Caught

Chapter Thirty-Five

"I'm dropping out," Jessica said as she walked into our kitchen non-so-early the next Saturday morning. Dad, Spencer and I were still dressed in our pajamas and enjoying breakfast when she walked in out of nowhere. I honestly didn't know where she stayed the night but she wasn't at our house in the evening or when I wake up in the morning for school.

"What do you mean, you're dropping out?" Dad furrowed his eyebrows furious over Jessica's words. "You can't drop out, you need a proper education."

"Yeah," I said, then took a sip of juice. "you can't drop out. I don't think I can drop out so you can't either."

Jessica ignored me and faced Dad. "You aren't my father, Uncle... what's your name again?"

"Jake." Dad poured a cup of coffee into his mug. He passed the coffee decanter to Spencer, who poured the rest into his mug. I wondered if that much coffee was good for anyone.

"Right," Jessica said, rummaging through our fridge. "I have a friend name Jake, though I haven't seen him for a while." She paused. "I don't even think he's alive at this point."

The three of us stared at Jessica like she was some kind of wanted criminal or something. Did this girl really think her friends was dead? The girl simply took a seat at our breakfast table, acting like there wasn't anything weird.

"Well..." Dad tried to continue the conversation. I grabbed the bottle of chocolate syrup on the table and started covering my waffle with it. "What makes you want to drop out?"

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know... it's just not for me. If there wasn't a uniform to it, I'd possibly stay but it's just not for me, you know."

"What would you do instead?" Spencer asked her, grabbing the bottle of from my hands. "I mean, Dad ain't gonna let Lauren skip."

"And she's not going to drop out either," Dad says firmly, eyeing Jessica.

Jessica stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her jeans. "Uncle Jake, as a sixteen year-old girl in our society, I'm am entitled with the right to drop out of school - you know, because you can drop out at sixteen. I'm no longer a young child and can even drive. Plus, you are not my guardian and I can make my own decisions. I'm not going to school. I'll just hang around town, sleep and do some other stuff."

"If sixteen year olds can drop out of school, can I drop out as well?" I ask, my mouth full of chocolate sauce. Heads turn towards me, seeing my face covered in a brown, sticky substance. Spencer rubbed his thumb against my face, licking the chocolate on his finger.

"You're not going to drop out of school!" Dad clearly didn't enjoy how this morning was turning out. His ear were turning pink in anger.

"You did," Spencer countered.

I did not know that information. I shot him a look saying You-Little-Hypocrite. Dad shot Spencer a dirty look. "That was different. The school was in pieces by the end of the year, we couldn't attend."

"What were you doing before the end of the year?" Jessica asked, curiosity filling her voice. "Were you not attending school?"

"We were saving the world." Dad got up from his seat, grabbing the bottle of chocolate sauce from me and Spencer, who drained almost half the bottle and had it covering out faces.

Spencer placed his mug on the kitchen table after draining the cup in one gulp. "Please, you weren't doing anything."

"I did, too-"

"Did not. King Jacin did the saving. Queen Lillian was doing the saving. Mom was helping the other side and you were Jace's little sidekick, Dad."