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❛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚ ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ❜ ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ sᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛᴇ ᴡᴀʏs
( ᴡᴏʀʟᴅs ᴀᴘᴀʀᴛ ) ꒱
❝ IF YOU MUST GO,
I WISH YOU LOVE ❞
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"So, shall we just get this over with or are you going to lecture me again about how breaking and entering is bad?" Miss Kelly continued to look disappointed but didn't say anything. Instead, she pointed to the guest chair. Jessie sighed but acquiesced. "Is there ever gonna be a time when I get to question you?"
"This is my job, Jessie," the counselor reminded her. She took a seat on the appropriate side of the desk. "I ask you why've done things and you give me the reason. Now, let's get started. Have you heard from your mom recently?"
The brunette sighed. "It's gonna be one of those days, isn't it? No, I haven't. Everything's fine at home. The reason for my C streak is because school is dumb. I haven't made any new friends and yes, I've kept up with my old ones. Actually, you just interrupted my call with one of them." She paused. "There, is that enough? Can I go now?"
"I don't understand why you fight me on this every week," Miss Kelly began patiently. "You know that I'm here to help—"
"Yeah, you're about as helpful as a flea on a dog's back." The teen scoffed. "Honestly, Steve's a better advisor than you are and that's saying something."
"Steve?" the woman repeated with interest. "I've heard you mention him a few times before. He doesn't happen to be. . . a romantic—"
Jessie grimaced with disgust. "Ugh. Gross! If I were to date any boy— which I'm not— Steve would be last on the list. In fact, he wouldn't even be on the list." She shuddered at the thought. "No, he's more like an annoying friend that I only hang out with because he's got a car."
Miss Kelly made a note of her explanation on the clipboard she had propped up against her desk. "Very well. Now, last week you mentioned that you were feeling lonely because your ex-girlfriend—"
"No, that's not it. I said that my girlfriend broke up with me because she needed space and I was worried that she's feeling lonely. I'm perfectly fine."
"My apologies," the counselor conceded. "You've mentioned this girlfriend quite a bit, but you've never given me a name—"
Jessie interrupted her again. "Yeah, and I'm not gonna. What is this, a witch hunt? Name two other accomplices and you get off scot-free? I don't think so. Even if we've broken up I still respect her too much to make her a social pariah like I am. Besides, I understand why she did and I don't hold it against her. Why is the school board so intent on outing the LGBT-plus community anyway? I'm not hurting anyone and I've never even kissed a girl publicly!"
"It seems that you have some very strong feelings on this subject," the dark-haired woman observed.
"No shit, Sherlock—"
"Language, please, Jessie. You are still talking to a faculty member."
"Whatever. Look, I'm not gonna tell you sh— crap about my love life. Why don't we get to the part where you recite the lecture about why being gay is wrong and let me go?"
"I hope you know that I'm not just repeating words that the school board sends to me," Miss Kelly told her calmly. "We would like to help all troubled students—"
"You mean the ones who make the school look bad."
"—all troubled students adjusted to high school. It can be a difficult time full of—"
"—loneliness and uncertainty where you're trying to figure out who you are. Your teenage years are a wonderful time of blossoming into a young adult and finding your passion in life. It is completely normal to feel angry and irrational during this period, but the important thing to remember is that there is always someone there to support you," Jessie finished in a monotone voice. "Yes, you say the same thing every week. I think I know this by now."
"If you know this so well then I don't understand why you won't confide in me more," she said. "Believe it or not, I am here for you, Jessie."
"Yeah, you're here until I tell you exactly why I'm screwed in the head and then it's off to the asylum I go. Like my mother used to say: I don't need a shrink, I need a drink."
Silence fell between them for a moment before the counselor spoke: "well, how about this? What would you like to talk about? Seeing as how you know what I'm going to say so well, let's try something different."
"Can I talk about leaving early? 'Cause that's what I want to do."
"Why don't we talk about something you like? What's your favorite type of music?"
"Well, at least you didn't ask me to come up with an animal that shares the first letter of my name. I suppose the school board can't learn too much about me if I answer that." She thought for a moment. "I'd have to say Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush."
"I haven't heard of that song. Do you want to tell me about the meaning behind it?"
Jessie shrugged. "It's a pretty good representation of how I feel about my parents. 'Is there so much hate for the ones we love?'"
Miss Kelly let out an interested hum. "Would you say that you hate your parents, then?"
"Well—" The teen gave her a half-impressed look. "I've gotta admit, you almost got me. Sorry, but I don't trust you so I'm not gonna answer that."
"Very well. It's just about time for my next appointment anyway. As always, it was a pleasure talking with you, Jessie. Please try to wait until I'm in the office next time."
"Uh-huh. See, I would, but I don't own a telephone and I'm not about to pay a dollar to talk to my best friend. So, thanks for the free call and you should probably just get used to it." With that, Jessie stood from the guest's chair and shouldered her mostly-empty backpack before she headed for the door.
As she walked back to the front entrance, the sight of familiar red hair made her heart skip a beat in her chest. Max almost ran into her in the next second, too absorbed in whatever song was playing to pay attention to her surroundings. The brunette put her hands out and gently placed them on the other girl's shoulders. "Woah, careful." The redhead jerked away from her violently and startled from the unexpected contact. Jessie sent her an apologetic look. "Sorry."
While it might be awkward to come across your ex on a daily basis, Jessie had never been one to follow social cues. Instead of avoiding the redhead or refusing to meet her eyes, she interacted with her as normally as they had before they'd dated. Max, on the other hand, had hardly spoken two words to her since their breakup three months ago. She looked worse for wear, too, with bloodshot, shadowed eyes that indicated a lack of sleep.
After the initial surprise of the ending of their relationship, the brunette had tried to tell her now ex-girlfriend that she didn't hold anything against her and understood her reasoning. Max hadn't taken kindly to her attempt at sympathy and she had responded as harshly as Jessie had been during the summer that had followed her and Lucas' kiss at the Snowball. Still, Jessie was undeterred and continued to do her best to be there for someone who didn't want her there at all.
Following her apology, Max sidestepped the other teen without a word and continued on her path to Miss Kelly's office. Jessie's hopeful expression faltered for a moment before she adopted a look of indifference. This was what happened when you cared about someone too much: you got hurt. She refused to be affected by the redhead's sour turn.
.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.
As Jessie packed up her bag for the end of the day, the very unwelcome face of Mike Wheeler interrupted her routine. The dark-haired boy placed a hand against the locker and tried to lean against it casually to emanate 'coolness.' The key word was tried because, apparently, his hands were sweaty so his palm slipped against the metal and he ended up hitting his shoulder against the door. He winced and straightened.
"Hey, Jess. My girl. My friend. My girly friend."
"Go away and never call me 'your girl' again."
He ignored her distasteful tone. "Look. We're close, right?"
She finally met his gaze and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Close? As in Hawkins is close to. . . I don't know, Neptune?"
Mike shrugged. "It's still closer than the Andromeda Galaxy so I'll take it. The point is, you're not doing anything tonight because you don't have a social life. Why don't you change things up a bit and come to Hellfire with us?"
"Wow, insulting someone as you ask them to do a favor for you. I think you've reached a new low, Wheeler. And the answer's no, by the way."
"Come on, Jess—"
"Ugh, don't call me that. In fact, don't use my name at all. It sounds terrible coming out of your mouth. Can I make it illegal for you to address me?"
Mike swallowed back the retort he normally would've responded with and made an effort to keep his tone pleasant even when she didn't. "Fine. I won't call you anything as long as you come to D & D tonight. How's that?"
"No thanks. Even no social life is better than having to attend your nerdy, loser, dice-throwing game."
"It's not just about throwing dice!"
"So you admit that you're a nerdy loser, then?" Jessie asked smugly.
"I'll admit whatever you want as long you come!" There was a desperate edge to his voice now. "Come on, J— er, come on! If you come I'll owe you big time!"
It was rather amusing to listen to his pleading, especially since she wouldn't be swayed from her initial answer. Still, she enjoyed letting him sweat it out as she pretended to consider it. "Hmm. . . still nope. I've given it lots and lots of thought— all of five seconds' worth, anyway— and the answer is definitely, absolutely, unequivocally no." The brunette gave him a sarcastic smile as she shut her locker and zipped up her bag. "I hope you die in a hole, Wheeler. Have a nice night!"
She slung her bag over her shoulder and began to walk away as Mike called after her: "yeah, well, I hope you get hit by a UFO! Or a car! Or—"
His voice grew fainter as she made her way to the doors. Unwilling to let him get the last word in, she raised her hand and gave him a (this time) very visible middle finger.
A/n: I threw in a few Boy Meets World references just because :)