Nerve Wreck

Chapter 23

Her short bob bounced as she sped walked through the school parking lot. As she saw her group of friends in the distance she began to scan for a certain redhead. Once she spotted her she basically began to run over. Grabbing her by the collar and holding the girl up to her face she glared at her intently.

"Jess, what the hell are you doing?! Let go!"

"Spill! Why is your twenty year old brother taking Gina aka a minor to the strip club?! My friend says they saw them there multiple times!" Scat's face dropped as she slowly turned to Gina.

"Why don't we ask our innocent angel?"

They all turned to the now graduate of the group as she stood there shocked. After some time her face and demeanor changed entirely.

"Why do you care?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Don't act like you haven't noticed anything before. So why do you care now? Is it because I was in a club? Or because I was with someone way older than me? Either way it's none of your business."

"...what?" Scat stared in disbelief at her response. Her expression seemed... bored.

"What the hell? You're a minor in a place for adults with an adult who by the way isn't even all that good for you!"

"Hey! My bro is a good guy so take that back!"

"Then why did he take a minor to a strip club? Why is he even going after her! She's seventeen! He's twenty and a drop out!" Scat immediately grabbed into Jessica's collar and pulled her so their foreheads were touching.

"Scat is right. He is a good guy. Going there was my idea, not his. He's too polite to even think of taking me there."

"You..? I don't believe you. Why the hell would you want to go there? For what? If he's really such a good guy then why not go bowling? Gaming? Anything but there? It doesn't make sense! He's not doing anything, is he?"

"Bitch- he would never! You don't even know him!"

"It's the truth though. And as for why... I actually work there."

The girls stared shocked. Gina? No, she had to be lying. But her entire personality changed. As soon as Jessica began to accuse Jack her face changed completely. Like she would pull teeth to defend him.

"He picks me up from work every night. Sometimes, he drops me off too."

"You? A stripper? No... You're seventeen how would they allow that?! You don't have to defend him!"

"I'm telling the truth. I work in a shady club where immigrant girls all go to work so no one really has proper identification. They just glanced at my fake ID and said to sign some papers. Jack would never do anything to even make me uncomfortable. Trust me. He's a good guy..."

The argument then shifted from Jack to Gina's job. She defended herself explaining why she would work in that place and her telling the truth shocked everyone. She answered all of their questions with no problems. She didn't know why but she would rather them knowing her life than them accusing Jack for something disgusting like that. If she had done nothing Jessica probably would've gotten the police involved. So she answered their questions and argued that she would be fine and didn't need their help.

The look of worry only worsened as Gina's tone got more and more aggressive with them. Ultimately Gina got fed up and left after it was clear that they believed her. Usually, Terra was the noisy one but she stayed quiet for the whole argument. She simply listened to her as she spoke.

"What the hell? Why didn't you say anything?"

"If the girl's got it in the bag then I got no business interfering. Getting ourselves involved is only going to make things worse so why argue?" Terra replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Besides, my bud is actually stronger and more skilled than ya think. He'd do anything to keep her safe. Try not to worry. At least we know now."

Jessica huffed and argued with them about her safety and the sort of people she was probably around while she worked. Ivy simply agreed with Jessica's worries but explained that Gina didn't want them involved in her business. She couldn't belive what she was hearing. How could they all he so calm about this? There was no way she was staying calm.

Walking home she danced with the idea to go to the police so she would have to drop her job but that would only harm her in the end. If everything she said was true then she needs this kind of job to move the hell out of her parents home as quickly as possible. But she should have plenty by now, right? She doesn't really need to keep working there. She could rent a small place is she wants her own place that badly now. Why is she still doing this? Is there something more?

"Yeah?"

"Hey... I'm sorry about before... I'm just worried about you... text me when you go to work and get off. Text me if anything feels off! Please... I just want to make sure you're safe, okay?" She lit up a cigarette and puffed a bit to gather herself.

"Fine. But I'm still mad about all that stuff you were saying about Jack... don't expect me to just get over it like it was nothing. Is that it?"

"Oh... uh- yeah. I'll let you go now. Bye." Once the call ended she sighed and mentally punched herself in the face for acting out.

As she walked she could feel eyes on her. The only problem with this was that she was alone. She picked up her pace and texted her family she was on her way home. She was scared. When she turned onto her street she began to run to her house andas soon as she got to her door she walked as if nothing was wrong and locked the door behind her.