Cheer practice definitely ended on a sour note that afternoon.
After Lauren Halliwell had been berated into tears by her cheer captain, it had pretty much killed any further conversation. Everyone else was in a rush to just shower and get the hell out of the gymnasium. No one wanted to be Clair's next target.
I guess I got a proper apology in the end, Jessica thought as she limped slowly towards the school parking lot. Even if Lauren didn't mean a word of it and was just scared of Clair's threats.
"Jess, are you doubly sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital?"
"I'm sure." Jessica was trying not to breathe too deeply as it made her bruised ribs ache. Dammit, what if I've broken one? Not that a doctor could do anything about it. Isn't the only thing you can do with cracked ribs is wait for them to heal on their own?
"Well, at least come back to my house then. You can have dinner there as well. Your mom won't mind, will she?" Clair insisted.
"Probably not." Jessica was in no mood to face her mother. And it would definitely be nicer to have a home cooked dinner from the McKinley's maid than the rabbit food her mother always prepared. "But I don't think I can handle the walk up the hill to your house."
"You won't have to. We're getting a ride home."
Before Jessica could ask from who, Clair put two fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. The kind of whistle you'd use to summon a dog.
What it did was get the attention of a young man in the parking lot, checking something in his car's engine. He looked up and smiled when he saw Clair waving at him.
Jessica recognised him right away as one of the football team's linebackers. The team often practiced on the school field, on the same days as cheer practice.
"Can you give us a ride home, Dex?" Clair asked, straight to the point.
Dexter frowned. "What, right now?"
"No, next week." she deadpanned. "Of course right now! You think the two of us want to hang around a parking lot for the rest of the day?"
"Well yeah I can, but… I don't exactly want to end up in trouble with Simon. Can't he give you a ride?"
"Seriously! Do you see him standing around this carpark? I'm after a ride, not an engagement ring." Clair cleared her throat and made her next words sound less rude. "Simon won't mind, I promise. And it's more a favour for Jess than for me. She took a nasty fall at cheer practice and shouldn't doing a long walk."
Dexter looked sympathetically at Jessica as he held open the car's back door. "Sorry to hear that. Shouldn't you be going to a doctor instead, though?"
Jessica swore she was going to scream the next time someone said the word 'doctor'. She managed to grind out a smile. "It's not that bad. Nothing that an ice pack can't fix."
She bit her lip so hard it bled, as she climbed into the backseat of the dark blue Datsun. Even the pressure of the seatbelt against her ribs was painful.
The drive up to the McKinley's house was fairly quiet. Clair and Dexter made a bit of small talk in the front seats, but nothing else.
As they glided over the imposing curved driveway, Dexter whistled in admiration. "Damn. I always forget what a great house you live in. I've heard my old man mention this place a few times, him being an architect and all."
"Thanks for the ride." Clair said briefly, hopping out as soon as the car came to a stop. She pulled her backpack out of the trunk and Jessica's as well. Then she peered through the car's back window. "Are you going to be ok getting out of the car and up the stairs inside?"
"I'm going to be just peachy. Trust me." Jessica muttered as she got out of the car. "Thanks for carrying my bag though."
The two of them waved Dexter goodbye and walked through into the house. As soon as they set foot in the double height entry foyer, a warm scent began to soothe Jessica's soul. Cinnamon and nutmeg.
It was the comforting scent she'd always associated with Clair's house. Familiar and homey.
Ironic how the homey scent wasn't created by the family itself but by Lupe, the McKinley's long term housekeeper.
Lupe had run the house for as long as Jessica had known Clair. She was a plump and middle aged woman of Mexican heritage, stern but still kind. She was also a fabulous cook.
"Hey, Lupe." Clair called out as tossed her backpack on the floor and went straight into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and started poking around the contents.
"Miss Clair, you'll spoil your appetite if you snack so late." the housekeeper frowned over her shoulder as she continued stirring a pot. "I'm making your favourite chicken and bean casserole."
"Yum. In that case, I'll hold off." Clair shut the fridge door. "Anyone else home for dinner?"
"Señor McKinley told me he's working late, so he won't be here until around midnight. And Señora McKinley isn't up to eating at the table tonight. I'll be taking her dinner up to her room in a little while."
"Of course they are. Why would I expect anything else from them?" Clair grumbled and she flopped onto a kitchen stool.
Lupe looked at her with soft, sad eyes, but stayed quiet. Jessica had never heard the older woman say a single bad word about her employers. Still, she wasn't blind. Lupe was probably the closest thing that Clair had to a mother figure.
Lupe turned to look at Jessica. "Will you be having dinner with us, Miss Jessica?" she asked.
"Jess is here for dinner and she's staying the night as well."
"Hold on. I hadn't even thought about spending the night here." Jessica said reluctantly.
Clair shrugged. "You might as well. I can lend you everything. You offered to help me study for the physics test, didn't you ?"
"I did and you turned up your nose at my generous offer, if I remember right."
"Well, stay here anyway. Just to share in my delightful company." Clair grinned. "Unless you really really want to go home to pick fights and eat salad with your mother."
Jessica sighed. "I really really don't want that. I guess I'd better call Mom and let her know I won't be seeing her until tomorrow."
One look at the clock on the kitchen wall told her it would be too late to call her mother at the law firm. Suzanne would either be driving home or walking through their front door.
Taking the cordless phone from Clair's hand, Jessica dialled her home number. The phone began ringing but no one answered on the other end.
"Please don't pick up, please don't pick up." she chanted softly under her breath. To her relief, she finally heard the line click and connect to the Heath's answering machine.
"Hi Mom. I'm sleeping over at Clair's tonight because we have a test to study for together. I'll see you tomorrow after school. Bye."
Jessica quickly hung up after recording the message and exhaled in relief. She'd avoided talking directly to her mother.
And its not like Mom's ever going to call the McKinley house. She's always whining about how "whenever they talk to you, those rich Southerners are always trying to make you feel inferior."
Except that Suzanne would've only crossed paths with the McKinleys a handful of times, so how would she really know? Despite their daughters being joined at the hip, their parents were never in contact.
How could they be, when Clair's father was barely around and her mother was always locked away in her bedroom?
So typical of you, Mom. Always playing the victim in your mind. Whatever.
Dealing with her mother's weird prejudices is tomorrow's problem.
Clair grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a kitchen towel. Then the two girls headed upstairs to Clair's bedroom.
Jessica sank into the velvet covered beanbag on the floor and accepted the ice pack from her friend. She hissed as she lifted her tank top and pressed the burning cold against her side.
"That's going to be one impressive bruise you end up with." Clair raised an eyebrow. "Any footballer would be proud of it."
"I know. I guess it rules out me buying a prom dress with racy cutouts down the side."
Clair laughed, then her face hardened. "At least that jealous cow knows better than to pull such a stunt again."
Jessica remembered the scene in the gymnasium, when Clair had told Lauren she could stop her from being able to graduate.
"My dad will tell the principal everything you did. They won't take long to expel your sorry ass. And without a high school diploma, I guess you can kiss college goodbye, right?"
"That's not fair! You can't threaten me like that! You think your fancy lawyer dad can throw around his weight and his money around town and get me kicked out of school? You can't make the rules just because your family's rich!"
"Actually, sweetie, that's exactly how it works. It's called capitalism. If you'd spent more time studying and less time worrying about a stupid boyfriend, you know that.
"Now, let's try that apology again. And make it sound genuine. I want to see tears of sincerity this time."