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chapter six
About
three hours later, things were running smoothly for Jessica. She had spoken with
the Alex Kinllen, the person who had placed the add in the paper. She would move
in with him shortly. They would split the rent AND the apartment was already
completely furnished, seeing that the Kinllen family was EXTREMELY well off. Alex
seems nice. Jessie thought to herself as she sipped her coffee. She wondered
how her family was doing, if Zac had told them everything he knew. Well, she
thought. Ike’s birthday is later next month. I’ll send him a card. Happy
with this conclusion, she discarded her trash and flew out the door. She was due
to meet Alex at the apartment and move in 15 minutes. Today was the first day of
her new life. Today was the day she got over Andy.
‡‡‡‡‡‡
When
Zac woke up that morning, Zoë was burrowed into his chest. He smiled and
carefully got up so as not to wake her. He stretched, yawned, and looked at the
small clock on his nightstand. 7:00. Good. That meant he would have some time to
himself. Nobody would wander out of bed for a while. He quickly changed and went
downstairs. He made a pot of coffee and sat on the counter drinking it and
reading the paper. Same old, same old. Car crashes and murders. Politics and
angry citizens complaining to the editor. He sighed and tossed the paper down
the counter. He hopped down and walked into the living room. He set his coffee
cup on the table, and looked around, taking it all in. The carpet was a light
brownish-tan, the couches and matching recliners a soft blue. The walls were
painted to match the couches and chairs. The far wall was covered with pictures
of the family, so that you could hardly see the wall itself. A small coffee
table sat opposite the couches, an entertainment center behind it, containing a
TV, VCR and stereo system. There was a bookshelf in the corner, filled with
books. His family had always loved to read. Zoë had learned when she was 3.
He
could practically hear the memories echoing off the walls. Laughing and
happy greetings when he and his brothers returned from at long tour. Giggling
and singing with relatives during Christmastime. Cheers of joy when Zoë and
even Mack were brought home from the hospital. Shouts of excitement when they
got the phone call about the first three Grammy nominations. And singing and
cheering and laughing at Jessie’s surprise 18th birthday party
earlier that year in July. He walked over to the far wall that contained
pictures of the family, together and apart. There were family and individual
portraits from as far back as Zac could remember. Before then, even. He sighed,
staring at the picture of himself and all his brothers and sisters. It was
probably the most recent picture of them all together there was. It was from
Zac’s own birthday party earlier that month. He sighed again, gazing into the
faces of the people whom he had known all his life. He was almost drifting to
sleep when the shrill ring of the phone echoed off his thoughts. He jumped up,
startled, and ran to the phone. He picked it up breathlessly. Maybe it was
Jessie, in Kansas, out of gas and money, wanting to come home. Zac, you
idiot, you know better than that! He thought. When she starts something,
she finishes it.
“Hello?”
“Hi,
Zac?” he recognized it as Annie, one of Jessie’s best friends. He swallowed.
This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Hi,”
he said slowly. He could see her frown, even though she lived on the other side
of town.
“Hi,
is um…Jess there?” He took a deep breath.
“Um….
Annie?”
“Yeah…”
she said slowly.
“Well,
um, Jess isn’t here.” He chose his words carefully.
“Oh.
Well, where is she?” He hesitated.
“I’m
not sure.”
“You’re
not sure? Either you know or you don’t.”
“I
don’t know.”
“When
did she leave?” He took a deep breath.
“Night
before last.” For what seemed like hours, but must’ve been simply minutes,
there was silence. Finally, Annie spoke.
“Zac,
what is going on?”
“Well,
um, she was real upset about Andy, and the night before last she kinda left at
like, midnight, and nobody knows where she went, but she left Oklahoma for
sure.” Once again, there was silence.
“Gosh,”
came the muffled reply. “I’m really sorry. I gotta go now. Okay?”
“Okay,”
Zac muttered. “Bye.”
“Bye.
I’m really sorry.” Click.
Zac
sat the phone down and put his head in his hands, fighting back tears.
‡‡‡‡‡‡
By
3:00, Jessie was moved in, and she and Alex were relaxing in the living room,
exchanging stories.
“…and
my dad wants me to go to Harvard and become a doctor.” Alex concluded his
story.
“Wow,”
Jessie commented, setting her cup on the cluttered table.
“Well,”
Alex said, leaning forward and clapping his hands. “Enough about me. What
about you? You seemed familiar from the first time I saw you.” Jessie
chuckled.
“Do
you have a sister? About 24 or so?” She smiled as his face widened in
amazement.
“Actually,
yes! How’d you know?” She chuckled again.
“My
brothers were probably plastered on her wall.” He frowned, confused, then
smiled.
“Ohhhhh…..that
band my sisters wouldn’t shut up about for about 4 or 5 years. What was it,
Hanson?” She nodded.
“Yep.
My very annoying older brothers. Ike, Tay and Zac.”
“I
thought you looked familiar!” Alex proclaimed. “But what’s your story? Why
are you here?”
“You
want the long or short version?”
“Oh,
we’ve got plenty of time! How about the long version?” He ran his hands
through his silky brown hair and sat back.
“I’m
listening.”
“Well,”
she began. “After my brothers lost most of their popularity, things calmed
down a bit. We stopped getting phone calls from crazed fans and having teenies
without bras on show up on our front lawn to pick our grass and scream until I
got a headache. So, everything was fine for a while. Life was normal, and I
think I have to say those were some of the best years of my life. We had a lot
of fun. We went places, and did things, and were just a family. But then Ike,
he, well, he grew up. He moved out last year, and he’s had at least 3 serious
girlfriends since then.” She looked down at her hands and hesitated. Then she
began again.
“And
Taylor started to grow up too. He’s moving out soon. I’m not sure exactly
when. But this was about the point we were at a few weeks ago. I guess I
should’ve told you this when I started, but I have 6 brothers and sisters. Two
little sisters, one little brother and three older brothers. I’ve always been
right in the middle. Zoë and Avery are my sisters, and Mackenzie is my little
brother, and Isaac and Taylor and Zac are my older brothers. Well, I
have-had,” she corrected herself, willing the tears not to come, “a
boyfriend.” Alex leaned forward, curious.
“His
name was Andy. Andrew, actually. And one night, a few weeks ago, we went on a
date and he brought me home. Right before I got in the house, another car was
driving down the middle of the road and Andy swerved to miss it, and he hit a
power line.” Jessica was in tears by now. Alex moved closer to Jessica and put
his arm around her. She took a deep breath and continued.
“And
he died. Immediately, they said. The paramedics only found one thing on him. It
was a box. A little box. With a ring in it. He was going to ask me to marry him.
But-but,” she stuttered. “He never got the chance. And it was awful.
Everything, everything, was too painful. Everything I looked at reminded me of
him. Everything I thought of, everything I did. I couldn’t take it anymore. So
the night after the funeral, I left. At midnight. The only person who saw me was
Zac. I woke him up. He tried to get me to stay, but I couldn’t. I drove all
night, and here I am. I got here early this morning. Nobody knows where I am.
They only know I left. That is, if Zac told them. I bet he didn’t. I left to
get over this. To get over Andy, I guess. I guess I really loved him. He was
going to ask me to marry him! That’s what makes me feel the worst. He was
going to ask me to marry him. Someday, maybe soon, maybe not, I’ll go back
home to Tulsa. But that probably won’t be for a long time. I have to get over
this first. And that’s not going to be easy.” She sat back and wiped the
tears from her face.
“That’s
quite a story,” Alex said.
“I’m
sorry,” Jessie said, almost inaudible. “I forgot I was talking, who I was
talking to. I haven’t told anyone all of that. I just had to tell somebody.”
“It’s
okay,” Alex said. “That must’ve been hard. And getting through something
like that must be hard. I’m glad to say I’ve never had to. I don’t think I
could do it. I’ve always been weak.” He looked over at her and chuckled.
“So,
what know?” She frowned.
“You
know what?” she asked as they moved closer. “I don’t know.” And before
either one of them knew what was happening, their lips were together, kissing.
Getting rid of all the pain, and hurt and suffering. They had barely known each
other a day, but that didn’t matter. Jessie pulled back and looked at Alex.
She smiled and he smiled back.
“God,
I love you,” she said quietly.
“Me too,” he said. They leaned forward and kissed again.