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Jessica stared
at Avery, almost frozen in time. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. I can
lie! That’s it! I’ll lie!
“W-what are you
talking about?”
“Liar.”
“Am not!”
“Am too!”
“Am-“
“Too, too, too,
too, too.” Avery put her hands on her hips defiantly. Jessica had to admit, she
was a smart kid.
“Avery, don’t
make me do this-“
“It’s true,
isn’t it?” Avery demanded. Jessica leaned down and put her head in her hands.
She was starting to get a headache.
“Yes,” she said
quietly.
“I knew it. Why
haven’t you told anyone?” Jessica heaved a huge sigh. This was bad.
“I don’t know,
okay? Just listen, listen Aves. Don’t tell anyone, okay? I’ll tell someone soon
enough, okay? Just promise me you won’t tell.”
“I promise.
Cross my heart and hope to die!”
“Okay. Don’t say
a word. Don’t tell a soul!”
« « «
Isaac watched
this conversation from afar. He didn’t want to get to close because he knew his
sisters would stop talking. He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t tell what they
were saying, but he knew it must be really secret of something. They were
whispering and Jessica kept looking around, trying to catch anyone who might
try to listen. Luckily, she never noticed him. After their exchange was
finished, Jessica headed in his direction, so he dashed off in search of
Taylor. He found him in his room, reading a book.
“Tay.”
“What?” He was
annoyed.
“Have you
noticed that Jessica’s been acting weird lately?”
“Sort of.”
“Well, I was
just spying on her and Avery. They were talking about something, but I couldn’t
figure what. They were talking too quietly.”
“Freaky. She’s
been strange lately. I mean, last night she got all pissed off at Chris, and
she won’t talk to him or anything. I don’t think it’s just between them. I
think there’s a third party and maybe more, but I can’t figure who.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
« « «
Jessica yawned
and stretched. She had just read her favorite book for the 23rd
time. She loved that book. She lay back on the grass. The crisp mid-September
air was chilly, but it felt good on her skin. She wondered if Avery would tell
anyone about Zac. She wondered if Chris was mad at her. She wondered if he
would forgive her. She wondered if anyone else in her family had any idea about
Zac. She wondered how she would eventually tell her family that she knew about
Zac and Mackenzie. Someone broke through her wonders. A shadow blocked the
lukewarm light from the sun. It was a figure she recognized well. She sat up.
“What do you
want?” Chris sat down beside her. He was still for a moment, before looking over
at Jessica. He bore his eyes into hers. She stared back with equal ferocity.
“What do you
want??” she repeated icily.
“I’m sorry.”
“You want ‘I’m
sorry?’ That’s not good enough. You think all of this is easy for me?!?!? You
think that this is all a piece of cake and that one little ‘I’m sorry.’ Will
make it right? Is that what you think?” Jessica pulled her self off of the
ground.
“Do you think I
really care if you’re sorry? You think that it matters that you said two little
words? Do you think that I can forgive you for what you said just like that?”
She snapped her fingers for effect.
“You think that
Chris Andrews? You’re an only child! For Pete’s sake! You wouldn’t understand
this whole thing, would you?” Jessica hurled the book at Chris and stalked
inside. After a minute, Chris picked up the book. He looked at it, searching
for a title as his eyes came into focus. It was called, ‘She’s Come Undone.’