Max

Convincing Max

Jordiscy does not hold any claim to The Academy: Ghost Bird series or the associated characters. No monetary gain will be made from this story, nor will any be sought.

***

Boys are stupid.

Jessica was convinced of it. Micah and Tom didn't understand that all she wanted was to be included, to have friends at home too. It was exhausting to have to be carted away to other friends' houses all the time when she wanted to hang out. Her classmates at her private school lived too far away. She couldn't always get rides either, not with her mom working weird shifts as a nurse, and Kota always getting called away by his weird teacher.

The preteen girl resolved to remedy her own problem of loneliness and reach out to the other kids that were her own age in the neighborhood. Her choices were limited to Micah and Tom. There were other kids living on Sunnyvale Court, but they were all under the age of ten, still in elementary school, and practically still in diapers. Jessica wanted to have friends, not to play an older sister role.

She was already acquainted with the two twelve year-old boys that lived across the highway. They knew her, and she knew them. That was kind of hard to avoid when they lived in the same area for as long as they could remember, especially when those two were constantly on her street with Derrick or out in the woods to find trouble.

She just needed to reach out and make some kind of connection with them. Just approaching them out of the blue and blatantly stating that she wanted to be friends wouldn't work. That tactic was for elementary school kids. Jessica was a young woman now. She had to find a way to stick her foot in the metaphorical door with those two boys, using...what was it that Kota called it? Social engineering? That Academy taught him weird things.

One of Jessica's friends at school passed onto her a shiny stone that was circulating among all the girls in her grade. It was said the rock glued to a necklace chain was magical and granted one wish to girls with pure hearts. The trinket kept getting passed around as everyone wondered if they were pure enough to incite its magic powers or not. Most were disappointed. Others swore by it. This time, it was Jessica's turn to find out. She was going to use it as the icebreaker to have an excuse to hang out with Micah and Tom.

Who could say no to the intrigue of magic they could hold in their own hands?

Jessica learned the answer right away: those two. They laughed in her face and snatched the rock out of her hand when she did tell them about it. Micah started a game of Monkey in the Middle, and guess who the monkey was? They repeatedly tossed the necklace high over her head, only to throw it again the moment she turned to try and charge at the boy who had it. Derrick was the one to end the game by appearing out of nowhere and hitting the boys on the back of the head, chastising them to be nice to girls.

Jessica ran home the moment Derrick gave the stone back to her.

Kota was home and heard her come in. One of his friends was with him. Jessica could hear them talking about her just outside her door after she slammed it shut. Nathan was concerned for her, but Kota told him to keep his distance for now. Kota said that girls just need some time alone to get it all out sometimes. They went back up to his room upstairs after that.

Stupid Kota.

Her older brother wasn't wrong, but sometimes a girl didn't truly want to be alone when she was upset. Sometimes she just needed a hug. Or a shoulder to cry on.

As if to answer her longing, she heard her door being nudged and quick sniffing down by the floor. Max.

Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, Jessica slipped off her bed and opened her door to let the golden retriever in. She left the door open by an inch, just enough for him to be able to nose his way out when he wanted.

Immediately, Max started nudging her hand with his wet, black nose, trying to comfort her and let her know that he cared for her.

"Oh, Max!" Jessica patted the top of her covers to give the dog permission to hop on her bed, which he instantly did. Her hands wrapped around his reddish yellow fur, and she cried. Max licked her arm several times.

"Max, you're my only friend here. I wish you were a person," she stuttered out between her sobs.

Jessica's eyes were clamped shut, so she didn't see the stone dangling from her fingers glow brightly for a few seconds, then dim back to its original state.