I stood there, awestruck. "What did you say?" I asked. "You heard me Jenny. We have a mission in a few months, and I need your help" said Jesse. "What do I need to do?" I asked hesitantly. "I need to train you first, then I'll decide. I need as many people on this mission as possible" said Jesse. "Normally, just Andi, Luka and I go for easy missions, but this time, I need everyone.
"Okay, when do we start?" I asked. "Tomorrow morning," said Jesse. "You can go now Jenny," said Jesse, coldly. I left the barn, feeling a mix of different emotions. I walked up to the house, I needed to talk to Andi.
I opened the door to find Andi, Lacy, Becca, and Elena all in the kitchen just like the way I left. "So, what did he say?" said Becca. "Andi, can I talk to you?" I said, hesitantly. "Yeah, of course" said Andi, walking me to her room. Her room was painted a darker maroon color. Much darker than the rest of the house. Her room had a single bed, just like Jesse's. Andi shut the door after we walked in. "What's wrong J?" she asked. "He says he needs to train me for a mission" I said, waiting for her reaction.
"I knew this was coming," said Andi. "I told him to wait, he never listens to me". "So what does this mean?" I asked. "I don't know how much Jesse wants me to tell you," said Andi. "Okay, well what am I gonna have to do?" I said. "We won't know until we train you J," said Andi. "Don't think too much about it,". Just then, Luka walked in. "Is everything okay Andi?" he asked. "Yeah, Jesse talked to Jenny…" said Andi. "About?" said Luka. "Oh wait, don't answer that. So she knows?". "I don't know what Jesse wants us to tell her, so keep your mouth shut" snapped Andi. "He just told me he wants to train me because he needs me on a mission. He never said what the mission was, but he said he needed everyone for it" I said. "He did not!" shouted Andi. Just then Andi stormed out of the room. "C'mon Jesse" said Luka, as he ran out of the room.
Luka and Andi sprinted for the barn. Once they got there, Andi swung the doors open. I walked up to the barn, wanting to know what Jesse, Andi, and Luka were talking about. The giant double doors were shut. I put my ear up to the door to listen to what they were saying.
"What are you thinking?" she shouted. "You're gonna get her killed!". "No, I'm not. I'm going to teach her how to fight, and how to shoot. She'll be fine" said Jesse, not looking up. "Jesse are you out of your mind?" Andi shouted. "There is no way we can take on the Santoros by ourselves!". "We can, and we will," said Jesse, eyes still glued to his gun. "Jesse, I can't believe you. What are you thinking?" said Andi, smacking him in the head. "They killed our parents Andi!!" shouted Jesse. His voice booming through the building.
"Come in Jenny" said Jesse, not looking up. I walked in, hesitantly. Andi and Luka stared at me as I walked up to them. "Jenny, how much did you hear?" asked Andi. "Enough," I said. "Andi, Luka, leave," said Jesse. "C'mon Andi" said Luka, walking out with Andi. Andi slammed the door shut behind her.
"Jenny," said Jesse, finally looking up. "Please just meet me here tomorrow morning". "Okay Jesse" I said, turning away. The truth was, I was terrified. I didn't know what to think. Automatically, my eyes filled with tears. My subconscious reaction to fear. I walked out of the barn, realizing the sun had already gone down. I decided to walk to the pier, it wasn't that far of a walk down the beach.
The cool air was blowing and the salty ocean water misting on my face. I sat down on the wooden plank and put my feet in the water. I was confused. I didn't know what to think. What is Jesse thinking? Why is he doing this? I had so many questions to ask. So I went to the one person who I knew would be able to answer them. I took my feet out of the water and got up.
I started walking towards the garage, looking for Luka. I opened the door, only to find Luka underneath a car. "Hey Luka," I said, walking around the car "Can I talk to you?". Luka rolled out from underneath the car, "Sure J, what's up?". Lukas' face was covered in oil stains. He clearly had been working for a while because he was covered in sweat. "Luka, what's wrong with Jesse?" I said. "I don't know" sighed Luka, "He gets in these stupid moods when he feels like it's him against the world". "Why is he mad?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you J, he really doesn't like too many people knowing about his personal life" said Luka. "Okay" I said, annoyed. Without saying anything else, I started for the door. "J," started Luka. "If I were you, I would just ask him yourself".
Puzzled, I walked to the house. Why would I ask him? He clearly doesn't want me to know anything. Then I thought, What about Andi? She would talk to me, wouldn't she? I opened the door and went to the kitchen. Lacy, like always, was making some concoction. "Lacy, have you seen Andi?" I asked, trying to be louder than the electric mixer going. "Last I saw, she was with Jesse," said Lacy.
Just then we heard arguing coming up the stairs. "Damnit Claire that's not what I meant!" shouted Andi, "I don't want to hear it!" shouted Claire. Andi was following Claire up the stairs. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Get out of my way" said Claire, pushing me. "Woah calm down girl" said Lacy. Claire stormed to the freezer, grabbed a bag of ice, and ran back downstairs. "What was that about?" said Lacy, turning to Andi. "We're out of ice in the basement, so I asked her if she was too drunk to get it from upstairs, or if I should get it. She got all defensive, and ran upstairs" said Andi, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know if you guys have noticed, but Claire has been acting extra weird lately" said Lacy. "I just think that she's nervous about the Santoro mission," said Andi. "Can one of you please explain to me what is going on?" I asked. "Jesse won't tell me anything, he expects me to show up tomorrow morning and train with him, I don't even know what I am training for" I shouted, getting angry. "No one keeps me in the loop around here, you guys never tell me anything". "Jenny," sighed Lacy, "What's going on in here?" said Elena, walking in. "Elena, hold off for a sec" said Lacy. "J, please try to understand, we are just trying to protect you".
Just then, the boys walked in. "Hey guys," said Conner, "What's up?". "I was just leaving," I said smiling, and walking towards the door. "Jenny," sighed Andi "Hold on". Without turning around, I walked out the door. "What was that about Andi?" said Jesse. "She's getting anxious," said Andi, "She thinks we're lying to her about everything". "Damnit" said Jesse "I have to go". Jesse stormed out the door and ran after me.
"Jenny, wait" said Jesse, finally catching up to me. He extended his arm out, and grabbed my wrist. I could feel my cheeks getting red. "What do you want, Jesse?" I said. "I'm sorry," said Jesse. "I'm not asking for an apology Jesse," I said back, "I just want to know what the hell is going on". "Come on, let's go back inside, Andi and I will explain everything".