This Is The Dawning Of The Rest Of Our Lives

I was stuffing my books into my locker when something green came running towards me and jumped on my back.
“ARGH! What the fuck?” I shouted, turning around. Tré looked at me with a huge smirk on his face. My eyes widened.
“Oh my god, your hair!” I said, staring at him. He grinned.
“Isn’t it awesome?” he asked hyperly, shoving his bright green hair into my face. I laughed and pushed him away before ruffling his hair.
“It is!” I nodded. It needed some getting used to but it sure was.
“Hey Jess, DUDE!” Mike said, noticing Tré, “When did you do that??”
“Yesterday night. You should have seen it, I glow in the dark according to Lori,” he smirked.
“Somehow I have no trouble believing that,” I giggled.
“What the hell is that?” Billie, who had just approached, exclaimed, “Tré, did you notice that your sis threw a bucket of paint over your head while you were asleep?” he added with a smirk.
“No, duh! Billie, m’boy, that happens to be my HAIR!” Tré said loudly.
“Yeah I know it’s your hair, I’m just telling you it changed color.”
“BILLIIIIEEE!” Tré whined, “will you just tell me you like it and get over with it??”
“Okay, okay, easy, green man! It’s great!” he smirked.
“THANK YOU!” Tré yelled grinning.

When we were on our way out after the last class that day, Mike suddenly nudged me.
“Isn’t that your mom?” he asked. I looked a bit closer.
“It is,” I smiled.
“What’s she doing here?” Billie asked, looking at me. I shrugged.
“I dunno…I guess we’re going somewhere or something,”
“Guess I’ll say bye here then,” Tré, who was holding my hand, said with a slight smirk as he pulled me closer. I chuckled and looked at him, his face only inches from mine.
“Bye!” I said, smiling widely for a second and turning around, releasing his hand.
“Heyy! That’s not fair!” Tré whined, quickly catching up with me and stepping in front of me.
“What was that for?” he pouted.
“To see your reaction,” I said matter-of-factly, giggling at the look on his face.
“You’re mean!” he said, like a five year old.
“So I’ve been told,” I laughed, ruffling his hair.
“Meanie! You’re ruining my hair!”
He pushed my hand away. I giggled and placed a quick kiss on his mouth. He smirked.
“Better?” I asked. He pulled me against him and placed a kiss on my own lips.
“Yeah, better,” he said softly. I smiled.
“I’ll call you, okay?” I said, grabbing Tré’s hand and squeezing it a little before releasing it again. He nodded.
“Bye guys!” I called, waving at Billie and Mike before turning around to join my mother. I now noticed Tessie was there as well.
“Hi mom,” I smiled. She smiled back for a split second, but then her face turned serious again, sad even.
“Hey girl,” I added, picking Tessie up. She appeared to have been crying, and she wrapped her small arms around my neck, holding onto me tightly.
“Jessica, we need to go see the principal for a bit, because I think you won’t be going to school for a few days…” my mother started, looking at me.
“What? Why?” I asked, confused.
“Because our house is gone,” she said, “it burnt down to the ground.”
I stared at her. Did I hear that right? I couldn’t have. The house couldn’t just be gone, could it? It was made out of fucking stone, that couldn’t just disappear like that!
“What do you mean, gone?” I asked, tightening my grip on Tessie, who had started to cry softly.
“It burned down to the ground,” she said again, and I could feel a lump forming in my throat. Tears quickly filled my eyes as I slowly realised what the meaning of that sentence was. I felt my mother firmly wrap her arm around me and guide me towards the administration part of the school. I didn’t pay attention to the people around me who were asking why I was crying. I leaned against my mother as we made our way to the principals office and the only thing I really noticed was Tessie, who was clinging onto me in her usual, monkey-ish way.

TRÉ’S POV

I smiled as I watched Jessica walk towards her mother.
“Dude?” Mike asked, waving his hand in front of my face with a chuckle.
“Anybody there?” Billie smirked, grabbing shoulders and shaking me.
“Guuuys, stop iiit!” I whined, looking aside at them. They laughed. When I looked back at Jessica, I noticed her mother had wrapped an arm around her, and she appeared to be crying. Just when I had decided to go see what it was all about, they were coming our way.
“What’s wrong with her?” Billie asked, looking at Jessica. I followed her with my eyes all the way, wondering the same.
“I don’t know, man,” I muttered worriedly. My heart started beating faster as they came closer, and I moved towards them, wanting to know what was going on.
“Jessie?” I asked softly, when I was close enough. She didn’t appear to hear me. Tessie did.
“Tré!” came her soft voice, and she loosened her grip on Jessica’s neck a little to look at me. Jessica’s mother looked at me and smiled weakly.
“Hello,” I said. Billie and Mike were now standing next to me and greeted Mrs. Isar as well. Jessica sniffed and turned around, looking at me with a tear stained face. My heart sunk and I was desperate to know whatever it was that had put her in this state. Without a word, she handed Tessie to Billie, who held her close against him and rubbed her back soothingly, trying to comfort her. I saw Jessie swallow and wipe her eyes with the back of her hand before she wrapped her arms around me, clinging onto me and burying her face in the crook of my neck.
“Shh,” I whispered, holding her close and stroking her hair, my head resting against hers.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” I said softly, feeling her shoulders shake. She still didn’t say anything. She just stood there, leaning against me, sobbing. I felt more helpless than ever, wanting to make her feel better, but I didn’t know how. Mike was looking at Mrs. Isar and asked what all of us wanted to know.
“What happened?”
Mrs. Isar took a deep breath and told us that their house had burned. My eyes widened and my grip on Jessica tightened. I saw how Billie pulled Tessie a bit closer against him and I somehow noticed that she was holding Snuggles. Good old Snuggles. I looked back at Jessica and rubbed her back, trying to think of something to say.
“Do you…do you have a place to stay?” I managed to utter. Mrs. Isar shook her head.
“Not yet,” she said softly. My brain was working at top speed. I didn’t know I could actually think that fast, but apparently it worked.
“Jessie, listen, I’ve got to go home for a second to ask something. I’ll be back as soon as I can okay?” I said, my hands gently cupping her face. I wiped some of her tears away with my thumbs and she nodded silently.
I pulled her close against me for a moment.
“I love you,” I whispered in her ear before releasing her and running home faster than I’d ever ran before.