The Girl Next Door

Chapter 21

"Yeah and then he kind of just stayed quiet after that." Perrie said finishing a story she was telling. She and Jesy were on her bed in her bedroom.

"High five to that." Jesy tagged Perrie. The blonde had just told a story about how her mother shut down a chauvinist. "What does she do for a living again?"

"She owns a ton of businesses and runs them. She's the manager and the owner. It makes her really busy." Perrie sounded sad by the last part.

"I'm sorry. Do you miss her?" Jesy placed a gentle hand in Perrie's lap. The blonde's legs were crossed. Jesy's were too. Their shoes were on the ground. Perrie's bed was a king sized one and her room was bigger than enough to hold it. The place was a mess though. The blonde had confessed to being messy a while ago.

Perrie shrugged. "I guess. I miss both my parents."

"Your dad does . . ."

"He's in a rock band. His band isn't like really famous but a lot of people buy their albums and go to their concerts." Perrie explained happily. She got up then. "What did your mam do before she passed?" She sounded shy as she started searching her room for something.

Jesy had never been asked that. It was because no one knew that her mother was dead. Can't believe I told Perrie before I told Bucks. "She was just a cashier at a store. Nothing fancy." She wondered what the blonde was searching for.

"Oh alright. That's not a bad thing though. Did you get to be around her plenty?" Perrie looked frustrated with herself that she could not find what she wanted.

"Well yeah I did." Jesy smiled at a memory but shoved it away. Those days were gone.

"See? I bet you enjoyed your time with her before . . . you know." Perrie sat down again seeming to have given up.

Jesy cracked a nostalgic smile. "I . . . did." She sighed as the smile disappeared. "Just makes me miss her more sometimes though." She mumbled.

Perrie set a hand on Jesy's lap like the girl had done to her before. "It's okay." She hugged her tight. "I'm sure she's proud of you where she's watching from above." She whispered.

Jesy breathed out. "I hope so."

Perrie let go and smiled. "I always tell myself that the hard things in life happen to make us stronger." She looked to her lap fiddling with her fingers. "I say it all the time but . . ."

Jesy tilted her head. The girl did not look so good. "You okay?"

"I still feel weak and beaten." She whispered.

Jesy licked her lips. "W-why?" She was a little blank at this moment in time.

"I was so young when it happened. I got invited to a party with Jade and I felt excited to go. It was my first high school party." She looked away. "He used to be the school's it boy. He was really cute and all the girls liked him. He was really mean and shallow though."

Jesy got closer to listen. Perrie sounded so far away to her. She's talking about the night she got raped ain't she?

"He'd been dancing with me for a bit and I enjoyed it. When I'd gotten tired and wanted to go talk to Jade he pulled me close and said that we were going to have more fun. I'd been a little startled but I was so merry that I followed him to a room. In there we had chatted for a bit. I hardly remember the conversation. I only remember what followed." She held her arms. "I'd tried really hard to get him off but . . ."

Jesy felt sorry for her. She guessed that one of the perks of being poor and unpopular and almost never leaving her house was that she could never end up in situations like that. "How did you escape?"