The Rookie Pirates (Parts 1-6)

19. The Beauty Contest

Jessica slid down the slide from the crow's nest to the deck. She hadn't wanted her first time down the slide to be in such a foul mood, but it was, dampening her mood even further.

She stomped across the deck and bumped straight into Tommy, who immediately noticed how angry she now looked. He was about to ask if she was okay, but Jessica ran past him before he could call after her.

Tommy glared up towards the crow's nest and cursed under his breath. "Damn that dumb blonde."

Jessica ran towards the gangplank, but before she could leave the ship, Levi stopped her by encircling his arms around her waist and pulling her back.

"What's wrong, Jess?"

The captain seemed puzzled by her sudden change of mood. Already, he missed the happy smile she'd had on earlier.

Jessica untangled herself from Levi's arms in a flustered mess but miserably failed, as he kept entangling himself around her waist. Jessica huffed and gave up.

"I'm sorry Levi, but I've changed my mind. I can't be a part of your crew. Not with someone like him on board." She pointed up towards the crow's nest.

Finally, Levi let go of her waist, and his mouth gaped open in surprise at her sudden change of mind regarding joining him. She had seemed so eager before. He was about to ask what had happened, but she ran away as soon as she was free from his arms and disappeared off the boat.

Jessica made her way back towards the tavern, the one place where she belonged. Her hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her black shorts, and her scruffy leather boots kicked against the floor as she dragged her feet along the pavement to the tavern. Her heart felt heavy, and altogether she was giving off a sad aura, making the people around her feel sad and ruining their fun at the harvest festival.

She heaved a sigh. Why was she feeling like this? Why was she taking Alex's words to heart? It was the same feeling she'd gotten when Jude left without saying goodbye. Did people generally not like her, or was it something else?

Jessica sat down at the bar, her body slumped over and her head resting on the counter. Her finger made circular patterns on the sticky wooden surface. She sighed again, a long, distant sigh.

"Why so blue?" Elena asked as she approached her depressed-looking friend.

Jessica sat up. Her eyes didn't have their usual spark that Elena had become accustomed to seeing every day.

"Levi asked me to join his crew..."

"That's good news, isn't it?" Elena interrupted happily. "You loved reading about him in the newspaper. This should be a dream come true."

"It was, but the first mate doesn't like me very much, and I don't want to be part of a crew where someone is always negative towards me. I should have gone with Kirk when I had the chance. At least everyone on his crew liked me."

"Curse you, Alexander," Elena muttered under her breath and scowled. Her features turned sharp and deadly. "Trust me. You made the right choice by not going with Kirk that day. Your destiny doesn't lie with him..." Elena rambled.

Jessica rolled her eyes at her friend's continued nonsense about destiny.

"At least tell me what happened between you and the first mate," Elena pleaded.

Jessica saw no problem in telling her. They were friends, after all, and so she explained what had happened from the start of lunch with Levi and his crew to sitting at the bar. However, she left out certain parts, like her father being Zachary Flint and Levi knowing about it.