New Girl in Town Pt. 10

"No clue," Patrick answers as his eyes follow the car to the far side of the lot. A group of students pass in front of his car causing them to lose sight of the car.

"Figures," Jamie mutters as he opens his door.

Patrick follows suit and they immediately spot Jessica getting out of the Mustang.

"Holy shit, dude. She got a fucking Mustang!" Jamie exclaims.

"Just like Jake." Somer states as she walks over to them.

"Shut up, Somer" Patrick snarls.

"It's just a car you baby, it doesn't mean anything." Somer points out as they see Jake's car pull. "He still hasn't called me, you know?"

"Give me a chance at those tits and I'll call you all the time, baby." Jamie remarks.

"If I whipped them out, all you'd do is cum in your tighty whiteys." Somer quips as they watch Jake exit his vehicle.

While they watch, Jessica walks over to Jake and greets him with a long kiss.

"Well that certainly wasn't a Hi buddy kiss." Somer says angrily. "I guess that ends that. Shame, I really wanted to fuck him."

"Him and not me, huh?" Jamie asks then turns to Patrick and shakes his head. "Guess it's time for plan... what letter are you even up to now after all these failures?"

"Fuck!" Patrick exclaims. Then as he watches, the pair take each other's hands and walk towards the school he turns and slams his fists down on the top of his car. "Fuck!"

****

As Jessica walks into her fourth period French class, she's waved over to Mrs. Morrison's desk.

"Are you ready for today's game, Jessica?" Mrs. Morrison asks.

Jessica nods. "I had a long weekend but I'm ready, Mrs. Morrison."

"A long weekend, huh? Is there anything that you need to talk about?" Mrs. Morrison asks concerned for her newest player.

"Everything got worked out but thank you, ma'am." Jessica assures her.

"Well I'm glad things worked out for you, Jessica." She tells her. "Don't forget that we'll be having a team get together right after school. It's kind of an informal dinner so the team has energy for the game."

"My team in Charlotte did the same thing, coach." Jessica shares. "I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm glad." Mrs. Morrison says then smiles. "Now, you'd better get to your seat. Staci looks like she's about to bust if she doesn't talk to you about something before the bell."

Jessica laughs and makes her way over to her desk.

"Hey Staci, what's up?" She asks as she takes her seat.

"Is everything all right with you?" Staci asks.

"Everything's pretty great, why?" Jessica asks.

"I just got worried that somehow you and Jake broke up after you left my house last night." Staci shares.

"Nope, we've managed to stay together for a whole seventeen or so hours now." Jessica answers with a laugh.

"Okay good," Staci sighs with relief. "I'll assume that you kissed him before you said goodnight last night. Did any troubles pop up?"

"I froze for maybe a second or two when we were saying goodnight last night but we slowed things down and I managed to pull it together." Jessica confesses. "He kisses me really good Staci but I can't seem to get Sean out of my head."

"I know sweetie but we're all going to work on that together, right?" Staci asks.

"Right," Jessica nods.

"With all the Misfits working on it, you'll be good in no time. I can nearly guarantee it." Staci tells her.

"I really wish I had your confidence, Staci." Jessica confides in her.

"You take anything that you need from me, Jess." Staci tells her. "I'll be one of the people you can lean on while you and Jake work this out. Try not to worry too much. The little group of misfits has been known to work miracles at times. I feel like this is going to be one of them."

"Miracles, huh?" Jessica asks. "Why do I feel like this has something to do with how Jake knows your mom?"

"It's a part of it and..." Staci is interrupted by the ringing bell. "You'll hear all about it at lunch."

****

"I go away to visit my boyfriend for the weekend and everyone loses their minds. Is that how this works?" Shelly asks as she, Jessica and Jody walk up to Bobby, Marybeth, Roxie and Jake.

"Those two are the ones that lost their heads." Bobby answers while pointing at Jessica and Jake. "I had an awesome weekend."

"I know all about their weekend, Bobby." Shelly tells us as Jessica takes her seat on the bleacher in front of Jake. "One reason I walked Jess out here was to see just how pissed you still were at her."

"Jake explained, in as few words as possible I might add, that everything with them is fine now." Bobby answers then turns to Jessica. "I was never really mad at you, Jess. It was just seeing Jake getting all messed up again. I didn't want a repeat of what he went through after the whole Jennifer thing."

"Jesus, no one wants that." Roxie chimes in.

"I wasn't that bad." Jake argues.

"No, you were worse." Shelly replies.

"He told me that he went to a dark place after the thing with Jennifer." Jessica tells him. "I'm glad that you were there for him, Bobby. Then and now."

"We're here for you too now, Jessica." Shelly tells her.

"I really appreciate that you guys." Jessica tells them all as Ray and Staci join the group.

"Are you guys talking about my mom yet?" Staci asks.

"No, why would be talking about your mom?" Roxie asks.

"Jessica found out that Jake knows her and we promised her that we'd tell her once we were all together since it's really a Misfits story." Staci explains.

"I knew that it wasn't just a small town, you just know everyone story when Staci said we had to involve Roxie." Jessica states as she pulls out her container of leftover spaghetti and relaxes back into Jake's legs.

"Comfy?" Jake asks.

"Getting there, sweetie." Jessica answers as she adjusts until she's comfortable. "You and Staci had Home Economics together; I believe is how it started."

"Staci, do you want to start?" Jake asks her.

"I guess I should as long as you all remember that I've change a lot since then." Staci begins. "At the start of our sophomore year my parent had separated again and for the final time it turned out. Mom wasn't taking it well and honestly neither was I. I stayed away from home a lot and mom got kind of lonely. You all remember that at the time I was queen bitch of Patrick's little group and I hate thinking about that time now."

"It's okay, Staci. We all can see how much you've changed this year." Jake assures her. "I can tell the rest if you want."

"Please," she answers as she cuddles up to Ray.

"Staci shows up in class one day with a bunch of fliers for a Halloween party." Jake picks up the story. "As she said, her mom was feeling down from being in that big, empty house so she wanted to try and bring some life back into the place by throwing a party for Staci's friends."

"My so called friends didn't care to go to some lame party that was being thrown by my or anyone's mom though." Staci shares. "Patrick decided that he was going to have his own party and when Patrick has a party, all the cool kids go to it."

"By cool kids she means assholes." Roxie adds.

"Roxie," Jake warns her.

"No Jake, she's not wrong." Staci says. "We were a bunch of assholes at the time but thank goodness for the misfits. You guys really came through for my mom."

"I like Staci now, kinda I mean." Roxie says with a smile.

"I love you too my Foxy little Roxie." Staci smiles back.

"If I lived a million years, I never thought I'd see the day where Roxie and Staci were friends." Bobby remarks.

"Misfits work miracles." Staci remarks.

"So how'd you all come through for Staci's mom?" Jessica asks as she offers Jake a forkful of spaghetti.

"You need your carbs," He reminds her.

"You loved it last night and you love me feeding you. Eat it." She orders Jake by raising the fork to his mouth.

Jake complies and take a bite of the cold spaghetti. "Still amazing but you know that you can get that heated up if you wanted."

"That's one of the best things about spaghetti, Jake. It's good hot or cold." She answers. "So back to the story."

"Right, so I tossed the fliers into the garbage but someone went dumpster diving and snagged one." Staci remarks as she nudges Jake's arm.

"I went trashcan traipsing at most. It had a ghost on it and not the usual cute ghost but a scary looking one. I was curious." Jake defends.

"Now if they had Bigfoot on them, he'd have rescued every single one of them out of that trashcan." Jody quips.

"Why Bigfoot?" Staci asks.

"Haven't we picked on me enough already?" Jake asks hoping to derail the conversation.

"Not yet," Bobby answers with a chuckle. "Jake had a Bigfoot diary."

"A diary?" Ray and Staci ask almost in unison.

"It was a journal, not a diary and why are we talking about this again?" Jake asks.

"You knew about this?" Staci asks Jessica when she doesn't react.

"I heard about it the second day of school." Jessica informs her. "I thought it was cute but we're getting off track. So you took a flier from the trash."

"I thought it looked interesting so I asked Staci what it was all about." Jake tells her.

"I think I told him that it was going to be some lame party so he should feel right at home." Staci states.

"Staci!" Jessica admonishes.

"I was a real bitch back then, Jess." Staci answers. "After the way I treated him, I was surprised that Jake even talked to me that day Ray and I came up to you two."

"You can thank your mom for that. She talked you up a lot over the summer." Jake shares.

"Oh, believe me I know all about mom and her talks." Staci giggles. "She's been after me to date you since the summer between our sophomore and junior year."

"She did what now?" Jessica asks.

"That's my question, too." Ray asks.

"You both know that, when he wants to, Jake makes quite the impression and he certainly did on my mom." Staci tells them. "Go ahead, Jake."

"I showed the flier to the group and got Roxie to agree to go with me to Staci's after school to talk to her mom about the party." Jake continues.

"I was bribed." Roxie corrects him. "He said he'd buy me a brownie sundae at Smitty's if I went with him."

"Wait, they have those?" Jessica asks. "Why am I just now hearing about them?"

"Because if I told you everything, what you need me around for?" Jake counters.

"I definitely need you around for your wonderful hand massages." Jessica answers. "One of which I will need after today's game by the way."

"Can I exchange kisses for hand massages? Kind of a quid pro quo sort of deal?" Jake asks.

"Do you even have to ask?" Jessica counters then leans up and gives him a quick kiss.

"Yeah, this is going to get nauseating real quick." Bobby quips.

"Really?" Jake asks.

"What, I can't pick on you now?" Bobby counters.

"No, you are permanently done as of now." Jake announces with a chuckle. "You all heard him ask me."

"We all heard him, sweetie but you can't hold Bobby to that." Jessica states.

"An attempt could have been made." Jake tells her. "If he would have kept staring at Marybeth, it could have worked."

"True," Jessica responds. "Bobby, what color are Marybeth's eyes?"

"Brown with these beautiful flecks of gold," Bobby answers immediately then blush. "Damn it, Jessica."

"Aw, you're so sweet Bobby." Marybeth states then gives him a kiss.

"That is going to get nauseating real quick." Jake mimics.

"All right, weren't you all telling a story?" Bobby asks after giving Jake a playful nudge with his foot.

"Anyway," Jake continues. "Roxie and I went over to meet Mrs. Daniels and talk about the party."

"She was so excited that someone cared about her party. She talked on and on about the two of you and all your ideas for the party." Staci shares. "They decided to do theme costumes and all sorts of scary games and scary stories. I'm so excited that I'm going to be there this year!"

"This year?" Jessica asks.

"They all had so much fun that it became an annual event for them." Shelly tells her.

"That reminds me," Roxie says. "We need to start working on a theme for this year."

"We've got another week or so before we need to sit down with Mrs. Daniels to talk it over." Jake reminds her.

"True, but don't forget that it's going to be a bigger party this year." Jody points out. "Ray and Staci are going to be there along with Jessica and Marybeth."

"The more Misfits, the merrier, right?" Staci asks.

"Absolutely," Jake answers.

"That's it?" Jessica asks.

"What do you mean, Jess?" Jake asks.

"It's just that the way Staci's mom acted towards you I thought that you spent more time with her." Jessica explains.

"Jake's been doing our yard work since they met." Staci explains. "That's how they got to know each other. He'd work about an hour then they'd talk for another couple of hours. Mom liked having someone my age talking to her since I was barely there at the time but I'm making up for lost time now thanks to my new friends."

****

"Which is why you always have to keep in mind the location of the light source of your subject," Mr. Pennington is saying as the bell rings announcing the end of the day. "Otherwise your shading will be off and more on that tomorrow, I guess."

As Jake is putting his pencils away, Jessica, Shelly and Caitlyn walk up.

"Can you tell Caitlyn that the rumors are true, Jake?" Jessica asks as she wraps her arm in mine.

"The rumors are true. Jessica got a car over the weekend and yes it is a Mustang." Jake answers.

"You agreed to date this dope, Jessica. You only have yourself to blame." Bobby quips.

"I like a challenge, Bobby." Jessica answers.

"Well you got one." Shelly jokes.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" Caitlyn exclaims.

"Jake, Jessica, I need a minute before you go." Mr. Pennington calls out from his desk.

"Don't forget that we're meeting in the cafeteria and don't be late." Caitlyn calls out as she heads out the door.

"Late?" Mr. Pennington asks as Jessica and Jake step over to his desk.

"My first game's today!" Jessica answers excitedly.

"Oh that's right, I heard about that so I'll try not to keep you too long." He tells them. "I've got the piece that Jake drew of you back from the art fair but I wanted to talk to you both about it."

"What about it, coach?" Jake asks.

"I want to enter it in the county art fair that's being held next month and maybe even get one or two more if possible." He answers.

"Do they need to be of me or can they be of someone else? I only ask because he did this great drawing of my little sister that he gave to her that I think would look great with mine." Jessica suggests.

"I'd like to see it before I okay it but it sounds like it'd be a nice companion piece." Mr. Pennington tells her.

"Hold a second, Jess. This show doesn't happen at the school. It's at the county fair meaning that a lot more people are going to see it... or them." Jake explains.

"Oh," Jessica says but then nods. "Still fine with me since our names aren't on them but we'll need to check with my parents and get their approval."

Jake nods at her then turns to Mr. Pennington. "That's a tentative go ahead for Jessica's pic and we'll let you know about Sarah's."

"Is that all, Mr. Pennington?" Jessica asks.

"That's all I need from you. Thanks, Jessica." He answers.

"See you at the game." Jessica tells Jake then presses her lips to his. It takes her a second to pull away when she realizes what she just did. "Oops, sorry about the PDA, Mr. Pennington."

Mr. Pennington looks surprised for a second before chuckling. "I guess the two of you are official now?"

"We are." Jessica answers as she heads to the door. "Jake can tell you about it."

"What took you so long, Jake?" He asks.

"That is a long story, coach." Jake answers.

"And you have a game to get to, right? I'll make your excuses to Coach Yates." He tells him.

"Her game isn't until five thirty so I'll be at practice. Well I'll be at most of it though I'm not sure what the point of my being there is." Jake tells him.

"You're learning our defense, Jake and don't think I haven't spied you giving pointers to our defensive backs on how to spot and jump routes. I also notice that you aren't wearing your sling so that hopefully means that you'll be back to throwing soon." He tells Jake.

"Jess's mom said that I could lose the sling as long as I didn't do exactly that but my mom's getting me an appointment with my doctor sometime this week." Jake shares.

"And you got a girlfriend. All in all it sounds like a pretty good weekend for you." Mr. Pennington states as he grabs his coaching gear out of his cabinet.

"It had some really rough spots but we managed to survive it. At least we have so far." Jake tells him.

"Can you carry this for me?" He asks as he hands Jake his clipboard.

"Sure, coach," Jake answer.

"You know that they say that anything worth having is worth fighting for." He shares.

"If you try telling me that it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog you'll sound exactly like Coach Yates." Jake chuckles.

Coach Pennington shakes his head. "For that remark, I'm going to have you run laps all practice."

"Yep, there it is." Jake says. "You are officially Coach Yates."

"Smartass." Coach Pennington chuckles as the pair head towards the football stadium.

****

"Patrick, get your goddamn head back on the play!" Coach Yates shouts as his star quarterback overthrows another pass. "Damn it, son we have our first game at the end of this week and right now my best option at quarterback only has one arm. He's shown me a hell of a lot more this year than you have!"

"He's not better than me!" Patrick shouts back.

"Your current record don't bear out that statement!" Yates shouts back. "Now run the play and put the damn ball where it's supposed to be."

Patrick jogs back to the huddle with the play.

"What's wrong with you today, Patrick?" his receiver Scott Kennedy asks. "That's like the fifth pass you've overthrown."

"Jake's in his head," Ray snickers.

"Fuck you, Ray!" Patrick shouts.

"Deep in," Kendall laughs.

"You can shut it too, Kendall!" Patrick responds.

"What's the goddamn hold up!?" Coach Yates shouts loud enough for the defense to hear across the field.

"Woo, somebody's pissing off Yates." Tank says as he stands next to Jake and a couple of the defensive backs.

"Glad it ain't me this time." Desmond Glover, strong side free safety comments.

"Now what was that thing Coach was saying about the Parkhurst quarterback?" Tank asks.

"They like to run a quick hitter to their outside receiver on long yardage downs. Third and nine, second and fifteen, like that." Jake explains. "It's a quick snap and throw but..."

"But if we're looking for it, it can turn into a quick pick six for us." Desmond picks up.

"Exactly but you've got to be careful, Des. They run it because it works." Tank tells him.

"Right, I can't go for the pick if I'm on an island." Des nods.

"Tank, you can really cause them some problems when they try this play, too. If you get a good jump on the snap you can be in the quarterbacks face right as he throws it." Jake states.

"That does tend to bother them." Tank adds with a chuckle.

"Being on the receiving end of them all these years, I can vouch for the fact that those are intimidating." Jake laughs.

"Jake!" Coach Pennington shouts from where he's working with the defensive line. "Time!"

"Thanks Coach!" Jake calls back.

"Time? You got somewhere to be, Jake?" Tank asks.

"Jess's first game is starting soon." He explains to them.

"Jess? Is that that tall girl that you're always hanging around with?" Des asks. "That girl is fine, Jake."

"They're dating now." Tank points out. "That rumor has been burning up the whole school all day. Where have you been, Des?"