"Hey honey," I said, finding Sandy finishing up her latest painting. It was what looked like a red ribbon with a red background.
"Mom, what does this look like?" Sandy asked me, turning and frowning at me.
"An AIDS ribbon?"
Sandy grinned. "Perfect! I was worried that you wouldn't be able to tell. It's a project my club assigned me for our AIDS walk, so this is to help with AIDS awareness. I had been wanting to play around with shades of red, so this was a perfect opportunity."
"Sweetie, I'm really proud of you! That's an excellent thing to do. I just came up to tell you that Andy's boyfriend, Leon, will be here in ten minutes, so you should come down and meet him. Also to keep Buzz in line."
"Cool, I'll be there in a bit."
Just as I was about to head back downstairs, a piercing scream drew my attention. "Buzz! What's wrong?!" I cried, running over to him.
"MOTHER!" Buzz yelled, clapping his hands, pointing at the creation, unable to say anything else. I turned my attention to Buzz's chemistry table and gasped. On top of it, a glass flask was brimming with an orange, bubbly liquid. Shining smoke billowed out of it. In a second, it cleared, and Buzz let out a triumphant, "YIPPEE!"
"Buzz..." I said shakily, "Buzz, is that...?"
"Yes," he whispered, "It's the potion that will turn Jessie real."
I couldn't speak. It was unbelievable. After years of experimentation, thousands of dollars worth of ingredients, I hoped to hell and back that it was worth it. "Buzz, give it to him exactly one week before his eighteenth birthday. That way he'll get used to having Jessie around, real, and he'll be able to sort out any plans related to university."
Buzz looked down at the potion. "Can't I give it to him now?"
"No. Besides, doesn't that potion have to sit for half a year?"
"How did you know that?" Buzz asked, looking at me with pride. "You're right. It'll be the best birthday present ever."
"Actually, Buzz, you and Sandy were Dad's best birthday present ever," I said, remembering their births.
"Whatever. You know what I mean."
The sound of the doorbell ringing drew me away from my thoughts. "Buzz, Leon is here," I said, "SO BEHAVE." He smirked, but there wasn't much else I could do. I ran downstairs and flung open the door like an anxious teenager. I was so excited to meet him. I ushered him inside.
"It's lovely to finally meet you, Mrs. Casmin ma'am," he said smoothly, shaking my hand.
"Ooh, manners! Very nice, young man. You can call me Cindy, if you like," I said. "It's nice to officially meet you. I know that we've bumped into each other but this is the first time we've truly met."
Leon nodded. "Is Andy at work, then?"
"Yes, but he said he'd be back by now," I said with a frown.
Sandy descended the stairs slowly and shyly. "Hi," she whispered. Leon grinned at her.
"Hey, you're Sandy, right? I've heard a lot about you. You're in that school club that won all the award last year, right?" Leon said.
"Yeah..." Sandy said, ducking her face. She wasn't shy very often.
"Go get Buzz, Sandy," I said to spare her any awkwardness. She ran back up the stairs. I turned to Leon. "I'm just going to call Andy and get him to hurry his butt up. Make yourself at home. You can sit in the living room and watch TV while you wait if you want."
"Hey mom," Andy said when he picked up.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Funny thing-caller ID," Andy said.
"I don't need your mouth. Leon is here Andy, so hurry up," I said. "And watch your mouth!" I added as Andy cursed loudly.
"Sorry mom. On my way home now. Just tell Leon I'll be home in five. I'm on the road. Bye." Andy hung up before I could say anything more.
Sandy had brought Buzz down by the time I was off the phone with Andy. She was watching him with suspicion as he poured something into a glass. "He was pouring a yellow liquid into a glass," she whispered to me.
"Just tell Leon to not accept anything from Buzz if he values the quality of his pants," I muttered back.
Sandy raised an eyebrow but followed out my order. Buzz smiled at me innocently, but I took him by the shoulder. "Something wrong, mother?" he asked sweetly.
"Not yet. But if you do anything to Leon, Buzz, I will castrate you. He's a nice young lad and I'm glad that Andy's finally found somebody," I snarled.
"Oh, well, we can't have that! I'll be a perfect gentleman in his presence, promise," he said with a wink.
"Let's go and meet him then, shall we?" I walked into the living room with Buzz and Leon immediately stood up.
"Hello. You must be Buzz," Leon said in a considerably deeper voice than he had used before, shaking Buzz's hand firmly.
"Yes. And you're Leon," he said, pulling his hand out of the handshake after a few seconds. "Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Actually, I'm quite parched. Thirsty, even," he said with a smirk, and I must admit I had to leave the room to stop my laughing. When I came back, Leon was declining a gift from Buzz. "Really, I couldn't, but thank you anyway," Leon said, handing Buzz back the small white package. Buzz took it and walked off with a huff.
"Sorry about him. He's just protective," I told Leon. "And I see that Andy is pulling up in the driveway right now, so I'll be off. I'm going to pay my half-sister-in-law a surprise visit! Bye!"
To my surprise and joy, Jodi was actually there to greet me. She was home, and it was the first time I had seen her since she was a little girl. "Hi Jodi, it's Cinderella Charming-your half-brother's husband," I said as she greeted me. She was quite cute, really. She had Becky's big eyes and lips and King's unfortunate cheekbone structure. She looked fresh out of University with her multi-coloured umbrella and loose t-shirt. Becky told me that she had skipped a grade, and because she was born in early January, she was bumped up another grade, meaning that when she was supposed to be in grade two, she was in grade four. She decided to go to University early on in the middle of her Junior year, so instead of being eighteen in University, Jodi was fifteen.
She was Becky's little genius, to say the least.
"Come in, come in! Of course I know who you are! Mom can't stop talking about you," Jodi said, bringing me into their home. It was weird hearing Becky being called 'mom', but I supposed that Becky thought the same regarding me. "So what brings you by our humble abode?"
Humble? They lived in a mansion! "Actually, I just wanted to see you. I haven't seen you since you were a little baby!'
Jodi winced, understandably, and said, "I actually have a question for you, Cinderella-you don't mind me calling you Cinderella, do you? Or would you prefer Aunt Cinderella?"
"Either works. What's your question?"
"I... I never got to know my biological father. Apparently he never even saw me after I was born, and he died within the next two years. What was he like?"
I sucked in a breath. King had been two different men-a great man, and a terrible father. I didn't want to lie to Jodi, but I didn't want to hurt her view of King. "My father-in-law was a great man. He did many wonderful things for this country. And when he met Becky, he fell in love with her."
"Why'd he kick her out of the house, then?" Jodi asked.
I sighed and remembered what Prince had once told me. "This is going to sound confusing, Jodi, but he did it because he was afraid of hurting your mom and you. He knew that he wouldn't have long to live. He wanted your mom to go out and live her life to the fullest, not stick around with an old man. It's going to sound cheesy, but he did it out of love."
"Thank you," she said quietly. We chatted a bit more before I hugged her goodbye and headed back home. I felt like a giant weight had been lifted from my chest.
When I walked in, I found Sandy in the middle of talking to Prince. "I'm going to go to bed now, dad," she said, "But I just wanted to let you know that you should let Buzz see Char. When he pranked mom's step-sisters he was just stopping Anastasia from making the moves on Drizella's boyfriend..."
I was shocked. Not about the Anastasia flirting with Robbie thing, Buzz had already told me about that. But about the fact that Sandy was asking Prince to not punish Buzz, especially after Sandy had ranted to Buzz about having a criminal record (Andy had told me.) Prince turned to see me.
"Go to bed. I'll talk with your mother about it," he said to Sandy. She gave me pleading eyes as she walked past me.
"Well?" Prince said, turning to me.
"She's right. He's been punished long enough. And quite honestly, the entire thing was funny," I said.
Prince pursed his lips. "Fine. I'll go tell the boy now." I followed Prince into the dining room, where Andy and Buzz were sat talking to each other. They stopped talking the moment they saw us. "Buzz, stand up." Buzz stood up immediately and marched over to Prince.
"Yes dad, sir?"
"You can invite Char over if you want," he said. Buzz brightened up. "But no more funny stunts. You know what you did was wrong, right?" Buzz nodded slowly, looking down at the ground in shame.
"Can I invite her over tomorrow?" Buzz asked, sudden chipper. Prince chuckled.
"Sure thing, sport. We'll see if she's as hot as you say she is," Prince snickered. I slapped his shoulder.
As the months went by, I saw a lot more of both Charmaine and Leon. Char was a clever girl, and as cute as could be. Leon was head over heels for Andy, and intensely loyal. Char was sassy and Leon was polite. They had a mutual understanding of each other as they saw each other around our house occasionally, but were no more than acquaintances.
I kept myself busy with work, of course. I was starting to do a lot more sing-a-grams, maybe three to six a day. I was meeting new people. When the kids were at school, Prince and I still spent time together. I finally had my life in control, once and for all. I knew that no matter what, I would never feel as I did when I was going through my crisis.
"It's lovely to finally meet you, Mrs. Casmin ma'am," he said smoothly, shaking my hand.
"Ooh, manners! Very nice, young man. You can call me Cindy, if you like," I said. "It's nice to officially meet you. I know that we've bumped into each other but this is the first time we've truly met."
Leon nodded. "Is Andy at work, then?"
"Yes, but he said he'd be back by now," I said with a frown.
Sandy descended the stairs slowly and shyly. "Hi," she whispered. Leon grinned at her.
"Hey, you're Sandy, right? I've heard a lot about you. You're in that school club that won all the award last year, right?" Leon said.
"Yeah..." Sandy said, ducking her face. She wasn't shy very often.
"Go get Buzz, Sandy," I said to spare her any awkwardness. She ran back up the stairs. I turned to Leon. "I'm just going to call Andy and get him to hurry his butt up. Make yourself at home. You can sit in the living room and watch TV while you wait if you want."
"Hey mom," Andy said when he picked up.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Funny thing-caller ID," Andy said.
"I don't need your mouth. Leon is here Andy, so hurry up," I said. "And watch your mouth!" I added as Andy cursed loudly.
"Sorry mom. On my way home now. Just tell Leon I'll be home in five. I'm on the road. Bye." Andy hung up before I could say anything more.
Sandy had brought Buzz down by the time I was off the phone with Andy. She was watching him with suspicion as he poured something into a glass. "He was pouring a yellow liquid into a glass," she whispered to me.
"Just tell Leon to not accept anything from Buzz if he values the quality of his pants," I muttered back.
Sandy raised an eyebrow but followed out my order. Buzz smiled at me innocently, but I took him by the shoulder. "Something wrong, mother?" he asked sweetly.
"Not yet. But if you do anything to Leon, Buzz, I will castrate you. He's a nice young lad and I'm glad that Andy's finally found somebody," I snarled.
"Oh, well, we can't have that! I'll be a perfect gentleman in his presence, promise," he said with a wink.
"Let's go and meet him then, shall we?" I walked into the living room with Buzz and Leon immediately stood up.
"Hello. You must be Buzz," Leon said in a considerably deeper voice than he had used before, shaking Buzz's hand firmly.
"Yes. And you're Leon," he said, pulling his hand out of the handshake after a few seconds. "Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Actually, I'm quite parched. Thirsty, even," he said with a smirk, and I must admit I had to leave the room to stop my laughing. When I came back, Leon was declining a gift from Buzz. "Really, I couldn't, but thank you anyway," Leon said, handing Buzz back the small white package. Buzz took it and walked off with a huff.
"Sorry about him. He's just protective," I told Leon. "And I see that Andy is pulling up in the driveway right now, so I'll be off. I'm going to pay my half-sister-in-law a surprise visit! Bye!"
To my surprise and joy, Jodi was actually there to greet me. She was home, and it was the first time I had seen her since she was a little girl. "Hi Jodi, it's Cinderella Charming-your half-brother's husband," I said as she greeted me. She was quite cute, really. She had Becky's big eyes and lips and King's unfortunate cheekbone structure. She looked fresh out of University with her multi-coloured umbrella and loose t-shirt. Becky told me that she had skipped a grade, and because she was born in early January, she was bumped up another grade, meaning that when she was supposed to be in grade two, she was in grade four. She decided to go to University early on in the middle of her Junior year, so instead of being eighteen in University, Jodi was fifteen.
She was Becky's little genius, to say the least.
"Come in, come in! Of course I know who you are! Mom can't stop talking about you," Jodi said, bringing me into their home. It was weird hearing Becky being called 'mom', but I supposed that Becky thought the same regarding me. "So what brings you by our humble abode?"
Humble? They lived in a mansion! "Actually, I just wanted to see you. I haven't seen you since you were a little baby!'
Jodi winced, understandably, and said, "I actually have a question for you, Cinderella-you don't mind me calling you Cinderella, do you? Or would you prefer Aunt Cinderella?"
"Either works. What's your question?"
"I... I never got to know my biological father. Apparently he never even saw me after I was born, and he died within the next two years. What was he like?"
I sucked in a breath. King had been two different men-a great man, and a terrible father. I didn't want to lie to Jodi, but I didn't want to hurt her view of King. "My father-in-law was a great man. He did many wonderful things for this country. And when he met Becky, he fell in love with her."
"Why'd he kick her out of the house, then?" Jodi asked.
I sighed and remembered what Prince had once told me. "This is going to sound confusing, Jodi, but he did it because he was afraid of hurting your mom and you. He knew that he wouldn't have long to live. He wanted your mom to go out and live her life to the fullest, not stick around with an old man. It's going to sound cheesy, but he did it out of love."
"Thank you," she said quietly. We chatted a bit more before I hugged her goodbye and headed back home. I felt like a giant weight had been lifted from my chest.
When I walked in, I found Sandy in the middle of talking to Prince. "I'm going to go to bed now, dad," she said, "But I just wanted to let you know that you should let Buzz see Char. When he pranked mom's step-sisters he was just stopping Anastasia from making the moves on Drizella's boyfriend..."
I was shocked. Not about the Anastasia flirting with Robbie thing, Buzz had already told me about that. But about the fact that Sandy was asking Prince to not punish Buzz, especially after Sandy had ranted to Buzz about having a criminal record (Andy had told me.) Prince turned to see me.
"Go to bed. I'll talk with your mother about it," he said to Sandy. She gave me pleading eyes as she walked past me.
"Well?" Prince said, turning to me.
"She's right. He's been punished long enough. And quite honestly, the entire thing was funny," I said.
Prince pursed his lips. "Fine. I'll go tell the boy now." I followed Prince into the dining room, where Andy and Buzz were sat talking to each other. They stopped talking the moment they saw us. "Buzz, stand up." Buzz stood up immediately and marched over to Prince.
"Yes dad, sir?"
"You can invite Char over if you want," he said. Buzz brightened up. "But no more funny stunts. You know what you did was wrong, right?" Buzz nodded slowly, looking down at the ground in shame.
"Can I invite her over tomorrow?" Buzz asked, sudden chipper. Prince chuckled.
"Sure thing, sport. We'll see if she's as hot as you say she is," Prince snickered. I slapped his shoulder.
As the months went by, I saw a lot more of both Charmaine and Leon. Char was a clever girl, and as cute as could be. Leon was head over heels for Andy, and intensely loyal. Char was sassy and Leon was polite. They had a mutual understanding of each other as they saw each other around our house occasionally, but were no more than acquaintances.
I kept myself busy with work, of course. I was starting to do a lot more sing-a-grams, maybe three to six a day. I was meeting new people. When the kids were at school, Prince and I still spent time together. I finally had my life in control, once and for all. I knew that no matter what, I would never feel as I did when I was going through my crisis.
**Andy's POV**
They were on the couch, again. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against the two of them. Charmaine was a very sweet girl. She and Buzz had similar fashion senses, in fact-he wore his loose green sweater with beer on it, baggy jeans, and torn up shoes. She wore torn up tights, a long dark shirt picturing a famous rock star, and her hair up in a no-fuss-no-muss bun.
They were adorable.
But it happened every single time she was over. They would start off with watching TV. Buzz would drape his arm over her and they'd cuddle.
The movie or show would get to a boring part and they'd get distracted. The kissing would be fairly innocent at first, but then Buzz would lean into Char and wrap his arm around her waist and they'd get into a full on make-out session.
They would get really intense, and Char's hand would start to wander up Buzz's pant leg. Then they'd do this thing where they both pull away and say, "We need to stop. I don't want to, though." It was utterly ridiculous.
To top it all off, they would do this weird nose rubbing thing, then continue watching television.
I didn't know this 'cuz I watched them or something, (okay, maybe once or twice, but by accident! Sometimes.) but 'cuz Buzz always bragged about their 'perfect' relationship. It was true, though. Buzz and Char were made for each other. They reminded me of a cooler, early version relationship of RichandAmy from the Zits comic.
Buzz made sure to keep a close eye on Leon and I, as well, but I knew how to be private in my relationship. It didn't stop Buzz from standing uncomfortably close to us and watching us kiss. "I just don't like him," Buzz admitted to me, "He's nice and all, but there's something there..." It was obviously just Buzz being protective, though, because Leon was obviously perfect.
"Yo, Andy, check out this video," Buzz giggled, and flashed me a video of what looked like a massive orgy.
"THAT'S DISGUSTING MAN!" I yelled, and squirmed away from the screen. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Just needed to get your attention. 'Sides, there's only innocent little robots over on the screen now," Buzz said, peering down at his phone.
"You are one sick piece of crap," I said, shaking my head.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what I was about to give you..." Buzz teased, and raced into our room. He returned with a white package wrapped in a red ribbon. "You're going to be eighteen in like, a week."
"Holy hell, I had no idea," I said, rolling my eyes. Over the years, each birthday had gotten less and less exciting, to the point, where I didn't really care.
"No need to be rude. It's also going to be your aging up day," Buzz continued. He pointed at the gift. "Inside is your potion."
"What." I couldn't comprehend this. The potion that I had been waiting for since I was a child, the potion that would turn Jessie real... was this it? "You're kidding," I breathed.
"Nope. So, uh, here you go. Give it to her tomorrow night. And, uh, don't drop it," Buzz said, handing it to me.
"Wow. Thanks, Buzz," I said, unable to express how grateful I was to him.
"No problem. See you in the morning. Night," he said, mocking a yawn and going to bed. After a few moments, I did the same.
"Where could she be?" Buzz said. The two of us were sitting on the bus waiting for Sandy to get on. The bus driver was getting impatient.
"I'm giving her one minute," the bus driver said, and tooted his horn a few times.
"The door's opening now," I said with relief.
"But that's not-"
"How could it-"
"What happened-"
"When did this-"
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?"
Sandy's beautiful blond hair was dyed a terrible cyan colour, with purple streaks, green tips and black roots. One of her eyebrows were shaved and she had thick, black lipstick on as well as rock-star styled eyeliner and eye-shadow. She had a lip piercing, nose piercing, four eyebrow piercings, and who knew how many others.
Her black, leather shorts barely fell past her butt. Sandy had sparkly purple high heels on and her sweater read "Good girls love bad boys." I wanted to vomit.
Buzz and I didn't say anything as she climbed on the bus and strolled to the back of the bus. Even the bus driver was speechless. Buzz and I kept our eyes on him, but he stared straight ahead through the windshield like he was a dummy.
That night, when doing our homework, we talked about Sandy's new look with her. Buzz looked dismayed, but it might've been because of the homework.
"I just wanted to express myself," Sandy explained. "I'm tired of being a little Miss Perfection. I'm boring. I don't want to be boring."
"You want to express yourself, eh?" Buzz said sarcastically, glancing over at Sandy. "Dad and mom are going to flip their lids."
"They already know," Sandy said, "Dad's freaking out and staying cooped up in his room. Mom went to the park to sing it off. Both of them hate it."
"It doesn't look good, sis," I said.
"I don't care-I like it," Sandy responded, but I could tell that her answer wasn't the complete truth.
"I'm going to drive over to the park and see how mom is," I said.
"I'll come," Buzz said, standing up. Once we found mom, Buzz and I were a little worried. She was picking flowers from the ground and smelling them. "Can you get high off of smelling flowers?" Buzz asked with concern.
"No, Buzz. Well, not these types of flowers," I said with a sigh. "But they could make her feel woozy or something."
"Hey guys," mom said as we approached her. She seemed fine, just a little distraught.
"Hi mom. We brought your work outfit and amp if you want to sing for tips or something," I said.
"Thanks. That's sweet. I take it you've seen your sister?"
"Yeah... She'll get over it, mom. She's still the Sandy we all know and love. Sometimes she's too smart though and gets bored. We should just be glad that she's not doing drugs," I assured her. Sandy was very adamantly against drugs, and because she and I were so close, it was something she would've told me about.
We got mom dressed up in her work clothing and she was content to sing. On the way back home, Buzz giggled. "What the hell was that?" I muttered, perturbed.
"Guess what time it is?"
"What?"
"Time for you to give Jessie her potion!"
My heart skipped a beat. I accelerated the vehicle, bringing our speed up to fifteen kilometers over the speed limit. I had completely forgotten about Jessie because of the events of the day.
I ran upstairs, and unpacked the potion with trembling hands. It was a beautiful, bubbling orange colour. It looked exactly like it was supposed to. I walked downstairs with the potion in my hands, careful to not spill it. "Jessie," I said, finding her in the dining room.
"Yeah?" She turned and stopped moving when she saw what I was holding. I walked over slowly and handed it to her. She sniffed the potion, then met my eyes. "This is it."
Jessie guzzled the potion slowly. The moment that the drink touched her lips, she started emitting purple bubbles and sparkles. The transformation reminded me of an aging up, except this lasted much longer. I must have been standing there fidgeting for at least ten minutes (though it felt like several hours) before it really happened.
"Andy!" Jessie cried, falling into my arms. I hugged her back. I craned my neck to see what she looked like, but she noticed. "Nope," she said, turning me around and racing to the bathroom before I could get a good look at her.
I followed her into the bathroom, giving her time to put on a bit of makeup, do her hair, or whatever she wanted. "Wow. You look... amazing," I told her. She did look amazing. She looked really cute. My heart did a twist. "Uh, I guess we should go introduce you to everyone?" I said. I suddenly felt shy. Jessie was the same person I had known since I was a baby, but now everything felt different... but how?
"Hey dad," I said. He was finally out of his room.
"Hi. Who's this?" He inquired, peering down at Jessie.
"Dad... this is Jessie," I said regretfully.
"Oh? Jessie who?"
"Jessie... The Jessie I've been growing up with. The one you guys haven't been able to see. Buzz gave me a potion. She's real, dad."
"What? This can't be true!" Dad said, clutching his heart. He looked back and forth between the two of us, as if to see whether this was an early April Fool's joke or something.
"I'm afraid so. I'm his 'imaginary friend.' But real. I'm Jessie."
"No!" Dad shouted, and sparkles flew out from him. In just a few seconds, he was clutching his back. His hair had lost its colour. He had wrinkles on his face. He was old.
"Dad," I said calmly, "Do you feel physically able to drive and get mom and bring her back?"
Dad nodded slowly. "I... I guess the shock of it all, brought on early aging," he said.
"No, dad. We just forgot about it. It doesn't matter," I sighed. I didn't like it. Dad was closer to death. Mom was obviously close to aging up as well. But I had Jessie. I pulled her into a hug. She held me close to her. I enjoyed her warmth. I didn't want to let go.
The two of us went upstairs to tell Sandy and Buzz. "Man, you turned out hot," Buzz said, and Jessie laughed. I didn't say anything. It was true, she did. But when Buzz said that, I felt a kind of dislike towards him. He winked at me. "Not as hot as my Char, though," he laughed.
"I could argue that," I muttered quietly enough that neither of them would be able to hear me.
"Your pretty little potion was made on this table," Buzz said, gesturing to his chemistry table. "And now, I've made another fabulous potion. I think it teleports you back home."
Sandy was very mellow when I introduced Jessie to her. She was painting. I thought that it was because I introduced Jessie to Buzz first, and not her. It wasn't anything personal. "What's this?" Jessie said, pointing to the bar.
"A bar. No one uses it around here, though," I said. Mom and dad were constantly complaining about never being able to get a good glass of scotch but having a bar.
"Can I try it out?" Jessie asked, "I think you're parents will like me better if I can make some good drinks for them."
"Be my guest," I said. I sat at the bar for a bit and watched Jessie fiddle with the drinks and shaker. She seemed to get the hand of it, and was soon tossing them in the air and behind her back, so I left her to that and went to the weight lifting machine instead.
About half an hour later, I was distracted by Jessie. She was watching me work-out and I got very nervous and tried to show off a bit. Finally I just stopped and stood up. "What's up?"
"Andy, I wanted to ask something..." she said. She took my hands in hers and I could feel my pulse quicken. I just hoped that my hands weren't too sweaty.
"Yeah?" I croaked.
"Can you quit your job?"
"What?"
"You're under so much stress... we've gone through it all before. Please? Quit? You got your promotion. You promised," Jessie pleaded. Under normal circumstances, I would have refused. But Jessie's big, brown eyes wouldn't take no for an answer...
"Sure."
And so, even though it was past midnight, I visited my workplace, which was open 24 hours a day, and resigned.
"Holy hell, I had no idea," I said, rolling my eyes. Over the years, each birthday had gotten less and less exciting, to the point, where I didn't really care.
"No need to be rude. It's also going to be your aging up day," Buzz continued. He pointed at the gift. "Inside is your potion."
"What." I couldn't comprehend this. The potion that I had been waiting for since I was a child, the potion that would turn Jessie real... was this it? "You're kidding," I breathed.
"Nope. So, uh, here you go. Give it to her tomorrow night. And, uh, don't drop it," Buzz said, handing it to me.
"Wow. Thanks, Buzz," I said, unable to express how grateful I was to him.
"No problem. See you in the morning. Night," he said, mocking a yawn and going to bed. After a few moments, I did the same.
"Where could she be?" Buzz said. The two of us were sitting on the bus waiting for Sandy to get on. The bus driver was getting impatient.
"I'm giving her one minute," the bus driver said, and tooted his horn a few times.
"The door's opening now," I said with relief.
"But that's not-"
"How could it-"
"What happened-"
"When did this-"
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?"
Sandy's beautiful blond hair was dyed a terrible cyan colour, with purple streaks, green tips and black roots. One of her eyebrows were shaved and she had thick, black lipstick on as well as rock-star styled eyeliner and eye-shadow. She had a lip piercing, nose piercing, four eyebrow piercings, and who knew how many others.
Her black, leather shorts barely fell past her butt. Sandy had sparkly purple high heels on and her sweater read "Good girls love bad boys." I wanted to vomit.
Buzz and I didn't say anything as she climbed on the bus and strolled to the back of the bus. Even the bus driver was speechless. Buzz and I kept our eyes on him, but he stared straight ahead through the windshield like he was a dummy.
That night, when doing our homework, we talked about Sandy's new look with her. Buzz looked dismayed, but it might've been because of the homework.
"I just wanted to express myself," Sandy explained. "I'm tired of being a little Miss Perfection. I'm boring. I don't want to be boring."
"You want to express yourself, eh?" Buzz said sarcastically, glancing over at Sandy. "Dad and mom are going to flip their lids."
"They already know," Sandy said, "Dad's freaking out and staying cooped up in his room. Mom went to the park to sing it off. Both of them hate it."
"It doesn't look good, sis," I said.
"I don't care-I like it," Sandy responded, but I could tell that her answer wasn't the complete truth.
"I'm going to drive over to the park and see how mom is," I said.
"I'll come," Buzz said, standing up. Once we found mom, Buzz and I were a little worried. She was picking flowers from the ground and smelling them. "Can you get high off of smelling flowers?" Buzz asked with concern.
"No, Buzz. Well, not these types of flowers," I said with a sigh. "But they could make her feel woozy or something."
"Hey guys," mom said as we approached her. She seemed fine, just a little distraught.
"Hi mom. We brought your work outfit and amp if you want to sing for tips or something," I said.
"Thanks. That's sweet. I take it you've seen your sister?"
"Yeah... She'll get over it, mom. She's still the Sandy we all know and love. Sometimes she's too smart though and gets bored. We should just be glad that she's not doing drugs," I assured her. Sandy was very adamantly against drugs, and because she and I were so close, it was something she would've told me about.
We got mom dressed up in her work clothing and she was content to sing. On the way back home, Buzz giggled. "What the hell was that?" I muttered, perturbed.
"Guess what time it is?"
"What?"
"Time for you to give Jessie her potion!"
My heart skipped a beat. I accelerated the vehicle, bringing our speed up to fifteen kilometers over the speed limit. I had completely forgotten about Jessie because of the events of the day.
I ran upstairs, and unpacked the potion with trembling hands. It was a beautiful, bubbling orange colour. It looked exactly like it was supposed to. I walked downstairs with the potion in my hands, careful to not spill it. "Jessie," I said, finding her in the dining room.
"Yeah?" She turned and stopped moving when she saw what I was holding. I walked over slowly and handed it to her. She sniffed the potion, then met my eyes. "This is it."
Jessie guzzled the potion slowly. The moment that the drink touched her lips, she started emitting purple bubbles and sparkles. The transformation reminded me of an aging up, except this lasted much longer. I must have been standing there fidgeting for at least ten minutes (though it felt like several hours) before it really happened.
"Andy!" Jessie cried, falling into my arms. I hugged her back. I craned my neck to see what she looked like, but she noticed. "Nope," she said, turning me around and racing to the bathroom before I could get a good look at her.
I followed her into the bathroom, giving her time to put on a bit of makeup, do her hair, or whatever she wanted. "Wow. You look... amazing," I told her. She did look amazing. She looked really cute. My heart did a twist. "Uh, I guess we should go introduce you to everyone?" I said. I suddenly felt shy. Jessie was the same person I had known since I was a baby, but now everything felt different... but how?
"Hey dad," I said. He was finally out of his room.
"Hi. Who's this?" He inquired, peering down at Jessie.
"Dad... this is Jessie," I said regretfully.
"Oh? Jessie who?"
"Jessie... The Jessie I've been growing up with. The one you guys haven't been able to see. Buzz gave me a potion. She's real, dad."
"What? This can't be true!" Dad said, clutching his heart. He looked back and forth between the two of us, as if to see whether this was an early April Fool's joke or something.
"I'm afraid so. I'm his 'imaginary friend.' But real. I'm Jessie."
"No!" Dad shouted, and sparkles flew out from him. In just a few seconds, he was clutching his back. His hair had lost its colour. He had wrinkles on his face. He was old.
"Dad," I said calmly, "Do you feel physically able to drive and get mom and bring her back?"
Dad nodded slowly. "I... I guess the shock of it all, brought on early aging," he said.
"No, dad. We just forgot about it. It doesn't matter," I sighed. I didn't like it. Dad was closer to death. Mom was obviously close to aging up as well. But I had Jessie. I pulled her into a hug. She held me close to her. I enjoyed her warmth. I didn't want to let go.
The two of us went upstairs to tell Sandy and Buzz. "Man, you turned out hot," Buzz said, and Jessie laughed. I didn't say anything. It was true, she did. But when Buzz said that, I felt a kind of dislike towards him. He winked at me. "Not as hot as my Char, though," he laughed.
"I could argue that," I muttered quietly enough that neither of them would be able to hear me.
"Your pretty little potion was made on this table," Buzz said, gesturing to his chemistry table. "And now, I've made another fabulous potion. I think it teleports you back home."
Sandy was very mellow when I introduced Jessie to her. She was painting. I thought that it was because I introduced Jessie to Buzz first, and not her. It wasn't anything personal. "What's this?" Jessie said, pointing to the bar.
"A bar. No one uses it around here, though," I said. Mom and dad were constantly complaining about never being able to get a good glass of scotch but having a bar.
"Can I try it out?" Jessie asked, "I think you're parents will like me better if I can make some good drinks for them."
"Be my guest," I said. I sat at the bar for a bit and watched Jessie fiddle with the drinks and shaker. She seemed to get the hand of it, and was soon tossing them in the air and behind her back, so I left her to that and went to the weight lifting machine instead.
About half an hour later, I was distracted by Jessie. She was watching me work-out and I got very nervous and tried to show off a bit. Finally I just stopped and stood up. "What's up?"
"Andy, I wanted to ask something..." she said. She took my hands in hers and I could feel my pulse quicken. I just hoped that my hands weren't too sweaty.
"Yeah?" I croaked.
"Can you quit your job?"
"What?"
"You're under so much stress... we've gone through it all before. Please? Quit? You got your promotion. You promised," Jessie pleaded. Under normal circumstances, I would have refused. But Jessie's big, brown eyes wouldn't take no for an answer...
"Sure."
And so, even though it was past midnight, I visited my workplace, which was open 24 hours a day, and resigned.
I was ready to start my life with Jessie.
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