Stonebrook High School

Chapter 78

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Jess suddenly felt self-conscious in front of this man who seemed so proper and clean and she tried to pull down her shirt which ended right over her belly button without making it obvious. "I- I wanted to talk to Lukas? Is he here?"

"My son? Are you a friend of his?" Lukas's father opened the screen door, gesturing for her to come inside. She laughed nervously, saying, "You could say that."

"Are you his girlfriend?"

She stopped in surprise and shook her head vehemently. "No! No, no, no, I'm not."

He laughed heartily and shrugged. "I'm just joking with you, dear. What's your name?"

"My name? Uh, I'm Jesse. Well, Jess. Jess Ryder." Did this man ever know her as a child? Would he recognize her if she said her original last name?

"Jesse? Do people call you Jess?"

"Yes, sir."

"No need to be so formal. Please, take a seat."

Jess sat down on the couch, the same one she had sat on when she first came to Lukas's house. Lukas's father moved to the kitchen, grabbing a cup and pulling out a small Tupperware box. "Do you like tea? Juice? Hot chocolate?"

She shook her head again, saying, "No, I don't need anything. It's fine, really." He scoffed and pulled out a packet from the box, chuckling as he opened it. "Alright, hot chocolate it is."

"Ah, you don't really need to do that–"

"Nonsense! You're a guest in my house and I will serve you as I please." He set the cup of hot chocolate down on the table in front of her. "Besides, Lukas won't be home for a while, so make yourself comfortable. Do you need the wifi password?"

Okay. Jess couldn't help but want to snort at that comment. How considerate of him to offer the wifi! Although she didn't need it since she already had it, she found it very amusing. "No, I don't. Thank you, anyway."

"Alright," he nodded. "Well, settle in. I'll fix up the fire and leave you be." He poked at the fire with the rod, moving the logs here and there before going upstairs, leaving her alone in the living room.

Hm. The house seemed to be okay despite the Witherstorm. The walls were dinged here and there but otherwise, everything was fairly intact. Her eyes drifted across to the fish tank by the wall and she went over to it. She looked at the bottom of the tank, bittersweetly smiling when she noticed there were no flakes of food floating at the bottom. Lukas had listened to her. A sigh left her lips as she watched the fish swim across her vision. If only she was a fish, floating away with nothing to worry about. Just a bystander, watching from far away.

What else was she supposed to do now? She had built up her nerves for nothing, really; he wasn't even here, yet. She hadn't even talked to him for a few months and she wasn't even sure he got her voicemail from a while ago. What was she doing? Was there really a need to do this? Why was she so distraught over this? What did Lukas have that Jess lacked in? Was it the ability to get over things? She held her head, feeling a migraine pound her skull. Ugh - it was probably better that she lay down for now.

Once she laid down on the couch, she realized just how tired she was and was not about to fight her eyes for closing ever so slowly. A small nap was fine - the hot chocolate was still very hot and the fire was so comfortable. A few Z's never hurt anyone...

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She rolled over, trying to get the heat from the fire on her front. Mmm - she was comfortable where she was, enjoying a nice nap at home.