that you said Wait . Last night, after the whole... thing, I went for a drive and the last song that played was Wait . I wondered if it was some kind of sign." I explain.

"I don't think I know that one." Staci admits.

"I don't imagine that you would. It's by White Lion. They're a hair metal band out of eighties." I tell her and hear Bobby sigh audibly. "Shut up, Bobby. You like Tesla."

"Tesla is great and some of those other bands are too but you found some weird stuff, dude. Like that, that Vixen band. An all girl hair band, Jake? Who's heard of such a thing?" Bobby begins to argue.

"There was an all female hair band? I'm looking them up right now!" Marybeth announces as she whips out her phone.

"Do you see what you did now, Jake?" Bobby asks. "Now I'm going to have to listen to chick rock for the rest of the afternoon."

"And you only have yourself to blame as you're the one that brought them into this. I was talking about White Lion though I did listen to Edge of a Broken Heart by them last night." I tell him mostly just to annoy him at this point.

"This one, Jake?" Staci asks and through the tiny speaker I can just hear the strains of Wait beginning to play.

"That's the one, Staci." I tell her. "Not bad, right?"

"That singer is really cute." She states then thinks about what she said. "Oh ew, he'd be like my dad's age now."

"The song is the important thing, Staci." I remind her.

"Yeah, yeah... wow he sure was a cutie... anyway, that's a decent song and it kind of fits you and Jess." She tells me.

"All right, I'm heading home to wait for Jess to call." I tell all of them. "Wish me luck."

****

Jessica pulls into her driveway and finds her dad out in the attached garage adding windshield wiper fluid to her mom's SUV.

"Hey baby, how'd Staci like your new ride?" He asks as she gets out.

"She thinks it's nice and she wants a ride when I get a chance to give her one that is." Jessica answers.

"Do you have something else to do today?" He asks her.

"Kind of," She answers. "Where's mom? I need to talk to her about something."

"She was out in the back a few minutes ago." He answers. "I think she's thinking about trying to make something out of that old garden out there."

"Thanks, dad." Jessica answers and starts towards the back when he calls out to her.

"Jess, are you sure things are okay with you?" He asks worriedly.

"They're not right now but I'm hoping that mom can help me out with that." She answers.

"Ah, I see." Mr. Golden nods. "Well if you need me for anything, I'll be here."

Jessica manages a smile as she walks over to him. "I do need one thing, dad."

"And what would that be, sweetie?" He asks.

"Just this," She answers as she wraps him in a hug.

He gives her a slight squeeze before she steps away and heads to the backyard in search of her mom.

Jessica finds her mom clad in shorts, a tank top and straw hat looking over a patch of dead grass in the corner of the backyard. Sarah is playing in the dirt a few feet away. Dr. Golden hears Jessica approaching.

"I'm thinking that a little garden here might be nice." Dr. Golden states. "A few tomato plants, maybe some strawberries, and zucchini, too. What do you think, baby?"

Jessica looks at the spot and nods. "It could work, I think. Looks like it'll get a lot of sun though."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too." Dr. Golden nods.

"Mom, I need to talk to you." Jessica tells her. "Can we go inside and sit down."

"Oh it's going to be one of those kinds of talks, huh?" Her mom asks. "Is this going to explain why we didn't wait on Jake today and why you've been down all since last night?"

"Yes," Jessica answers.

"Did Jake make you cry?" Sarah asks after overhearing the pair talking.

"Jake didn't make me cry, honey." Jessica answers. "Why do you think he would have?"

"Sean made you cry and I hate Sean." Sarah answers.

"How did you know about that, Sarah?" Jessica asks.

"Sean made you cry?" Dr. Golden asks confused.

"Jess would cry every night just before we left home." Sarah answers.

"That was just because she was leaving all her friends, Sarah. It didn't haven anything to do with Sean." Dr. Golden attempts to correct her youngest daughter.

"She was crying way before we moved." Sarah answers.

"Sarah's right, mom." Jessica confesses then kneels down to Sarah's level. "I'm sorry you had to hear me crying, sweetie. I never meant to scare you."

"You didn't scare me. It made me mad that an icky boy hurt you." Sarah answers. "I won't let it happen again."

"It's not, Sar-bear. I promise you that it's not." Jessica tells her.

"Good because I like Jake a lot and I never liked Sean. He smiled like a shark, too." Sarah points out.

Jessica giggles. "I guess that he did." She says as she brushes her fingers through Sarah's hair. "I think my protective little sis deserves some ice cream. What do you think, mom?"

"Sounds like," Dr. Golden agrees. "Let me have your dad take her and then you and I will have that talk. I'm very curious about what's happened between you and Sean now."

****

After having Tim take Sarah out for ice cream, Valerie curls up on the sofa beside Jessica and leans back.

"So, how do you want to start this?" She asks after a moment.

"I'm not really sure, mom." Jessica confesses. "When I told all this stuff to Staci, I just sort of blurted it all out."

"Well you can do that if it feels best or you can start by telling me what the problem is and I can go from there." Dr. Golden suggests.

"Okay," Jessica answers then thinks for a minute before deciding on an option. "I kissed Jake last night and when I did, Sean's face popped into my head."

"Well honey, that's understandable. Sean was your first love so of course..."

"I hate him! He's going to ruin everything I have with Jake!" Jessica nearly shouts then begins to cry. Valerie immediately wraps her arms around Jessica and pulls her into a protective embrace. She rocks her while whispering, "shh... shh... it's okay baby. It's okay."

After a few minutes, Jessica is composed enough to tell her mom all about what actually ended her relationship with Sean. After Jessica finishes, Valerie takes minute to wipe away her own tears as she hugs Jessica to her again.

"No one should be treated like that, baby." She says. "I'll castrate that little bastard if I ever see him again!"

"You'll have to get in line behind Staci for that." Jessica tells her.

"I like the way she thinks." Valerie shares then brushes some hair from Jessica's face. "So that's why you wanted me to set you up with a gynecologist before we left Charlotte. You thought something was wrong with you because the sex hurt you?"

"Exactly but she said that everything was normal." Jessica tells her.

"Honey, what happened to you during was just the fumblings of an inept boy attempting to get what he wanted in the fastest way possible like the little shit he is. The afterwards was just him being an utter asshole and if I ever come across him again, he'll need surgery to remove my foot from his ass." Valerie explains. "Are you afraid that the same thing could happen with Jake?"

"I'm afraid that I'll never get the chance to find out." Jessica confesses. "I'm afraid that Sean will just keep popping into my head whenever Jake kisses me and it'll just keep ruining everything."

"You two can always try and go back to just being friends." Valerie suggests.

"I can't see that working out." Jessica answers.

"Why's that?" she asks.

"Because if we tried that route, we'd be right back in a few weeks time and I'm not wasting time when I already know that I love him." Jessica answers.

"That's pretty sudden, honey." Valerie points out.

"You're the one that told me, when you know, you know and I know." Jessica tells her.

Valerie laughs. "If I knew that would come back to bite me, I would have kept it to myself."

"Do you think Jake is wrong for me?" Jessica asks concerned she's missed some sign.

"Oh no sweetie, it's not that." Valerie assures her. "From everything I've seen so far from Jake, I believe he can be very good for you and you for him. He's sweet, kind and maybe even a little overprotective of you and what mother doesn't love that?"

"Protective... that's it. That's what Staci was trying to get me to see." Jessica exclaims.

"What are you talking about baby?" Dr. Golden asks.

"Staci asked me what my first thought of Jake was when I closed my eyes and you just made me see what she really meant." Jessica explains.

"What was your first thought?" Dr. Golden asks.

"Him without a shirt on." Jessica answers truthfully.

"Jessica!" Dr. Golden exclaims.

"Mom, please. You've seen him without his shirt on when you took him to the hospital. You can't say that it wasn't nice." Jessica giggles.

"I wasn't thinking of him like that, Jessica." Dr. Golden defends but her face blushes at the memory.

"Still, it's nice." Jessica states. "But Staci meant for me to see how Jake is with me and you said it yourself. He protects me. He made Sarah and me leave when you were about to his shoulder back in place so we didn't see you hurting him. He made me wear this jacket, surgical mask and headlamp when we went into up into the drive in screen and that's just a small example of the times he's protected me."