Jellybean Jones

Chapter 19: Thia

Jellybean POV
After Mr. Cassidy totally shut Jackson down, he refused to share his favourite movie and would no longer speak. Mr. Cassidy continued to choose more and more people, there were seven of us left, including me, Rosie and Seth. He looked around for someone to call on. Eventually, his eyes fell upon me. "Alright, your turn- wait! Have we met before?" He asked me. "I don't believe so." I answered, wondering if I'd ever seen him before.

"Okay, continue." He instructed. He had such a fun, carefree vibe, I loved it. "Well, I have a bit of a weird name-" I began, but Mr. Cassidy cut me off. "Sorry to interrupt, but I just had to tell you that I had a high school student who introduced himself the exact same way. And do you know what his name was?" I'm sure he expected me not to know, but I knew. "Jughead, if I'm not mistaken." I answered. "It was Jughead. She's telepathic!" He announced. We all laughed.

"That'd be really cool, but I'm his little sister, that's how we introduce ourselves sometimes, I'm Jellybean." I finally finished. "Ahhh, I knew I recognized you, now let's hear about your favourite movie." Mr. Cassidy directed. "My favourite movie is by far The Breakfast Club. I love it because it's about this group of teenagers who are polar opposites and they come together to break stereotypes." I explained. I could go on longer, much longer.

"Thank you Jellybean, okay how about you." He pointed at a few more people and then at Rosie. "Hi, my name is Rosie and my favourite movie would probably have to be, ooh that's a tough one, let's go with The Hunger Games because in my opinion, they did a good job of keeping it semi-close to the book." She said. "Thank you Rosie." Mr. Cassidy said. He chose a few more people. "And last but not least, sorry I hate that phrase, you!" He pointed at Seth.

"Hello, my name is Seth. My favourite movie is also The Breakfast Club and I like it because it's such an amazing story and all of the characters are relatable." He answered, I smiled. "Well thank you all for sharing, I'm afraid that's all the time we have today," He pointed at the clock and the bell rang. "but I'll see you all soon." We left the classroom. "I think I have a new favourite class." Rosie said. Seth and I nodded in agreement. Mr. Cassidy was awesome and there was no denying that.

Jughead POV
The day went by rather slow, in my opinion and when it was finally time to go pick up Jellybean, it felt like breakfast had been forever ago. She was sitting on her usual bench smiling and talking to Seth. She saw me and came over. "Hi Jug!" She was in a good mood. "Hey Jelly, did you have a good day?" I asked. She nodded. "We had Drama today!" She was very excited about this.

"And our teacher was Mr. Cassidy. He said that we introduced ourselves the same way. He's cool and he totally shut Jackson down!" Jellybean was smiling. "Yeah Mr. Cassidy's a great teacher. Did you say 'Well, I have a bit of a weird name.'?" I asked her, that's how I introduced myself to him. "Yep." She said. I looked at her and tried to remember what life was like without her. I didn't want to ever loose her.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "What?" She said looking up at me. I smiled. "I just don't want to loose you again is all." I explained. Her smile faded, but I knew she was still happy. She wrapped both her arms around me and clearly blinked back tears. "I don't know how I made it without you." She mumbled. "I was just thinking the same thing." I told her. I loved my little sister and that was no secret.

Jellybean POV
I spent the rest of the day with Jughead. He had suddenly become very protective over me, I didn't mind though. Dad didn't get home until late and he wasn't up when we went to school the next day. The next three weeks were pretty normal compared to what had been happening lately. School was pretty boring, except for, of course, Drama. We were in Mr. Cassidy's room right now and it had been exactly three weeks since he had told Jackson off.

"Welcome, students!" He called as we all began to enter. We all sat down is our usual spot. Once we were all seated, he began to explain what we were doing today. "Alright class, today what we're going to be doing is," he paused here to drum roll with his fingers on his desk. "speaking!" He finished. We all stared at him blankly.

"You all look confused, but that's okay! I excepted that! So what I mean by speaking is we are all going to get up and come to the front and just talk for thirty seconds. Now, we're doing this because this will help you all become more confident and comfortable in front of an audience." Mr. Cassidy explained. I thought that this was a great idea. The first few kids to go barely even spoke. Then Jackson went.

He was himself. Then Rosie. Then Seth. Both of them were pretty good. Then the rest of the students went and finally, my turn came. "Alright Jellybean, you're last so you better impress me." He said teasingly. I scoffed. "I'll try." I responded, walking to the front. My time began. I was comfortable and started speaking.

"'Some say the world will end in fire," I began in an even tone. "others say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favour fire, but if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate, to know that for destruction ice is also great and would suffice.' That poem is called Fire and Ice by Robert Frost." I finished confidently. I returned to my seat. Most kids spoke about the most random things, but I decided to be unique and recite a poem I'd already memorized.

"Alright thank you class! Such fine speakers we have in this room, but next week! I've got a surprise for you all, see you then." Mr. Cassidy said excitedly as the bell rang. I headed out with Rosie and Seth. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I didn't know the number, but it was just a text. I miss you Thia. It read. I stopped dead in my tracks. Thia was based off Forsythia, my real name.

The only person to ever call me that was Ryan Birch. "Jellybean! You alright?" Seth asked turning around. I shoved my phone in my pocket. "I'm fine." I said quietly and I was on edge the rest of the day. Jughead picked me up after school. "What's the matter?" He asked, seeing my face. I tried to blink back tears, but it was too late, I had started to cry. I hid my face and started to walk home.

Jughead POV
"Jellybean, are you okay?" I put my hand on my crying sister's back. She shook her head. "I got a text." She whispered. "I'll show it to you when we get home." Her voice was quiet. We entered the silent house to gather, Dad was at work. Jellybean was silent. Tears poured out of her eyes, but she didn't make a sound. She grabbed her phone and showed me the text. I miss you Thia. It read. "Only Ryan called me Thia." She whispered and then, there was a knock on the door.