Under Jersey Skies

I wake up early on Wednesday morning, and reluctantly crawl out from under my warm bed covers, go over to my closet, and pull out my school uniform. I lay it out on my bed, and go out into the hallway to grab a few towels out of the cupboard, then go into my bathroom to take a shower. 45 minutes later I get out and dry off, blow dry my hair and style it, put my makeup on, and then head out into the kitchen where my Dad is sitting at the table with his morning coffee, reading the newspaper.

“Morning Dad” I say, pulling the bread out of the fridge and grabbing two slices, dropping them into the toaster.

“Morning Jackie, sleep well?” he asks.
“Yeah, you?” I ask.
“Yeah, so how’s things at school?” he questions.
“Yeah, alright I guess” I say.
“You guess?” says Dad, putting the newspaper down and revealing his worried face behind it.
“Oh, nothing too big, just a little drama with Jessica” I explain, and take a breath of relief when I see Dad’s expression soften.
“Oh, good then, don’t make me worry like that Jackie” laughs Dad.
“Oh please Dad, you worry too much, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack” I joke.
“That’s not funny!” laughs Dad.
“Then why are you laughing?!” I snap back playfully.
“I’m not, what’re you talking about” says Dad, smiling while he tries to control his laughter.

I roll my eyes and smile.

“So what is going on then?” he asks.
“Oh, well Gerard asked me to join his band, and now Jess’s all pissed off about it, she thinks I’ve got a thing for Gerard, and that I’m trying to steal him, I barely know him!” I explain.
“Oh I’m sure she’ll get over it, and if you’re really not interested in Gerard, then just ignore what she says about you on that account, girls can be really silly sometimes” says Dad.
“Yeah I know, I’ll just let her sort herself out, I got better things to do than worry about her paranoia” I say.

I look over at the clock, it’s 7:30.

“Well I gotta go” I say, cramming the last piece of toast into my mouth, taking a big sip from my drink and swinging my bag over my shoulders.

“Well have a good day then” says Dad.
“I will, see you tonight Dad” I say, I smile, and then walk out the door…

***

When I get to school I meet up with the others at our usual spot, in the archway at the entrance to the main building.

“Hey Jackie” Ray says cheerfully.
“Hey Ray, how’re you today?” I ask.
“I’m great, you?” he asks.
“I’m alright, how bout you Frank?” I ask, redirecting my eyes to him instead of Ray.
“Alright” he answers with a smile.
“Morning Ranga” I laugh, turning my attention to Bob.
“Fuck you Jackie, it’s bad enough Ray, Frank and Mikey call me that, don’t you start” he sulks.
“Aww cheer up emo kid” I joke.
“Like you can talk!” laughs Mikey.
“Yeah but I’m not a Ranga” I laugh.

Mikey shrugs.

“You got a point there” he says.
“Hey!” snaps Bob.

We all roll our eyes.

“She is so hard to figure out, I’m telling ya” says Gerard, approaching us.
“Who, Jessica?” I ask.
“Yeah” he says.
“Is she still shitted off about the other day?” I question.
“Yup” says Gerard.
“Let me try to talk to her” I say, and get up and head towards her sitting alone on the grass a little way away from us.

“Hey Jess” I say kindly, kneeling down.
“Piss off Jackie” she snaps.
“Oh c’mon Jess, you’re being really immature” I say.
“Fuck you Jackie” she retaliates.
“Fine, be that way, I’ll talk to you later” I say, rolling my eyes and getting up off the ground again.
“Yeah whatever, fuck off” Jessica snaps after me.

“No luck either I’m guessing?” Gerard asks when I join them again.
“Nope, she’s too pissy” I say.
“Hmm, let her sort herself out” he says.

The bell rings, and we all get up.

“See you at recess” says Ray, and jumps on his skateboard and rolls away.
“Same here guys, later” says Mikey, and he and Bob head off to class together.
“Catch ya later Jackie” says Frank, who smiles and walks away.

“And then there were two” I laugh, and Gerard and I head off to Science…

***

“Gerard?” I say, putting my pen down and propping my elbow up on the table, face in my hand.
“Mmm?” he says, continuing to answer the questions in his textbook.
“What’re we gonna do about Jessica?” I ask.
“Can we not talk about that right now?” says Gerard.
“Why not?” I say.
“Because I’m working” says Gerard.
“And since when do you actually do your work in class?” I ask.
“Since Dad’s on my case about my grades!” snaps Gerard.

I go quiet for a minute, startled by his temper. Gerard takes a deep breath, and sets down his pen.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you” Gerard apologizes.
“It’s okay, I understand” I say, and smile.

He smiles back.

“So, Jessica, umm…” he says, with joy back in his voice again.
“I say just call her after school, I have Math with her next lesson, so I’ll try and talk to her” he continues.
“Alright” I say, picking up my pen again and continuing with my work.

“Your hair looks nice” says Gerard, smiling.
“Gerard, it’s been like this for over a week now, and you only just noticed?” I say, laughing.
“No, I noticed when you got it done, but I didn‘t wanna say anything in front of Jess, you know what she‘s like” Gerard explains.
“Yeah” I say.
“Wait, why would you saying my hair looks nice bother her?” I ask, knowing the answer was pretty obvious, but wanting to be sure.
“She thinks I’ve got a thing for you” says Gerard.
“Same here, dude, I barely know you!” I say.
“Yeah I know hey?” agrees Gerard, laughing.
“Oh well, who cares what she thinks, we know the truth, and that’s all that matters” I say.

Gerard smiles at me, we lock eyes for a moment, then turn away from one another…