The New Jessica by Pascal Francine

Author:Pascal, Francine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Seven

"Liz!" Jeffrey called, a hint of impatience in his voice. "I've been chasing you all the way down this hall," he complained a minute later, huffing a little as he caught up to her. "Have you been purposely avoiding me, or is it just getting harder to get hold of you?"

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment. It was true. She had been avoiding Jeffrey. He had called the night before, and she told her mother she was in the bathtub. "I was going to call you back last night, but—"

"Never mind," Jeffrey said, leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I only wanted to make sure you still wanted to see that new movie tonight."

Elizabeth didn't answer right away. If only she knew what to do about Jeffrey! She liked him so much. But that was the problem. If she was headed for heartache, she would prefer to call things off now, before she was in even deeper.

"In fact, we've got an awful lot of planning to do," Jeffrey said. "One of the reasons I was calling last night, aside from checking to see about tonight, was that I wanted to ask you if my cousin Bryce could come along to that fair you were telling me about in Ramsbury. It turns out he's going to be visiting from Oregon that weekend, and I thought it might be nice to bring him with us."

"Oh, that," Elizabeth said disparagingly. "I'm not really sure I want to go to the fair that much after all, Jeffrey."

"Why not?" he asked, walking along beside her as they headed to the cafeteria. "I thought you said it was always so much fun."

"Well, it always used to be," Elizabeth said halfheartedly. "But I don't know. . . . Jessica says she thinks she's too grown-up for it this year. And I'm just not sure it'll be any fun without her."

Jeffrey's mouth tightened a little. He seemed to be thinking very hard and fast about something. "Fine," he said shortly. "I didn't really want to go much anyway."

Elizabeth stared at him. "You just changed your mind because of Jessica," she said accusingly. "You were perfectly willing to go until I told you what she said."

Jeffrey's green eyes flashed with anger. "Yeah, that's right," he said sarcastically. "If Jessica can't go, then why should we go? Why shouldn't we decide everything we do on the basis of Jessica?"

Elizabeth felt her face burn. "I'm beginning to get the picture," she said coldly. "You just—"

"Liz," Jeffrey pleaded, the sarcasm dropping from his voice, "don't you realize—"

"I realize perfectly well," Elizabeth interrupted, "that you don't really feel like going to the fair now that Jessica isn't going." She glared at him, her anger mounting. "I guess there isn't really much reason for us to go see a movie tonight, since Jessica has other plans."

"Liz, what are you talking about?" Jeffrey demanded, grabbing her arm as she started to stalk off.

Elizabeth felt her eyes fill with angry tears. "Why don't you just ask Jessica to go out with you?" she muttered, edging away from him.

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