Revenge – Part 5B – The Red Mist Decends

Porn stories: Revenge – Part 5B – The Red Mist Decends

“Fuck! I was going to go out tonight!” she moaned.

“Oh yeah, with who? Or did you forget to ask for his name?” asked Lissie, smiling.

“Shut up, you bitch.” Becky moaned, slumping down in her chair.

The conversation quickly moved on, Derek and Rose joining in. I was so confused by what had happened. Had I just imagined that entire exchange between Jessica and Mike? Was it not worthy of some small comment? Everyone seemed just as relaxed as they had before, and the only difference I noticed was Rose shooting Jessica a small, reassuring smile, which was returned.

Pretty soon lunch ended, and we all headed out to our lockers. Becky stopped by mine as she passed.

“So did you get that report done?” she asked, sighing.

“No.” I answered, “But then I was always planning to do it tonight anyway.”

“Oh yeah.” she said, laughing. “Well, later.”

She turned to leave.

“Wait.” I said quickly. “What was up with Jessica and Mike today?”

“Oh right, I guess you don’t know what happened between them?” she asked, smiling.

“Well, I know a little bit. I mean, I know she broke up with him a while ago, but just…I don’t know, wasn’t it weird how…hostile they were being?” I asked.

She looked confused.

“Not really.” she said, as if it was obvious, “I mean, haven’t you known Jessica for like, years? She’s always like that. Or she’s just quiet.”

“Well, I know she was always like that when we were younger, but…I don’t know, it just seems weird. And why didn’t anyone even mention what happened?” I asked.

She shrugged.

“Because it happens.” she said, “Seriously, all of Jessica’s conversation is like…forty percent silence, forty percent being a bitch, and like…” she trailed off.

“Twenty?” I prompted, smiling.

“Shut up.” she said, returning my smile, “Twenty percent being, like, normal. We didn’t say anything about it because we’re used to it. It’s not usually Mike, but sometimes just some guy who won’t stop asking her out, or some girl that hates her, or even one us. She’s cool and all, but she’s just kind of a bitch. You just get used to it.”

She shrugged again.

I wasn’t really surprised by this news. I’d learned a while ago that her apparent hatred of me growing up wasn’t special, but rather just how she acted around everyone who she wasn’t very close with.

“How did you not know this already?” Becky asked.

“I kind of did…” I said, “I guess I just assumed she’d be different around her friends.”

She shrugged again. She did that a lot. Her eyes flashed with sudden challenge as she looked at me again.

“Wait, do you know why they broke up?” she asked.

“Do you not?” I asked.

“No! She just keeps saying that she got tired of him, but we all think it’s something else. Rose said something last Thursday at the party at Josh’s, after she’d had a few drinks. They’re both being really secretive about it all though.” she said.

I hadn’t been aware of Rose or Jessica going to any parties, I didn’t even know who “Josh” was. As I thought about it, I remembered that Rose did actually spend most Thursdays out late. Our parents didn’t mind. We didn’t even have a curfew, but if we stayed out too late and couldn’t get up for school, they wouldn’t cover for us or write us any notes or anything, it was on us.

They occasionally gave us little lectures about responsibility and their expectations of us, and stuff like that. But the most important thing to them had always been developing our independence. Our lack of curfew never mattered to me, and I guess Rose never got home at a crazy late hour so it hadn’t been an issue.

I hadn’t realised she’d been drinking though.

“So?” Becky said eventually, pulling me from my thoughts.

“So…what?” I said.

“So, why did they really break up?” she asked, excited.

I didn’t know why they’d decided to keep the information of Mike’s…shortcomings…to themselves, but it wasn’t really my place to say, even if I didn’t like the guy.

“Oh, she just got sick of him being an asshole. I thought that was obvious.” I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously.

“You know something.” she accused.

I raised one eyebrow.

“But,” she said lightly, “We’re going to be late for class, probably. Later.”

She gave a little wave, and walked away. It was strange to think there was more to Jessica’s social life than I’d learned about before. And I hadn’t realised that Mike was still a factor in her life at all. Going along with my sister’s plans was already starting to yield some benefits.

==

The next day I sat with them again. The mood was normal, and I noted that I was already comfortable enough to notice what “normal” was for this group. Lissie and Becky exchanged some somewhat catty and sarcastic remarks, Frank didn’t talk much, occasionally making some small comment, Derek was cheerful and funny, and Rose was…well, Rose.

Out of the three of us; Rose, Jessica, and I, she seemed to be the only one that acted the same no matter who she was with. She was pretty much the same when we were alone as she was when Jessica was with us, and it was the same at school. It was cool to notice that. She was just comfortable being herself wherever she was.

I’d stayed up until 3 am the night before rushing through the History report, and we all discussed what we’d put in and what we hadn’t. Jessica actually contributed a little to this part of the conversation too, which again, no one but me thought was strange. It seemed that no matter what point any of us made, Jessica claimed to have made some reference to it in her work. She then brought up some points that none of us had discussed yet, or thought about. And then she told us that she’d handed it in a week ago, which was met with eye rolls and sighs, which she didn’t even react to.

I knew Jessica got good grades, but I didn’t know how hard she actually worked at it. School work and relationships had never come up when it was just the three of us, and I felt myself smile as I thought about this. I kept learning new little things about her, each one adding to the image I had of her, which I realised was actually quite shallow. I knew deep, personal things about her that not even her best friend knew, but I didn’t know simple things like which subjects at school she liked, or what kind of food she enjoyed.
For some reason it still made me uncomfortable to think about her like this. I pushed the idea out of my head, and ignored it. This was something I was usually pretty good at, just ignoring thoughts that bothered me. It was probably something that stemmed from a life spent in procrastination, all that practice ignoring the work I still had to do.

Hell, two weeks ago I’d managed to forget about Jessica coming to my room altogether, just because it was too uncomfortable to think about. I shook my head slightly as I realised my thoughts were heading down that same path again. I didn’t need to think about that kind of stuff, about what she meant to me. As long as she kept coming to my room, I’d be able to enjoy myself. Smiling, I thought about what I had planned for her that night.

==

Jessica came to the house around 7 pm, again earlier than she used to. She was completely different from how she was at school, and a lot more like she’d been around me these last few weekends, comfortable and fun. The change in her was pretty startling.

No one mentioned Mike’s little visit on Thursday, and I certainly wasn’t going to bring it up. However Rose did have something interesting to say after we’d been talking for a few hours.

“So what do you think about Becky?” she asked.

I shrugged, then smiled as I remembered Becky’s own habit of doing that.

“She seems cool.” I said.

“Do you think you’d want to go out with her?” she asked bluntly.

“What?” Jessica and I said, in unison.

I glanced at Jessica. She didn’t look too happy.

“She was asking about you.” Rose said, “I mean, she didn’t really say anything but…”

She trailed off.

“I think she’s interested in you, a little.” she finished with a smirk.

I really didn’t know how to react to this. I decided casual sarcasm would be the best option.

“So…what, she asks some questions about me, and you suddenly think we should get married?” I asked.

Rose rolled her eyes, and Jessica just sat there. She didn’t meet my eye, but she seemed to have a certain tension around her, she was holding herself just a little too stiff, trying not to show a reaction.

“I’m just saying.” Rose continued, “You’re not with anyone, and she isn’t either…not right now, anyway. I’m not saying you should just walk up and ask her out, but if you play your cards right…I don’t know. I think she might actually agree to go out with you.”

She said this with a strange kind of optimism, almost as if she were explaining that if I buy enough lottery tickets, I might actually win. Before this thing with Jessica, I probably would have jumped at even this chance for a relationship with a girl as hot as Becky, but now…

“Oh, do you want her number?” Rose asked, as if the thought just occurred to her, “You can call and make up some reason, just, you know, be cool about it and-”

“No thanks.” I said sharply, cutting her off.

She looked confused, and I saw Jessica visibly relax next to her.

“Come on,” Rose said, as if trying to comfort me, “You don’t have to be nervous about it. If you like her…I mean, there’s no reason she wouldn’t want to go out with you. You know, if she gets to know you a little better.”

I actually smiled as I felt the anger rise up in me a little. This had gone from “What do you think of Becky?” to “I’m sure she wouldn’t be completely repulsed by you.” in the space of three sentences.

“I don’t-” I started, but I stopped quickly. There was a little too much anger in my voice.

I knew that she was probably trying to look out for me, in a weird way. She’d left me pretty much alone for so many years, now that she finally saw an opportunity for us to be close again, she was jumping on it, trying to get me close to her friends, too. Or maybe she just pitied me, and thought if I had some real friends, and could convince some poor girl to date me, that I’d be happier.