Stonebrook High School

Chapter 72

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Jesse had kept his promise, zipping his mouth shut about the fight between Jess and Lukas. The sister was relieved and spent her time sewing bright-colored threads onto the ripped Ocelot jacket to get her mind off things.

Her fingers weaved around the faux leather, turning it in circles to get the exact shape she wanted. Round and round went the needle, following the lines that Jess was imagining in her head.

Good thing she had asked everyone to let her be beforehand - Jess knew that she would never get this done or hidden from the others otherwise. With hours at her disposal, she threaded the string over and over again, forming colorful flowers to bloom from the scars of the ocelot's face. Explosions of blue, pink, red, and yellow covered the feline's muzzle and eye and Jess held the jacket up, smiling at her work. The ocelot had been brought back to life with her own hands and she hugged the clothing as if an actual cat was sitting there. Would he like the jacket like this? Would he even talk to her? Would he get mad at her for messing with his jacket?

So many questions and none she wanted to be answered from fear of negative responses. Grabbing her phone from the counter, she snapped a photo of the back and stared at the image. This would never capture the real beauty of her handiwork. Her fingers slid across the screen, opening the messages app and hovering hesitantly over one name. Should she do it? The awkwardness weighed down on her like Hercules holding up the sky and she closed the app. There was no way she could bring herself to. It just wasn't the right time, anyway.

Instead, she brought up the notes app, inserting the image in and typing underneath it. Her fingers, on auto-pilot, entered word after word, her soul pouring out and crashing onto the rocks of her emotions.

Wow. As much as this made her feel better, Jess was very embarrassed at what she wrote, hoping no one would somehow manage to open her Scroll and read it. Gently placing her phone back, she folded up the leather jacket neatly, hiding the new back on the bottom. No one would notice it for now.

A nurse walked by and Jess asked what time it was. The lady responded with noon, adding that their lunch would come by soon. The teen had been sewing all morning, leaving her with plenty more time to herself until the afternoon when Jay would visit her. It was probably too much time.

She laid down on her bed, pulling the sheets over her and adjusting her pillow. Jess took these moments to think about the memories she had reacquired, completely transforming her perspective on what she thought she knew. Her name hadn't always been Jesse Ryder. She had gotten in the accident with her brother. The people they lost to all those years were the Ocelots, but for some reason, she didn't really remember that. She knew the Ocelots even before high school - they had gone to the same elementary school together. Lukas had been friends with them before until the day he turned his back on them. Most mind-blowing of all was that she used to be friends with Aiden.

Aiden. The one person she thought she could never truly get along with despite her attempts to be nicer. In elementary, Jess and Lukas had met as small, curious preschool kids who wanted nothing more than new friends. The two of them would hang out and play on the playground or share books and food together. Lukas was how she had met Aiden originally until she and her brother had been taken out temporarily for homeschooling. It made sense now. The girl Lukas had talked about before - it was her. The reason she didn't remember Lukas and Aiden back then was because it was the twins' first exposure to the memory drug. Yes, the Reuben incident was actually their second time. The first time was due to bullying that they and the not-yet Ocelots had experienced, the bullying being so severe for the Jesses that the doctors agreed they were young enough to apply it on with no severe side effects.

Jess had forgotten Lukas and Aiden when they returned to elementary. In first grade, she was reintroduced to them and became good friends again, although the two were understandably confused when the female twin didn't remember them. However, the Jesses had then met Axel and Olivia, becoming very close friends with them, Jess losing her relationships with Lukas and Aiden due to her being excited at having a female friend.

They must have been so upset. She reached up and felt the yellow hairclip pinning up her bangs, stroking it softly. This hairclip... was given to her by Lukas in kindergarten. However, it was actually bought by Aiden who was too shy to give it to her himself, so he gave it to Lukas to keep. She remembered this. Oh, gosh. When she was fixing her hair in Computer Graphics... All those insults they exchanged. Insults stemming from years of frustration and upset between one another without the other side knowing. Aiden and the other Ocelots (minus Lukas) would mess with them in elementary because of this frustration at being unable to talk to each other.

Jess buried her face in her hands. What a mess. First, she had to apologize to Lukas and now she had to find a way to explain it all to Aiden as well. Her brother wouldn't understand her dilemma - being a boy, and all. Plus, he didn't know Lukas and Aiden until they returned from homeschool, so he wouldn't understand that part, either. Who could she talk to about this? Was there even a way to talk at all?

With all this drama, she should have a therapist. Actually, why didn't she already have one? She had gone through the Witherstorm and had her memories altered twice, for the love of God! A sudden wave of confidence washed over her and she asked another nurse to have a doctor recommend her to a therapist.

The nurse responded very quickly with an abrupt "You're already getting one" line. Wow. Okay. Confidence crushed.

Then the nurse said her first appointment was tomorrow.

Oh, boy. This was unexpected.