Opposites Attract || Steve Harrington

Chapter Nine: The Morning After

She throws on a new pair of underwear, bra and jeans, her mind not thinking of taking Steve's sweatshirt. She grabs her backpack and hurries down the hallway, into the kitchen where she was greeted with the mouthwatering smell of chocolate chip pancakes.

Claudia turns around as soon as she hears footsteps and smiles at her eldest daughter. "Good morning dear," she greets her as she serves Dustin another small stack of pancakes. "I didn't hear you get in last night." 

Jessica walks over and grabs a chocolate chip pancake. She takes a bite and nods. "Yeah, I got in after ten which I know is past the curfew time which I'm really sorry about." she tells her mom who waves her hand. "You should have called but I trust you and I knew you would have gotten home safely." 

Claudia pats her daughter's shoulder but her hand pauses on Jessica's shoulder as she saw a sweatshirt she was not familiar with. "Hey...whose sweatshirt is that?" 

Jessica's eyes widens as she briefly glances down at it. She should have at least taken it off that way her mom or Dustin wouldn't question her about it. "Yeah, Jess, whose sweatshirt is that?" Dustin asks her with his mouth full. 

"Uh, it's...Steve's."

Claudia raises her eyebrows, a smile tugging at her lips. "Steve, your boyfriend?" Claudia asks, poking Jessica's side. 

"Yes," she admits making Dustin choke back on his pancakes. Claudia spins around. "Dustin! Are you okay?!" she asks him running over to him and slaps on his back. Dustin nods as he reaches for a glass of orange juice and gulps it down. "I'm fine," he tells her in a raspy voice. 

Claudia rubs her son's back up and down and looks over at Jessica. "Why do you have his sweatshirt?" Her eyes widen. "Did you two-" 

"God no mom!" 

"Did what?" Dustin asks looking back and forth between his mom and sister. "Nothing Dustin," Claudia and Jessica both tell him. Jessica lets out a sigh. "Mom, I promise you we didn't. It was just cold, so I borrowed his sweatshirt. Now I have to go or else I'll be late for school," Jessica tells her as she turns around and walks out of the kitchen.

Claudia moves out of the kitchen and towards the windows in the foyer room. She shifts the curtain off to the side as she watches Steve's car pull up by the curb just as Jessica walks down the driveway. She opens the door and hops in.

Claudia could faintly see Jessica's head move towards Steve, the two probably sharing a kiss before speeding off down the street.

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Jessica walks down the hallway, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She heads over to her locker, spinning her combination and opens it up. She starts putting her books away and jumps when she hears someone greet her.

"Hey!"

Jessica peers her head out from behind her locker and sees Steve, smiling down at her.

"Hey!" she nervously greets him. Steve catching the tone of her voice, looks at her in concern. "Is everything okay?" Jessica nods. "Yeah! I just..." she trails off and looks over at the sea of students walking up and down the halls. "I feel like everyone's...staring at me."

Steve's eyes widen. "Oh, I didn't...I didn't tell anyone." "I know," Jessica says immediately not wanting Steve to think he did. "I know you wouldn't," she tells him sincerely as he lets out a sigh of relief. "But what about, like, Tommy, and Carol and them?"

Steve shakes his head. "You're being paranoid." Jessica chuckles as she shakes her head. "I'm sorry," she tells him. "No, it's cute." Jessica cheeks redden as she shyly looks up at him. "Hey...I should have told you this morning but I had a good time."