Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
Following our time at IHOP, Jordan and I headed off to school. As much as I was hoping that the wrathful rainstorm would cancel school, I wasn't exactly against going. I knew Will was going to be there--or at least, I was hoping he would be--and I planned to talk things out with him. 
                          
Was I nervous? Most definitely. Was I freaking out and possibly planning on finding a train to throw myself in front of to avoid actually seeing him? Maybe. But did I care about him enough to conquer my nervousness and fix things with him? 
                          
Absolutely. 
                          
As we pulled into the parking lot of the high school, I couldn't help but bring my hand up to fiddle with my mothers necklace. It had become a habit of mine in the days leading up to the competition, so I wasn't surprised when I went to do it. 
                          
But then I was hit with a rather... Disturbing discovery. 
                          
The necklace was gone. 
                          
My eyes widened as Jordy parked the car, unaware of the insane panic attack I was about to have. 
                          
"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD IT'S GONE!" I exclaim in worry, rubbing my hands over my chest and legs, aimlessly trying to find the pendant.
                          
Jordan jumped in his seat, looking over at me with wide eyes as I spazzed out in my spot. "WHAT?! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" He shouts loudly, staring at me as if I was insane. 
                          
"MY NECKLACE, JORDY! MY NECKLACE IS GONE!" I shout back just as loudly, still practically slapping my body in futile attempts to find a pendant that was long gone. 
                          
"OKAY! OKAY, WE NEED TO CALM DOWN!" He yells, grabbing my shoulders with his large man-hands. "TAKE DEEP BREATHS, TESS, DEEP BREATHS!" 
                          
I glare at him and snap. "SCREAMING AT ME TO CALM DOWN WILL NOT MAKE ME CALM DOWN YOU BAFOON!" 
                          
Jordan opened his mouth--probably getting ready to shout something in return--when a knocking on the windshield pulled us from our yelling-fest.
                          
Turning our heads to look a the source of the noise, our gazes landed on a curious looking Julia. Seeing her standing there, Jordan sat up in his seat, straightening his clothes and clearing his throat. If you looked closely, you could probably see a tiny hint of blush on his cheeks. 
                          
I rolled my eyes. I was humored by the fact that he could be so smooth when it came to joking around with anybody, but when it came to Julia, he was as smooth as a jagged cliff. 
                          
Deciding to tell Julia about my extremely unfortunate circumstances, I hopped out of the car and shut the door behind me. 
                          
"If you are wondering why we were yelling, it was because I lost the one thing in this world that I cared about more than my skateboard." I deadpan at her before huffing and crossing my arms, aware of the light spray of rain. 
                          
It seems that the storm is now a sprinkle. 
                          
Peachy.
                          
As I finished my blatant and depressing statement of my detrimental loss, Jordan climbed out of his car, standing to his full height and towering over Julia in the process. 
                          
"Wait, Tessa, was it your virginity?" Julia asked, trying to find clarification from the sentence I had delivered. 
                          
But really, of all things, she chooses that to ask about. 
                          
"No, Julia! My mother's pendant! It's gone!" I snap, agitated at the existence of matter itself at the moment. 
                          
"Oh. What do you mean gone?" She presses, furrowing her eyebrows as she looks at me intently.