New Girl in Town Pt. 12

"Sounds like a stalkers dream job." Jake comments.

"I suppose it could be." Somer stammers. "I wouldn't know anything about that. I only use it when necessary."

"Of course," Jake says with a smile. "Well do they at least let you press the button for the fire or tornado drills or anything exciting like that?"

"I know how to get into the alert system if I need to and no one in authority is in the office, like now." She answers.

"Yeah, those things can pop up whenever. It's good to know that you've got access to that at least." Jake states as the office phone buzzes.

Somer snatches it up, listens for a moment and then acknowledges the caller. "I'll send him right in."

"Mrs. Santora?" Jake asks.

"Got it in one, Jake. You are the smart cookie that everyone talks about." Somer jokes. "She's ready for you now. Third door down on the left."

"Thanks, Somer." Jake acknowledges as he walks towards the hallway. "It was very... educational talking to you."

"Oh, I can teach you a whole lot of things, Jake." Somer flirts. "You've just got to say the words."

****

"It has to be her!" Staci exclaims to the Misfits as they all meet up in the hallway after school. "God, I wish I could have seen her face when you brought up the stalker bit. It had to have been priceless!"

"She did blush about four different shades of red." Jake grins.

"Remind me that I need to watch out around you, Jake. You are devious." Jessica jokes then turns to Staci. "And you watch me around Somer because if she flirts with my Jake like that again, I've got a volleyball spike with her name written all over it."

"I'll let you tattoo Wilson on that bitches fprehead, Jess." Staci encourages.

"Let's not get Jessica expelled." Shelly tells them. "Good job getting her to admit that she has access to the alert system too, Jake. After that little confession we can be sure that she's the one that uploaded that video when you got hurt."

"Of course, it's her. She's Patrick's newest little fuck buddy this year and she just happened to win homecoming queen, too? I know bull crap when I smell it and that big titted bitch reeks." Roxie states colorfully.

"I agree with Roxie," C.C. says. "There's no way she should have been homecoming queen. She wouldn't even make the court if more people knew that she was the one that shot that video of Jake getting hurt."

Everyone turns and looks at C.C.

"What?" She asks. "I thought you guys knew it was her this whole time."

"How would we know that it was her?" Staci asks.

"We noticed that it was shot from field level but I never thought that it could have been Somer." Jake states.

"It had to be someone in Patrick's circle of friends who knew what was coming. That's how she knew to keep the camera on Jake. He must have told her during the game and she's right down there on the track, right behind the bench. She was a perfect fit!" Jessica adds. "I can't believe that we didn't figure it out."

"Us figuring out who's behind the video really doesn't change things though." Bobby points out. "I mean we don't have any proof that she did anything, so it'd just be our word against hers."

"You know you'd probably be in the AP classes with Jess and I if you had asked Marybeth out freshman year." Jake jokes.

"Someone has to be the cool guy of our little, well not so little anymore, group." Bobby quips. "The sacrifices I make for you people."

"Round of applause for Bobby?" Ray asks.

Everyone begins to clap and Bobby blushes slightly, but Marybeth hides it with a quick kiss to his cheek.

"We could go to Ms. Simpson with our suspicions." Staci points out. "She is looking into the homecoming ballots thing, isn't she? Maybe she has to login for the alert system and that will back us up."

"We can check with her before class tomorrow." Jessica answers. "I don't want to toss any names out without evidence though. We'd be the ones that end up looking bad if we did."

"Jess makes a good point." Jake agrees. "We'll ask if she found anything and go from there. That way if she names Somer we can tell her the rest and see where that goes. She did mention that she has access to the student addresses and she knew how to get into the emergency alert system. Maybe that has a login or something that can be used to out her."

"Possibly but I wouldn't bet on it going anywhere unless they get caught red handed doing something. Principal Owens isn't about to crack down on Patrick without actual proof that he's involved." Staci shares. "They've been devious enough to get away with stuff like this for years. I should know, I was right there for a lot of it."

"Devious or not, we'll be ready for them. We aren't going to let them beat us or get away with this crap." Jessica answers. "This is our year, not theirs and it's about time they learned that."

****

"What is my role in this plan of yours?" Jamie asks.

"You just stand there and be ready to punch Jake if he goes after me." Patrick explains as his group sit in the cafeteria.

"He doesn't have the stones to try that." Jamie smirks.

"I don't know. I didn't think he had the stones to stand up to Coach Yates and throw the ball in that downpour and look how that turned out." Scott Kennedy states. "He made us look unstoppable."

"All he did was get lucky." Patrick states.

"I'd take that luck of his and anything else he happened to want to offer me." Somer comments. "Damn, he looked good this morning."

"Are you ever gonna stop wagging your tongue over that virgin?" Jamie asks.

"Jealous much?" Somer quips. "I'm not so sure that moniker you keep using for him is even accurate anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about, Somer?" Patrick asks.

"Have you seen either of them today?" She asks him.

"I saw Jessica earlier, so what?" Patrick asks.

"If you see her again, ask her about Jake and watch her face. She gets this smile on her face that goes along with a starry look in her eyes when you say his name." Somer tells him. "I don't know what they got up to over the weekend but Jessica has the look of a girl that got her world rocked in the best possible way. That virgin, as you call him, did something to her that few guys in this school can boast of doing."

"Bullshit!" Patrick exclaims.

"Find her and see for yourself but just be ready to feel all kinds of inadequate afterwards. I wish I could find a guy around here that could put the stars in my eyes like Jake did for her." Somer challenges him. "This plan of yours had better work because I want to know what Jake does to make a girl like Jessica go all gooey at the mere mention of his name."

"Don't worry, it'll work." Patrick assures her. "There's no way I'll lose to Jake again this year."

"You sound like a broken fucking record." Jamie mutters.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Patrick snaps at Jamie.

"You heard me." Jamie tells him. "Look, I'll have your back like always, but I'm about done with this whole rivalry shit between you and Jake. All it's done for me, is get me suspended and nearly kicked off the team. Take a look around, Patrick. This was the spot to be but look at how many kids have jumped ship and are now out in the stadium with those misfits."

"Who needs Staci and Ray around anyway? I was done with that little bitch this year anyway and Ray changed after that whole thing with that Jenny went down at prom. If he wants my sloppy seconds or whatever, fuck him anyway." Patrick argues.

"C.C.'s with them now, too. Somer soaks her damn panties anytime you talk about Jake and everyone that used to sit around us have all moved out to the stadium with them. What is it that your dad always says, Patrick, Everybody loves a winner ? You may have managed to win Homecoming king but even then you still lost to Jake because he took your spot and showed everyone in that stadium just what he can do. It was pretty goddamn impressive to watch but you wouldn't know that because you were too busy getting cleaned up so you'd look good for a useless crown."

"Yates ripped into us something good for playing like dog shit in the first half." Scott jumps in. "He remarked that we'd be lucky to get out that game with a tie but then Jake throws his playbook back in his face and wins the damn game."

"Maybe I did lose a little bit of ground but not for very much fucking longer!" Patrick tells him. "He can bask in this all he wants but come the weekend, it's all over for Jake fucking Gibson."

****

Tuesday

Ms. Simpson walks down the sparsely populated school hallway humming to herself. A glance at her watch shows her that she has a little over an hour before the bell rings to start school. Only a stray student or two can be seen in the halls, running errands for extra credit or because they have a crush on a particular teacher and they're trying to impress them. When she rounds the corner she spies a familiar pair of students leaning against the wall at her door.

"I'm guessing that the two of you didn't come in early to try and get some extra credit since you're already at the top of my class." She remarks as she reaches Jake and Jessica.

"We were just debating which one of us is at the tippy top though." Jessica answers with a giggle. "I'm fairly certain that it's me."

"I'm telling you that it's me, Jess." Jake argues. "Not only am I Ms. Simpson's favorite, my name is first alphabetically so a tie goes to me."

"I think this is where I plead the fifth so I don't wreak this cute little relationship that you two have got going on." Ms. Simpson says as she unlocks her door.

"This is strictly a friendly little competition." Jessica assures her. "It would take a lot more than grade point averages to come between Jake and me, Ms. Simpson. Jake may be in second place in your class but even he's smart enough to know that."

"I'm smart enough to agree with that statement." Jake answers.

"Of course you are, Jake." Ms. Simpson laughs. "So, I assume this early morning visit is about the homecoming results, correct?"

"In a way," Jake answers. "I guess it depends on if you found out anything."

"I found out who counted the ballots." Ms. Simpson answers as she takes a seat at her desk.

"I'm betting that Somer Douglas was one." Jessica throws out there. She and Jake had been discussing, not grade point averages, but how they could trust Ms. Simpson with what they found out on their own.

"She was." Ms. Simpson answers giving them a suspicious look. "I take it that you two are playing at being junior detectives now as well?"

"Jake figured it out when he went to see his guidance counselor." Jessica explains. "Somer works in the office."

"I've seen her there but that alone doesn't prove that she did anything wrong with counting the ballots." Ms. Simpson points out.

"Getting proof is the problem." Jake shares. "We're pretty sure that she gave Jessica's address to Patrick the first week of school but other than her telling me that she has access to that part of students records we can't prove that she's the one that did it."

"That is a pretty serious charge, Jake." Ms. Simpson warns him.

Jake nods. "I know it is but Patrick bragged to Jessica about him having a friend in the office that got it for him. Then we find Somer working in the office and there you go."

"That's still lean on tangible proof, Jake." Ms. Simpson says.

"We're also sure that she not only shot the video of Jake at the scrimmage game where he got hurt but that she is also the one that uploaded it to the schools alert system for the whole school to see." Jessica adds.

"She'd have to login to access the alert system." Ms. Simpson says thinking aloud. "If we can get Mr. Owens to go back and verify just who was logged in at the time the alert was sent we would have proof of that at least but I'm betting there will be a problem with that the same as there is in getting a recount of the homecoming ballots."

"Let me guess, the ballots are lost." Jake says shaking his head.

"Better, the ballots are gone." Ms. Simpson shares. "I was informed they were accidentally included in a batch of papers that were sent to the shredders. There's nothing left to recount. I'm willing to bet that the logs of who was on the alert system that morning will have conveniently been overwritten by now."

"Probably the same morning that it happened." Jake sighs.

"There goes our proof of everything." Jessica notes.

Ms. Simpson nods. "The burden of proof lies with the accuser and not the accused. I'll ask Mr. Owens if there is a log but I wouldn't hold out much hope." She points out. "Is the homecoming thing really that important to you both? I thought it wouldn't matter all that much to the two of you."

"I would have really liked to see Jess get the recognition she deserves. After asking around, she would have easily made the court at least. It sucks that they're getting away with denying her that." Jake comments.

"You're sweet," Jessica grins at him. "I think it sucks that we can't use the ballots as proof that she was up to something and use that to force her to admit that she was the one that shot the video of Jake getting hurt then uploading it for everyone to see. I mean it backfired pretty spectacularly on them but still, I'd like to see something happen to both her and Patrick for that."

Ms. Simpson smiles at the two. "While it does indeed suck that there may not be any proof left, I think the two of you will still manage to come out on top of anything those guys can throw at you. Look at how, just now, you both had each other's backs just now. Keep that up and they or anyone else for that matter, stand a chance against you."

****

Wednesday

"Are you ready for an elephant's ear, Sarah?" Jake asks as he rides with Jessica and her family to the county fair.

"I am!" Sarah announces excitedly now that she knows that it isn't made from an elephant.

"I'm more anxious to see this mystery drawing." Jessica shares then taps her mom's shoulder. "Can you believe that I haven't been able to even talk him into giving me one little hint, mom?"

"All I could get out of him was that it wasn't a French drawing." Dr. Golden says with a laugh.

"Mom!" Jessica squeals.

"What's a French drawing?" Sarah asks.

"Yeah, mom. What's a French drawing?" Jessica teases.

"Well, Sarah... I thought that Jake was going to draw... using French salad dressing." Dr. Golden reaches for an answer.

Jessica bursts out laughing at her mom's quick thinking.

"I told her that there was no way I could use French dressing to draw with. I'd need something like a Ranch dressing or something like that." Jake adds. "I'd probably end up licking the brush too much to get anything much on the paper, though."

"Don't play with your food, Jake." Sarah tells him. Everyone erupts into a fit laughter at her precociousness.

"I'm glad you're here to remind him of that, Sarah." Mr. Golden announces as he pulls into the fair parking lot. "Who knows what he would have done with that elephant ear of his."

Jessica leans over and whispers something in Sarah's ear.

She giggles and says. "Jessica says he'd probably try to wear it."

"I'll too busy eating it to wear it." Jake states.

"Can we get out now?" Dr. Golden asks. "All this food talk has my stomach growling at me."

The smell of sawdust, cotton candy and various meats cooking hits their nostrils as they get out of Dr. Golden's SUV. Music from the rides and booths, along with the screams from those on the more thrilling rides fill the air as the group walk towards the entrance.

"What do you think, Sarah?" Jake asks as she walks between him and Jessica, holding both their hands.

"Wow!" Sarah exclaims. "I want to ride that first!"

She points towards the swinging pirate ship style ride.

"You're on your own with that one Sarah." Mr. Golden tells her. "The most thrilling ride I'm getting on is the merry-go-round."

"Will you ride with me?" She asks Jake and Jessica.

"If you're tall enough, I will." Jessica answers. "Jake?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm tall enough." Jake jokes.

"I was going to say four adults and one child ticket but with that joke, I think Jake may qualify for a child ticket, too." Mr. Golden jokes with the woman at the ticket counter.

"I would almost give that to you but he's just too tall to qualify." The woman answers with a smile.

Mr. Golden chuckles and purchases the tickets. Once the group is inside they huddle together just off the footpath.

"Where to first?" Dr. Golden asks.

"I think we should go see the art exhibit then hit some rides and games." Jessica answers.

"What about eating?" Sarah asks, her mouth practically watering at the scent of polish sausages, pizza and cotton candy that are wafting through the air.

"That comes after rides." Jessica answers. "Remember what happened at Carowinds when you ate then rode?"

"Ugh," Sarah nods.

"She threw up on the kiddy coaster." Dr. Golden shares.

Jake puts his hand out for Sarah to slap. She slaps it but looks at him funny.

"I threw up on the same ride." Jake tells. "That makes us vomit coaster buddies."

"Jake, that's disgusting!" Jessica squeals.

"They should warn a guy that after eating, the ride is gonna make your stomach flop around." He argues. "Right, Sar-bear?"

"Absolutely." Sarah agrees.

Jessica kneels down close to Sarah. "I'll bet Jake threw up on that coaster last year, Sarah."

"Last year... please... last year... it was two years ago." Jake answers her teasing.

"You rode a kiddie coaster two years ago?" Sarah asks.

"How else am I supposed to work my way up to the bigger ones if I don't start on the small ones?" Jake asks.

"He has a point there, Sar-bear." Jessica giggles.

"Did you start off on the small ones and then move up to the big ones, sissy?" Sarah asks.

Jessica glances at Jake. "I'll sure say that I did." She answers with a devilish grin.

"Do I need to separate you two?" Dr. Golden asks catching the look that passes between Jake and Jessica.

"I just answered Sarah's question, mom. Better than a certain someone did when she happened to mention French drawings." Jessica points out with a grin.

"Fine, but I'm watching you two." She warns the teens but Jessica notes the smile on her face when she does.

"So we're off to the exhibit area." Mr. Golden states. "Lead the way, Jake."

Jake takes Jessica's hand in one of his and Sarah's in his other before leading the group towards the exhibit area.

****

"There's me!" Sarah announces excitedly as the group reach the high school art section of the exhibition hall.

"That... that's us." Jessica gasps when she sees the third drawing hanging on the wall. The picture depicts Jake with his head cocked with a half smile on his face as he looks at Jessica who is laughing gleefully.

"Wow, that is some amazing work, Jake. I'm having a hard time picking a favorite. You really captured my girls." Dr. Golden states.

"I love it, but how did you draw it?" Jessica asks. "Don't you usually need a model?"

"Remember that pic that Shelly snapped of us that day at lunch?" Jake asks.

"That's why I felt like I had seen it before. She forwarded it to me so I could have a copy." Jessica exclaims. "So you drew it from that?"

"So I drew it from that." Jake confirms. "It's a little easier working without a model who would prefer to bounce all around instead of sitting still. Any idea who that might have been, Sarah?"

"Nope." She answers with a laugh that mimics her in the drawing.

Jessica gives him a hug and a quick kiss on his lips. "I really do love it."

"I'm really glad that you do." He answers.

"This is very impressive work, Jake." Mr. Golden states. "Are you thinking of maybe pursuing a career in an art field?"