Don’t call her Jessica

“Who’s that girl who keeps staring at us? You two seem pretty close” you asked, looking back in Sarah’s direction to not seem suspicious.

“Who? Oh, Jess” Sarah said, taking a glance at who you meant.

“Just Jess?” you asked.

“Yep, don’t even think of saying ‘Jessica’ she already doesn’t seem to like you already based on the look on her face” Sarah replied with a smirk, trying your best to not look in Jess’s direction.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything to make her hate me… Have I?” you questioned, trying to look back through your memories for something you may have done.

“Hmm well you did promise me that you would get my phone back today. Maybe it's that?” Sarah teased, taking the opportunity to remind you about that while she made fun of the situation.

You glared at your sister but all that did was make her glare right back, only turning away when she went to grab something out of her bag.

“Look, I tried tracking down the principal at lunch but she just ignored me whenever I got close. Maybe you’ll have better luck with this than me” Sarah admitted, handing you the note that Mom had written for her to get her phone back.

You were planning on telling her that you were the last person the principal wanted to see but you thought Rebecca might be able to help so you kept the note she gave you.

“Fine, but you still didn’t answer my question about Jess” you answered back, getting annoyed that Sarah had tried to distract you with a topic change.

“Well before this past week you weren’t exactly what I would call a good big brother so she may be under the impression that you're a worthless piece of trash” Sarah replied calmly, a smile still on her face as she relayed the facts in a monotone voice.

“And you didn’t think to tell her otherwise when we’re now getting along?” you complained.

“Well there's only what, a little over a week left of school and then you’ll probably never see her again so what's the issue?” Sarah questioned.

She did have a point and if you were a better person you probably would have let it go but it left a bad taste in your mouth to know that someone had the wrong impression of you.

“You’re right but I’m sure your phone will be left here at school for a few more days if Jess isn’t told the truth” you warned, watching Sarah fail to come up with a valid answer to your scheme now that you both needed something from the other.

Part of you wanted to use your new Friday plans with Emma to help ‘convince’ Sarah but you had promised not to use that for **** and you intended to try and keep that promise.

She glared at you once again but she soon realised you weren’t willing to back down and that by her own words, she had more to lose in this if you didn’t make a deal.

“Fine, but if you don’t get my phone today then I’m going to tell everyone I know that you're a pervert again” Sarah announced, turning around and heading back to her friend group.

“What do you mean again?!” you asked raising your voice, getting a few looks from the nearby crowd but Sarah either didn’t hear you or just pretended not to, no back among her group which you weren’t about to walk into.

Like Sarah had said, you only had a few days left in school anyway so you won't see 99% of these people ever again anyway but leaving behind a legacy of being a pervert wasn’t exactly what you had in mind when you wanted people to remember you. That left you with getting Sarah’s phone which you certainly hoped you would be able to do with Rebecca on your side and the note from Mom just in case.

The line you were in suddenly started to move forward now that the teacher had finally shown up and you filtered into the classroom along with everyone else, hoping to find a quiet seat at the back and just get on with your work for the final hour of the day. There were still a few spots available and you felt you had got lucky when you saw a few empty spots at the back.

You felt your luck change however when Jess sat down next to you, turning to look at her and then seeing Sarah look as confused as you when she went to find another open seat. The class itself was religious studies, taught by a man whose passion for teaching probably died about 30 years ago so you got a worksheet to fill in and were left to your own devices.

Normally that was the perfect opportunity to stick with your friend group and chill out for the hour but Jess had still come to sit with you.

“Hey…” you cautiously greeted, getting silence in return.

Although awkward, you were glad she wasn’t staring at you and just seemed to be happy getting her work done in silence, something you would gladly do to keep the peace and to keep your mind busy.

Dammit. You didn’t think you would ever say this but you were sad that you had finished the work given out. You had actually been stalling given that the KDK upgrade had worked its magic, making the answers flow a lot quicker into your brain than they would have previously. Stalling for time only got you so far so you put your pen down and looked around the room.

Sarah and the rest of her friends had been closer towards the front of the line so you could see they had all found seats together, all except Jess. You didn’t doubt that she would have been sat alongside them if she wanted to but now she worked in silence while everyone else’s voices filled the room and made the most out of the hour.

Taking a peek at her worksheet, her progress was slower than you expected but she had come to the same conclusions and answers as you on the questions she did fill out.

Given your boredom and the inability to shut your mouth at the worst of times, you tried to help her even when you knew you shouldn’t. Tearing off a piece of paper from your notebook and writing her a note.

If you need any help feel free to ask. Sarah has said I was helpful when I last studied with her.

You wrote a short message on the paper and slid it across the desk towards her, phrasing it delicately to not make her think you were looking down on her and mentioning Sarah’s name to be on the safe side. Jess turned her head to look at what you had written but you tried your best to look uninterested in her response as you waited.