-Chapter One-

. : Jessica Cherry : .

"NO!" BANG. The door slammed shut. How can I live like this? Parents over my every move and won't let me out with my friends. This is so unfair! I fell on my bed and sighed. This...is getting worse and worse. I could hear my mom yelling outside my door, "Get your butt out here! I am not done with you!"--blah blah blah--"...we will talk after dinner! Come down for dinner, young lady!"

I heard footsteps stomping down the stairs. I opened the window and climbed out. I jumped to the grass, climbed over the fence, and threw stones at the side window of my neighbor's house. A young thirteen year old boy came to the window, opened it, and screamed, "What the hell do you want now, Jess?!?!"

I grinned and said, "My mom caught be skipping school again." He stared, sighed, and said, "Meet me at the door." I skipped happily to the front door and Brian appeared closing the door and putting his jacket on. He walked down the stairs and we walked in direction of the park. I explained the situation.

"...and remember when I said I wouldn't skip anymore? Yeah, she started lecturing on that too. I mean it was only for an hour and I had to pick up that package or it would have been gone when I was done with school!" I said rapidly. He nodded and said, "What was in the package?" He didn't sound bored or interested, but that's just the way he is. We had reached the park and I sat on a swing.

Brian took the one left of me. "I don't know. Mom took it," I said sadly. "She said that's what I get for ditching school."

"Oh," Brian whispered and took my hand. A couple minutes later, two families approached us. It was Brian's and mine. Boy was I in trouble.

"Jessica, what are you doing here?! How did you get out?! I told you to come eat dinner, Jessica," Mom began. Dad put his hand on Mom's shoulder to say, "Stop."

"Come home now, Jess?" Dad questioned, then looked at Brian and my hands. He was still holding it. Brian blushed slightly and I let go, saying, "Yeah, see you, Brian." "'Bye."

The drive home was silent except occasional cries of my baby sister, Amanda. She is one year old, which is eleven years younger than me. My arms were crossed and I was thinking, ¡§What type of world IS THIS?? I run away, and guess what? I HAVE TO GO HOME. No, I don¡¦t have a choice. I HAVE to. Katrina, my younger sister about eight years old, would find out later when she grows up. Unfortunately, she¡¦s AT HER FRIEND¡¦S HOUSE, a place where I cannot go and why? Because I haven¡¦t ¡¥earned my parent¡¦s trust¡¦.¡¨ We arrived at the yellow house with blue lining-our house. Next to it was a white house with red lining?Brian¡¦s house. Dad drove to the garage and I immediately hopped out of the car. I suspected that my parents would get on me and start lecturing (or yelling, in my mom's case) me until I get up to my room, so I ran all the way upstairs to my room and locked the door. The worst mistake my parents did was giving me a room with a window large enough for me to fit through and a lock on my door. *grin* ^.^

"JESS!!!!!!!! DINNER!!!!!!! IT'S GETTING COOOO-OOOOOLD!!!!!!!" Kat yelled up the stairs. Then I heard her running upstairs and then knocking on my door. "Jess!! Jess!!" she called.

I opened the door and said, kindly, "What is it, Kat?"

"The dinner--it's--" Kat began and I interrupted with, "I know dinner is getting cold. What is it you really want?"

Kat blushed and mumbled, ¡§It looks like you guys are, like, going out or something and I want to know the truth.¡¨

¡§Kat. We. Are. Not. Okay?¡¨ I said, with grim expression.

My little sister looked at me hopefully, trying to get something out of me, but that was all she got. I mean seriously. What else is there to get? ¡§Okay.¡¨

She left and I left with her. I finished my dinner really quick and ran upstairs. I turned the radio on to KISS 106.1 and t.A.T.u.¡¦s All The Things She Said was on. A couple minutes later¡K

...Riiiing! The phone rang. I picked it up and before I could utter a word, Mom went, "Cherry residence. How may I help you?"

Brian went, "Uh...is Jess there?"

"Oh. I need to talk to you, dear," Mom began. 'Oh god,' I thought.

"Yea?" Brian said.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"We saw, we aren't stupid, Brian."

"Saw what?"

Mom whispered, "You two holdin' hands."

Brian signed and said, "I was just uh making her feel better about things."

"MMHMM. Well I'll talk to you soon. JESS?"

"Got it Mom. What took you so long huh?" I said.

No answer. Mom got off.

"Hey, Jess."

"Hi. I don't get it. How come my parents are all over this thing? And you know what else? KAT IS TOO. I mean what the hell is this?"

"They suspected something, I guess. When I took your hand... and..yeah."

"Oh. I knew that.."

"Yeah. How are you?"

"Ehh...."

"Bad?"

"Kat won't get off my back about it.."-"JESS! DAD WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!!" Kat interrupted-" And neither will my parents! There's nothing going on!"

Silence. Then Brian said quietly, "Yeah."

"What's wrong?" I sensed something. Heh.

"Huh? Nothing."

"Right."

"JESS!" Mom and Kat yelled up the stairs.

"Brian, I gotta go, alright? I'll see you later."

"Alright. Bye, Jessica." The first time he actually called me Jessica. Freaky. Something's wrong...really wrong.

"Bye." I hung up, went to my dad's den, sat on the couch across from him and said, "There's nothing going on, Dad."

"I didn't call for you to talk about that," Dad said.

"Oh," I mumbled. "Then what?"

"You've been through a lot lately, I know. And we know you are good friends with Brian, as you have been for the last ten years." Yeah, yeah, very true. So I've been here since I was two. Met him when I was two. Uhm. YOUR POINT?

"Yeah?" Hehe.

"But he's been your, hmm, how to say this... He's been your runaway helper. He's been pulling you into... being a punk, being bad..."

"What? He is not!!!!!!"

"Listen to me!" I quieted. "As I was saying, you are restricted from, er, seeing him this week."

"What? Seeing? What are you talking about?" I was really pissed.

"We know, Jessica. Nothing to hide." Um. Well you sound like the big bad wolf, Dad.

"Know what?! What is it YOU know that I don't?"

"We know you two are, er, you know, going out. You don't gotta hide it."

I stood up and yelled, "ARE YOU INSANE? WE. ARE. NOT. GOING. OUT!!!!!!!!" I sat back down and crossed my arms, making a "Hmph!" noise.

"Quiet, Jessica. Now call Brian up and tell him you can't see him after school, for a week. It should be enough to.." I didn't get to hear what he had to say next because I stomped out of the den, mumbling, "Whatever." and marched to my room.

I picked the phone up and dialed up Brian.

"Hello?" Brian answered.

"Hi."

"Oh. Jess. What's up?"

"..."

"What? What's going on?"

"I need to talk to you?"

"Uhm. Okay meet you outside your door."

"Okay." We got off the phone. I ran downstairs and shouted, "MOM! DAD! I'LL BE BACK IN 30 MINUTES!"

I slammed the front door and walked out to find Brian pacing back and forth with his hands in his jacket pockets. He looked up and said, "Jess."

"Hi," I greeted and walked along side of him.

"What's wrong, Jess?"

"My parents think we're going out and we aren't and they said I'm not allowed to contact you or 'see' you for a week and they think thats going to 'break us up' or whatever and I mean seriously, what's up with them?" I said in one breath, in a run-on sentence. The sun began to set. We walked around the neighborhood.

"Oh."

I was a bit disappointed. I spill my thoughts to him and I get a simple "Oh.". Humph! "Fine then, be that way," I mumbled.

"What?" Brian asked.

"I just like told you everything and all I get is an oh. I feel so loved," I said. He looked away, his eyes filled with thought.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I said after a couple minutes of silence.

"Huh?" he snapped out of it. Something is weird. He never thinks this much.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I said again.

"Eh..."

"Fine then, guess not, geez. It's not like I tell you everything, huh?"

"Sorry it's just...everything...going on...I..."

"Yeah?"

"I...I...I think....I think..." Brian stuttered.

"You think?"

"It's getting late we should get home," Brian turned around and walked the other way.

This...upset me a lot. I didn't think it was fair and ran after him. On the way home, I kept on prompting for more but the only thing I got out of him was, "I'll tell you later, when I feel like it." That was the closest I got.

When we reached my house, something weird happened. He walked me to the door and gave me a HUG before I went in the door. No, not a short hug. It was like those long emotional ones. Hmm...

It's the sixteenth of March, a Sunday, and I don't even get to sleep in. Yup that's right, I woke up at 6. And why? Because the phone rang and it was for me. I picked it up and groaned into it. A chirpy "Hey Jess!" was spoken from the other side by one of my best girl friends, Geena.

"Hey, Geena," I mumbled. "Why did you call me so early?"

"Because I just got news who Cailtin likes!!!!" Geena screamed. Cailtin is like the most pretty girl at our school. She's popular, she's, okay, not that smart, but everyone likes her and thinks she's really "cool".

"Oh? Who?" I woke up then.

"Brian!"

Oh..my..god. "What?!?!"

"Yeah! Your neighbor! Your like best friend, other than me!" Geena sounded really excited. I was shocked as heck.

"You're kidding. You have got to be kidding me."

"No I'm serious!"

"Where did you hear this?"

"Irene!!" Oh, our school gossip. Irene's always right. Oh boy.

"Does Brian know this?" I asked.

"Nope. Just me and you and Irene so far," Geena said. Irene thinks of Geena as her close friend. Geena just uses her and says Irene is sort of a friend. "But it¡¦ll spread quickly. Isn't that weird, Jess? Wouldn't that be weird? Well, IS IT?"

I whispered, "Yeah...freaky...speaking of him, he was acting weird yesterday. Dad said I can't contact him for a week, he's like a distraction or whatever. My family thought we were going out. They don't anymore. I thought they were insane. Which they were..."

"..." Geena was silent.

"Geeeeeeeeeena?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

This time, Geena whispered, "Yeah. Well I gotta go. I'll email you or something."

"Yeah okay, bye," I said as Geena giggled.

"BYE!!" We hung up.

In the morning, I took a shower, got dressed, and put my hair up as I ran down the stairs. I walked into the kitchen to find Mom, Dad, Amanda, and Katrina sitting there, eating breakfast. When I entered, all of them except Amanda who was happily eating her Cheerios, swerved and looked at me. It was freaky.

"Jessica. Your plate is on the counter," Mom said crisply.

I walked over, got my plate, and sat down. Then everyone continued eating. Silence. My goodness, it got so annoying I had to break it.

"What's up, yo?" I mumbled through my pancakes. I finished that pancake and reached for one of the blueberry muffins in the basket on the center of the table, when suddenly, the back door was bashed open and Brian said, "Oops." and grinned. Then he marched in, pulled up an extra chair, sat down, and grabbed a muffin. He ate it in less than a minute while our family stared at him. Yeah, we were used to this, but this time, he broke the door.

"Hey, Brian," I said.

"Brian," Mom and Dad said simultaneously.

"Hi," Katrina murmured.

"Bwian!!" Amanda said.

No one talked for the rest of the meal, and my parents didn't usher him out of the room. When we finished, Mom took all the plates and glasses and walked over to the sink to wash them. Brian volunteered, "Hey I'll get those for you! You go ahead and rest, Mrs. Cherry!"

"Alright, Brian," Mom said, and I could tell she was trying to sound happy. I sat in the living room with Amanda, playing with her. A minute later, we heard a crash in the kitchen. I ran in to find Brian sweeping up glass scraps. He broke a glass.

"I'm very sorry. It was so clean it slipped out of my hand!" Brian exclaimed. We just love Sundays.

"Brian, here, I'll do it. Go play with Amanda," Mom said.

"Sorry, but okay," Brian mumbled and joined Amanda and me in the living room. Brian sweeped Amanda up and spun her in the air. Then he sat down, put Amanda on his knee, and bounced her up and down. Amanda went, "Ah-ah-ah- ah-ah..." each time she was bounced. I sat on the couch next to them and then I said, "Here I'll hold her." I put Amanda in my lap and Brian played Peek-A-Boo with her. Amanda kept gasping when Brian disappeared and giggling when he appeared again. Every five seconds, a loud, "Hehehe!" came from Amanda. She was so cute. This time, Peek-A-Boo lasted longer, but soon Amanda got bored of it. Brian sighed happily and said, "Jess here. Can I give her a piggy back ride?"

"If I hold her while she's on your back," I replied.

"Alright." Brian got down on all four and I put Amanda on his back. Amanda giggled again and then off Brian went around and around the room until he and I got really dizzy and I shouted, "Stop! Stop! Ahhh!!"

Brian and Amanda laughed. I picked Amanda up and Brian got up. He looked really tired and I asked, "Why did you come over, anyway? Didn't I tell you that Daddy wouldn't let me contact you for a week?"

"Yeah, but he never said I couldn't contact you," Brian grinned.

"True...but I think Daddy meant both ways," I said.

"Ah whatever."

No one spoke but then Mom shouted, "Jess! Bring Amanda here! I'm going out for groceries!" I brought Amanda to Mom and then went back to the living room to find a note.

"Hey Jess. I left, sorry, but I'll wait for you tomorrow at the bus stop. See you tomorrow. -Brian."

Hmm. Okay then. That's fine...

The rest of the day was pretty boring. All I did was sit around and watch television. My dad was home all day and wouldn't let me out of the house so I just stayed in my room going on the computer (there wasn't anyone online) and watching television and calling people. Pretty boring if you ask me.

Monday morning, I woke up and took a brief shower. Before I went downstairs, I went into Kat's room and woke her up. She goes to school about an hour later than me, so she gets up when I leave. I stuffed my money into my back pocket of my jeans as I went downstairs and grabbed my already-packed backpack. My dad already left for work and my mom was still asleep. I left a note that said I was at school and headed out the door.

I got to the bus stop right when the bus got there. Of course, I ran a little ways but you don't expect me to be on time every time. I didn't see Brian anywhere, even though he said he would wait for me. My stop was the last stop in the morning, and first stop in the afternoon. We reached Skyview Junior High at about 7:35 AM. I got out of the bus and headed toward my locker. I put my stuff away and went off to look for Geena at her locker. She wasn't there. I entered the seventh grade hall to find a crowd of people bundled up. Among them I spotted Geena in her black sweater and Brian in his orange t-shirt. I walked over and Geena waved at me.

"Hey Jess! Nice clothes," she eyed my clothing. All blue, dark blue.

"Thanks. What's going on?" I asked.

"Oh. Caitlin is going to ask out Brian. Irene told us."

"I see. Hold on." I snaked through the crowd and tapped Brian's shoulder. He turned around and said, "Jess! Hey!" Then he whispered, "What's going on..? Why is everyone staring at me?" Uh oh. Forgot...he doesn't know.

A/N: I am going back and fixing everything so this is fixed and improved. ^^


Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this story to:

Audrey - You read my story, gave me feedback, and encouraged me to continue. Thank you.

Geena - Being one of the characters in here isn't easy. Thanks for being so flexible with that.

Brian - See above. Both of them. Thank you for influencing me to write this.

Amanda and Kat - You guys are the best!! Thanks for ALL the feedback and suggestions! Thanks SO much!

Ruth - Even though during all those times, you were so confused when Audrey and I discussed this, you made this story really interesting, with you as one of the characters. ^^ Thank you so much!

Lucy - You read it. You loved it. Thank you!

All My Teachers - Thanks for all those times you had to put up with me, writing in the middle of class.

Mom and Dad - Thank you for putting up with me when I was writing in the car.

Erin - Thanks for criticizing my handwriting, and resulting in having me type the story instead. Thanks for helping me with ideas. Thanks a whole bunch

Olivia - LOL Thanks for everything!! Please read and review...

AND TO THOSE OF YOU WHO I MISSED: THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

And readers? Hehe. Thanks for reading. Reviewers? Thanks for reviewing. Wheeeeeee okay I'm done. R/R!!