Just Another Reason I Could Never Forget You

It had been an eventful few days since Zack had taken me dancing. I had finally accepted that Belle was in a better place and that she was safe now. The guys were now happy to see me because I actually talked to all of them, where as I had been ignoring everyone. Zack and I had become a little more distant once again, which made things a little more normal.

Jack and Alex had come over this Sunday morning and woken me up by jumping on my bed. I am not an early riser on Sundays, not by any means. They were holding a bunch of papers that I later found out were the pages of the drivers test book. They wanted to help me prepare so I would ace it. I was really nervous about the idea of driving a car all the time and I only had my learner's permit because I had gotten it in Baltimore before...well, I'm not gonna go there. The thought of driving alone on a regular basis scared the crap out of me. What if I had an accident like my dad did? Would I be able to survive something like that?

So now I was sitting on my bed being quizzed by two of my best friends about the meanings of the different signs one might see while out driving. I already knew this stuff, clearly, but the two of them were persistant. They demanded I get my license so I could be the designated driver for parties. Yeah, my friends just love me. I'm so loved that they automatically make me designated driver. I think Rian makes a better one, to be totally honest.

"Jerri, what are these for?"

I looked over at Jack and sighed. The boy had pulled the wicker basket that held my crocheting supplies out from under my bed. He dug through the basket, looking at all of the colored balls and unfinished projects with wide eyes.

"It's my crocheting stuff, Jack. Now put it away before you mess something up."

He shook his head and pulled out a ball of purple yarn, one still attached to a needle.

"Hey, Alex, think fast!"

I watched with wide eyes as he threw it across my room. Alex caught it and tossed it back to him like they were playing hot potato. All the while, the string was unraveling and losing its shape. The scarf that I had been making sat in the basket and I sighed.

"Barakitty! Lexie! Stop it right now!"

"Barakitty?"

"Jerrrriiiii! I told you not to call me that!"

"Well I wouldn't have to call you that if you acted your age. Oh. My. God. Would you two stop already? I'm gonna have to completely remake that scarf now dammit!"

"Scarf? Who are you making a scarf for?"

"I was gonna make one for all of you, but it's hard to make something when you two are always destroying things!"

The two boys hung their heads and had the sense to at least look like they were ashamed. If I hadn't known them better, I would have thought that they honestly were sorry that they were being so obnoxious. We sat there in silence as I attempted to roll all of the yarn back up into a ball. It wasn't working so well.....actually, it ended up being a lump of yarn with a bit of scarf attached to the end.

"Back to the task at hand, as in, me passing my driver's test so you guys can drink to your hearts content without having to worry about how you're getting home," I said, eyeing them both wearily.

The two boys nodded and then sat back down on my bed so that we could actually go back to the task at hand. They each grabbed a pile of their homemade flash cards and began to quiz me on street signs. I felt like these were way too easy because I clearly knew them. Alex didn't seem entirely convinced that I knew my highway signs, which I guess was a bit true. I didn't drive on the highway all that often because I hardly trusted myself behind a wheel, let alone other people I didn't know.

"Jerri? Are you listening to me? Jericha? Earth to Jericha, come in Jericha."

"What?"

"Do you want to go take your test today or wait until next weekend?"

"Erm....next weekend."

"You sure?" This from Jack, the king of being unprepared.

"Positive."

"Okay! Party time?"

"Only if party time is us calling the other guys so we can all sit around watching movies and playing music and video games," I told Alex.

"Deal!"