What Do You Want From Me?

Jessica Flaherty was on a mission. Her skin was tinged bright red, as she scrubbed mercilessly at every inch of her body. She was thoroughly convinced that, in doing this, the remnants of her former boyfriend and friend would be washed away forever. It was a fool’s conception, as Jessica knew very well, but the scolding hot shower helped keep her mind off of the constant vibration coming from her bedside table.

It started early that morning. Jessica awoke at about eleven, fully rested and completely content as thoughts flashed back to her night spent with Matt, Brian, and Zack. She would have been satisfied at just spending the rest of the day in that same spot; wrapped in her covers and watching movies or things of that accord. Her plans were ruined, though, when her cell phone vibrated violently no more than five minutes after waking. It didn’t even cross her mind at first that the text alert could be from Jason or Isabel. She simply reached over, unlocked the screen, and felt her heart drop when she read those six ungodly words: ‘1 New Text Message From: Jason’. Ever since then, the texts and calls have been nonstop. Isabel entered into the mix about twenty minutes after Jason, and that was when Jessica decided it was time for that shower.

She was beyond happy that her parents weren’t home, as they would have screamed bloody murder at her for being in the shower for that amount of time. A waste of water, they’d call it, while Jessica simply called it relaxation. Besides, her family was loaded; what was the big deal if the water bill was high? She wasn’t sure, but money was the absolute last thing on her mind as she reveled in the feel of the hot spray landing on her back. It was like heaven, and she wanted more than anything to sit under it for the rest of the day; but with it slowly getting colder by the passing minutes, she also knew that was going to deem impossible.

After making sure her hair was completely rinsed of the soapy matter, she exited the shower and toweled off, before making a dash down the hallway and into her room. She quickly changed into some comfortable clothes and flopped back in her bed. Almost immediately, a vibration sounded from the bedside table, and Jessica let out an annoyed groan.

“Jesus, leave me alone, already.”

She made a blind grab in the direction and snatched it up in her hand, pausing to prepare herself, and unlocked the screen. A scoff left her lips as she read the incredible claim: ’27 New Text Messages’. Another one came through whilst holding the device, sending the grand total to twenty-eight, and it briefly made Jessica wonder if these people even had lives outside of her. She was nothing special, and obviously nothing cared too much about, so why would they even waste their times in trying to contact her?

Still wondering, but finding herself to be strangely interested, she began to skim through the many messages. Each one was either labeled Jason or Isabel, with the exception of a few here and there labeled Leslie or Brock. Brock? Why in the world would Brock, of all people, wonder where she was? Jessica shook her head at the thought, and continued looking. She was about to just put the phone back, when an intriguing display had her stomach on edge. Matt. Jessica swallowed thickly, grinning madly, and opened the text.

Hey. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Let me know, whenever you get the chance. :)

The message alone had her heart racing, but the concern behind his words made her weak at the knees. Every other message held words such as fuck and bullshit and involved orders for her to text them back ‘right fucking now’, the latter coming mostly from Jason, though. Even so, it was like a slap in the face. Matt cared. He didn’t have to, he had absolutely no reason to, but he did.

Hey, Matt. I’m doing okay, thanks for asking. How are you?

Jessica responded to the text rather quickly, and set her phone down on her chest. She suddenly wasn’t so bothered by the insistent texts flowing her way. Maybe, just maybe, life without her old friends wouldn’t be as stressful as she thought. She had Matt, she had Zack, and she had Brian to make things alright; and her parents, well, they weren’t going to be too happy when they found out Isabel, Jason, and the rest of them were gone. But…who even cared? What more could they do to her besides the things they already do?

That’s good! I’m glad. And I’m okay; just chillin’ with Brian and Zacky. They say hi, btw. Has anyone texted you or called? Like, Jason or Isabel? I hope they’re not bothering you too much.

Jessica smiled, and began texting back. Her heart fluttered in her chest as her fingers typed furiously, telling Matt how many texts she’d gotten and what exactly they contained. It felt good to talk to somebody; somebody who wasn’t family; somebody who wasn’t required to be there for her simply because they were family.

Family…, Jessica thought, and right away her beloved cousin flashed in her mind. He’d always hated Jason, thought he was scum of the earth. She chuckled to herself as she knew he’d be ecstatic to hear about their parting of ways. After finishing the text, Jessica flicked through her contacts to Jimmy’s name, and quickly pressed the send button to call him. It rang loudly in her ear for a moment or so, before his quirky voice filled her sound waves.

“Hello,” Jimmy said, though it sounded more like, ‘yello!’

“Hey, Jim,” Jessica replied with a chuckle.

“Hey, lil’ cuz! What’s up?”

“Eh, nothing much; just trying to enjoy my Saturday, you know. What’s up with you?”

“Same; chillin’ in the basement with Johnny-boy.”

“Sounds fun. Tell him I said hi.” Jessica grinned as she heard Jimmy fumble with the phone, before informing Johnny. The gnomish boy replied rambunctiously with a, ‘Hi, Jessie!’, and she laughed happily.

“He says hi,” Jimmy spoke again

“I heard. So, uh, guess what happened to me last night.” Jessica got comfortable in her bed again as she prepared for the long conversation that was about to commence.

“Oh, my God,” Jimmy gasped. “You lost your virginity?!”

“What?! No, you idiot. Guess again.”

“Uhm,” Jimmy said dumbly. “I have no fucking clue. What happened?”

“I went to this party with Isabel and…” Jessica paused as a series of beeps sounded in her ear. “Oh, hold on a sec, Jim.”

“What?! You get me all intrigued and then you tell me to hold on? Girl…”

She laughed as Jimmy cursed on the other end, and she pulled the phone away from her face and opened the text message just received from Matt. On normal circumstances, she’d wait until after her conversation was over to reply to any texts that came through, but for some reason, Matt Sanders no longer fell under the category of normal circumstance.

Oh boy. Yeah, I figured they were going to be starting something already. Don’t worry about it, Jess, okay? Just don’t even respond. If they really cared, they would have wondered where you were last night instead of waiting until today. Hell, for all they know, you could have been kidnapped by some hoodlums! This isn’t the case, though, because you came willingly. ;) Anyway, ignore those fuckers. They don’t deserve the time of day from you.

Jessica laughed heartily as she put the phone back to her ear. “Where was I, again?”

Jimmy scoffed, jokingly offended. “You mean before you rudely put me on hold? You were telling me about what happened to you last night, missy.”

“Oh, right. So, I went to a party at this football player’s house with Isabel.”

“Eww,” Jimmy remarked toward the mention of Isabel. He’d always thought she was slutty, which turns out to be true.

“And some…stuff…happened.” Jessica rolled her eyes just thinking about it.

“Spill.”

“I caught Jason with Isabel.”

“Caught them doing what?” Jessica was silent, and Jimmy immediately understood. “Oh, hell no!”

“Hell yes. And it was pretty obvious it’d been happening for quite a while. They were only kissing when I caught them, but God only knows what else they’ve done.”

“That fucking asshole! And I told you Isabel was trashy and disgusting. I bet she has a shit load of STD’s.”

“It’s possible. Anyway, so I’m done with both of them and I’m totally done with that life, altogether.” Jessica felt proud to say it, wearing a dignified smile the whole time.

“Done as in what?” Jimmy clarified.

“Done, as in, when I caught them, I went upstairs to the bathroom and ran into that kid I was telling you about the other day.”

“Matt?”

“Yes. And we talked and I’m going to hang out with them from now on.”

Jimmy didn’t answer right away, making Jessica think maybe they’d gotten disconnected or something. She even looked at the phone to make sure, and saw the minutes were still ticking away.

“Jim?” She said. “Hello?”

“I’m still here. Hold on, let me put you on speaker phone.” Dead air once again. “Okay, please repeat this so Johnny can hear?”

Jessica sighed. “I’m going to hang out with Matt and his friends from now on. What’s the big deal?”

Johnny’s familiar squeal sounded and suddenly his voice came through the receiver. “Jessie’s got a new boyfriend!” The last part was drawn out exaggeratedly, and Jessica couldn’t help but roll her eyes, feeling a slight blush creep up her cheeks.

“He’s not my boyfriend! Jeez, you guys.”

“Aww, and she’s modest!” Jimmy said now. The conversation was turning out almost identical to the one they’d had when she was over at his house.

“Shut up. Gosh, I thought you’d be proud of me for finally taking a stand, not making fun of me!”

“Oh, believe me, we’re proud. Right, John?”

“Of course! That’s why we’re poking fun. This is like…the best thing to happen since…anal sex, or some shit. And you should take that as a highly praised compliment because anal sex is the bomb.”

“Oh, my God,” Jessica groaned. “I swear, I’m surrounded by gay people. Brian and Zack are gay, too.”

“Who’s Brian and Zack?” Jimmy and Johnny asked simultaneously.

“Matt’s friends. They’re really nice, too. Horny, but nice.”

“We must meet them,” Jimmy prompted.

“Yeah, maybe we can have a foursome!” A slap was heard and Johnny cried in complaint, as he was obviously the receiver of the abuse.

“I don’t fucking think so, squirt,” Jimmy said. “Go get me a soda.”

“Fine, but you don’t have to be so abusive!” Johnny’s voice faded out and Jimmy’s voice became clearer once again, as he’d taken the phone off speaker.

“Anyway, so, how are things other than that?”

“They’re okay. I haven’t told Jason or Isabel about what my plans are so they’ve been texting me nonstop all morning, along with a few other people.”

“That’s expected. Tell them to fuck off or something. You deserve so much better.”

“I know, and I’m finally realizing that.”

“Well, good. How are things with my lovely aunt and uncle?” Jimmy’s voice was laced with sarcasm during the last part.

“Pretty much the same. They don’t know anything about my sudden change in friends so things are as you’d expect them to be.”

“Oh, God. I can only imagine what’s going to happen when Marlene finds out you’ve dumped her precious little Jason.” Jimmy then went into a long spiel of mocking how Marlene was going to sound once she found out, complete with a dreadfully squeaky voice and dramatic gasps and whimpers. Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at her cousin’s antics.

“Good lord, Jimmy. What would I ever do without you?”

“Crash and burn, of course. But hey, listen, Johnny’s calling me. I don’t fucking know what he wants but I’d better go see what it is. Can we talk later?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good. I love you, lil’ cuz.”

“Love you, too, Jim. Tell Johnny I said bye.”

“Will do. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Jessica clicked her phone off and sighed as she looked at the screen to see she’d gotten five new text messages during the call. She heard it go off, but knew automatically that it was either going to be Jason or Isabel, so she ignored it. She skimmed through them once again, rolling her eyes at the constant curses used in Jason’s messages, and coming to a stop at Matt’s message from before. She hit the reply button and typed a response out, letting him know his words were highly appreciated and she would do just what he said and ignore her ex boyfriend and friends.

Sliding the phone shut, Jessica placed it back on her chest. She turned the television on and relaxed into her bed as the familiar, soothing voice of Jack Skellington sounded, and excitement filled her gut. The Nightmare Before Christmas, by far, was her favorite movie of all time. She, of course, had the special collector’s edition DVD stashed away in one of her desk drawers, but it was always a treat to watch when aired, so she kept it on and continued to text back and forth with Matt. Brian and Zack even jumped into the mix an hour or so later, and it made Jessica feel amazing. These people, whom she never would have even dreamed of becoming close to, were slowly filling her with absolute ease.

Now, Jessica could only hope that when Monday came, this peace of mind was tenacious enough to help her through it, secure and untouched.