That Last Little Spark

Bam sat on the side of his bed, thinking about Jess. One minute she was quiet and...almost hesitant to do or say anything, and the next it was like they were all back in high school and shoving each other around, making fun of each other and laughing until they couldn't breathe.

His cell phone suddenly started ringing with an unidentified number flashing on the caller ID.

"Hello?" he asked.

"How's Jess?" a slightly familiar female voice asked over the crackly line.

"Who's this?" he asked in confusion.

"Damn it, I hate this fucking cell phone company. It's Kelsey!" she said.

"Oh, hey." Bam yawned and laid back on his bed.

"So where's Jess? I've been calling her for the last 10 minutes and I keep getting her voicemail." she sighed.

"She's sleeping. We went out and she had a few drinks." he chuckled.

"Red wine?" she guessed.

"Oh yeah." he laughed, but then remembered something.

"Kelsey...I gotta tell you something." he rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. Kelsey must've sensed he was about to tell her something bad, but she misunderstood his sudden seriousness.

"Did something happen between you two? Because Bam I'm not gonna lie, if you two-" she began.

"No! Nothing happened between us...but earlier today, we were at this street thing in town and...Jess...ran into someone." he explained.

"Like, with a car?" she asked.

"No! Not with a car! She saw someone we used to go to school with." he bit his lip.

"Oh really? How is that bad? That's great! Who was it?" she asked curiously.

"Chase. Chase Andrews." he closed his eyes. There was a silence on the other end.

"Bam. That's not funny." Kelsey finally said.

"I'm not joking, Kelsey. I saw him, Ape saw him. Everyone in this house saw him." Bam said quietly. The silence on the end was longer this time.

"FUCK!" Kelsey screamed suddenly, scaring Bam into dropping the phone with a yelp.

"How the hell did he get out?" she snarled.

"We didn't stick around to find out. Something about parole. Jess didn't tell us." he sighed.

"She talked to him?" her voice seemed to go up an octave.

"He saw her first, apparently, and just started talking to her. She was with Ape but she went to go find something to drink. None of us know what he said. She wouldn't tell us. All we know is that he paroled out early." he explained everything he knew.

"I'm not gonna lie, then. I'm kind of glad she's coming back to the city tomorrow." she sighed.

"Can you maybe...get her to say what he told her?" he asked.

"I'll try, Bam. Really, I will. But I don't know if she'll tell me." she yawned. "You're coming to the wedding, right?" she added.

"When is it?" he asked, thankful for the change of subject.

"August 15th. The ceremony and the reception are going to be at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park." she said after he heard her shuffling through a few papers.

"Are you and Jess in the wedding party?" he asked.

"Jess is actually the maid of honor, and me, Chloe, Ashleigh, and Erica's two oldest nieces are the bridesmaids. Her youngest niece is the flower girl." she explained. The two fell into silence before Bam broke it with another yawn.

"I should probably go. I have to be up early tomorrow, and it sounds like you're tired, too." she teased at the end.

"Yeah...I'll see you soon, Kelsey." he said.

"I'll try to get her to talk about it. And you'll be the first to know." she promised.

"Thanks, Kels. It means a lot to me." he sighed.

"Just like she does. Bye, Bam." they hung up at the same time.

***

**Jess**

I rolled over and opened my eyes, cursing at the time on the clock. It was just barely 6 in the morning. But I guess I deserved it for going to sleep at 10 at night. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the sky was already a light blue. My hair had dried in what felt like dreadlocks from the sand and lakewater, and my dress chafed against my dry skin. Not to mention the slight headache that pulsed on the side of my head.

"Now I know what death feels like." I sighed, sliding out of bed. I was up for the day, so I walked over to my bag, kneeling down to pull out my secret weapons and a change of clothes before I walked into the bathroom.

"Of course you had to break." I scowled at my first secret weapon: a shower melt called Too Drunk. Supposedly it helped ease a hangover, but it was broken in 6 different pieces. My other secret weapon was a shampoo/body wash called Slammer, that also helped ease hangovers. I had brought them just in case I'd had too much to drink with my friends.

"Screw it." I put all the pieces in the shower and turned it on. The citrus and lime scent worked even before I got in.

It didn't take long to figure out what I wanted to do before I left. I hadn't been home in so long. I'd already visited aunt Kelly...I wanted to visit my parents.

Of course, I knew neither Bam, nor April nor anyone else, would let me go alone now that Chase was out of jail.

I sighed. With my luck, Chase would show up. But could I really wait until everyone else got up?

But on the other hand, I didn't want everyone coming with me to the cemetery, either, because I knew that at least 4 people would end up tagging along.

So I decided to go to the cemetery and pick up breakfast on the way home. If anything, bringing home donuts would make up for going somewhere on my own.