Unnoticed | Leon x Jessie

Chapter Five- Jessie

(Now following Jessie)

She felt elated. Jessie wasn't quite sure what happened, but it felt like the start of a friendship. Which was completely crazy considering they don't know each other, AND most of the times she saw Leon, he was spying on her. But she felt this strange pull towards him, like the two of them were destined to be friends. Or at least confidants? (Or it was her curiosity, but she liked to think bigger) He seemed awfully surprised by himself when he mentioned his mom.

The sun was setting and Jessie was still walking home, following the trail of trees she had carved a little line into. Luckily, reached her house before it got too dark to not see the markings. But, as soon as her house came in sight, her feeling of joy she got from the waterfall, dissipated. That was because inside her house, her mom would be there. And her mom was the reason she had to leave her friends and her town which she absolutely loved, behind.

Preparing herself for a fight with her mom about being out late, she opened the door. 

Nobody was there.

'She must be working out in the scrapyard. She didn't even care that I was gone.' Jessie thought, she was filled with anger. But then it cooled into sadness. She and her mother had an okay relationship before they moved, don't get me wrong, they definitely weren't the poster 'mother-daughter we get each other and everything is awesome' but it worked for them.

'All she cares about is her work.' 

Not bothering to change into PJs, Jessie flopped on her bed. She refused to cry. Her mother had told her crying was good, which had made Jessie even more adamant about not letting the tears fall. No way she was going to give her mother what she wanted.

Somehow, she fell asleep.

(Following Pam, Jessie's mother)

"Jessie! Where are you?" Pam yelled into the dark woods, sweeping her flashlight over every surface. 

She and Nani were fruitlessly searching the forest for Jessie. Ever since she didn't get back before curfew, Pam was looking for her. Who knows what's in this jungle? A horrible image of Jessie lying dead in a pool of blood flashed in Pam's head. She broke down and started crying, "This is all my fault, she could be dead for all we know."

"Shhh, it's okay." Nani said, "I'll head back to the house to see if she's there."

Pam nodded.

Nani headed swiftly back towards the house. 

Filled with determination, Pam picked herself up and continued searching. She wasn't going to stop until her daughter was in her arms.

(Back to Jessie)

Light assaulted Jessie's eyes through her tightly shut eyelids. "Uuughh." She groaned, sitting up in her bed. She looked at the time. 6:42 a.m. Why did she have to be awake so early on a Saturday? Rolling over, she tried to go back to sleep. Instead, memories of last night zoomed into her brain. 

'Leon'

'Mom'

There was no way she was going to fall back asleep now.

'I should do some work on Scrappy'  Falling out of bed, she paused at the door. How was she going to face her mom? 'It's fine' She told herself, 'Just get some breakfast and head outside.'

Walking into the kitchen, her eyes connected with her mom's. And in the blink of an eye, her mother was hugging her so hard she thought she might pass out. "Ak! Mom! Too tight-" "Never do that again, I thought I lost you."

"Wa-?" Jessie choked out.

Releasing her out-of-breath daughter, Pam firmly placed her hands on Jessie's shoulders and said, "From now on you are coming home before your normal curfew. Where were you? Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? Did I do something wrong? Nani and I deserve an explanation as to why you were gone so long, considering we were out all night looking for you." Pam took a breath, "Are you okay, Jessie?"

That's when Jessie realized, she had gotten it all wrong. Her mother cared about her so much she went searching for her in the middle of the night.

"I'm sorry mom, I was going for a walk and I... lost track of time." Jessie said sadly, she imagined the disappointed look on her mother's face. 

"Oh, Jessie, don't be sad. It's alright, how about I make your favorite? Chocolate chip pancakes in the shape of nuts and bolts?"

"Thanks mom, that would be awesome."

〰*****〰

"So Jessie," Pam started.

"Yeah mom?" Jessie put her dirty breakfast plate in the sink.

"I'm going to be gone a bit for work, today... Tomorrow... and Monday." 

Jessie looked at her mom. "I'm really that bad?"

"What? No-"

"How am I getting to school?"

"You could walk, it's not too far away."

She stared blankly at her mom. "So... you're saying that you need to be gone for three days, and I have to get to school on my own?" Jessie was kinda mad.

"I'm sure you can manage." Pam retorted unsympathetically. 

"Manage?! Of course I can manage considering all the times you left me alone!"

"You have Nani..." Pam muttered, cleaning the dishes.

"You say that all the things you do are for me, but you can't even look me in the eye!"

That's when her mom snapped, "I'm just trying to give you a better life! So you don't have to grow up, abandoned by your parent's like I did!"

"Maybe I don't want a better life. Maybe I just want my mom." Jessie started walking away to the front door, "Oh, and you know what? I already feel abandoned by how much you're gone." And she slammed the door on her mom's stunned expression. 

Trying to calm her breathing, Jessie took in lungs full of fresh, outdoor air. Snatching her blowtorch, she forcibly put her welding helmet on and just burned metal. It helped her forget about... everything. When she was calmer, she pulled out Scrappy and carefully made much needed adjustments to her pet turret.

Putting her stuff away, she and Scrappy went to an open area and set up training dummies and spent the rest of the day going ham on all of them. By the end, most of them were just a pile of ashes. Panting heavily, they headed back home and Jessie ate dinner with Nani in silence.

Struck by a sudden thought, Jessie asked, "Nani, wanna help me do some hacking?"