Take My Heart, Part Four

[[Part Four]]

 

 

         Jenn felt pretty good when she got dressed that morning. She had to live up to the name, 'emo child,' so she wore her black converse, a red skulls hoodie and pants that she'd cut rips in the front of. Not a spot of make-up Jenn hated make-up.

                There wasn't anyone home as usual, so she just gulped down some orange juice and walked to school. As soon as she reached her locker, she noticed something wrong with it.

                It was a red locker, but it had been painted white with 's**t,' written all over it in black. Was that really her locker? ‘Emo,' was also written on there. As Jenn struggled to open her lock, she wondered who would do this. Then it clicked.

                 Taylor always used s**t as an insult, even if the person wasn't. She wasn't all that creative. Or smart. Besides, Taylor wrote her "o's" as hearts. Well she was a hopeless stupid. Her locker did look kind of cool. She loved it.

              She finally got her lock open . . . and out tumbled only about a thousand hate letters, some handwritten and  others printed from the computer.  

 

Oh boy.

She didn’t even bother looking at them. Stuff like this would usually bother her, but she had learned from the past that she shouldn’t let it take control over her emotions like that. Not only was it unhealthy, but it meant her self-esteem got lower and lower every time she let stuff like this effect her.

            Jenn stared down at the mess. And there was still more inside her locker. She stumbled through it to try to get her books. She felt people's gazes on her as she tried.

           Someone poked her side. She withdrew herself from the mess and turned to look at Spencer's grin before he winked and turned and kept walking.

            Jenn stuck her tongue out at his back. She didn't think he saw it. She grabbed the right books, closed her locker and stared down at the mess.

               She felt sorry for the janitors that had to clean it up. But this was high school and nothing was ever fair. Even to the nice people. Taylor would get what was coming to her soon enough. It only took time for it to happen. Then her evil fun would end.

              As Jenn closed her locker, and some people passed and stopped by.

             “Hey Jenn, nice locker," they commented, laughing.

            “Yeah, I know. Pretty sick right?" She let out a short laugh and walked away. She knew those people. They were Taylor's and Angela's ex-boyfriends--- major druggies.

God was she glad she had a personality.

 

 

 

                So Jenn had people who were jealous of her. People who filled her locker with papers filled with insults written on them. He had no idea why he'd poked her. Maybe he admired her.

Most girls he knew would be crying their eyes out if that happened to them. But she'd gone on living as if nothing had happened. Completely normal.

Besides she looked cute today, he liked her outfit. She was the girl you'd look at to know you didn't have to be a skank or wear a skirt to look pretty or feel good about yourself.

Speaking of girls, Spencer had gotten his Mom to change his morning classes because some of the girls were getting annoying.  They were pretty much literally stalking him. He wasn’t exaggerating one tiny bit.

So now instead of having Math, French, Science, then Business, he had Business, Math, Science, and French. Not that he cared. It wasn't like Jenn was in any of them.

 

 

 

Boy was he wrong. Jenn was now in all of his classes. She sat by the window or as close to the window as possible in all of them, except science because there was only one window in the classroom. The funny part was, he sat close by to her in all four classes.

When his dad asked him if he'd made any friends, Spencer had said yes because as soon as the words came out from his dad's mouth, Jenn's face popped up in his mind.

Not that he was admitting it, but he really couldn't get her out of his head. His little sister had named her new Barbie doll Jenn, a reminder to Spencer's somewhat formed friendship with Jenn.

And he smiled everytime he thought of her. Which was not good. Considering the teacher had caught him smiling in the middle of class for no apparent reason.

Apparently, according to new rumours that had spread like wildfire, Jenn was a s**t. But only defined that by Taylor whatsherface.

Spencer couldn't care less what her last name was. Her two friends of hers and her looked all the same that he was just gonna refer to them as the Blondettes. Cause that they were.

Spencer grimaced as Taylor walked by him in the hall and winked at him. Was that supposed to be sexy or seductive?

That was meant to be a thought, but Spencer must have said it out loud, because Taylor's mouth was hanging wide open, and he could hear whispers of horror, excitement, and other stuff all around him. He lightly smirked and walked away. Ooooh burned.

 

Taylor was going to get beat at her own game. He didn't care if she hated him or not.

 

She could go f**k the devil.

 

 

 

Jenn had planned to talk to Spencer in science, but he wasn't there. Although she saw him that morning.

Maybe he was avoiding her. Had she done something wrong? Or maybe because Taylor's little prank had made him think she was a s**t.

Oh joy, now she was scaring people off. She should just switch schools or transfer to that "nice" school downtown. It's not like her dad would care. Hell, he hasn't been home for the week and a half. If he was, Jenn would know. There would be evidence. But he hadn't been home.

Oh well. When he wasn't around, the house was much cleaner, and quieter. But it was also lonely. Jenn wished she had someone she could talk to...

Jenn kept her head down as she walked from third period to fourth. She wasn't paying attention and honestly, she didn't care. her day had started off good, but now it was bad, she was all depressed.

Maybe now was a good time to go see her Mom. Jenn heard someone call her name. She didn't care. She just kept on walking. The Hopeless Stupid ran and caught up with her. But Jenn didn't stop walking.

" Hey Jenn. Since when did you become a s**t? We knew you were emo, but an emo s**t?" Taylor and her friends laughed.

Jenn turned around and faced them, not a trace of emotion detected on her face or eyes.

" Go f**k a nerd. You know you want to," with a hint of a smile, Jenn walked away. Stupid b*****s.

 

 

 

` I can't keep going on like this. I'll die...' thought Spencer as he opened his eyes. The calm predicted beeping of a heart monitor somewhere nearby comforted him. It meant that things were okay... for now. But they wouldn't be soon.

He'd run out of that medicine they'd given him and didn't have any on him at school. He had to leave or else his heart would stop beating. But that was good. That meant that he wouldn't have to trouble his mom and dad or little siblings anymore.

He wondered if it hurt to die.. but it hurts so much more to stay alive.

 

Jenn... he had to stop thinking of Jenn. He didn't want to .. but it was so hard. It was addicting. She was like a drug---- not the kind where you get high and fucked up off of--- a good drug. If he was around her much longer, he might break through his low profile mode, just for her...

 

Psh, yeah and the next thing he knows, Spencer will be leaving little love notes in her locker. Well she was cute.. but no. No way. She couldn't possibly like someone with as many problems as him.

 

She had problems too. He saw it in her eyes. Hidden deep, but it was there. She didn't want sympathy or pity, because as far as he knew, she hadn't told anyone.

 

Jenn was a mystery. A complicated, puzzling mystery. A book on the shelf with no title, but with words inside on the pages. But some of those pages were blank... and someone had to fill them up.

 

Spencer screwed up his eyes. All this thinking made his head hurt. He was sore all over, but his head hurt the most. Spencer made a mental note not to think this much while he was in the hospital. He fell asleep as soon as he rolled over.

 

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

 

Jenn didn't have work that night and she was grateful for the break. She was still feeling depressed but not as bad as before. While Jenn was cooking dinner there was a knock on her apartment door. She set the spoon she was using to taste test on the counter and answered the door. A set of parents stood there.

 

" Hello, is this the home of Jenn Greer?" asked the woman kindly.

 

" Yes, this is. " What was this about?

 

" May we speak to you for a couple of minutes?" asked the father. His voice reminded Jenn of Spencer.

 

" Sure, come in." She held the door wider so they could get through. She led them to the couch in the living room and they sat down. " Can I get you anything?"

 

" No, that's alright. We won't be long."

 

" Okay." Jenn took a seat on the opposite couch. " So... what did you need?" Jenn asked politely.

 

" Spencer Cherish is your classmate, right?"

 

Jenn nodded. " Yes. He's in all four of my classes this semester."

 

" We're his parents," said his mother.

 

" Oh, how nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Cherish." Jenn smiled. No wonder his father's voice reminded Jenn of Spencer.

 

" It's nice to meet you too, Jenn," said his mother. " The thing is, Spencer won't be in school for awhile, so we were wondering, since you're in all his classes, could you bring his homework to him?"

 

" Sure. It'd be my pleasure."

 

"Oh thank you very much Jenn. Here's the address. He told us you were a nice girl." His parents smiled. They stood up and so did Jenn.

 

“ Thanks again Jenn,” said Spencer’s mother as she shook each of their hands.

 

“ No problem. Tell me if you need anything else,” she opened the door for them and showed them out. Jenn looked at the address Spencer’s father had scribbled down on the back of a business card. It was the address of a hospital. Why was Spencer at the hospital? Or was it the wrong address?

 

Jenn tilted her head to the side, trying to figure it out. She gave up momentarily and set the card on her desk in her room.

 

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

 

“ Did you call into work and book at least two months off?” Spencer asked his mom through the phone. Unlike most people, Spencer actually paid his own cell phone bills, so he did what he want, then paid for it all.

 

He was talking to his mother after a boring day of laying in a hospital bed, listening to the constant beep……beep…….beep of the heart monitor. All he’d done was watch boring tv and sleep.

 

“ Yes. They said that when you get better, give them a call.”

 

“ Thanks mom. I love you.”

 

“ I love you too. Oh your father and I have arranged for someone to bring you your homework and notes after school.”

 

“ Okay. Have you guys moved in yet?”

 

“ It’s still a huge mess. I’ve put all your stuff and boxes in your room, so you can sort it out when you get home. Have they told you when you’re being released yet?”

 

“ Not yet. I’ll clean the boxes when I get home. How’re double disaster?” Spencer smiled.

 

His mother laughed.” They miss you. Jared says you owe him an arm wrestle and Jessica says you owe her a piggy back ride.” Spencer could hear the grin in her voice.

 

“ Tell them Spencer said he’ll be home soon and with a surprise.”

 

“ Okay,” he waited while his mom conveyed the message to the twins. He heard shrieks and screams and laughter.

 

“ They’ll be waiting,” his mom laughed lightly.

 

“ What time is this person for homework coming at?”

 

“ Well for the time you’re in the hospital, she’ll be around right after school. Then when you’re home, and hour after school ends.”

 

“ She?”

 

“ Yes, it’s a she.”

 

“ Okay. Oh , the nurse is here. I’ll talk to you later Mom. Love you. Bye.”

 

He hung up as the nurse set the tray of food on the bedside table. He set his cell phone beside the tray.

 

“ How are you today?” the nurse asked as she checked the heart monitor system.

 

“ I’m okay. Feeling better.” Spencer picked the juice box up off the tray and drank it.

 

“ That’s good dear.”

 

“ Do you know when I’ll be released? My mom wants to know.”

 

“ I don’t know, darling. I’ll ask one of the doctors for you.”

 

Spencer sipped the cold orange liquid. “ Any guesses how long I’ll be here?”

 

“ I’d say about a week hunn."

 

“ Okay, thanks Muriel.”

 

“ No problem dear.”

 

So it’d be a week before he’d be able to see Jenn. God he was obsessed. He never thought he’d be so drawn into a girl. Especially one that sat in snow.