Flight (The Crescent Chronicles #1)

Chapter Six

The week passed painfully slow. After a full day's work, I was more than happy to relax in our room, but it was strange that Jess suddenly seemed to not have any interest in going out. On Thursday morning, she didn't even get out of bed.

"You do realize we have work in ten minutes, right?" I asked, poking my head into her room.

"I'm just not feeling well. Is it okay if I skip today?"

"Sure. Feel better. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No. Don't worry," she assured me.

"Okay. See you later."

Jess didn't look particularly sick, but I figured playing hooky for one day wasn't a big deal. Still, something wasn't adding up, she just wasn't herself. I headed downstairs ready for a quiet morning of work. My quiet time didn't last long.

"What's up with Jess?" Billy asked. He had made a habit of hanging out at the desk with us whenever there was a lull in work for him—which was anytime but check in and check out. We saw a lot of each other.

"I have no clue. She refused to get up this morning. She's in a funk or something."

"Is she sick?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't think so."

"Have you tried to talk to her?" Adie joined in the conversation. She seemed really concerned.

"I tried, but she isn't saying anything. I honestly don't know what to do. She hasn't wanted to do anything and she's barely eating. I'm wondering if I should call her mom."

"If you are even questioning it you probably should," Adie advised. "A mother needs to know when her child is upset."

"Maybe I should try to talk to her one more time, and if there is no change I'll call?"

"That sounds reasonable," Adie agreed.

"Please let me know if I can do anything." Billy really was a nice guy and he cared about her. Too bad Jess never went for the nice guys. But if I was being honest I never did either.

***

In all of my years of knowing Jess, I had only seen her cry twice. The first time was when her beloved Golden Retriever died. The other was when her grandparents moved away. Walking into her room during my lunch break was number three.

"Hey, you all right?" I asked tentatively as I pushed open the door. "Wait, why are you packing?"

"I'm leaving. I'm sorry to run out on you, but I would rather spend the summer at home." Jess jammed clothes haphazardly into an open suitcase on her bed.

I felt a moment of panic. What the heck was going on? "Umm, okay. You going to expand on that at all?"

"I don't want to be here and besides Emmett texted me, I might try to work things out with him."

"Seriously? What happened to him being like a lost dog who can't get a clue when he's not wanted?" Jess had dumped her longtime boyfriend back in September because she wanted to have a fun senior year. He'd tried to get back together with her a few times, but she always refused.

"I changed my mind."

"What's really going on?"

She started sobbing. I sat down on the bed pulling her into my arms. "What happened? You have to tell me."

"I shouldn't have done it."

"Done what?"

"It. With Jared."