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Mr. Dewey, as always, is the worst.
As if his 10th grade geometry class didn’t send Jessie into a complete spiral and result in some of the worst weeks of her life, he’s a plague on the last months of her senior year as well. Except, this time, it’s calculus, and the fact that he’s paired her with Slater for the biggest project of this quarter.
Slater’s one of her best friends, of course, but more importantly he’s the ex-boyfriend she’s only broken up with in the past few weeks, and things between them have yet to go back to normal. It’s weird. Usually when they break up, by this time, they’ve either bounced right back into their habit of snide remarks or they’re making out in the back of his car, breakup disregarded.
This time, she isn’t quite sure where they are. They’ve talked, of course. Most of their classes are together, and they’ve hung out together by way of their usual friend group almost every day, but it feels… off. To make matters worse, she and Kelly aren’t on the best of terms at the moment either.
“I just can’t believe Mr. Dewey paired us together. Do you think there are any auditions for American Gladiator going on right now? Maybe I can convince him to sign up,” Jessie rambles, dropping her bag onto Lisa’s bedroom floor. “Maybe this time he will get squashed by a gladiator.”
“Jessie, calm down,” Lisa laughs, handing her a can of soda. “You’re gonna give yourself an aneurysm. Besides, it’s not that big of a deal. You see Slater all the time, and you’ve never gotten this worked up over your breakups before.”
“I know. I just can’t help but feel that this time is different.”
“Different, as in, final?”
“No,” she answers, too fast. “Maybe? I don’t know.” Her heart squeezes painfully at the thought. “I don’t want it to be, but he might.”
“Oh, stop it. You know I love gossip, and there’s been plenty going around about you two, but I’d be happy for it to stop if it meant you could work things out.” Lisa stands, crossing the room. An arm hooked around Jessie’s shoulder, she whispers, “I hate seeing my friends upset.”
“Okay, I’m ignoring the part about people gossiping about me, but otherwise, that’s sweet. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Lisa.”
“I know, especially since your big mouth isn’t getting along with Kelly right now.” At the sharp look she receives from Jessie, Lisa amends, “Which is deserved, I know. She owes you an apology, and I’ve been trying to talk her into it, but she’s being stubborn, too.”
Jessie sighs. “We’ll work it out eventually.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she waves her off, getting comfortable. “Back to Slater. You’re telling me the two of you haven’t made out once in the past two weeks? It happens every time, I just find it hard to believe that-”
Lisa’s met with a resounding whack from a pillow to the chest, falling onto her back in laughter as she reaches for one to aid in revenge.
-
“The first half of your project is due by the end of class next Friday. Mr. Morris, please try to contribute something of use so that Ms. Kapowski doesn’t have to do all the work.” At Mr. Dewey’s remark, Zack smirks, saluting the man. “Class dismissed.”
Jessie shakes her head at Zack, standing to gather her things. She knows Zack will end up at her bedroom window asking for help before the end of the week, but he should know, although she’ll do her best, math isn’t her strongest subject. Which is why, in a weird way, she’s glad Mr. Dewey paired her with Slater. After all, he is the one that tutored her before that geometry exam sophomore year.
She’s almost to the door before a hand on her shoulder stops her.
“Hey- Oh.”
Slater. She knows they should have already started on the project, and she has some ideas in mind, but she’s yet to talk to him about any of it.
“Hey.” He drops his hand, letting it hang at his side. “I was just thinking, we should probably get started soon. We both know Mr. Dewey’s not one to cut any slack.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” They step into the hallway, dodging others who are headed to their next class. Luckily, Jessie has lunch this period. “What about tomorrow?”
“I was thinking tonight, if you’re free.”
“Yeah, sure,” she turns to face him, but can’t bring herself to look him in the eye. “Tonight works. My house at six?” Her mom works late most nights, but Jessie knows that as long as he’s gone before midnight, she doesn’t mind. As long as her bedroom door’s open any time past nine, at least.
“Sure,” he smiles, but it doesn’t last for more than a second before he’s turning on his heel and heading in the other direction. “See you tonight,” he calls over his shoulder, and she nods, turning back to her locker to find Kelly on the other side, at her own locker. She’s stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach a book that’s been pushed to the back of the top shelf.
“I swear, this always happens when I’m in a hurry,” she mumbles.
“Right,” Jessie responds, closing her own locker and turning to head to The Max.
“Oh, hey Jessie,” Kelly stops. “Did you hear about the new horror movie showing at the Cineplex downtown? I was thinking you, me and Lisa could check it out maybe?” she suggests, which knowing Kelly as well as she does, Jessie knows is her own version of a half-hearted apology. For once, she doesn’t have it in her to argue, and instead smiles.
“Yeah, that would be fun. Maybe not right now, though. Some other weekend?”
Kelly bites her lip, contemplating. “Listen, Jessie-”
“Sorry, I have to go.”
Jessie knows she should hear her friend out, recognizing Kelly’s attempt to make plans with her as an olive branch for mending their friendship after the cold shoulder she’d been giving her for the last couple weeks, but she can’t bring herself to grab onto it yet. She’s being difficult, probably. That's what everyone else would say. But seeing Kelly with Slater and knowing she’d spent Cut Day with Jessie’s boyfriend, flirting with him, she can’t help but be hurt. She feels like she has the right to be.
She’ll forgive her, eventually, but today isn’t the day.
-
Jessie opens her front door that evening to find Slater with his textbook in one hand, and a large pizza from their favorite pizza place in the other.
“Thought I’d bring some sustenance, we’ll be busy for a while.”
“Good thinking,” she smiles. Then, realizing they’re both standing there awkwardly and he has his hands full, “Come in, you can put the pizza on the table in the living room. I’ll grab some plates and napkins.”
She grabs the TV remote on her way to the couch, flipping to a random channel to avoid any chance of silence. She would have suggested they work upstairs, but she would rather be alone with her ex-boyfriend in any part of her house that isn’t her bedroom, than be alone with him in her bedroom. She knows it doesn’t matter since it’ll be weird no matter where they are, but her bedroom lends another level of weirdness that she would rather prefer to avoid.
“Did you get-”
“Extra cheese? Trust me, I know better than to show up without it.” She nods, biting her lip to keep from smiling. He’s sat on one end of the couch, her on the other. A perfectly normal amount of space between them.
Friends. Sort of.
“Any ideas for the project?” she asks, biting into a slice, effectively burning her tongue.
“Honestly, I’m stumped. Mr. Dewey’s the worst.” He leans his head against the back of the couch, plate in his lap.
“You’re telling me,” she huffs, reaching for the notebook she left on the side table. “I have some ideas, but I’m not sure if they’ll work. We can look through them and decide together,” she offers.
“All right,” Slater smiles before leaning over, minimizing the space between them as he reads her handwriting on the page before them. “That’s my girl.”
They both freeze, and Jessie finds herself fixated on the floor to avoid looking his way before he clears his throat, “I mean, it’s just- you always have great ideas.”
She raises a brow, questioning, “You never seemed to think so before.”
He goes quiet, hand rubbing the back of his neck before responding, “Well, no, but I thought it was a given, Jessie. You’re practically a genius,” then, ruining the moment, “You know, for a chick or whatever.”
She rolls her eyes, though she can’t help but worry that the heat in her cheeks might give away how she really feels.
He doesn’t seem to notice, or if he does, chooses not to acknowledge it. They move on to the world of chain rules and derivatives, building on Jessie’s initial ideas. Despite their previous awkward moment, they work well together in this setting, easily deciding on a topic for their project and moving through the first section of work.
Jessie’s mom walks through the door sometime after 9, hair falling out of its bun, heels hanging from one hand, and the other carrying a brown leather briefcase. Jessie and Slater are still on the couch, both leaning over her notebook, his arm having landed on the couch behind her at some point as they worked. Her mom’s bone-tired, Jessie can tell, and she knows it would probably be best to send Slater home and call it a night.
“Jessie, sweetie, how was school?” her mom calls from the other room as she removes her jacket and sets aside her heels and briefcase.
“Just a normal Tuesday,” she shrugs, then, “Slater’s here, I hope that’s okay. We’re working on a project for Mr. Dewey’s class.”
“A project, hm?” She looks at Jessie knowingly, and Jessie nods, reaching for her pen. She didn’t exactly tell her mom they’d broken up. After all, it’s not all that unusual, and if she were to tell her every time they broke up, her mom would be left in a state of perpetual confusion as to what their relationship status actually is.
Okay, that’s probably dramatic. They don’t break up that often, but she didn’t feel like talking about it this time. At the time, it had seemed like they’d broken up on good terms. For God’s sake, they were laughing together as it happened, but then a switch flipped, and it’s been weird ever since.
“I should probably head out, Jess, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He stands to gather his things before her mom waves him off.
“Don’t be silly, you’re welcome to stay longer. I’m heading up to bed, but you’re here often enough; you two know the rules.” He heeds her mom’s suggestion, and Jessie doesn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or signal that she’s ready to head upstairs for bed, too.
“Calculus?”
“Calculus,” he nods, sitting down next to her, closer than before.
By the time she walks Slater to the door, it’s nearly midnight, and she doesn’t think she can handle any further thoughts of math. He yawns, but turns to bid her goodnight before he goes.
“Believe it or not, despite the math of it all, I had a good time tonight.” He has dimples when he smiles, and Jessie’s never been able to resist, even those times when he’s being a chauvinistic pain in the ass.
“Me too. We make a good time when we’re not at each other’s throats.”
“Sometimes we make a good team when we are, depending on the context.”
She bites back a snarky response and instead settles for a short, albeit affectionate, “Goodnight, Slater,” as she shakes her head, closing the door behind him.
-
The next several nights follow in much of the same fashion. He comes over, they have dinner (usually takeout of some kind), and the hours are filled with calculus, awkward moments, and some harmless flirting dispersed throughout. Lisa, of course, doesn’t think it’s so harmless when she inevitably talks Jessie into giving her an update.
“Oh come on, Jessie, just give up already. It’s obvious you still want each other.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s obvious.” She takes a sip from her drink, flipping to the next page of her book. Music plays from the nearby jukebox, and she hears the usual ooh’s and ah’s following Max’s magic tricks. There’s a stray bunny running around somewhere, she’s sure. “I mean, nothing’s happened. Surely if he wanted there to be something between us, he’d at least try to make a move, I don’t know.”
“Calling you ‘his girl’ wasn’t enough? Get over yourself,” Lisa laughs, but it dies shortly after, and Jessie understands why when she hears a quiet, “Hey.”
“Kelly, hi. We were just talking about the project for Mr. Dewey’s class,” Lisa explains.
“Oh, don’t get me started,” she sighs, taking a seat next to Lisa. “I love Zack, but he really doesn’t lend much help.” Kelly laughs, “I mean, Screech might as well be my partner, he’s there every time we work on it. Says something about, ‘owing Zack one.’”
They laugh, Jessie shaking her head. “That sounds like them.”
“How’s your project coming along, Jessie?” Kelly asks, and even though she knows things have been awkward between them, Jessie also knows it’s a conversation for a later time.
“It’s going well actually,” she smiles, reaching for a french fry from the basket sitting in the middle of the table. “Slater’s had some really great ideas. We’re nearly finished with the first half, but of course, there’s some tweaking to do. It needs to be perfect, I can’t have a bad grade when I’ve already been submitting college applications. What if they accept me just to rescind their offers when they find out I’m a failure?”
“You’re not a failure, Jessie. Besides, you just said it’s going well,” Kelly shrugs. Then, carefully, as if she knows it’s a subject she shouldn’t be broaching, “How are things with you and Slater, anyway?”
Jessie pauses, fry halfway to her mouth, and knows she shouldn’t be so harsh, but bites out, “Why, do you plan on trying to steal him again?”
Through clenched teeth, Lisa chastises, “Jessie.”
“What? It’s not enough that she bid on Slater for the date auction last year when I asked her not to, she had to try her hand at flirting with him during Senior Cut Day, while I was conveniently nowhere around. You know, for someone who calls herself a friend, you sure have a hard time actually being one, Kelly.”
Kelly’s voice is weak when she says, “I’m sorry, okay?” She looks at Jessie, and for the first time since everything happened, Jessie realizes that she misses her friend, no matter how hurt she is. “I don’t know what came over me, and I know it’s no excuse, but I never wanted to hurt you, Jessie. Slater’s my friend, and we have fun together, but I would never dream of actually pursuing him. It was harmless fun, I promise.” She stumbles over her words, clearly nervous, but there’s no sign of insincerity. “I understand if it isn’t enough, me saying sorry, but I miss you, and I miss us.”
Jessie doesn’t immediately respond. She’s quiet, instead listening to the crowd of others in the small diner. Groups of friends sat together, three freshman girls gathered around a table near the door, lost in laughter. That was them, three years ago.
It should be them now, too.
“Okay,” she relents.
“Okay?” Kelly and Lisa mimic, unsure they heard her right.
“Yeah, that’s what I said,” she laughs, reaching over to grab their hands. “I love you both. Now, let’s not waste what time we have left together at Bayside, all right?”
Kelly leans her head back against the booth. “I’m so relieved, you have no idea.”
“Trust me, I do,” Jessie assures her. “Plus, I’m not perfect either. I did kiss Zack that one time,” she scrunches up her nose, laughing, “and I had a good time with Graham during Cut Day, too. I just didn’t expect things with Slater to end so abruptly, I guess.”
“Oh, Jessie,” Kelly starts, “You’ll find your way back to each other and we’ll have to listen to your bickering like an old married couple for the gazillionth time, I’m sure of it.”
“Enough about boys,” Lisa cuts in, “can we talk about our next shopping trip? This girl’s in need of a new bag, but I need your opinions first.”
-
They go shopping the following week, and Lisa buys not one, but two handbags. She couldn’t decide, and Jessie and Kelly couldn’t agree on one, so her solution was to buy double.
Slater comes over that evening, and her stepdad is watching the Dodgers game on the TV in the living room, so they settle on working in her room instead. They’re on the couch in front of her window, a light breeze blowing in where she leaves it cracked in case Zack tries to climb through it.
She knows he showered before coming over, his hair still wet and the heady scent of his cologne filling her space as he leans toward her.
“I just don’t think that’s the solution to our problem, Slater,” she insists as they work out the finishing touches to the first half of their project. They haven’t been able to move past one of the issues they’ve encountered, both insistent upon their own solutions.
“It is the solution, Jessie. You just don’t know how to view things from anyone else’s perspective.”
“And you do?” she huffs, setting her textbook aside. If there’s one thing about Slater, it’s that she feels like she has perpetually high blood pressure when she’s around him. Truthfully, they argue because they’re too similar, not because they’re unalike. She isn’t sure whether it’s better, or lends itself to being even more of an aggravation.
“I do, because I’ve considered the scenario you offered and it’s wrong.”
“Oh, whatever, you haven’t even tried to see where I’m coming from, you pig.”
“Well, maybe if you weren’t so bullheaded about everything under the-”
“I’m bullheaded? You’re one to talk, Mister-”
His hands are on either side of her face, pulling her into him, and she feels the walls closing in around her as his lips find hers. Her fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer, closer, closer.
Reality hits her, and she pulls back far enough to ask, “What are you doing?”
He kisses her again, entirely too short, and her face is hot, electricity burning everywhere he’s touching her.
“I thought it was obvious,” he shrugs, leaning in again, and boy does she want to, but the rational part of her feels the need to point out, “We broke up,” as his lips descend upon her neck, and the rational part of her brain is beginning to lose the battle.
He doesn’t stop, trailing his way up to her jaw, then her mouth.
Between kisses, he murmurs, “We were so stupid.”
“Yeah,” she breathes, “really stupid.”
“I know we argue, but is there anyone we’d rather argue with?”
“No,” she agrees, smiling as his head rests against hers, a brief reprieve.
“Besides,” he starts, tossing her textbook aside, “What do we always say is the best part of breaking up?”
Her stomach lurches, in a good way, and she’s reaching for him again as she whispers, “Making up.”
“That’s my girl.”
They don’t get much work done after that, but they do turn in a near perfect project on Friday, and for once, even Mr. Dewey agrees.