Costume optional - I hope! (attn Jessica - open!)

[felipe]

"They WHAT?" Felipe stared down at Jessica in disbelief. No... not that. He believed her. Of course he believed her! Shock? That was closer. "Burned your house? And filmed it?" And then uploaded it for everyone to watch. His eyes narrowed in fury. "Let's get the hell out of here," he said in a cold voice. All of a sudden bowling held absolutely no appeal. "Wait here."

Felipe stormed over to where he could see Evan and Patch talking and he placed himself well within their personal space.

He looked at Patch first and then Evan.

"You are both sick," he hissed. "Worse than sick. And yet you call HER psycho! Right now I really am struggling to hold back from ripping your heads off with my bare hands but I won't allow myself to drop down to your level." Had Jessica ben in the house at the time? If so this wasn't only arson (as if that wasn't bad enough) but also attempted murder. He added a few choice words in backstreet Portuguese that would have had his mother fainting on the spot had she overheard. "By the time I'm done the whole damned town will know what you did." He looked at them in turn again. "And then we will see just how funny this is."

He spun away, intentionally barging shoulders with Patch, and strode back to where he'd left Jessica. He grabbed her hand.

"We're going," he snarled.

Once outside he released her hand and bent low, hands placed on his knees and head down. Felipe drew in a deep breath to try and cool his anger. Anger? No, to call Felipe Luis Vila Nova angry would have been along the same lines as referring to Hurricane Katrina as a summer breeze.

"I need some air," he finally said. "Can we head out of town? Up into the hills a bit...?

[Jessica Pruitte]

Before she could stop him, Felipe was by the two who'd ruined her life. (Not that she hadn't been on an excellent path to doing that herself.) Words were exchanged and the look on Fel's face was both frightening and admirable in that I'm-looking-out-for-you kinda way. It was such a strange feeling having someone willing to fight her battles for her.

Still that look, that absolute rage was terrifying. Was that how she had looked during the fight? If it was, then no wonder those two hadn't fought back, and turned tail to run every time she showed up.

Heh.

Good.

Just as quickly as he'd gone over, Fel returned and lead Jessica out under the admission that he wanted OUT now. She understood that on a level that probably few would. The cool rain pelted their clothes and skin as the boy bent low bracing himself on his knees and breathed. Jessica's hand found a place to rest between his shoulder blades and she rubbed.

"I need some air," he finally said. "Can we head out of town? Up into the hills a bit...?

“Yeah, anything you want. We can put the top down on the can and just ride in the rain. Dad'll just get a new one and it's not like rain'll kill the upholstery.” It wouldn't do it any good, but it wouldn't destroy the car's interior either. Besides, it sounded fun and they were getting wet anyway just standing out there.

Climbing into the drivers seat while Felipe took the passengers, Heidi pressed the button to release the roof as the hardtop folded back and into the trunk allowing the steady rain to fall once more on the two teens who shared an anger for different reasons.

“Didn't mean to make you angry. It's not something I've told anyone because a formal investigation...” would spell a whole world of trouble for her. She already had a court date though her mother had kept saying not to worry about it, that everything would be fine, no one would blame her for any actions she'd taken after the gun had been pressed to her head during the gang war in the school. Post Traumatic Stress or whatever.

Maybe.

No different than anything else going on in her life really. She had major anger issues to deal with, but apparently so did Fel.

“Do you want music?”

[felipe]

He shook his head. No... I mean, not unless you do?" He eased the passenger seat back a little so as to recline and turned his face up to the rain, eyes closed. What the hell had happened back there? And why had those two jerks burnt Jessica's house down? Was there more to all of this than it first seemed? Or maybe the pair had been as high as kites when they'd played with their box of matches. Whatever the reason there was surely no call to do what they'd done. Not only had they trashed her place and - more than likely - a stack of her personal possessions but they'd risked killing Jessica, too. And her cat. Not to mention any nearby houses.


He drew in a deep breath. He'd wanted so much to fit in here in the US... To be accepted. Sure, he felt perfectly at ease with Jessica but he'd just alienated two of the more popular kids at school. Then again, just how popular would they continue to be when Felipe spread the word about their arson and attack on Jessica Pruitte?


"And you didn't," he said as an after though.


"Didn't what?"

Felipe opened his eyes and turned his rain-slicked face in her direction. "Make me angry. *They* did... not you.


He closed his eyes once more and sank back into his thoughts, neither of them speaking - nor feeling the need TO speak - until Jessica drew to a halt in a small layby at the side of the road.


"Did you ever report them to the police?" he asked. "They can't be allowed to get away with this." Felipe would make damned sure their lives were a whole lot less footloose and fancy free from now on.



(ooc: Lucky Felipe ;P Jess morphed into Heidi for a sec there BWAhaha!)

[Jessica Pruitte]

When asked if she'd reported the incident Jessica stiffened again, then fell back against the backrest of the driver's seat.

“No.” A single word with so much emotion in it. It gave away too much and Jess knew it. Fel deserved an explanation he'd been dragged into this now.

“Do you remember,” she started, “when I told you that I'd done some pretty bad things? That I created people?” Her tone was serious, just as serious as it was when they first met. On the beach. “I'm gonna warn you right now, it's pretty drama filled.”

Allowing Felipe time to back out of his question, Jess paused. Silence filled the space between them before she continued, taking his silence as a 'go ahead'. A deep breath preceded her explanation.

“I'm a thief. A runaway and I my main source of income before my parents caught up with me was computer crimes. I'd hack into bank accounts and reroute money so it filtered through a ton of accounts before it hit any number of accounts I set up. I filed for government funds through children left behind after two parents died in service and set myself up for a nice little windfall. I have so many names, and so many different IDs... Fel, if this ever got out... I'm lucky it hasn't already but ANY in-depth investigation into the house might out me. My parents can't protect me from that.”

Jessica fell silent again and held her breath counting the seconds between what she had to say and Felipe's reaction.

[felipe]

He had a feeling he'd posed a sensitive question but Felipe still needed to know. He'd become involved and before he got in any deeper he had to hear what had happened. And why.


No.


He'd already expected Jessica to tell him she hadn't filed a report. What he knew of her already told him she'd never resort to going to the cops.


Felipe listened closely as she explained why...


He turned his face towards her as she finished and a silence drifted across the couple and the car. The rain had increased and was hammering down reasonably enthusiastically by now but none of that registered on the Brazilian boy. He held her eyes with his. "I thought you were going to tell me something far worse," he admitted. "Ok, so you've not been all that law-abiding but..." He lifted his shoulders. "I feel deep down you had our reasons and wouldn't have done this stuff just for fun. Patch and Evan... Do they know about all of this? Or did they attack your house just out of tedium? You have to know I told them both I will make sure the entire town knows what they did. I won't let them get away with this." He swallowed slightly, adding in a low voice, "I can't..."

[Jessica Pruitte]

“I don’t know if they knew or not. Most people thought my parents were dead, it was the story I told everyone. That they’d gone off to war and hadn’t come home. Road bomb, sniper, the story changed depending on where I was, but it was pretty consistent that they were dead. You met my mom. Can you blame me?” Jess’ smile was a shadow, but she tried.

“I lost it though, when I saw them watching the video at school. Had a huge fight in the cafeteria, someone said something about having had pictures taken. Weird though,” as Jess was thinking back to the fight she couldn’t actually remember being hurt herself in it and she knew she wasn’t that good of a brawler. No training, no nothing. It had just been sheer rage that drove her. “I didn’t get hurt at all during the fight.”

Shoulders rose and fell in a shrug as Jess leaned back, silently relieved that Fel wasn’t going to abandon her because of what she did. That he was glad it hadn’t been something more serious. He was a strange, strange boy. The whole school was filled with strange people, but Fel probably took the cake. He looked normal enough, talked normal enough, if you made allowances for the accent, but he wasn’t. He was way too accepting when it came to her. Psycho Chick. Oh, she’d heard it whispered as she’d walked past some groups and wasn’t immune to the effect the nickname had on her. Part of it she enjoyed, part of it not.

“Why can’t you let it go?” the question was finally asked. “I didn’t get hurt, Ouch managed to get out. And those two jump every time they see me.”

[felipe]

"That's hardly the point," Felipe reasoned. "This could all have ended with you dying. And what's to say they won't try something like that again?" He shook his head. "They need to suffer far more than just... jumping when they see you. And besides, Patch tried to make me believe you were psycho when, in fact, he and Evan are the crazies. They cannot be allowed to continue spreading lies about you." He scowled. "I won't let them..."

The last few words were spoken in little more than a hoarse whisper. He'd make them pay... He wasn't sure how but they would... and big time. For all their laughing and joking and little group of followers... No, they would suffer... Just as Jessica had suffered.

"Does anyone else know your past?" he asked. He had a feeling it wasn't the normal topic of any conversation. "And what made you tell me? It's not like we've known each other all that long and yet..." He turned his head so that he could look fully at her. "... and yet I feel I've known you all my life..." Perhaps HE was the crazy one as Felipe knew that wasn't even remotely possible but that sensation still persisted.

[Jessica Pruitte]

Why had she told him? That did seem to be the question. Because he had been on the beach in a vulnerable moment? Because he hadn't fled after that moment had passed and he saw how she was? Because if he turned it into a police matter it was something not even her parents could save her from to “save the family name.”

“My parents know that I managed to survive a few years on my own and quite well. They didn't ask questions why, only yelled that I might have ruined the name of Pruitte for years to come. And only THAT because of the fight and the school shooting.” Never mind that she had only barely managed to make it out alive. She still had nightmares about the cool barrel of the gun pressed against the side of her head. “They don't really give a rats ass about what I do as long as it doesn't make them look bad.”

At the confession that Felipe felt like he'd known her for far longer than the few days, (weeks? God she'd lost track of time.) that they'd been hanging out Jess felt something stir within her. Happiness? Had to be.

“You know more about me than most people. More than my parents. I don't know why I talk to you,” the last was a confession of her own. “I just do. You're a good listener and you haven't judged me yet so that helps.” They were both soaked to the skin with huge thanks to the rain and keeping the top of the car down. Jess didn't mind it though.

“Why do you hang around, anyway? It's not like I'm easy company to keep.” She hadn't ignored that he'd said Patch and Evan needed to pay, Jess would get back to that, but t his was one of the questions that burned in her mind.

[felipe]

Felipe shrugged slightly. "I like you," he simply replied. "You've never tried to push me away. Well... not and meant it. I mean, yeah, you do the 'I wanna be alone' thing a bit but as I don't take any notice of that you soon give up," he said on a short laugh. "You aren't like the others. The ones who preen and pose and need admiration and their little fan-base of followers. You are down to earth and even though you have a lot you keep secret I feel I know you about as much as anyone could hope. Sure, I want to know more and see more of the *real* Jessica that you try and keep so well hidden but I count myself fortunate to be allowed to catch glimpses of her from time to time... Like now."

He shot a terse look skywards. "We've wrecked your dad's car," he stated. "And if we both get out of this without catching chills it will be something of a miracle. You want to come back to my place for a while? Maybe we can grab some take-out and eat it in my room. I'd suggest we have dinner out but..." He drew up the edge of his shirt and wrung it, water dripping all over the car seat. "I have a feeling we'd be refused a table." Felipe grinned wryly. "What do you say? Pizza and a movie? Promise I will behave myself... for the most part," he finished with a wink.

[Jessica Pruitte]

“My dad,” Jess laughed, “Can kiss the darkest part of my pale white ass.” Quite warm from the compliments she hadn't quite expected from Fel, Jess turned the key in the ignition and started to back out of the space she'd pulled into. The pull off had held a nice view as a backdrop to their conversation and she knew she was calmer. Fel looked and sounded calmer too.

“Pizza sounds good. So does the movie. And what could you possibly do that wouldn't be behaving. The worse I think you've ever done is almost hustle at bowling.” This was followed by more laughter as Jess merged onto the highway amid driver's stares for the top being down in the rain. For once she didn't care that she was the subject of scrutiny. There was someone there to share it with.

Lifting a hand from the steering wheel she waved, fingers waggling in the wind above the windshield at the other drivers, laughter heavy on her lips. It was too much fun and after the high tension laughter was exactly what was needed.

Exactly.

The hand returned to the steering wheel as the teenager made all the appropriate turns and ended up in front of Felipe's house. The lot next to his had the frame for a house in it. The only indication that there had ever been a fire there was her memory of it.