Looking After You

(26) Ages: 19 & 16

Ages: 19 & 16

Jenny placed her last article of clothing into her suitcase and zipped it shut. The reality that she was traveling half way across the world was finally settling in, twisting her stomach into knots. She turned when she heard two small knocks at the door and found her mother leaning against her doorframe with a conflicted smile across her face.

"All packed up?"

Jenny nodded and her mother pointed back towards the hall with her thumb. "I'm going to head to bed. You have an early flight in the morning." She knew her mom meant the reasonable thing to do would be to go to bed, but Alison wasn't the type of parent to force those kinds of things. She felt that Jenny would do the right thing and if she didn't, it would be her price to pay in the morning.

"Has dad gotten home yet?" Jenny questioned, her eyebrow arched. Alison shook her head and lowered her eyes to the ground a moment, a quick flash of grief and remorse took over her expression.

"No, he's working late. But he said he will be home in time to drive you to the airport tomorrow morning."

Jenny forced a smile despite her mother's expression - an expression she had chosen to ignore for quite some time. "Sleep tight. Love you."

"Love you too," Alison said before stepping out of the room, leaving Jenny with her thoughts and suitcases. A loud beep coming from the phone lying on her nightstand pulled Jenny's thoughts towards something else she had been ignoring for weeks. She hadn't spoken to James since that night he dropped her off, the night she told him everything and a small piece of her heart broke apart. He called almost every day and he even came to her house a couple of times, at first. When her father was home he had no problem turning James away and the times he came over when her father wasn't home, she would simply turn the volume up and drown out the sound of the doorbell and his pleas to talk. She knew she had never acted so immature, but she couldn't face him, she couldn't even hear his voice because it hurt too much. Maybe it was selfish to hurt him by cutting him out but she told him she needed some time and he needed to respect that. There was a small number seven in the top left corner of her phone, indicating she had seven voicemails. She had listened to six of them - some twice or even three times - but one was new, a call she had received some time earlier that day. Taking a deep breath, she listens to the message as his voice drowns out all her previous worries.

"Seven voicemails, twenty missed calls, and at least three of your dads get-the-hell-off-my-lawn looks but here I am, one more time in desperation. Jenny, I know you're upset, but you're leaving tomorrow and if you leave without talking to me I'm afraid nothing is going to be the same when you get back. Just please call me, note by carrier pigeon, SOMETHING!"

She heard him pause a moment to laugh briefly and she couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"Look, I know you need time and that's one thing I can give you. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do without you for the next six months and I guess...I'm just starting to wonder if patience is more of a curse than a virtue."

His voice grew quieter towards the end and a short pause took over the recording. Jenny's heart and mind were already reading too much into this message, so much that she was afraid her heart was mending itself just so he could break it again.

"Just call me back, please. Don't leave without saying goodbye."

He practically begged before the line goes dead, a voice recording asked Jenny if she would like to press one for more options. She stared down at the phone in her hand a moment before her motions suddenly become quick and urgent. Grabbing her jacket from the bed, she slid open her bay window and began crawling down the lattice work. She had only done it a few times before but that was all it took. She was a natural and within two minutes she was starting her parent's car and driving down the four lane. Technically, the car was her's. It was to be given to her on her seventeenth birthday, officially, but she already drove it to school every day. It was stupid to leave the night before her flight and explaining to her mother would have been a waste of time she didn't have. It was almost too late to tell James goodbye and that was more important than a year's worth of sleep. She suddenly felt so stupid for keeping him away so long. She waited and now she only had eleven hours before her flight left. Eleven hours to tell him goodbye. Eleven hours didn't seem like enough time to tell him everything she needed to say, eleven years wasn't long enough but she had to try. Taking up two spaces in the parking lot of the restaurant where he worked, she jumped out of the car and raced up to the door. Shaken and nervous, she swung open the door only to find a girl with her head turned back walking straight for her. She knew the impact was coming before it happened and she closed her eyes in anticipation. Less than a second later, the sensation of an iced drink runs from the top of her shirt down to the knees of her blue jeans. She shutters in response to the cold temperature as the girl in front of her covered her mouth in anguish and immediately began apologizing.