Jessie and Katie 46 Jessie and Katie (in Friends and Lovers) - Episode 46 "Shock 'n' Y'all"
Written by: TVM (mrtvm@mrtvm.com)
Archive: www.asstr.org/~TheVertManArchive/Stories/Celeb/JessieKatie/Index.html
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"You're his new girlfriend?" Jessie asked.
"No...I mean, well we're friends and we spend some time together...but..." Karen stammered as she stared in disbelief at her daughter. "Wait...what are you doing here?"
"That's your daughter?" August asked, joining in the moment of shock.
"Oh my god, Karen's banging August" Sarah said then instantly covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a huge giggle. Grace turned and looked at her, blushing a deep red as she covered her face with her hands.
"Yeh...Yes, Jessie's my daughter" Karen said to August. "And she's your friend, the one who spent the weekend?"
"Yeh, she came down here with Grace and Sarah for a few days" August said.
"You invited my 15 year old daughter to stay with you for the weekend?" Karen asked as her temper grew hot.
"GOD NOOOOOOOO" August said, "Grace asked me if she could bring some friends down for the weekend, and I said yes. She didn't really mention who she was bringing."
"Yeh I said just me and Sarah were coming down and I was bringing a friend" Grace said, trying to cover up August's small lie. "I didn't mention who it was." August shot Grace a look that said "Thank you."
"Ok fine when they got here, you didn't think it was wrong to have four teenage girls in the house, alone with a man?" Karen asked.
"Four?" August asked and then remembered that Steph was there too. "No wait, Karen, one of those four is my niece Steph, the one I told you was coming down for a while" August said. "And as for Grace, she and Sarah are 18, so they can make their own decisions."
"That's two lies" Grace said to herself.
"Oh yeah, I'll bet her father would just love to know what you've been doing" Karen said.
"MOM!!!" Jessie screamed as Karen's head snapped back to meet her daughter's. "You better not. I swear to god if you tell him, I'll never speak to you again."
"Jessie stay out of this" Karen said.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Jessie screamed as she stomped her foot violently. "Nothing happened, GOD DAMN IT, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. That's why we came down here, cause Grace thought I was gonna go crazy and she wanted to give me some time away from everything."
"Jessie, how could this possibly be my fault?" Karen asked in shock.
"Well let's see Mom, since you found out I was gay you've barely spoken three words to me" Jessie said, "And oh yeah, this'll make your day Mom, Katie, you know the slutty whore who made me gay, just dumped me. And come to find out you took my name off the answering machine. Do you know how that made me feel? DO YOU EVEN CARE?"
"Jessie the answering machine got erased on accident" Karen said, now trying to remain in control.
"Yeh I was playing with the phone and I erased it myself" August said, "It wasn't intentional. Honestly."
"And yes I care, I love you" Karen said.
"Sure got a funny way of showing it" Sarah said as the entire crowd looked at her.
"Sarah shut up" Grace said as Sarah turned and looked at her in shock. She then stepped in front of her and said softly "You're not helping. Let them settle this."
"Ok Mom you love me right?" Jessie asked as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Yes as much as ever..." Karen said.
"So in the last few weeks when you could have been spending time with me..." Jessie said, "...you've instead been spending all of your time here."
"Jessie this is only the second time I've been here" Karen said, "August and I meet at a cafe and we mostly talk and keep each other company."
"You know what, I don't even care" Jessie said as she attempted to walk away, but was stopped when Karen grabbed her arm holding her in place. "No young lady, you're gonna listen to me. I'm sorry for the way things..."
"LET HER GO" Sarah screamed, moving towards Karen and Jessie as Grace grabbed Sarah's arm. "Grace let me go."
"Ok, what?" Jessie asked, "You have my full and undivided attention....Mommy" Jessie said with a smirk as Karen quickly released Jessie's arm and moved in front of her.
"August has nothing to do with any of this" Karen said, "I didn't call or come by..."
"Why?" Jessie asked with a hurt look in her eyes, "Because you're embarrassed of me? What?"
"I needed time to adjust" Karen said, "and I didn't exactly think you wanted to see me anyway."
"Hey guys" August said, "Let's go in the house and give them some privacy."
"Ok" Sarah said as she felt Grace take her hand firmly, "Just remember I'm only a few feet away."
"Your such a bad ass" Jessie said to Sarah as she passed, feeling Sarah squeeze her hand for a moment as she grinned before she, Grace, Steph, and August disappeared inside the house.
"Maybe I didn't wanna see you, but you could have tried to call or something" Jessie said, "and you did refuse to see me when Eli tried to talk to you."
"He did not" Karen snapped, "he came in ranting and raving about the way I treated you and we just ended up screaming at each other."
"You deserved it" Jessie said, turning around and walking up the steps and sitting down in the swing.
"Maybe I did" Karen said, sitting down on the top step, "I hit you. I swore I would never do that to one of my children. I've regretted that every day since."
"I...." Jessie started before Karen continued.
"I am more sorry for that..." Karen said the tears coming to her eyes, "...than anything I have ever done."
"Don't expect me to just jump up and hug you and forgive you for everything" Jessie said quietly, "You don't know how bad that hurt me. And I don't mean the slap either."
"Jessie I'm sorry" Karen said sobbing, "What more do you want me to say?"
"I want you to say you accept me for who I am" Jessie said, tears coming to her eyes. "And I want you to say that this whole stupid scene with Sarah in Nashville should never have happened. And I want you to love me again..."
"I do, I do love you" Karen said, crying harder, "I love you with all my heart, you're my baby."
"You're gay..." Jessie said before being cut-off.
"STOP SAYING THAT" Karen snapped, "I'm tired of you throwing that up in my face every chance you get."
"Mom it's what I am" Jessie said as her tears came streaming down her face.
"I know, I get that ok" Karen said, "I'm trying my best to accept it."
"Do you think you ever will be?" Jessie asked after a long silence.
"Yes....I'm trying Jessie, I'm trying..." Karen said as Jessie stood and opened the screen door. "It's hard...."
"Whatever" Jessie said as her tears started again, "Just know this...Mom...when you are ready to have a daughter who's not straight, I just might not want you in my life."
"JESSIE..." Karen screamed in horror as Jessie went running down the hall and slammed the bedroom door. Realizing after a few moments that she wasn't coming back, Karen again slumped her head into her hands and began to cry. She was sobbing quietly until she heard the screen door crack and pop as it opened. Looking over, hoping it was Jessie, she saw Steph standing uncomfortably in the doorway, seemingly wanting to say something, but not knowing how or if she should.
"Are you ok?" Steph asked, "God that sounded stupid, of course you're not ok, I'm sorry."
"It's ok" Karen said softly, "Did you need something?"
"Yeh" Steph said, "Look, you don't know me and I don't know you so what I'm about to say might be out of line and interference in a family matter, but I think you should know the truth...."
"Go ahead" Karen said, thinking Steph had a comment about the fight she and Jessie just had.
"UMMMMM.....August wasn't lying earlier" She said nervously, "about Jessie and Sarah and Grace. I mean he likes having people around and when they called and asked if they could come down, he jumped at the chance. Besides he was worried about me and wanted someone for me to hang out with. He wasn't cheating on you, or trying to make it with Jessie or anything or with Grace or Sarah for that matter, it was totally innocent. I swear to you."
"I believe you" Karen said.
"And you won't ground Jessie or get Sarah or Grace in trouble?" Steph asked.
"For someone who just met them, you sure are worried about them" Karen commented.
"Well yeh, Jessie's like my new buddy; we sorta bonded" Steph said smiling, "And Sarah's so goofy, how could you not like her. But anyway, ummmmm, could you just not say anything? Please?"
"I won't say anything" Karen said as she turned around and looked out over the yard.
"PHEW" Steph said as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Thank you."
"What's my daughter like?" Karen asked as Steph stopped in mid-turn as she headed back into the house.
"Excuse me?"
"Jessie..." Karen said, looking back at her, "What's she like? It's like I don't even know her anymore."
"Well...." Steph said, pausing for a moment to think as Karen invited her to sit down and she joined her on the steps. "She's really smart and a little goofy, probably hanging out with Sarah too much. But she's a really strong person too, I think."
"But what now?" Karen asked, "About..."
"About being gay?" Steph asked bluntly as Karen nodded.
"She's hurting, really badly" Steph said as Karen's face fell, "She tries to hide it, but I'm pretty good at reading people. This break up with her ex, Katie, I think it was really has her confused. She can't understand why she got dumped. Sorta like me, but that's a whole other conversation. Anyway...and she's hurting over you, big time. She doesn't get why you can't...."
"Talk to her" Karen said quietly.
"Yeh" Steph said.
"I just don't get it that's all" Karen said, "What did I do wrong to make her this way. I don't get it."
"I don't think it was you" Steph said, "I'm straight mind you, so I don't know any of this for sure, but I believe it's something you're born with or not, not something you become."
"She's my only daughter" Karen said, beginning to cry again, "Why did she have to be this way."
"It's not her fault" Steph said defensively, "and if you believe that, you don't deserve her as your daughter."
"You're probably right" Karen said, "But I am trying to understand, I am. It's just hard."
"Look I'm not gonna pretend I know everything about being gay, cause I don't" Steph said, "Fact is, Jessie is the first gay person I've ever known. But after meeting her, it's changed my mind about a lot of things. Like someone's sexual orientation being a reason not to like them or love them."
"I do love my daughter" Karen said, looking back at Steph with tears still coming from her eyes.
"I see that" Steph said calmly, "But your daughter is hurting right now, badly, and she needs you. If you don't go to her, you might not be able to when you get over this thing you're going through."
"I know" Karen said after a long pause, and then heard the screen door slam shut and looked up to see Steph walk down the hall towards the bedrooms.
"Karen?" August said from the door. "You ok?"
"No" She said, inviting him to join her and as he did, she laid her head on his shoulder. "My life is such a mess."
"You just need some time" August said reassuringly.
"Why should I though?" Karen asked, raising her head and looking at him pointedly, "I've always been the first person to jump to someone's defense when they were discriminated against and I've never had a problem with people who are different. My last serious relationship was with a black guy too. So I'm not prejudiced or am I?"
"How long have you been broken up?" August asked.
"A couple of days" Karen said.
"You just broke up with your boyfriend? Why?" August asked.
"It wasn't working" Karen said, "And I felt guilty spending all that time with you and never giving him an excuse. I just couldn't do it anymore."
"Karen when you said you didn't wanna talk about your past, I excepted that" August said standing up and pacing back and forth. "But I never knew your life was falling apart around you. I refuse to be the reason you destroy your life; I mean with Jessie and this other guy. I won't do it."
"You're not" Karen said firmly, "And I really think all this has been good for me. I needed some trauma and drama in my life."
"Ya think so?" August asked laughing.
"Yeh I do" Karen said, standing to join him. "And I know things look bad between me and Jessie, but believe me they're better now than they were just an hour ago. We talked for a change and without either of us screaming the whole time or me abusing my child. I think if we give it some time, both of us can start again."
"Well I like having people around most of the time" August said, taking her hand slowly, "so if you need some time out of the city you can always come here, you and Jessie both. I think Stephanie is gonna miss her anyway, we better work out the visitation right now."
"August you're crazy" Karen said, laughing as she hugged him, "is she gonna be staying with you long?"
"Yeh I'm trying to talk her dad into letting her spend her senior year here" August said, "She was in a real bad situation back home in Omaha and I can't stand to make her go back."
"This would be a real good place to start over" Karen said, looking around.
"Yeh that's why I moved down here" August said as Grace come out of the house carrying several large bags and sat them down in front of the car.
"Karen I appreciate your not say anything" Grace said simply, "Jessie needed this time."
"Don't worry about it" Karen said.
"Wait..." Grace said, stopping and turning back around, "Now I know how you guys originally met, but how did you start seeing each other?"
"Well as luck would have it" August said. "After we met at the bookstore that day I remembered that I left your copy of my novel in the SUV, so I went out to get it."
"And my car was stalled" Karen said, "And I was parked in front of him. Me, knowing nothing about cars or anything mechanical, was all panicked when August asked if he could look at it. He said the engine was flooded and to just give it a few minutes."
"So with the coffee shop being right there I asked her to join me for a cup" August said, "And before we knew it, we were lost in conversation. That's why I was gone for so long. And she called me a few days later and asked if I wanted to meet and we just sorta took things from there."
"I'm glad you found someone..." Grace said as a smirk crossed her face, "...your own age."
"Grace Manning" August said, kicking at her as she grabbed the bags and scampered towards the back of the car laughing.
"By the way" Karen said, "I have another son and an ex-husband you should know about it."
"More secrets?" August asked, laughing.
"Yeh more secrets" Karen said, wrapping her arms tighter around him as Sarah and Jessie came out of the house with their bags, followed by Steph.
"Now remember you better call me when you get home" Steph said to Jessie as Grace and Sarah loaded the trunk down. "I mean it young lady."
"Ok ok geez you're such a pest" Jessie said as Steph laughed and surprised her with a warm hug.
"Call me on my cell anytime you need to talk" Steph whispered in Jessie's ear, "Ok?"
"I will, I promise" Jessie said, smiling, "Thanks."
"You too" Steph said, "You helped me more than you'll ever know."
"Same here" Jessie said as she playfully pushed at her arm, "You better call me too, anytime."
"I can be annoying" Steph said, hugging her again and holding it a moment before pulling away, "So since I've got Grace's cell number, I'll be talking to ya soon. You can bet on it."
"Bye guys" Steph said, hugging Sarah and Grace at the same time, "I had so much fun this weekend, thanks for coming down."
"Bye" They said in unison.
"Come here Annie, come here girl" Sarah said, dropping to her knees as Annie came running up barking excitedly and Sarah hugged her. "I'm gonna miss your crazy butt too. Bye girl."
"Well I think me and Annie are gonna go for a long run in the woods and have a good cry" Steph said, "I hate goodbyes."
"But this isn't goodbye" Jessie said. "It's just until I, I mean we see you again."
"Exactly" Steph said touching Jessie's hand gently before she turned and ran off with Annie barking noisily as she ran behind, "BYEEEEEE."
"We're gonna talk when I get home" Karen said as Jessie glanced at her briefly and then nodded, while never making eye contact and then climbed into the car.
"We'll take care of her" Grace said to Karen and hugged August.
"You girls have a safe trip home" Karen said as they pulled out. "Bye."
"Bye guys" August said.
* * *
"Will you two stop already?" Grace asked in frustration an hour or so after leaving August's as she pulled into a rest stop a few miles outside of Chicago. She watched Sarah tickle Jessie until she could barely breathe from laughing so hard. Sarah finally stopped as Jessie scrambled to the other side of the car. "Bring your ass up here right now and leave her alone."
"Just remember Jan, I'm only a few feet away" Sarah said as she climbed over the seat, stopping when she felt a hand on the back of her thigh just above her knee. She heard Jessie giggling as she looked back. "You're dead."
"Bite me Marsha" Jessie said as she opened the door and jumped out, barely missing Sarah's grasp. Grace began laughing out loud as Sarah crashed into the back seat and scrambled to get out of the car to run after her.
"Stop, STOP" Grace said, grabbing Sarah's arm. "I need to talk to you."
"Can't it wait, just until I kill Jan?" Sarah asked with a pleading look in her eyes.
"No it can't, now listen" Grace said, pulling a crumbled piece of paper out her pocket and handing it to Sarah.
"Oh god I totally forgot" Sarah said, reading the address on the paper.
"It's right down the road if you wanna stop" Grace said.
"Yeh I guess I should" Sarah said with a smile, watching Jessie out of the corner of her eye as she snuck back towards the car slowly. "Might find some deep, dark family secret."
"Come on Jan, I forgive ya" Sarah said, turning and catching Jessie hiding behind the car in the next spot. "I'll buy ya a soda."
"Ok" Jessie said nervously taking Sarah's hand.
"Hurry back you two" Grace said, giggling as Sarah went skipping off with Jessie following and laughing at her.
Grace waited impatiently as Sarah and Jessie goofed off inside and started flirting openly with some dude with a cowboy hat as they came out. Finally getting them away from the guy and back into the car, they went about the task of finding the storage place. After getting lost for the second time, they stumbled up on the front gate and as Jessie played with the radio in the car, Grace and Sarah headed inside.
"Eugene Grasser?" The attendant asked.
"Yeh, that's my dad" Sarah said.
"Ok lot 249B" The attendant said, "Follow me."
They followed him, not outside as they figured it would be, but down a long hall way behind the front desk and into a room that looked much like a huge safe. He inserted the key into one of the boxes and much like in a safe deposit box, pulled out the long metal corridor. Slamming it down on the table, the metallic sound echoed in the room as he flipped the keys to Sarah and said, "When you're done here, let me know and I'll show ya to the storage locker."
"I thought this was the storage locker" Sarah asked as Grace took the key from her hand and popped the lock on the box.
"Oh no, this is only for insured items" The Attendant said, "Such as money, jewelry, and bonds or the like. The other one is for whatever the owner decides to store there. But the items in front of you are fully insured, or they're here by special request of the owner and for an extra fee, I might add."
"Oh ok thanks" Sarah said, looking down as Grace opened the top of the box and revealed the contents: an over stuffed manila envelope. Sarah picked it up and read the writing on the label, "To Sarah, My Daughter on her 18th birthday."
"Open it" Grace said urgently as Sarah giggled and smiled at her then impulsively leaned down and kissed her softly.
"I love you" Grace said dreamily as Sarah took the seat beside her and kissed her again before saying, "I love you too."
"Here goes nothing" Sarah said, taking a deep breath and dumping out the contents on the table. There were several laminated letter sheets of paper, one appearing to be a letter and the other, some kind of certificate which caught Sarah's eyes immediately as Grace looked over the rest of the stuff. A very polished wrist watch, a heart shaped canister with some type of jewelry, and a thick white envelope were now scattered around in front of them. Grace picked up the wrist watch and thought from the looks of it, it must be worth some serious money.
"Must be worth some serious coin" Grace said, looking at Sarah, who suddenly had a very shocked look. The coloring in her face was now almost completely gone.
"Sarah, what's wrong?" Grace asked, touching her face as she turned to look at her.
"My mom, Sara, wrote me a letter before she died" Sarah said in a barely audible voice, "and she said....wait...wait, where's my birth certificate?"
"Here it is I think" Grace said, looking briefly at the other piece of laminated paper before Sarah snatched it away and searched it for the information she was looking for.
"NO...NOOOOOO....NOOOOOOOO" Sarah said, pounding her fist on the table as it rattled and then stood up and kicked the chair away violently, making it slam loudly against the wall as she stood.
"Sarah, no stop, what is it, what is it?" Grace asked as Sarah slumped to the floor and a few seconds later began crying.
"Look at my birth certificate and tell me what it is says" Sarah said as she cried in sobs, "at the bottom where it lists my father's name."
"Oh ok" Grace said, grabbing the certificate and joining Sarah on the floor. Sarah pointed out the line she wanted Grace to read. "Father....Kile Jason Molloy?"
"WHO IN THE HELL IS THAT?" Sarah asked as she took it and threw it across the room. "My dad's name's not Kile, it's Eugene. It always has been."
"What did the letter say?" Grace asked as she reached up and pulled it off the table. Sarah took it and searched it with her eyes and began reading it aloud as she continued to cry. "Sarah I hope you will some day be able to forgive me for never telling you the whole truth. But if you're reading this, then my time on earth was cut short. So I wrote this letter to explain why I decided to not tell you that the man you thought was your father was in fact not your father."
"He never knew the truth either..." Grace read a few lines below that. "For disclosing the truth would have destroyed any chance you had of having anything in your life. So I made the decision to keep this terrible secret in exchange for insuring your future."
"She did it for me" Sarah said as Grace looked at her with a smile.
"She was protecting you in a way" Grace said.
"She just wanted to make sure I didn't have to go through what she did at my age" Sarah said, "Still hurts though."
"Yeh" Grace said, putting her arm around Sarah's shoulders, "But just because he wasn't your biological father doesn't mean he's not your father."
"Explains why he never gave a shit about me" Sarah said, beginning to cry, "He probably knew the little bastard he was raising wasn't his."
"Stop it" Grace said, hugging her as Sarah cried.
"GET OFF ME DAMN IT" Sarah screamed as Grace jumped away at the sound of Sarah's voice.
"What did I do?" Grace asked, reaching to touch Sarah's face when her hand was slapped away. "Tell me what I did, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help."
"JUST GET OUT" Sarah screamed in between sobs. "I DON'T NEED YOU, I DON'T NEED ANYONE."
"Sarah Renae Grasser you do too need me" Grace said, looking at her in shock as Sarah stood and looked as if she were gonna storm out of the room. But instead she fell back against the wall behind her as Grace rose from the floor too. "And I need you to too."
"NOOOooooooo I don't" Sarah said, covering her face with her hands and cried louder as her voice trailed off.
"I won't leave you, I won't. I'm not like everyone else" Grace said softly as she moved back in front of her and again hugged her, "I love you, do you hear me? I'm not just saying that, I love you Sarah. I love you with all my heart. And you do too need me, and I need you."
"Please just don't leave me" Sarah cried as she hugged Grace tightly and held on.
"I won't, I never will" Grace said, forcing Sarah to look at her. "I love you. I'm not gonna leave you."
"I'm sorry" Sarah said softly as Grace smiled and replied. "It's ok."
"It's just I've never been in this deep before" Sarah said quietly, "I'm getting scared, that you'll wake up one day and won't want me anymore."
"Even with Katie?" Grace asked.
"It's not even close" Sarah said, touching Grace's cheek, "You're all I ever think about. You're all I ever wanna do. I think I finally found someone who will love me and let me love them back without suddenly disappearing."
"YOU DID, YOU DID" Grace almost screamed as Sarah giggled, "I was beginning to think I'd never find someone who felt the same about me as I did for them. Eli? August?, yeh right. Neither of them did, but you do."
"We're like perfect for each other" Sarah said, smiling brightly as Grace wiped her tears away, "Ya think?"
"I would never have made love to you if I didn't think so" Grace said as Sarah grinned and kissed her softly for a long moment.
"And I love you too" Sarah said as they hugged.
"They're right in here miss" A voice said as the door opened behind them.
"GEEZ you two can't even keep your hands off each other for five minutes" Jessie giggled as she closed the door behind her.
"Shut-up" Sarah said as she took Grace's hand in hers. "We just had some stuff to sort out."
"Yeh" Grace said smiling, "You wanna tell her?"
"I just found out the man I thought was my dad isn't" Sarah said as Jessie's expression turned to surprise. "My mom lied to me my whole life."
"Oh my god I'm so sorry" Jessie said, moving to Sarah's side as Grace took a seat across the table. "So you're ok now?"
"Mostly" Sarah said, smiling at her who gladly returned it. "But I could always use a hug."
"That I can do" Jessie said as she wrapped her arms around Sarah's neck.
"Do you know I love you?" Sarah asked her a second later.
"You do?" Jessie asked, looking to Grace who was lost in re-reading the letter from Sarah's mother.
"Your friendship means more to me than you could ever know" Sarah said, returning the hug.
"I feel that way too" Jessie said, "I love you too....Marsha."
"Now that we all love each other can we go?" Grace asked as the room erupted in laughter.
"Here's your permanent key and this is your storage unit" The attendant said a few minutes later as they arrived at the storage unit of Sarah's. He was pointing at the garage door in front of him which was flanked by another door of normal size.
"It's really big" Jessie said, sliding her down the smooth metal surface of the big door. Sarah took the key as the attendant walked away and began fumbling with the lock. "Maybe you'll find some good porn inside."
"Shut-up Jan" Sarah said, laughing so hard she could hardly stand.
"Got it" Sarah said as the lock fell to the ground and she and Jessie raised the garage door over their heads prompting a huge gust of stink filled dust to fill the air. "Someone or something died in there."
After waiting a minute or so to hopefully let the stink filter out, they walked inside and turned the light on. A tarp covered car was the first thing that struck everyone's attention. Jessie strolled around to the back and found what she thought was holding it in place and jerked the long Velcro strap. Another gust of the same stink filled dust went flying as the tarp shrunk away to almost nothing and went sailing forward, landing under the front wheels where the front ends of it were lodged securely. Sarah's eyes nearly glazed over as she looked at the sight before her, a cherry red Mustang with white leather interior.
"1965 Fastback Mustang" Sarah said, "Dad, I mean Eugene, always said he wanted one and I guess he got one. SWEEETTTTTT."
"He is your dad" Grace said from the other side of the car, "and you know that."
"I guess" Sarah said, "But check out this ride, OH MY GOD."
"So you gonna take us rollin' in this fine machine?" Jessie asked.
"Are you kiddin'?" Sarah asked with a teasing smile, "Of course, I just hope it still runs."
"Well let's see, cause the keys are still in the ignition" Grace pointed out as she opened the driver side door and held it for Sarah, who practically knocked Jessie down as she ran around the car and hopped in. "Now do you know how to start it?"
"UGH, bite me" Sarah said with a grin, before kissing Grace quickly on the lips, "might shock you to know this, but I know how to drive."
"Since when?" Grace asked, climbing into the backseat and lying down as Jessie laughed from outside and pecked on the window, wanting someone to open the passenger's side door for her.
"My Dad taught me when I was about 14, or maybe 15, right before the accident" Sarah said as she played with the key in the ignition for a moment and opened the door for Jessie who plopped down on the other end of the bench seat. "I don't a have license or anything though."
"If you let me drive it once in a while, I'll help ya get your license" Grace offered, leaning over the backseat.
"You can drive it anytime you want" Sarah said nonchalantly, "that is if it runs."
"Well it ain't moving yet" Jessie said, looking around as she began to giggle, "So I doubt it'll be running anytime soon, but maybe you could drive it if it'll start."
"Don't make me hurt you" Sarah said, pointing a finger at her as Jessie laughed out loud. And then with her hand on the key said "here goes nothing" and twisted the key, only to hear a sputtering noise and have the engine die seconds later.
"Try it again" Grace said as Sarah did just that and made everyone's hearts jump to their throats when it started rumbling and after a few seconds of weird noises, it was happily purring like a big cat. Grace almost jumped through the seat as she grabbed Sarah and hugged her and followed it with a kiss to the cheek as Jessie stomped her foot on Sarah's and made the engine roar louder.
"We are so going rollin' tonight in this bad boy" Sarah said, jumping around almost beside herself with excitement as she and Grace began chatting about their plans for the night. Jessie turned to lower the passenger's side window and accidentally banged her knee on the glove box. Reaching for her knee as the pain started, she felt the lid flop open and a collection of papers and envelopes began falling out. Catching them with her hand, she glanced at the label of one and it read "To Sarah, from your dad on your 18th birthday." She glanced to see if Sarah or Grace had noticed. She watched Sarah slide out and Grace follow as they circled around the back of the car. Figuring Sarah had enough news for one day, she shoved the contents back inside the glove compartment and closed it tightly making sure it would stay that way before she slid across the seat into the driver's side and roared the engine once again.
"JESSIE" Sarah screamed as she and Grace jumped backwards from the shock of the suddenly blaring engine.
To be Continued....