Ethan
Crazy Runs in the Family
"Here's another one," Jessi sighed, wiping a hand across her forehead as she dropped a cardboard box next to my feet. "Damn, this is a lot more work than I thought it'd be."
"Agreed," I replied, combing a hand through my sweaty curls.
Jessi and I had been running around all morning. We were setting up the stage for the parade since the Founder's Day committee had decided that preparing a stage only required two people – which was not true.
By mid-morning, both of us had known that we would never finish setting up in time for the noon parade. So, Jessi had taken matters into her own hands and dragged Kyle, Dylan, and Calvin over. She had then gotten them to help to varying degrees of success.
"Hey!" Jessi shouted at Dylan, who was staring off into the distance. "Hurry it up! We've only got half an hour left until the parade." Jessi marched over to where I was standing with Dylan, then dropped the box that she was carrying at our feet. "We have to take care of these, next. And we have to hang them with the names in alphabetical order."
I picked up a velvet banner reading "Kennedy" in big, golden letters. "What are these for?"
"They're banners with the Founding Families' last names," Jessi answered, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I think it's a little excessive."
"Did they go this all-out last Founder's Day?" I questioned.
Jessi shrugged, grabbing a couple more banners from the box. "Probably, though all I can remember from last time is my twelve-year-old self being terrified of the crowds. Maybe that's why they only celebrate it every five years." After laughing to herself, Jessi shoved a few banners into Dylan's arms. "Go hang those at the back of the stage."
"A 'please' would have been nice," Dylan grumbled as he walked off. Jessi didn't seem to notice his remark, too busy fixing other banners in their designated places.
"Gross," she snorted, holding a dark green banner away from her like it was poisonous. "Ivy's family is a Founding Family?"
I looked at the banner in her hand, which read "Blackthorn." "So is Nate's family, it seems," I added just as unenthusiastically. I held up a navy-blue banner with "Tucker" printed on it in gold.
"Nice, my banner's orange," Kyle exclaimed as he walked over with a roll of tape.
As it turned out, he was also a Founding Family.
I handed him the banner that was in my hands so that he could check it out. Then, as Kyle left to hang up his banner, I continued to search through the banners.
I soon pulled another one out that removed the air from my lungs, though. I read the name in loopy silver letters, which were printed on the ruby-red fabric.
Morgenstern.
Now that I was seeing the banner, I did remember hearing once that Adley's dad had been a descendant of a Founding Family. Seeing the name printed there, though, still made me feel like I had been punched in the stomach.
You can't keep doing this, I told myself. You can't keep losing it every time you think about her.
Taking a deep breath, I hung the banner up on a peg. Then, I looked away from it.
Of course, I still wanted to figure out what had really happened to Adley. But life still had to continue, whether she was there or not.
I need to move on...
I glanced back at the banner, feeling a tightness in the back of my throat.
Right, Adley?
By the time noon rolled around, I was ready to fall asleep standing up.
The five of us had managed to finish setting up the stage – with less than ten minutes to spare. Now, we were standing at the front of the crowd that had gathered, waiting for the parade to begin. First, I knew that there were going to be speeches from some of the Founding Families – the ones that bothered to show up, anyway. Despite being important in Ember Falls' history, as I've heard, some of the Founding Families were notorious for being absent on their day.
I don't blame them for not showing up.
I don't blame them for not showing up if it's this much of a drag every time, I thought, impatiently checking the time on my watch.
Finally, Mayor Shay made her way onto the stage. She waved as everyone applauded. "Welcome to Ember Falls' twentieth Founder's Day!" she announced into the microphone. "Today, we are honored to kick off this special day with speeches from two of our prestigious Founding Families: the Kennedys and the Morgensterns."
Everyone applauded at the names. I then watched as two women stepped onto the stage, going to stand beside the mayor.
"Presenting Ms. Kate Morgenstern and Ms. Cecilia Kennedy!" Mayor Shay exclaimed. She stepped aside, leaving the microphone to the two women.
Cecilia... Why do I know that name? I wondered, unable to place where I had heard it in the past.
I looked at Ms. Kennedy, who was standing at the microphone and smiling warmly. She had shoulder-length brown hair and tanned skin, and I noticed a large white scar circling over her right eye. I squinted at her, confused. I knew that I had never seen her before. But something about her features was almost familiar.
"Hey, E," Dylan called, breaking my focus. "Your plus-one looks like she's gonna pass out."
Alarmed, I glanced over at Jessi and realized that she was standing painfully stiff beside me. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and all the color was drained from her face. "Hey, Jess, are... are you okay?"
Jessi didn't respond, her eyes fixed on the mystery woman onstage.
"Uh, hello?" Kyle said, waving a hand in front of Jessi's eyes.
She still didn't flinch.
"What's so interesting over there?" Dylan questioned, but Jessi didn't answer.
Instead, she started backing away quickly. But she ended up running straight into Calvin, nearly knocking him over. He gave her a confused, wary look, then opened his mouth to say something. But Jessi shoved past him, disappearing into the crowd.
"Jessi!" I called, even though I knew that she wouldn't respond.
"What's up with her?" Calvin asked, adjusting his Badgers baseball cap.
"I have no idea," I admitted, shaking my head. "I'm going to go find out." Forcing myself to keep calm, I turned away from my friends and waded through the crowd I then searched for Jessi, though it was hard since she was able to hide easily due to her height. "Jessi?" I shouted, trying to get my voice to carry over the roar of the crowd. "Jessi, where are you?"
As expected, once again, I didn't get a response.
Standing on my toes to get a better view, I scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of Jessi. I then spotted a tree-filled clearing nearby, though, and knew instantly that that must have been where she ran off to.
Once I made it into the clearing, I scanned the naked, snow-covered trees for Jessi. But oddly, she wasn't up there. Instead, I found her leaning against a tree trunk as she shook furiously.
"Jessi?" I asked cautiously, slowly approaching her. I rubbed my gloved hands together, trying to stay warm in the shaded area.
"Seventeen years," Jessi murmured, lifting her head to look up at me. "Seventeen damn years... And now she shows up?" I didn't respond, anxiously waiting for Jessi to go on. "Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any more screwed up, she comes back."
"Are you going to tell me who 'she' is?" I asked, my voice coming out louder than I had intended it to.
Shit. That sounded harsh, I realized as Jessi's lip curled into a snarl.
"She is no one to me," Jessi said coldly.
"What are you talking about, then?" I demanded, feeling both panicky and annoyed at Jessi's vagueness. "Jessi, I don't understand–"
"She's my mother!"
I took a step back, shocked by the exclamation.
"She's my mother," Jessi whispered, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as if what she was saying was causing her physical pain. "The woman onstage – the brunette – she's my mother."
"But... that... that doesn't make any sense," I stuttered once I regained the ability to talk. Jessi's mom had left after Jessi was born – and now, she was back? I didn't know what to say. "It's... gonna be okay," I told her, trying to sound comforting.
"Don't be stupid," Jessi snapped, but her voice lacked force. "I know it's not okay, and it's never going to be okay." A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye, though she quickly wiped it away. "Never."
I gently pulled Jessi into a hug. At first, Jessi seemed a little startled. But after a few seconds, she leaned into the hug, burying her face into my shoulder. I heard her sniffle softly and knew that she was crying.
I had to admit that it scared me a little.
"Maybe everything's not okay. But I'm here, all right?"
"I don't know what to do," Jessi whispered, lifting her head from my shoulder. I tightened my arms around her, feeling like I was protecting her, for once. "This wasn't supposed to happen, Ethan. She wasn't supposed to come back."
"I know, Jess," I said softly, looking into the distance. "I know."
"I'm sure you know my messed-up family story, Ethan," Jessi said flatly, fidgeting with the charm bracelet on her wrist. We now sat on a nearby bench since we were too exhausted to climb a tree. "I came into existence, then my mother decided to leave – probably because of me."
I shook my head. "Jessi, no. You can't blame yourself for that."
"I can do whatever I want. It's a free country." I opened my mouth to say something more, but I was interrupted by the chime of a text notification from inside Jessi's pocket. "Oh, crap, It's Aurora. I had promised to meet up with her this afternoon, but..." Jessi's eyes drifted away from her phone's screen and back to the parade that was happening in the distance.
"But you don't want to go back there."
"Not really," Jessi sighed. "I promised Aurora, though."
"So, invite her over here. We can walk to the diner together or something."
Over the last few weeks, I had come to like Aurora. She seemed caring and kind – and she was the only other person that I could share my concerns about Jessi with.
"Hey! There you are!" Moments later, I looked to my left to see Aurora jogging up to us. She smiled wide in her ruby-red t-shirt and black-and-white plaid skirt, which she wore with a pair of black tights and a winter coat. "I see Ethan has joined."
"I hope it's all right. I was thinking we could go grab a burger or something," I suggested as Jessi and I stood up.
Aurora beamed, especially once she made eye contact with Jessi. "Yeah, that sounds good to me."
The diner wasn't far from the town square. But even in the short amount of time that it took us to walk there, Aurora had seemed to pick up on the fact that something was wrong with Jessi. She kept looking over at her, then at me, making a concerned face.
The three of us soon stepped into the diner, then sighed as the heating melted our winter chills.
"Hey, Jessi," Aurora started afterward. "Ethan and I will go find a booth. Would you mind grabbing some water?"
"Sure," Jessi – who normally would have given a sassy retort at that request – mumbled, then headed toward the counter.
"What happened to her?" Aurora questioned in a low voice as she sat down across from me in a nearby booth. "She's so quiet – so un-Jessi-like."
I quickly glanced over at Jessi to make sure that she couldn't hear me. "Jessi... she's had a rough day."
"What do you mean?" Aurora asked as she twisted a lock of red-orange hair nervously.
"Jessi's mom – who's been gone for seventeen years – just showed up today for Founder's Day, and it's been hard on Jessi," I explained as simply as I could.
I expected Aurora to ask more questions, but she surprisingly just nodded, understanding exactly what I was talking about. She then glanced over at Jessi, who was still standing at the counter. "Do you think she's going to be okay?"
"Jessi's tough," I replied, which felt like too short an answer.
"Of course, she is. Just think about the way she took on Nate last week," Aurora laughed, then sighed. "I know she's tough, but I still worry about her."
"Me and you both–" I was cut off midsentence as the bell above the diner's door jingled, and a loud crash sounded behind me. I turned in my spot at the sound, following Aurora's stare.
My eyes found Jessi, who was frozen, her stare locked on the door. There was a cup at her feet, and water was all over the floor, but she didn't seem to notice it at all. I followed Jessi's gaze to the door, then realized why she looked like she was going to puke.
Her mother had just entered.
Aurora jumped up from the booth and made her way over to Jessi, a huge grin plastered on her face. I followed behind, unsure about what Aurora was up to. "So sorry," Aurora remarked loudly. "My friend is a bit of a klutz. She's always dropping things, right?"
Aurora shot me a meaningful glance, and I tried my best to play along. "Oh, um, yeah. Human hurricane, that one."
"Come on," Aurora continued in her overly peppy voice. "You should sit down before you cause any more disasters." Aurora led Jessi back to the booth.
I picked up the cup that Jessi had dropped, then set it back on the counter. I mumbled an apology to the nearby waitress.
Back at the booth, Aurora was seated beside Jessi, who was aggressively biting her nails. I sat down in front of them, starting to feel panicky just watching Jessi.
"I-I can't be here," Jessi choked, attempting to shove past Aurora. "I have to leave."
"Jessi, wait," Aurora pleaded, grabbing Jessi's wrist and forcing her to sit back down. She held Jessi's hands in hers, stopping Jessi from chewing her nails.
"Maybe you should talk to her," I suggested, watching as Jessi's mother sat down at a table on the other side of the diner.
"Are you insane?" Jessi hissed. "No!"
"I think Ethan might be right," Aurora added, smiling at me hopefully. "Maybe the best way to face this is head-on."
Jessi pulled her hands out of Aurora's grip and pressed them against the sides of her head as if she had a bad headache. "I-I can't. I can't just go and talk to her. I can't."
"Listen, Jessi," I started. "I know it isn't easy, but I think – like Aurora said – you should face it head-on."
Jessi shook her head, her eyes glossy with tears. "I can't." She put her head in her hands, slumping onto the table.
Aurora gently patted Jessi's back before her phone chimed, and she quickly checked the notification. A scowl formed on her face. "Shit, it's Hazel. She's pissed because I disappeared on her. I... I have to go back. Will you guys be okay?"
I tried to give Aurora a reassuring smile. "Yeah, we'll be fine. And, um, tell Jenna that I say hi." I felt myself blush a little at my last sentence but pushed any thoughts of it away.
Aurora, thankfully not seeming to notice my awkwardness, stood up and gave Jessi's shoulder a quick squeeze. Jessi didn't look up, and Aurora gave her a sad, concerned glance before slipping out of the booth and exiting the diner.
Sighing, I turned around and stole a glance at Jessi's mother. She was sitting by herself at a two-person table, staring out the window.
"I'm such a coward," Jessi whispered. I looked back at her to find her staring at her mother. "Anna would be ashamed of me."
"No," I said forcefully. "Jessi, Anna wouldn't be ashamed of you." Jessi shifted her gaze to the table, biting her lip and not saying anything in response. "Anna would never be ashamed of you. I know that she would have wanted you to face this head-on, though."
Jessi looked into my eyes. I saw a single tear stream down her cheek. "Okay, I'll do it," she said softly, a look of subtle determination crossing her face.
I smiled, a little caught off guard. "All right. I can wait here if you want–"
"No. You don't have to be involved in my screwed-up family life. Besides, I don't know how long this is going to take."
"Okay," I answered, not wanting to start up an argument. "Let me know if you need anything, though."
Jessi nodded, standing up from the booth and walking with me to the door. "Thanks."
"And, hey, if everything ends in a disaster, and this turned out to be a horrible idea, you can punch me and say, 'I told you so.'"
Jessi cast me a small, nervous smile. "I have a feeling you're gonna regret saying that, Ethan."