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chapter three
Jessie ran into the house, tears spilling out all over the place. She ran to her room and locked the door behind her. She leaned against the wall, crying. Slowly, she slid down the wall to a sitting position. All she could see was the note, scrawled in Andy’s handwriting, and the ring. She tried to block it out of her mind, but it just made her cry harder.
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Mr. And Mrs. Hanson stared at the piece of paper and the box for a long time before saying anything. Then, Mrs. Hanson sighed and handed her husband the box and paper. She whispered something in his ear and left for the house.
Inside the house, she quietly mounted the stairs and knocked on Jessie’s door.
“Jessie? Jessie, honey, are you all right?” The door opened and Jessica appeared. Her face was red and tearstained.
“Oh baby,” Mrs. Hanson said. “It’s all right.” She embraced her in a hug. She hugged back, tight. Hot tears spilled out of Jessica’s eyes onto her mother’s shoulder.
“Shh….shhhhh….” Mrs. Hanson comforted. “Shhhh……shhhh…. It’s alright, it’s alright.”
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For the next week until the funeral, Jessica hardly spoke to anyone, except Zac and her parents. She hardly ate anything, and she was always holed up in her room. On the day of the funeral, she insisted upon driving herself there. Nobody could convince her otherwise. So, she drove herself. She made it through the service at the church, but in cemetery, she slipped out when no one was watching. Nobody noticed until the service was finished and neither her nor her car were anywhere to be found. Mrs. Hanson was hysterically upset, and could not be comforted by anyone. Zac finally convince her to calm down. He promised his mother he would find Jessica.
He searched all over town, but finally found her in the local Applebee’s sitting at a table by herself, staring at her soda. When the hostess tried to seat him, he simply said, “No thank you, she’s been expecting me.” He gestured to Jessica. The hostess nodded. Zac walked over to her booth and slid in across from her. She looked up briefly, and seeing it was only Zac, looked back down. After a few minutes of silence, she looked up.
“What do you want?” He played with the salt and pepper shakers.
“Mom was really upset, ya know.” She shook her head.
“I’m not a child.”
“Didn’t say you were.”
“You were implying it,” she said as she paid the bill and headed for her car. She got in the car, and just before closing the door, said, “Don’t follow me Zac.” She shut the door, and drove off, leaving Zac standing on the sidewalk.
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When Jessie showed up, it was long after 10:00, and she had seen Zac at the restaurant at 8:30. After hastily assuring her mother she was fine, she rushed up to her room and started throwing things in a suitcase. She didn’t have any time to waste. She was leaving tonight.