by Amy McClung
It had been almost two weeks since Will died and Jackie still avoided everyone. The cold shoulder crap had to stop, so I went to her house and Mrs. Martin answered the door. She started to tell me that Jackie didn’t want company, but I stopped her, “I need to talk to Jackie. It’s important, and I'm not leaving until I see her.” Mrs. Martin opened the door, backed up, and motioned for me to come in.
“Good luck, sweetie. I hate to see you two girls fighting. Your mom and I have been worried about you both.”
Setting the record straight, I stated, “Oh there's been no fight. Your daughter has been giving me the cold shoulder for some unknown reason…but it stops today.”
Mrs. Martin gave me a silent thumbs up and an encouraging smile. I went straight to Jackie’s room and found her curled up on the bed staring at the wall. This is not what I expected at all. Jackie wasn't the type to be depressed or a shut-in. She has always been the one who wanted to get outside or the one that was cheering me up.
Gently, I sat on the bed next to her and said her name, she didn’t move; even when I touched her arm. I moved off the bed and knelt in front of her. She was in a bit of a daze, staring ahead, her eyes were glazed over with tears. It didn't seem she even knew I was there beside her. I brushed her hair out of her face and softly spoke, “Jackie, hon, what's wrong?” Her eyes rolled up to look at me.
Throatily, she said, “Parker…what are you doing here?” She cleared her throat and got out of the bed. She walked over to put her robe on. I looked around the room and noticed that she had taken down all her pictures of Mitchell and me. There was nothing left on her vanity that showed any sign of friends.
“What's going on Jackie? Mitchell's been worried sick about you,"
Jackie sneered and turned to me, “I guess you would know a lot about what Mitchell's thinking.” That was weird, not sure where that even came from. She was depressed one minute and angry the next, an exorcism may be in the works for this chicks future.
“Are you mad that Mitchell has had to stay with me while Quinn hunts for the crazy vampire? Because you're more than welcome to come with him when he has to babysit. I'd love to hang out with you too,” I said, hoping it would make her feel more welcome if that were the issue at hand.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at me as she said, “Everyone needs to take care of you lately. You have Quinn, you had Will, and now you have Mitchell. You're fully protected. Plus, you get to be a superhero werewolf and live for hundreds of years never looking older than thirty. I’m surprised you even remember who I am. No one seems to think I need anyone around for protection…I’m just a simple weak human, after all!”
My mouth dropped open in bewilderment. I had no idea where this was all coming from. “What the hell Jackie? Mitchell said you've been pulling away from him and I've tried to get you to come hang out, but you keep making excuses why you can’t. No one has forgotten about you, it's almost the exact opposite, you seem to have forgotten about everyone that you used to care about” I protested. “When did you turn into such a snotty hateful witch?”
Jackie smirked and went to open the bedroom door, “Just leave Parker, I’d rather be alone. I’m sure you have some boyfriends waiting for you. I guess someone had to fill Christine’s shoes by being the town tramp.” Her words made me furious and I fought every urge I had to slap her silly, but this was not my Jackie talking. I stood there for a moment before walking out; she slammed the door behind me. I jumped and looked back at the door, wondering to myself what just happened.
As I was walking down the porch, Mitchell was walking up the sidewalk and beamed when he saw me. “Hey Parker! This is a good sign, Jackie must want visitors.” When Mitchell got close enough, I put my hand on his chest and told him that it wasn’t a good idea to go in. He started to walk past me and I grabbed his arm and explained a little about what just happened. He dropped his shoulders in defeat and reluctantly started to leave. Glancing up at Jackie’s window, I saw her watching us with an irate look on her face. What's going on with her?
Another week went by, with Jackie continuing to ignore us all at school. She ate lunch by herself, all the while looking mad at the world. I felt bad sitting with Quinn and Mitchell, it felt like we were mistreating her, but something was going on inside her and I wasn’t sure what it was. The three of us tried to laugh and act normal, but the awkwardness was noticeable, something was missing.
This week was the Halloween dance. I never got a chance to run anything by Jackie, so I'm not sure my plan will work to get her and Mitchell together. After school, I caught up with Mitchell in the parking lot. “Hey, I meant to talk to you about the Halloween dance,” I said to him.
He radiated disdain as he responded, “What about it? It’s not like I'm going, I don’t have a date. My girlfriend won’t even look at me and there's no other girl I want to go with.”
I draped my arm through his and led him toward the parking lot. “That's what I need to talk to you about. Quinn agreed to take me and I thought you should get a costume for you and something that matches for Jackie. Then you show up to surprise her and take her to the dance. It would be fun. You know I'm right!” I poked his side, he jerked away from me with a short laugh.
“OK, okay…I'll think about it. What are you and Quinn going as?”
I wagged my finger at him, “Uh-uh, can’t tell you. Quinn hasn’t got a clue what I'm wearing and I don’t want him finding out. He isn’t telling me what he's wearing either. I have an idea for you and Jackie though. You can go as Cinderella and Prince Charming, it’s her favorite fairy tale.”
“That sounds great, Park. You’re always so good at knowing what your friends need,” he stated sincerely.
Mitchell and I went to the local Halloween store and picked up the costumes for them. He cringed when he realized he would have to wear tights as Prince Charming, but I convinced him that he's manly enough to pull it off in a handsome way. He seemed to buy that, or at least he humored me. The dress for Cinderella was beautiful and I couldn’t wait to see Jackie in it. I hope this would put a smile back on her face. My costume was perfect as well and I couldn’t wait to see Quinn’s face when he sees me in it. This was going to be awesome and everything will finally get back to normal again…I hope.
It was the night of the dance and I came downstairs to wait for Quinn. My parents were in the living room with bags full of candy for the trick-or-treaters. They both said I looked great. I hoped Quinn thought so too, I couldn’t wait to see what costume he came up with. The doorbell rang. Before opening it, I took my right arm, stuck it under my cape, and lifted it in front of my face so you could only see my eyes.
As soon as we saw each other we both cracked up laughing. His costume was a wolf man with hairy arms and hands, chest hair and lots of facial hair. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and black pants. My costume was a black fitted dress with a red velvet cape over it. I had a white face paint on and blood dripping from my lips. To top it off, I wore a shiny black long wig with white stripes in it.
Once we stopped laughing, he held out his arm and I wrapped mine in it. “I can’t believe that we both had the same idea,” I said as we got in the car.
“Yeah, me neither. You're one sexy vampire though, I must say that.” Quinn said as he looked me up and down and whistled. He leaned and kissed my neck as he helped me into the car.
Mitchell was waiting for us. “You look great Mitchell. I can’t wait to see Jackie.”
He smiled, “I have her dress in the trunk. She hasn’t spoken to me so I thought I would just show up with it tonight and hope that the romantic gesture is enough to make her want to see me again.”
I had a lot of confidence that this plan would work. “If I know Jackie, she'll be so surprised and it is definitely a very romantic gesture.”
He grinned, “You look hot, by the way, Parker. Smoking hot Vampire.”
Quinn turned and pointed a finger at him, “Hey, eyes off my smoking hot vampire. I’m a werewolf tonight and I'll bite you man…like that” He snapped his fingers and all three of us laughed.
We arrived at Jackie’s and watched as Mitchell walked up the path with her dress and knocked on the door. Jackie came to the door and they talked, and then he showed her the dress. She stood with her hand on her hip and shut the door in Mitchell’s face, leaving him standing there. I got out of the car and ran up to him. “What happened?” Mitchell pushed me back to the car. I shoved his hand away. “What's going on? Why isn’t she coming?”
Mitchell looked so downtrodden, “She's going to the dance, just not with me…she has other plans and said she doesn’t want to be seen with any of us right now.” The only response I could think of was to embrace him. When I looked up, Jackie had opened the door again and stood there staring at us. Once she realized I saw her, she slammed the door again.
Pulling back from Mitchell, I stomped towards the door in anger to confront her. Mitchell grabbed me up by the waist and dragged me back towards the car. Once he let me down, I huffed and puffed to the car where Quinn waited patiently. When we filled him in on what happened, he was as appalled as we were, but no one had a clue what to do about it, so we headed on to the dance. This whole debacle just caused more pain for Mitchell and I felt like it was my fault. He loved this girl for twelve years and in one night she shredded his heart and he didn’t even know what he did to lose her.
Everyone at the dance was in costume and looked great. Jackie arrived a little after we did. She was dressed as a vampire slayer, complete with stakes and holy water, dressed in a leather tank and pants. She looked like the trampy slayer from Buffy named Faith. It’s like she wanted to do anything she can to hurt Mitchell. I'm not sure who her date was because they were dressed as the guy from V for Vendetta and I didn’t recognize their shape.
Whoever it was, he and Jackie seemed cozy together. She grinned from ear to ear and he kept his hand around her waist while whispering things to her that made her giggle. That made me so mad, I let out a growl and stomped angrily toward her when Quinn picked me up and whipped me around. “Sweetheart, let it go, we're going to have fun tonight. Let’s dance.”
He led me out on the dance floor and the song Monster Mash came on. Quinn walked toward me like Frankenstein and I laughed and faux screamed as I scooted back from him. Then he grabbed my hand pulling me to him and dipped me. Playfully, he lunged forward as though he was going to bite my neck. He lifted me back up, raised his paws and swung them back and forth as he made his way towards me. The song changed to a slow one. Quinn put his arm around my waist, I lay my head against his chest as we swayed to the music. When the song ended, I told Quinn I was thirsty and he went to get us a drink.
A few of the costumes around the room had me giggling to myself and then Mitchell caught my eye. He sat on the bleachers looking very miserable. I walked over and extended my hand to him in an invitation to dance.
He led me onto the floor and spun me around once and I giggled as I put my arms around his neck and his went around my waist. “I'm really sorry about tonight, Mitch. I guess I don’t know Jackie as well as I thought I did. I don’t feel as if I know her at all anymore. I hate that, because I miss my best friend so much. I'm really sorry I suggested tonight and caused you so much pain.”
Laying my head on his chest, he stroked my hair. “I don’t blame you. You wanted to help your friend out. I miss her too…so much.”
All of a sudden, Mitchell pulled back from me. I looked up and Quinn stood there with our drinks. He had tapped Mitchell’s shoulder to cut in. They served the typical red punch and I had just taken a sip when Jackie danced by with her partner and said “Watch out Quinn, you'll lose your dance partner soon. Mitchell enjoys putting his hands on Parker lately.”
My arms reached out to choke her and Quinn held me back. “Ugh! What is her problem?” I asked, exasperated.
“Let’s go to my place, Parker. Mitchell we can drop you off at home if you're ready,” Quinn offered. Mitchell decided he would walk home alone instead.
All the way to Quinn’s I griped and complained about Jackie. I talked about how sad I was for Mitchell and how I wish there were something I could do to help him. Ever since Mitchell had been staying with me, when Quinn was away, he would confide in me about how much he missed her and all the things he loved about her. It gave me a new appreciation for him. Actually, at the moment, Mitchell and I have a better relationship than I do with Jackie.
Quinn pulled into the driveway, put the car in park, and laid his head back on the seat. I reached over and entwined my fingers in his hair, “You okay? Have I been rambling again?”
He shook his head, “No, I like when you talk to me. But, and I don’t want to fight right now, I don’t like the attention Mitchell's giving you lately.”
I snickered, “Are you jealous? That's really cute.”
A sly grin came over his face. “You think it’s cute?” I nodded and he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine.
When he pulled back, I laughed because he had white powder all over his hairy face. “Let’s go in and shave you already,” I said as I tried to clean the makeup off of him. He went to change while I took off my makeup with paper towels and water. I slipped my wig off and tried to straighten my hair out to make myself look decent again. I assumed a sexy pose on the couch and waited on Quinn, fixing my dress to where I showed a little leg for him.
My phone went off with a text alert.
Mitchell: Hope I didn’t make Quinn too mad. Thanks for the pity dance tonight. You're a good friend.
Me: He's not mad, don’t worry. That was not a pity dance! You're one of my best friends and I care about you. Things will get better soon, hang in there.
Quinn came out of the bathroom looking like his sexy self again. His eyes dropped to my exposed leg and he whistled. I pointed my index finger at him and turned it around to point back to myself. He took the hint and headed toward the couch. He leaned over, our lips collided. He lifted me into his arms, turned, and sat back on the couch pulling me on top of him. My text alert went off again and he picked it up before I could. He glanced at it, rolled his eyes, and handed me the phone before lifting me up and moving off the couch. Stunned by rejection, I looked at the text from Mitchell.
Mitchell: I care a lot about you too, you're an amazing girl and it means a lot to me that you and I have gotten so close. Thanks again.
Quinn stood at the window now; I put my arms around him and kissed his back. “I was enjoying myself over there on the couch and was wondering why you stopped?” He placed his hands on mine and lifted them off his chest, then stepped away from me.
He faced me, “What's going on with Mitchell? If you have feelings for him, Parker, just tell me. All I want is for you to be happy, and if that's with Mitchell,” he scowled, “so be it, but I deserve to know.” I felt staggered, I wasn't expecting this. In the car, I thought Quinn felt a little jealous, but he actually believes I'm in love with Mitchell.
“I can’t believe you'd think that, Quinn. You're the only one I have feelings for…Mitchell is just a very good friend. That's all that the text was about. I told him that I cared about him and that he was a good friend and he was returning the sentiment. I don't want to fight about this, please. My night has had more downs than ups and I just want to sit here and make out with the sexiest man alive, who I happen to be crazy in love with.”
He looked at his watch and said, “It’s getting late, I need to get you home.” Well, that wasn’t the response I hoped to hear. I’m beginning to hate Halloween now.
He dropped me off at the house and did the usual kiss on the cheek for my parent’s sake. Defeated, I dragged myself up to my room, sad at how terribly this night had gone. I shut the door, turned out the light, and went to lie down. As soon as I hit the pillow, I jumped
back up and turned on the light. “You gave me a heart attack, Quinn!”
The floor creaked and I heard my dad’s voice call out, “Princess, everything okay?”
Frantically, I said, “Yeah, dad, just tripped over something in my room. Goodnight.”
There was something that sounded like a muffled laugh and he said, “That may be a clue to clean in there.”
Rolling my eyes, I sternly said, “Hint taken! Goodnight, dad.” His footsteps were getting further away and, once I couldn’t hear him, I turned around and Quinn was gone.
He appeared from under my bed with a goofy grin on his face. “He has a point about the room,” He said as he dangled a bra from his index finger.
My face turned red with embarrassment. I jerked the bra from him and whispered, “Can we go back to why you felt the need to scare the crap out of me?”
He walked over to me. “I'm sorry, I didn’t want to leave things as we did and I didn’t want to make your parents mad by bringing you home late.“
One thing still bugged me though and I had to ask. “Would you really give me up to Mitchell that easily if I were in love with him?”
He winced, “If it made you happy, yes. Would I be happy with it and not want to rip his head off…literally? Well, no promises there.” He kissed my hand and led me to the bed. I smiled as I fell asleep in his arms, it was a great end to a terrible night.
Chapter Fourteen