“I- I’m sorry, I’m, uh, bothering you, I- Well, I don’t want you to be late for class because of me,” There it was. The stuttering, the struggling for words, the classic Jake. He turned a light shade of red, staring at the floor like Jess hoping to cover it up.
"No, you're totally fine." She looked up hoping to catch his eyes. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a mess right now."
“You? You don’t need to -uh- apologize. I- I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything about those jerks,” Jake said, really wishing he had been there to stop Vanessa and Chad. Jake looked up and met Jess’ eye, his face heating.
"It's okay." She looked up at the class on the wall. They were considerably late. "We're really late to class."
Jake forced a laugh, “We are. I’m- I’m sorry.” Jake shook his head, “Can I walk you to your class or do you want some time alone?”
"It's okay. It's not your fault." She smiled. "I don't mind either wa-" The school wide speaker came on. "Will Jessica Adler please come to the front office?" The voice repeated itself and then shut off. She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's probably my dad…" Her voice trailed off. "Sorry." She started down the hallway.
Jake debated going after her, trying to comfort her, but he couldn’t make his feet move, so he headed to his class instead.
Jess made her way to the front. She walked into the office with the front desk lady holding up the phone. "John says he would like to speak with you." She took the phone. "Hello?" "Jess, I know it's school hours but your dad is- he hasn't left. I can't do anything." "I can't either, John, I'm at school. I-" "He owes five hundred dollars Jess." She sighed. "I'll see what I can do." She gave the phone back to the office lady. "I think I've got to do something in the back room." She winked and Jess silently thanked her. For the second time this morning, she braved the cold. This one ended at a bar. She shivered as she walked but kept going.
Max kept trying to focus on his drawing (http://orig13.deviantart.net/755d/f/2013/344/1/2/12836b5c3e963dbac37b584b3a334f22-d6xiksz.png first one) instead of what Chad had said about his parents.
Jess found her dad at the bar. He was laying over the counter. "Let's go dad." She put his arm over her shoulder supporting his as best she could. She turned to the bartender. "I'll pay tomorrow." She walked her dad home. He obviously had a fever, which was one of the only things keeping her warm. She took him inside and laid him on his bed. I can't miss too many days this year… She took out a sticky note and wrote, "I went back to school. Don't go back out." Walking out tye door, a hust of wind came through. She walked back to the school. The front office ladies let her through. (I'm going to assume that Max and Jess have this class together.) She walked in late to the classroom and took her work. About ten minutes till the next class… She sat down next to Max. She noticed the drawing flowing up his arm. "Whoa, that's really cool."
Max glanced up from his drawing and at Jess. "Oh, thanks." He said with a small smile on his face, making sure his burn mark wasn't visible.
"I don't believe you, by the way." She looked at her desk. "That Chad didn't do anything."
Max sighed and rolled down his sleeve, "It's better if I don't talk about it."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I just-" she shook her head. "I'm sorry." She took a pencil out of her bag and started on the work.
"It's fine, I can tell you about it after school or something if you want me to." He took out a pencil out of his bag and started on his work.
The next few classes flew by until the bell rung for lunch. She kept her eyes out for Jake and Max. Where are they?…
Max quietly walked into the cafeteria and sat down in the corner, quietly eating his lunch. He kept trying to make himself believe what Chad said wasn't true but he was still struggling to make himself believe that.
Jake walked into the cafeteria, looking out for Jess and Max. He hoped Chad and Vanessa weren’t bugging them again. He eyes scanned the lunch line, then the cafeteria, then finally saw Jess. He walked over with a smile, “Hey Jess! How you doing?”
Jess' face lit up as she heard his voice. "Good, you?" She looked behind him. "Also, have you seen Max?"
“I’m doing great. I haven’t seen Max yet…” Jake scanned the lunch room, then spotted him in the corner, “There he is, over in the corner. Shall we go eat with him?” Jake offered his arm to Jess.
She took his arm, looked up at him and smiled. "Definitely." She laughed a little. "Lead the way good sir."
“Of course, m’lady,” Jake replied in a British accent before laughing and walking through the lunchroom with Jess to where Max was. Jake smiled and a started, “Hey Max, how are you?”
Max glanced up and smiled at both of them, "Hey guys, I'm good, what about you?"
Jess thought both the notebook and her dad. She smiled back at him gently. "I'm great."
“Uh, yeah, same here for me. I mean, I’m good too,” Jake let out a small laugh. His words never seemed to come out right sometimes. He chewed his lower lip for what felt like an eternity, even if it was only a few seconds of awkward silence.
Jess smiled at both of them awkwardly. She needed someway to break the silence. "Okay, I'm going to get some food."
“I- uh, that’s probably a good idea for lunch time,” Jake jested, sitting down across from Max, pulling out his paper bag lunch.
Jess left for the lunch line. Wonderful, school pizza today… She grabbed her tray and started down the line.
Max nodded and went back to eating his food.
“I- so, um, hi,” Jake said awkwardly before giving up on himself and pulling out his own turkey sandwich.
