Chapter 3:

AUTHOR NOTE: After realizing that it had been awhile since I read this story thoroughly, I did some serious revision of the first two chapters and whatever I had already written.  So there are some changes, but I didn't deviate from the original idea of the story.  One change though is I changed her phone from a Sidekick to a Blackberry to be a little more with the times...as you can see, that when I started writing the story, when Sidekicks were the "it" phone.  So with that said, I hope you enjoy!

Over the next few days, I finished unpacking my boxes with the help of Travis.  My things looked at home here.  Although it was a big change from my room back at our large apartment with a view of the city buildings, the field was almost satisfying and a relief from the large city.

"So, how do youlike Hawesville now?" Travis said as we sat on my white fur-covered chairs in my room.  Everything fit nicely into my new room with nothing crammed together.

"It's alright.  I haven't seen too much of it though.  Is there a mall or something?" I asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

“Yeah.  It’s small.  But we have one.  Actually it’s a favorite place to hang out among the teenagers,” he said uninterested.  He obviously wasn’t one for malls.

"Well, I think we should go there.  It would be fun!  And I could meet some more people," I said.

"Okay.  Let's go then," he said unenthusiastically.

We slid into into his truck again and began our drive to the mall when he said, "So, you haven't told me much about yourself."

"What do you want to know about me?" I asked, not really wanting to talk about New York and all my friends with the fear of bursting out into tears.

"Well, I don't know.  Your friends, New York, what you likd to do, you know.  Just stuff, I guess," he said, watching the street.

"Okay, I had great friends.  New York was big.  And I like to shop.  There you go," I said, looking out the window.

"Ha ha, very funny.  I'm serious though.  What was your dazzling life like?"

"Fine.  I had tons of friends.  But only a few were my true friends, you know what I mean?  Sarah, my best friend, was funny and fun to be around.  But she was also sincere and had my back.  We were best friends since forever.  Evan was my boyfriend.  I loved him.  He was my first true love.  Have you had a true love yet?"

"No.  I haven't dated many girls.  Only a few.  And they were short-term things.  Lasting at the most three months."

"Oh.  Well anyway, we broke up right before I moved.  He didn't think our relationship would last over a long distance.  I knew it would, but he didn't believe me.  I can just feel it though, he still loves me," I said, hating the fact I couldn't be with him.

"Sounds to me he wanted to move on but didn't know how to tell you," Travis said.

“What?” I said, jerking my head around to look at him.

“I said, it sounds like he wanted to—”

“I heard what you said.  That’s not like Evan.  He loves me. Okay?  He even said so.  Now can we move on to another subject?” I said, annoyed.

“Sorry.  Didn’t mean to upset you.  What did you like to do in New York?”

“I shopped everyday.  It was my thing.  That’s why I want to see this mall.  Where is it anyway? We’ve been driving for half an hour,” I said impatiently.

“Just few more minutes, it’s kinda on the other side of Hawesville.  But, it ain’t anythin’ special.  No designer stores or nothin’, just a mall,” he warned me.

“I’m not looking for Armani, though it would be nice, but a Barney’s would do wonders.  I don’t need Versace but Saks would be nice,” I said matter-of-factly.

“I’ve never heard of any of those stores,” he said dumbly.

“Are you kidding?” I said.

“No.  But here we are at the Hawesville mall,” Travis said, pulling into a parking spot outside of the smallest mall I had ever seen.  It looked like somebody stuck a super Wal-Mart and a super Target together and stuck a sign saying “Hawesville Mall” on it.  I sat in the car seat, my mouth gaping.  “What’s wrong?” he said, interrupting my thoughts.

“Um, nothing.  I just—it’s kinda—well,” I said, trying to find the right words.

“Not what you thought a mall would look like?” he said.

“Yeah.  It’s kind of small.  And, well, doesn’t look like a mall at all,” I said, disappointed.

“Well so is Hawesville,” he said, opening the door and climbing out of the driver’s seat.  I sat in my seat for a little while longer, regretting this idea, then got out.  The parking lot was small, to match the “mall”. 

Once inside, we were met by a rush of cold air.  It wasn’t very big on the inside either.  There were a few stores on both sides of us when we walked in.  Then as we walked further there were two ways to go: the food court and more shops.  The food court had hardly anything in it and the stores the other way continued only for a little bit.  None of the stores were anything interesting.  In fact, they were country stores with furniture, paintings, and toys.  There were only a few clothing stores.  And they included hunting clothes, baby clothes, and discount pre-owned.  There wasn’t even a Victoria’s Secret, and I don’t even shop there.

“Well, it’s definitely not your everyday mall.  Nor a mall at all,” I said, looking disgustingly at the map.

“I told you.  I figured you wouldn’t like it,” Travis said.

“Whatever.  I’ll just shop online from now on,” I said, realizing that Hawesville was not the place for me.

“Hi there Travis!” a female voice said.

We turned around to see Kara, Megan, Greg, Jeff, and sadly, Malcolm.  Obviously, they never went anywhere without one another.

“Hey, Kara.  How’s it goin’?” Travis said.

“Good.  Oh, hi there, uh—Jennifer?”

“Jessica, it’s Jessica,” I corrected her.

“Sorry.  What y’all doin’ here?” Kara said.

“I was just showin’ Jessica the mall,” Travis said to the group.

“Isn’t it lovely, Jessica?  Everyone hangs out here,” Megan said.  She always seemed to be in a happy, go lucky mood.

“Um, it’s different,” I said.

“You must be used to the big expensive shops in New York, huh?  Hawesville ain’t like that, cutie.  We’re down to earth here.  So, you’ll haveta get used to it,” Malcolm said, entering the conversation.  Kara and Megan both looked over my outfit.  At the same time Jeff and Greg were looking me over, but I don’t think they were taking notes on this season’s styles.

“I guess I will.  I’ll also have to get used to assholes and gaping stares.”  All four pairs of eyes shot up and looked at my face.  “If you’ll excuse us, we have better things to do than sit here and chat,” I added before turning away.

“Hey, Jessica, we should go out sometime,” Malcolm called after us.  I turned around when he said it.

I smiled and said, “We’ll have to see.”  Then turned and continued walking with Travis.  I must say, I was flattered that the hottest guy in Hawesville (so far) wanted me.

We got back to the truck and Travis opened the driver’s side door and got in.  He didn’t even make a small motion to open my side.  I was kind of pissed.  But I brushed it off my shoulder and climbed in myself.  We drove in silence for the first fifteen minutes.

Finally I said, “It’s not so bad of a mall.  At least there is a mall.”

No answer.  I sat there for a little bit then took out my Blackberry, figuring he didn’t feel like talking.  No missed calls.  No text messages.  Did everyone forget about me already?

“I’m sure no one forgot about you,” Travis said, scarily reading my mind.

“I’m not worried about that.  I know they won’t forget.”  Hopefully, I thought.

He pulled into my driveway and looked at me.  I looked at him.

“Are you coming in?” I asked.

"No.  I have—er—things to do,” he said.

“Oh, well okay.  I guess I’ll see you later,” I said a little disappointed.  I had gotten used to his company everyday.  I got out of his car and walked into the house, not turning to watch him drive off into the dusty road.

In my room, I sat on my bed wondering why he had acted like that after we left the mall.  Out of nowhere, my Blackberry began ringing and vibrating on my bed sheets.  I looked down at it to see Sarah’s name and picture.

“Hello?” I said into the phone after waiting a few rings to avoid looking desperate.

“Jessica?  Ohmygawd! I haven’t talked to you in ages!” I heard Sarah’s familiar voice say.

"Hi Sarah.  I’ve missed you so much!  What’s up?”

“Nothing really.  Chase is having a party tonight.  You know, his annual summer party thing.  It’s gonna be so different without you though,” she said with a sad edge to her voice.

“Yeah.  I wish I could go.  How’s Evan?” I could care less if Chase was having another party or not.  I wanted to know about Evan.

“Oh, you know.  Hold’n up I guess,” she said sounding distracted and bored.

“Oh.  Well, I miss everyone!”

“We miss you too!  I wish you were here!  We could go shopping for Chase’s party if you were.”

“Yeah, anything is better than this stupid mall here,” I said, longing to walk into Saks and smell that familiar smell that I loved.  It was a tantalizing mixture of cologne and perfume and clothes.

“Sorry.  Well I gotta go ‘cause this is costing me, like, double the money or something ‘cause it’s, like, roaming or whatever.”

“Okay,” I said laughing at her blonde-ness, “I’ll talk to you later, think of me at the party!”

“Who won’t?  Chat later, Jessica!” she said before hanging up the phone.  I hung up the phone after hearing the click on the other end.  I looked down at my phone for a little while longer then got up to walk into my closet.  I felt at home among all my racks of clothes.  I looked at my shirts, my jeans, my shorts, my capris, my sweaters, and my many shoes.  I tried to remember where I got each of the things, but I couldn’t.  I could hear my iPod in the iHome blasting a loud song with a distinct bass.  I remembered the huge parties we’d have this time of year.  I wished I could be back home, in New York, getting ready for Chase’s party.  Getting ready for a serious make out session with Evan.  Or climbing into a taxi that I hailed for Sarah and me to go shopping.  I missed that.  I missed the busy city.  I missed the city that never sleeps.  I missed staying out late, going to clubs, and getting drunk.  I missed smoking a cigarette on the steps of my high school.  I missed—I was interrupted by the ring of my cell phone.  I briskly walked into my room, hoping for it to be Evan.  It was a phone number I didn’t recognize but I answered it anyway.

“Hello?”

“Jessica?  Hey! This is Tanya!  How are you?” she said, sounding concerned.  I hated Tanya.  She was annoying and always spreading gossip about Sarah and me.  She tried to be cool, and part of the “in” crowd, but she was not even close.

“Oh, Tanya.  I’m surprised to hear from you.”

“Yeah, well I found your phone number in my contacts and I was like, ohmygawd, I wonder how rehab is going for her.”

“Rehab?” I asked, knowing that it was probably another stupid rumor.

“Yeah, is it true?” she eagerly asked.

I decided to have fun with it.  I mean, what the hell?  I’m not gonna be stuck with the rumors so why not?  “Oh, yeah it is.  Ha, doesn’t even feel like rehab, you know?  It’s like a spa.  You should try it sometime.  Besides, it’s totally in right now.  It’s like the new black or something.  So, if you’re cool, you’re in rehab.  Well I gotta go get my massage.  Third one today! Can you believe it?  Talk to you later,” I said hanging up before I could hear her answer.  Now she would go spreading that around, and before you know it, half of our all girls’ school would be in rehab.  I laughed at the irony.

I walked out of my room, bored and looking for something to do.

“Why don’t you call Travis?” my mom suggested after I asked her for an idea.

“What?  No, Mom, I can’t just call him.  He’s not like my best friend,” I said.

“Oh, well excuse me for jumping to conclusions!  You two have spent most of your time together the past few days so I just assumed—”

 “Well don’t assume!”

 “Well, then help me serve dinner by getting your father from our room.”

I walked upstairs and yelled into their room for him.

“Okay, be right there!” I heard him yell from somewhere inside the room.

We ate in silence for a while, until I finally said something because I couldn’t stand the quiet anymore.  “So, have you heard anything from the car places yet?”  I was anxious to get their cars here that I couldn’t stop asking.

They looked at each other and my dad answered, “Honey, we kind of have something to tell you.  We know how excited you were to get the Benz or the Jaguar once they got here, and we decided something.”

All of a sudden my heart started to race, I was waiting for them to jump up and say, “You’re getting the Benz!” or something to that degree.

"We decided to sell the cars.  They both sold too!” my mom finished for him.

I was stunned.  This couldn’t be happening.

“What?”

“Well, it turned out that they couldn’t transport the cars here, so we had to sell them.  We got enough money for them to buy two new cars for us.  Listen, sweetheart, we’re sorry it came down to this, but we really had no other choice.  We got paid almost full price for both of them.  So, you’ll just have to accept it.”

Luckily I was finished so I dashed outside before I would have to go through anymore disappointing news.  Outside it was warm and humid.  I sat on the stairs looking out to the road.  There was hardly any wind, so it was a calm night.  It was nice to sit outside and not hear any cars or traffic.  My phone suddenly began vibrating in my pocket pulling me from my thoughts.  Without looking at the caller ID to see whom it was, I answered it, “Hello?”

“Um, howdy Jessica,” I heard Travis’s familiar voice say.  I giggled.

“Hey, Travis.  What’s up?”

“Listen, I’m sorry for how I acted before,” he said.

“It’s okay.  Do you want to come over?  I’m kind of bored.  We can, like, talk about it or something,” I said, figuring that it would be okay if I asked him over since I didn’t call him.

“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” he said, hanging up the phone.  Soon, I saw his red truck pull into the driveway.  He got out and began walking up to me looking quite handsome in the dusk light.  I was excited to see him but I wasn’t going to admit it.

“Hey,” I said, greeting him.  He sat down next to me on the stairs.

“So, about before.  I’m sorry I acted like that.  It’s just that he—well, to start off, Malcolm’s always been like that.  He’s always been rude and I just can’t stand him.  Then he goes off today, bein’, I don’t know—,” he said.

“Mr. Macho Man?” I offered.

“Sure.  I just was mad, an’ I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.  I’m sorry,” he said.

“I forgive you.  You didn’t need to give me a long explanation.  I understand.  But thank you for apologizing,” I said, realizing that I would have never been this sincere to a guy back in New York City.  Hawesville was already having a lasting effect on me.  We sat there for a few moments looking at the sun set in quiet.  Then my mother burst through the front door and outside.

“Who wants to go for ice cream?” she yelled.

“Me!” Travis and I said at the same time.

“Wonderful!  We’ll take our car,” my mom said, squeezing past us on the stairs.  We stood up after she got her way through and followed her to the rental car.  All four of us, Travis, Mom, Dad, and me, climbed into the car ready for ice cream.  We drove to the ice cream shop in Downtown, recommended by Travis.  After eating our ice cream cones, which pretty much consisted of us lapping at the melted custard, we went back to the house. 

“So, how long were you dating, er, Evan?” Travis asked.  We had been sitting on the front steps for a while talking.

“Two years,” I said, looking down at the dirt.

“Oh, that’s a while for high school, I guess,” Travis said, watching me through the corners of his eyes.

“I guess.  We’re great together though.  It’s one of those things where when you think about him, you thought about me and vice versa.  We became the couple everyone gossiped about,” I said, wanting to end the conversation.  I was still hurt by Evan’s decision to break up with me.

“Oh,” he said, realizing that it was a touchy subject.

“What about you?  You never finished telling me about your so called friends,” I said, looking at him.

“Yeah.  Well, long story short, I wasn’t like ‘em.  I wasn’t meant for that group, if that’s what ya wanna call it.  So I just up an’ left it.  That’s all to the story,” he said, fidgeting nervously.  I sensed that he wanted to get off the subject.  So we sat in silence some more until he stood up and stretched.  Then he said, “Well, I best be goin’.  Pretty late.  I’ll talk to you tomorra’.”

“Okay.  See ya around,” I said standing up and turning to walk inside.

“Wanna go downtown tomorrow?” he asked slowly walking to his car.

“Sure.  Come by at, like twelve, when I’m ready.  See you tomorrow,” I said, walking inside.  Without anyone noticing, I watched his car pull out of our driveway through the blinds.