A Thousand Words | ✓

Chapter Eleven: A Thousand Blooming Friendships

Dedicated to Trish bc she's so perf and amazing and I love her so much. Kyle sings the song "ride" by timeflies and I'm quite a fan of the accoustic cover <3 Ignore typos and weird mistakes, enjoy :) 

* * *

Chapter Eleven: A Thousand Blooming Friendships

Having Jessica reveal her big past on me all in one go was a heavy weight on my shoulders – one that kept me up all night. Seriously, though, I actually considered Kyle's theory of not getting tickets to that boy band's concert as Jessica's big downer of a secret. Obviously, I was way, way off. I figured there was more to the story, but there was so much more that I didn't even know. It's pretty safe to say that I've gained a lot more respect for Jessica after last night. With a past like that, I think Jessica turned out a pretty freaking great.

I knew that I could never go to school and look at Jessica's facade with the same eyes that I did before. I know now why Jessica acts the way she does, and it's because she's afraid. Afraid of having history repeat itself, afraid of having another group of asshats come and ruin her life right when it's starting to go smoothly. Even though her being an orphan isn't what she wants to hide from the world, there's still that feeling in my gut that Jessica would prefer if people didn't know.

Society already has fucked things up with labels and stuff, there's no need to throw Jessica into that system for the whole school to use on her. There's no doubt in my mind that once the cat is out of the bag, shit's gonna hit the ceiling and it won't ever be the same.

I'm going to keep her secret, both orphan and home. Whether or not Kyle is part of this whole thing is another story. If something big happens, Kyle and I would let each other know, just so we're caught up with what's going on. My promise to Jessica about keeping her secret gets in the way of that. It's up to Jessica if she decides to trust him with something as big as her past and secret.

Rebecca wasn't all too happy about the fact that I abruptly left before dinner and came home late on a school night. Chris even came out in a sleepy daze because he thought Rebecca was going to murder me right then and there. That simmered her down a bit, allowing me enough time to escape to my room with a vague excuse of where I was and that it would never happen again. But I know that if Charlotte comes knocking at my door reporting that Jessica just so happened to disappear again, you can bet all of Chris' pokemon cards that I will be out the door ready to throw a few certain people off the top of a building.

Lazily walking into school, the hallways were buzzing with conversations. Jessica was stationed at her locker, like usual, with Charlotte accompanying her this fine morning,with an unusual overexcited aura that I could sense from yards away. Jessica replied animatedly back to something Charlotte said, her eyes twinkling under the flourescent lighting and her usual wide smile gracing her face.

Normally, this would annoy me. It's too early to be this alive and excited at such an ungodly hour. Mornings were meant for dead students, sleeping through first period, and a lot of coffee to give someone enough energy to trudge through school without giving in to the urge to return home and crash for the rest of the day.

With a past consisting of abandonments, depression, harsh words, torment, and a suicide of a child. . . Well, damn, Reece, let the girl smile and be happy!

Maybe you should try it sometime.

Jessica's eyes fell on me soon after, and her excitement dimmed down a bit as she smiled gently, her eyes softening considerably. I returned it with a half smile of my own as I made my way towards them. Things between us are, without a doubt, going to change. She doesn't need to worry about me psychoanalysing her every move, and I won't have the urge to wedge myself into her personal business because of her suspicious behavior. We could both relax.