The day continued on just like any other one for Jessica Flaherty, even after the almost fight Jason and Matt Sanders had. She went to her classes, doing her best to leave any other thoughts that weren’t school related back out in the hallway to most likely be picked up by Isabel when the bell rang and the drama resumed.

Jessica’s classes were all honors, something she was quite proud of considering she was the only one out of her group of friends that had all honors. She was given the option of taking the early release program for her senior year, but her parents made her deny it claiming that she needed all the extra credit she could use for college. She was reminded of this every day when she sat in her fourth period class and watched as all the early release kids walked past the window in route to home or work. It was this reason compared to all the others that Jessica resented her parents.

“Ms. Flaherty?”

Jessica’s eyes jumped to the front of the room quickly. “Ma’am?”

“Answer the question,” Miss Caldwell, the intuitive English teacher, regarded.

“Can you repeat it again, please?” Jessica asked, her voice quiet in embarrassment.

“Explain the emotions felt by Crusoe when he makes the decision to go against his family’s wishes and take that tumultuous voyage?” Miss Caldwell repeated. Jessica sighed quietly and quickly thought about the novel the class had just finished reading.

“Well,” She began. “Crusoe was on a path of self-discovery. He had lived his whole life under the scrutiny of his family, doing what they thought was best for him, even if he wasn’t ultimately happy. He felt that this was his time and even though his parents continued to scold him for not taking their suggested paths, it didn’t matter because this was the freedom he’s always dreamt of and nothing was going to stop him.”

Miss Caldwell flashed Jessica a surprised but no doubt satisfied smile. “Very good. That’s absolutely right. Robinson Crusoe was ultimately about the path of self-discovery.”

Jessica sighed in relief, letting her mind wander again as the teacher kept talking about the novel. It suddenly hit her that Robinson Crusoe sounded a lot like her own life. Order, scrutiny, rule, dictation; it all fit almost to the tee. She just hoped that the result of it all would play out similarly too, and the route taken by Mr. Crusoe would allow her to take the same one and rebel against the ungodly forces known as her parents.

Jessica slunk back in her seat, dead set on sailing through the rest of the period and getting to lunch where she could cut loose and work on some homework that had been assigned during first period.

~*~

“What do you think of Skyler Atkins?”

“Eh, he’s cute, I guess. Why do you ask?”

“I’m gonna try and hook up with him at Brock’s party.”

“What?! Nah ah. You little slut!”

“Hey, he’s hot as hell. If I can get away with nailing him, then I will.”

“Pftt. You must be off your rocker if you think you can get away with it. The whole school will be talking about it by next Monday, Izz. Right, Jess?”

The dynamic studies of Principia Mathematica was what currently held Jessica’s attention as she scribbled absentmindedly in her notebook interesting facts that pertained to the list of questions she was required to answer for her Latin class.

“Jessicaaaaa, hello?” Isabel snapped her fingers in front of Jessica’s face, and the deep-in-study girl was quick to lift up her head and match gazes with the other two girls.

“What?” She said, looking between Isabel and another one of their many clique members, Leslie Deslin.

“I was trying to get your opinion on something, but since you’re so wrapped up in,” Leslie leaned over and looked at the two opened books in front of Jessica. “Latin? Jess, you seriously take Latin?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s one of the most diverse languages out there and the hardest to learn. I find it quite interesting though if you look into the many uses of it and everything,” Jessica replied, leaning forward to grab a hold of and open her Snapple bottle and take a sip of it. Isabel and Leslie looked to one another and shook their heads with matching smirks.

“You know, if you weren’t so pretty and so rich, we might consider you to be a nerd,” Isabel remarked, chuckling the whole time. Jessica shrugged her shoulders and ducked her head in slight embarrassment.

“What did you want, anyway?” Jess asked as she lifted her head again and looked at Leslie.

“Oh, Isabel was talking about how she was going to hook up with Skyler Atkins at Brock’s party and I told her that everyone would be talking about it by Monday. Am I right?” Leslie questioned again. Jessica sighed and placed her pen down on the open notebook page.

“I don’t know. It depends on who witnesses and if Skyler decides to blab the story to everyone. Then again, knowing how high Izzy ranks on the popularity chain, would anyone really want to mess with her like that?” Jessica replied, rubbing at her temples at the distraction her friends were causing.

“Hah! See, I knew there was a reason we kept this girl around. She’s so freakin smart!” Isabel said, wrapping her arm around Jessica’s shoulders exaggeratedly and sticking her tongue out at Leslie, and then receiving a light shove on her shoulder from the appearing Jason, who overheard her remark when he made his way over to the three girls.

“Don’t forget that she’s dating me, so that automatically makes her cool,” Jason chimed in, sitting next to Jessica and smiling cockily. Jess rolled her eyes and picked up her pen again, resuming her homework. “Are you seriously doing work during the lunch period?”

“Yes, I am. I’d rather not have to go home later and do it, and besides, I’m not doing anything else. Why not do it now?”

“This girl,” Jason began to say as he looked between Leslie and Isabel. “Is such a nerd. Haha.”

Jason nudged her in her side and joined in the laughter being produced by their surrounding friends. Jessica smiled a little, masking the anger that was beginning to form. No matter how much her friends liked to tease her, and even if they were joking, it always pissed her off greatly. Jason was the biggest trigger of all of them, as he did it just to push her buttons and get a laugh from everyone else. He’s a chauvinist, which Jessica realized probably a month or two into their relationship, but yet she still found herself dealing with it day after day. This was just another way for her parents to control her life. They loved Jason; they loved that he was the captain of the football team, and that his dad was rich, and that Jason was smart and receiving a scholarship to Huntington Beach University to play for their prestigious football team. Jessica suspected her parents wanted her to marry Jason and have his children and attend fancy theatre shows like one of those stuck-up couples that throw money every which way they can, simply because they can. This wasn’t Jessica, and there was no way in hell she was going to marry someone like Jason Kiegan.

The bell signaling the end of lunch period rang, startling Jessica out of her thoughts. She closed her books quickly and shoved them into her bag, before standing and being met with a big, wet kiss on her lips from Jason.

“Love ya, babe,” He said, flashing her that cocky grin he uses with all his friends, and striding off to his next class. Jessica rolled her eyes and followed her own path to her sixth period class.

~*~

The clock on the dashboard of Jessica’s car read 1:45 as she sat in the driver’s seat and waited for Isabel to show up. She had texted Jessica during seventh period and insisted that her friend give her a ride home after school that afternoon. 'Don’t make be ride on that dinky old bus, Jess! Carl Horvath was creepin’ on me during gym and he’s on my bus! You know he’ll try and feel me up or something!!’ Jessica smiled to herself in remembrance of the random text, but ultimately ended up agreeing to drive Isabel home as long as she didn’t make a habit of it.

The passenger side door opened suddenly, and Jessica was met with the sly smile of one Isabel Vega, as she climbed into the car and shut the door behind her.

“It’s about time,” Jessica said to the other girl as Isabel pulled her seat belt across her chest.

“Yeah, well, you know how the hallways get this time of day. And having your class on the opposite side of the building to where your locker is doesn’t help much either,” Isabel replied. She was quick to reach in her hoodie pocket and pull out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, opening the plastic box and retrieving a cancer stick from within. “Is it cool if I smoke real quick?”

“Yeah, if you want my mom to end up smelling it and thinking I smoke now or something,” Jessica sarcastically replied. Isabel lit it up anyway, taking a drag of it and letting her arm rest on the window sill so the majority of the smoke blew outside.

Jessica rolled her eyes at her defiant best friend, and proceeded to place the gear in reverse and backed out of her parking spot. Switching it back into drive, she was quick to press down on the gas pedal and make a dash for the exit of the school’s parking lot

“So you’re going to Brock’s party on Friday, right?” Isabel conversed as they began their route to her house.

“Yeah, I think so. My mom was all bitching to me about it this morning telling me if I don’t act decent for the rest of the week, then I can’t go. But you know how she’s like in love with Jason so if Jason wants me to go than I’ll be able to go.”

Isabel chuckled at Jessica’s words before replying, “Yeah, well, everyone’s in love with Jason so I wouldn’t be surprised if your mom was too.”

“Are you in love with Jason?” Jessica asked, speculatively.

“What?! No! No, of course not. He’s your man. Why would I try and jeep on him like that?” Isabel exclaimed, looking at Jessica with wide eyes as Jessica grinned madly.

“Jeep? What the hell does jeep mean?”

“You know, jeep. When someone jeeps on your relationship or if your guy is jeepin’ behind your back?”

Jessica shook her head, still grinning. “I guess so. Anyway, I was only kidding, Izz. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh,” Isabel sat back, letting out a breath of relief before taking a drag of her cigarette. Jessica stole a few glances at her, taking in her disheveled appearance and squinting her eyebrows in confusion.

“Is there something wrong?” She asked her friend.

“No. Why would there be?”

“You’re all…fidgety and stuff.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

Isabel tossed her cigarette out the window, just as they were pulling up out in front of her house. “There’s nothing wrong. Thanks for the ride, Jess. I’ll text you later or something.”

“Okay. Bye,” Jessica mumbled as Isabel exited the car and hurried up to her front door. “Well that wasn’t weird at all…” She spoke to herself, sighing quietly and pulling away from the curb and heading down the street.

Turning the corner, thoughts of Isabel’s strange actions plagued her mind continuously. Why was she being so weird? There was no reason for it. It was only a joke, after all. Jessica shook her head in disarray and set her sights back to the road in front of her. She took a hold of the wheel tighter and swerved the car closer to the right side of the road where she belonged, as another car was making its way down on the other side of the street. She paid no mind to it, as it was a residential road with many houses and many places where it could turn into a driveway and end its journey.

Jessica’s eyes widened in expanse as the adjacent vehicle began to deviate in its path and move in her own lane. It was obvious the other driver wasn’t paying attention, so she took the initiative and laid on the horn roughly. Her hands wildly moved on the steering wheel, trying every way possible to avoid crashing. The other car suddenly took control once again and jerked back to its own side of the road. She slammed on the breaks as soon as she was in the clear and heard the faint sound of the other car crashing into something.

“Oh my God,” She breathed out heavily, before unhooking her seat belt and throwing her car door open. She hurried over to the other car, feeling panic begin to rise in her stomach.

Jessica pulled on the handle of the driver’s seat door and opened it up to look in at the disoriented motorist. He was holding his head in his hand and coughing quietly to himself. She winced as she noticed a few drops of blood on his forehead, although his identity not being revealed just yet.

“Are you okay, sir?” She asked the other with a hushed voice. He then removed his hand and blinked his eyes a few times as if to regain his posture, before moving to glance up at the young woman.

“Yeah, I’m alright. I just hit my--” He stopped short of his sentence, and a faint gasp escaped Jessica’s lips as she now realized just who this other driver was.

“M-Matt Sanders?” She questioned, taking a few steps back away from the loose cannon of a man. This was not going to be good.