Chapter 15
It turned out that both Olivia and I got extremely lucky that day as our regular teacher had called in sick late this morning, resulting in no substitute as well as no lesson plan. However, do to the fact that we were indeed late to class, we ended up sitting on opposite sides of the room due to the lack of seats.
As the week passed, I guess you could say that things were starting to look up. Although nothing seemingly amazing happened during the week, nothing extremely bad occurred either.
Cason and Evan continued to eat lunch at our table and, even though I now knew that Olivia had feelings for Evan, she went back to dressing like her regular, quirky self after her minor fashion malfunction on Monday. Although, it was very amusing to see Evan greet Olivia at lunch now because I would finally notice the way that her smile brightened slightly at his acknowledgment and the way that her cheeks would turn a very pale shade of pink as she kept a conversation with him.
Honestly, I was hoping that somewhere within his bad boy heart, Evan returned her feelings because, now that I was looking, I genuinely thought they looked adorable together. In some weird way, they completed one another; Olivia was the smart and dorky side that Evan seemed to be lacking and, Evan was the crazy and wild section of the puzzle that Olivia seemed to have misplaced.
Also, when I mentioned to my mom that Olivia and I wanted her to go shopping with us a little ways out of town on Friday night, she was extremely happy that I was branching out and immediately agreed, anxious to actually meet Olivia face to face.
I was a little nervous about how my mom would act around Olivia; wondering if she would come across as overbearing or embarrassing, but honestly, I was just hoping for the best.
When Friday rolled around, I was out of bed and dressed at my usual time, however, as I was brushing my teeth, I heard a vibrating sound coming from my room.
After spitting the excess toothpaste into the sink and rinsing my mouth quickly, I scurried back into my bedroom to see that I had received an early morning text.
Scrunching up my eyebrows, I was trying to figure out who would text me, let alone this early in the morning, however, I got my answer when I saw the name flashing on the screen.
‘You have received a text from Cason’
Even though I remembered that Cason had stored his number in my phone last weekend, I still couldn’t figure out a legitimate reason why he would be texting me.
‘So Jessa, you better be ready soon because I’m picking you up’
That was it; he didn’t give me an explanation and he really didn’t give me a choice. I didn’t mind getting a ride to school, because, for one, it looked like the sun was really beating down on the town today, but I would’ve liked to know what brought on this sudden urge to drive me to school.
‘I haven’t even eaten yet so, if you still want to give me that drive, you’re going to have to wait a while.’ I texted back, before slipping my phone into my pocket.
Since I had just finished getting ready for the day as Cason texted me, I quickly through my school supplies into my bag before throwing my bag over my shoulder and heading downstairs for breakfast.
As I entered the kitchen, I put my bag down beside the table and saw that my mom was already up and making breakfast.
“Good morning sweetie.” my mom greeted, turning her head over her shoulder for a quick second, just long enough to send me a smile, before putting her attention back on the pancakes she was making.
“Morning.” I replied back, going around the kitchen table to give her a kiss on the cheek. “So, what strange voice in your head decided that you would be the one making breakfast today?”
I saw my mom’s eye roll slightly at my question as she flipped over one of the baby pancakes in the pan. “Just be grateful that you don’t have to do any work this morning.” my mom replied teasingly, at which I stuck my tongue out childishly in reply.
Since there wasn’t really anything I had to do, I simply retreated back to the kitchen table and sat down in my normal seat. I planned to just sit there in silence for a couple of minutes, however, I obviously forgot that I had been texting Cason because suddenly, my phone vibrated once again.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I simply read Cason’s reply message that stated he was heading over here and would just wait outside until I was ready.
Before I could type a reply, my mom placed a plate of pancakes in front of me and smiled. “So, who are you texting?” she asked, not to be nosy, but just interested in my life.
Absentmindedly, I placed my phone beside my plate, leaving the text unreplied to. “Cason.” I responded simply as I picked up the bottle of syrup on the table and drizzled a portion of it all over my breakfast.
I didn’t see it right away, but I’m assuming the my mom’s eyebrows went up as soon as I uttered his name because, when I looked at her as I was taking my first bite of pancakes, that’s how her eyebrows were placed.
“What?” I muttered shyly, stuffing another bite into my mouth.
“First of all, chew and swallow before speaking.” my mom replied with a smile as I swallowed the food that was in my mouth. “And second of all, what does Cason have to say this early in the morning?”
Sighing, I guess my mom would find out sooner or later, seeing as her and Miss. Michaels seemed to be quite close. “He’s outside in the driveway waiting for me to finish eating.”
“You’re making him wait outside to drive you to school?” she asked incredulously as she started on another batch of pancakes. When her head was turned towards me, I simply shrugged my shoulders in response, not wanting to get told again to talk after I swallow. “Well text him and invite him inside; tell him he can have some food before you guys head off to school.”
I rolled my eyes at her demand, but instead of arguing with my mom, I simply picked up my phone and replied to Cason’s last text. ‘Apparently my mom loves you so much that she wants you to come in for breakfast. No need to knock; just come in and straight towards the kitchen.’
Not even a minute after the text was sent, I heard a couple of knocks on the front door.
Rolling my eyes, I realized that Cason was probably just trying to be difficult so, standing up, I headed through the living room and towards the front door.
Unsurprisingly, as I opened the door I came face to face with Cason, who currently had his hands in his short pockets, looking exceptionally calm.
“What part of there’s no need to knock, just come in did you not understand?” I asked, holding the door open as I blocked the entrance into my house.
Cason raised his eyebrow at my forwardness, or at least I think that’s why he did it. “I’m pretty sure I’m not just going to barge into a house that I’ve never even been at before.” he explained before he started rocking back and forth on his heels. “So, are you actually going to let me in?”
Rolling my eyes, I turned around and headed back towards the kitchen, however, I left the door open behind me, silently inviting Cason into the house. As I sat back down to finish my breakfast, I vaguely heard the front door shut and assumed that Cason had taken the hint.
“Wasn’t that Cason at the door?” my mom asked, setting a gigantic stack of pancakes onto the middle of the table and I nodded in response, grabbing another two pancakes for myself. “Then where is he?” she continued, sitting down across the table and taking a couple pancakes of her own onto a separate plate.
Before I could swallow the food in my mouth and reply, Cason strolled into the kitchen with a small smile on his face. “Good morning Mrs. Hartley.” he greeted, but my mom raised an eyebrow at his wording, silently telling him to correct it. He shook his head as his smile grew slightly. “Sorry, good morning Wendy.”
“Good morning Cason, did you want some breakfast?” my mom asked kindly, gesturing to the small stack of pancakes that remained in the middle of the table.
Cason shook his head, politely declining. “No thanks Wendy, I ate a quick breakfast before I left the house this morning.” he said, still standing up beside the table.
“Well at least take a seat while you wait for Jessalyn to finish her breakfast.” my mom basically demanded, gesturing to the seat next to mine.
Not that I particularly minded the fact that Cason sat down next to me, it was the fact that he sat down just a little too close to me, invading my personal bubble slightly. As I continued to eat, ignoring the boy next to me, my mom kept shooting little glances between the two of us that looked somewhat suggestive. I discreetly sent her a warning look as I stared to bite into my final pancake.
Obviously my mother decided to ignore the look I previously gave her because she immediately turned to Cason, starting up another conversation with him. “So,” she started as a small smile bloomed on her face, “what brings you here this morning Cason?”
Cason shrugged. “I just figured that since the weather was really warm today, I’d give Jessa here a ride to school.” he explained nonchalantly. “Oh, and I also had to talk to her about something really quick.” he added quickly.
Across the table, I saw my mom send me a specific look when Cason called me Jessa. She’s heard him call me by that name once before, but I never really explained to her why I actually let him.
Suddenly, what Cason had said caught up to me. “Wait,” I said, pausing my question for a second before continuing, “What did you have to talk to me about that couldn’t wait until lunch?”
“I’ll tell you when we’re in the car.” Cason muttered quietly to me before sending a smile to my mom.
“Well, I guess we’ll be going.” I stated, having already finished my breakfast. Getting up from my seat, I walked around the table to put my dishes in the sink before leaning down to give my mom a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks for having me this morning Wendy.” Cason said, smiling genuinely at my mom.
“It was no problem son; any friend of my daughters is a friend of mine.”
Before Cason could reply, I cut into their conversation. “Ah, we aren’t exactly friends mom.” I said warily, picking up my bag from the floor and adjusting the shoulder strap.
“Oh come on Jessa,” Cason said teasingly, throwing an arm around my shoulder, “You know we’re friends.”
Rolling my eyes, I sent a well-aimed elbow to his side which meant that Cason immediately dropped his arm from my shoulder to hold his aching stomach. “Anyways, I’ll see you after school mom. Love you.” I said, blowing her a kiss before turning around and pushing Cason out of the kitchen.
Once we were safely outside of my house and away from the hearing distance of my mom, I slapped Cason lightly on the arm before walking towards the passenger door of the car he had borrowed from his mom.
Apparently Cason didn’t believe in the concept of locking his car doors in this town, probably because there weren’t that many people he didn’t know, but all the less, it was that much simpler just to slide into the passenger seat and buckle up.
“You know,” Cason started as he slid into the driver’s seat rubbing his arm, “I thought that driving you to school would be a nice way to start off this whole turning over a new leaf thing we have going, but evidently, I failed to see the parts of this friendship where you physically abused me several times.”
I guess the inside of my mind subconsciously decided that Cason’s statement because I suddenly let out a light-hearted chuckle.
“So, what’s so important that you had to talk to me on the way to school and couldn’t wait until lunch?” I asked once my laughter subsided.
Cason backed out of my driveway and started to drive in the direction of our school before he replied. “Well, obviously you remember your little incident last week at the corner store.” he started, but before he continue, I let out a groan of pure embarrassment.
“Oh come on! Can’t that memory just move to the very back of your brain and stay there for the rest of eternity? That was so embarrassing.” I whined, resting my head in my hands for a couple of seconds.
“No can do Jessa, that memory will always be in my back pocket, just waiting for the right time for me to pull it out because, damn, that was pretty hilarious.” he stated, starting to chuckle at the memory of me bolting from the store and away from a guy that meant me no harm.
Glaring at Cason, I crossed my arms across my chest. “It wasn’t that funny.” I grumpily stated.
Cason’s chuckles died down quickly as he grinned at my statement. “It was pretty funny.” he said, but before I could disagree with him once again, he continued on with his original train of thought. “Anyways, remember after that little incident took place that I said I would help break you out of your shell a little bit?”
I definitely remembered his so-called promise to help break me out of my shell. That was the whole reason that we had started over, but honestly, I thought he had forgotten by now, or at least put it on the bottom of his priority list.
“I remember.”
“Okay, well I have a perfect idea that will definitely make the first crack in the wall you’ve built up around yourself.” he stated happily, looking quite proud of himself for coming up for this unknown idea.
“Then let’s hear this magnificent idea.” I said, awaiting his next words.
However, the words that did end up tumbling out of his mouth were not the ones I was expecting. Hell, they weren’t even in my mind at all.
“A party.” he stated simply, obviously not seeing anything wrong with that suggestion.
“Are you being serious?” I asked cautiously, wondering if he was just pulling my leg and hadn’t really thought of anything.
"Completely.” he replied. “There’s a party tonight at some kids house that’s in our year at school. Apparently everybody in eleventh and twelfth grade is invited, and that includes you. I thought it’d be a great way to start and you can even bring Olivia if that makes you a little more comfortable.”
Even though I did appreciate the thought that Cason had put into this, I mean, he even thought about taking Olivia along with us, and if I hadn’t already made plans for tonight, I probably would’ve agreed to this party.
As we pulled into the school parking lot, I looked back to Cason, who was waiting for my reply. “I’m sorry Cason, I can’t go tonight.” I said vaguely, biting my lip because I felt bad for raining on his parade.
I saw Cason’s face instantly drop at my reply. “Jessa come on, it’s one party and I guarantee it’ll help break down the wall around you, even if it’s only an hour. We could just go an hour and then be out of there.” he explained, rambling off a bunch of reasons as he tried to persuade me to change my mind.
“Cason.” I stated, putting my hand on his arm to get his attention. “It’s not that I wouldn’t go if I could, it’s just, I already made plans with Olivia and my mom earlier in the week to go to the next town over and shop for a couple of hours tonight. I’m sorry that you wasted your time thinking up this plan when I basically spoiling all your work right now.”
“No, it’s not a problem.” Cason replied, however, his voice held little emotion, and the single emotion that I did detect was pure sadness. He unbuckled himself quickly before opening the driver’s door. “I’ll see you around.” he said quickly, walking into school without looking back at me.
As I got out of the car myself, I knew in the back of my head that I had upset him in some way. Even though he said that it wasn’t a problem, I just knew that it was definitely a problem.
The day passed as it normally would, however, there were subtle differences that I noticed, and they all pertained to Cason.
According to Evan, who actually decided to make an appearance at lunch today, Cason had another engagement that he had to attend and could not make lunch; however, I knew by the short look that Evan sent me, that Cason was more or less avoiding me. This theory was pretty much sealed when Cason came into English class right at the bell, didn’t talk or acknowledge me the entire lesson and, as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class, he was up from his seat and out of the classroom in record time.
When the final bell of the day rung, dismissing us all for another weekend in Avondale, I knew that I had to put any thoughts about Cason that happened to be floating around my mind to the back of my mind because I now had to focus on Olivia.
“Hey, are you ready?” I asked Olivia as I walked up to her locker after class.
Olivia closed her locker door and I saw that her expression mirrored one of a nervous person. “Umm… are you sure this is okay with your mom and everything? She’s wasting her own gas and time to help me but she doesn’t even know me.” she rambled on anxiously.
I smiled at her, trying to give her some encouragement. “Olivia,” I started, throwing one of my arms around her in a side hug as we walked towards the front of the school, “You have nothing to worry about. My mom really doesn’t mind coming tonight; she wants to meet you. Plus, she’s glad I’m making friends here and becoming just a tad more social.”
As we walked out of school for the last time that week, Olivia sent me a smile that made me believe she appreciated my words of encouragement a couple of seconds ago. “Thanks.”
“It’s not a problem.” I replied on our way towards my house, and by this time, my arm had dropped from around her and was now hanging by my side.
Olivia smiled at me and shook her head in amusement. “I’m not just thanking you for that little statement of encouragement you just gave me; I’m thanking you because, since you moved here, you’ve been nothing but nice to me. I really appreciate it, especially what you’re doing today by helping me with the way I dress.”
I smiled back at Olivia. “Well, thanks for being a good friend too.” I said, bumping my hip against hers playfully as we kept walking.
It didn’t take long to walk back to my house and relax in the living room, seeing as my mom wouldn’t actually arrive home for another half an hour or more. Basically, we just turned on the television as we collapsed onto the couch, watching an always funny episode of Spongebob Squarepants.
Three short episodes of Spongebob later, I heard the front door open as my mom arrived home from a day at work.
Shutting off the television, both Olivia and I stood up to greet her as she entered the living room.
“Hello, you must be Olivia.” my mom greeted, coming up to give Olivia a welcoming hug. “Jessalyn’s told me about you.”
Olivia glanced over at me with a smile, silently telling me that she liked my mom at first glance. “Well it’s nice to meet you too.” Olivia replied happily as my mom let her go. “And thank you so much for coming shopping with us today, I really appreciate it.”
“Oh it’s not a problem dear, like I said this morning; any friend of Jessalyn’s is a friend of mine.” my mom replied with a smile before telling us that she would just be a minute as she went upstairs to change out of her work clothes.
As my mom left hearing distance, Olivia turned to me with a small smirk. “And who exactly was over this morning that you forgot to mention?” she asked teasingly, probably already knowing the answer.
I sent a playful glare her way before rolling my eyes. “We’ll talk about that later, but right now, we’re focusing all of our attention on you and getting you a bunch of new clothes.”
“Thanks.” Olivia said again, but this time, instead of replying with words, my response was a simple nod of the head, showing her I understood exactly what she was talking about.
As it turns out, the trip to the next town over took longer than expected. Since I was still used to my old town – where there was no long stretches of trees and rocks between two towns – and to see that the hour long space between Avondale and its neighbouring town was pure forest, I was quite shocked to say the least.
However long the drive seemed to be, the three of us were able to keep busy though. Whether it was talking to Olivia and learning a little bit more about her family, talking about the town of Avondale itself, or just singing along to the cliché pop songs that were blasting from the car speakers; I’d say that the drive to the mall was quite enjoyable.
Without a stop along the way, my mom pulled the car into the mall parking lot after just a little more than an hour of travelling. As we all unbuckled ourselves and jumped out of the stuffy vehicle, I took the opportunity to take a look at the mall. It wasn’t one of those jumbo strips that you saw in big cities and that I was so accustomed to seeing back home. This mall looked like it had maybe twenty to thirty stores that sold a variety of items that the citizens from this town, and all of the surrounding towns, would need.
“So, where do we start?” I asked, stopping in the entryway of the mall and looking at the small board that directed us to where all the stores in the mall were located.
“Well, I guess it’s up to Olivia.” my mom replied, situating her purse on her left forearm as she took a quick glance at the stores named on the mall directory. “Where do you want to start sweetie?” my mom asked, turning to Olivia.
“Umm… I’ve been in H&M a few times, so do you guys mind if we go there first?” she asked nervously as the nerves of buying new styles of clothes were probably starting to freak her out.
“Sure.” I replied with an encouraging smile. “By the time we’re done here, you’re still going to look like the same old Olivia with her quirky style; however, you’ll just look a little more grown up.”
At my comforting words, Olivia smiled at both my mom and I before we checked the directory, figuring out that H&M was located on the other side of the mall, and making our way through the small crowds of people.
As we entered the store, we immediately focused our attention on the signs hanging from the ceiling and made our way to the section of the store where the women’s clothing was stored.
“So Olivia, what exactly are you looking for?” my mom questioned as she started to sort through a rack of blouses.
“Well, I don’t really want to change the way I look all that much, but I do want to look a little bit more grown up and a little less like a childish ball of colour.” she explained. “I guess I just want my quirky and dorky side to show without me looking like I’m trying to stand out or become a slut.”
At her language, my mom raised an eyebrow teasingly and smirked, finding it funny that she would use the word ‘slut’ in front of her.
Olivia obviously realized what she had said after a couple of seconds because she immediately stopped looking through a pile of jeans and covered her mouth. “Oh god, sorry about that.” she muttered embarrassedly.
My mom and I let out a laugh simultaneously. “It’s okay dear, it’s not like my daughter doesn’t say things like that every once in a while.” my mom replied, giving me a teasing glare as I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry about it; I’m used to the language.”
“Sorry.” Olivia stated sheepishly once again, before we all just put it behind us and focused on finding some new clothes for her.
After flipping through the racks and assorted piles of clothes around the store, we finally made it to the change rooms an hour later with a bunch of different outfits filling up our hands. Since the salesperson informed us that Olivia was only allowed to take six items of clothes into the change room at once, my mom and I held onto the other million pieces of clothes and sat down on one of the benches as we waited for her to try on the first of the outfits she had chosen.
A minute or two later, Olivia emerged from the change room dressed in a black blazer, a plain black tank top and a pair of multi-coloured leggings. “Okay, so what do you think?” she asked nervously, placing her hands on her hips as she looked in the mirror.
“Well, I think that the leggings look great on you and so does the blazer, but I would suggest switching the tank top for this halter top.” I suggested, handing her a hanger carrying a white halter top with a couple of beads around the neckline.
Olivia smiled at me and nodded, taking my advice as she headed back into the change room to switch the two tops.
As I sat down again beside my mom, I glanced her way for a second only to see that she was wearing a genuine smile on her face. “What?” I asked curiously, fidgeting with the fringes that hung off the side of my purse.
She just continued to smile as she replied. “I’m really proud of you Jessalyn, that’s all.” she stated. “You’re helping out your new friend and it looks like she’s really grateful for this. You’re growing up and I guess it’s just nice to see the woman you’re growing up to be.”
Trying not to get all emotional at my mom’s words, I smiled at her and nudged her side very lightly. “Well you know what they say,” I replied, “I learn from the best.”
As I saw my mom flash me another smile, I also saw the changing room door open in my peripheral vision. Turning my head to see Olivia had changed her top, I sent her a smile. “You look great Olivia.” I complimented.
Olivia smiled at me before turning to look at herself in the mirror that was attached to the front of her changing room. I could see by the peaceful smile she was sporting that she also liked the way she looked; I was just proud to help her.
“Now, let’s try on some more summery clothes.” I stated happily, handing her a couple of short sets and funky tops that had been picked out by one of us.
Olivia smiled and nodded, taking two pairs of jean shorts and two colorful tops into her dressing room as she passed me some of the things she didn’t exactly like.
Sitting back down beside my mom, I realized that this was actually fun. Hanging around my mom, who I knew still didn’t overly enjoy being home alone since my dad’s passing, and hanging around my friend on a Friday night. There couldn’t be anything better.
It took a couple of exchanges, a couple of different stores and about three hours of our time, however, by the time we headed towards the parking lot just after eight ‘o’clock at night, Olivia was carrying three bags full of her new clothes while me and my mom were helping her carry the rest.
Apparently Olivia’s mom and dad had given her almost five hundred dollars of cash to spend today as they were happy that she was becoming a young woman, and according to the bills in each of these bags, Olivia spent all of it plus a little of her own cash to pay for all of her new purchases.
The ride home was a little quieter than the ride here, as we had take-out burgers from the mall’s food court to occupy our mouths and our stomachs.
When we arrived back in Avondale, my mom dropped Olivia off at her house first, parking on the edge of the curb as we all got out of the car and helped bring her bags inside.
My mom said a quick goodbye to Olivia, leaving me on her porch alone to say goodbye.
“Thanks a lot for doing this Jessalyn.” Olivia said, thanking me for what seemed like the fiftieth time today. “I really appreciated t.”
“Like I said the other hundred times,” I started teasingly, giving her a smile. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. Friends help friends in need and I actually enjoyed being trapped in a mall full of shoppers.”
“Well thanks again.” she stated in finality. “If I don’t see you for the rest of the weekend, I’ll definitely see you in school on Monday.”
After exchanging goodbyes, Olivia entered her house with a smile on her face as I retreated down her driveway and into my mom’s car, ready for a nap of some sort when we arrived home. I truly didn’t realize how much shopping could tire a single person out.
When my mom pulled into the driveway, we both got out of the car, her carrying the single bag of clothes we had bought on our shopping trip, and headed towards the house.
“Well, that shopping trip tired me right out.” my mom stated as we ditched out shoes at the welcome mat in the entryway. “I think I’m going to call it a night and head upstairs. I’ll see you tomorrow morning sweetie. Love you.”
“Goodnight mom, love you too.” I responded, giving her a quick hug for the night before she headed upstairs and I headed towards the kitchen.
Obviously I wasn’t thinking when I ordered my take-out dinner because I forgot to order something to drink, so, as of right now, I was extremely thirsty and in desperate need of some sort of hydration.
As I entered our kitchen, I noticed that the lights had been turned out when we left the house and flicked the switch, bringing light into the dark room as I headed straight for the fridge. Since it was Friday and my mom usually did the grocery shopping on Sunday, we didn’t exactly have a huge variety of things to choose from.
Scanning the choices for drinks, I decided upon the rest of the orange juice that took up the bottom of its container and poured it into one of the plastic glasses that were washed and dry beside the sink.
As I took the first sip of orange juice and the tanginess hit my tongue, I heard a sharp knock at the front door.
When I looked to the clock on the microwave, I saw that it was already quarter after nine and I didn’t know of anybody in this town that would have to get our attention this late at night.
I ignored the sound, thinking I had just imagined the one knock but suddenly, I heard another three sharp knocks on the front door and I knew that whoever it was, was trying to get either my mom’s or my attention.
Placing my glass of orange juice on the counter, I made my way to the front door, seemingly curious at who in this town would feel the need to knock at our door after nine ‘o’clock at night.
Unlocking the door from the inside, I opened the door to see a person I definitely didn’t expect to see.
“Cason?”
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Cliffhanger!
Sorry about the delayed upload, but as you know I was quite busy this week and when I actually got around to writing this last night, the chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I had anticipated. Even with the late upload and the cliffhanger, I do hope that you all enjoy this chapter as it is the start of a lot of drama to come :)
Also, just a friendly reminder that this will be my Watty Awards entry this year so any comments, reads, votes and suggestions definitely help, however, I am floored by the amount of attention that this story has already received; I woke up on Wednesday to see that UIMY had reached #8 in Teen Fiction, which is absolutely unbelievable!
Thank you all for the support and I hope to have your support all the way to the epilogue of this story :) x
P.S. Remember to check the book’s website for details on the next upload