"Jesse! Dinner!" Terri shouted from the kitchen.

"You stayin'?" He turned to me.

"Um sure." I said.

"Okay let's go." He said.

~~~~~~

"So Jean, how old are you?" Terri said as she placed a plate of spaghetti in front of me.

"Fourteen and three quarters." I mumbled.

"Jean, I told you. You don't have to be shy. It's okay." Jesse said.

"I'm sorry I'm just really shy around new people." I said apologetically.

"It's okay, honey." Terri said. "I was shy as a girl myself. So Jesse mentioned that you guys met in counseling? Am I correct?"

"Yeah." Jesse and I said in unison.

"Oh that's great! You know I was so relieved when Jesse mentioned you because he could use some new friends. It's nice that he found a nice girl who won't do awful things to him like that one girl who-"

"Mom." Jesse said through gritted teeth.

"Jesse, I think she deserves to know what that girl did to you." Terri said.

"What girl? What're you talking about?" I asked.

"Don't say her name please."

"Fine. This nasty little girl that Jesse used to date, used him for 'bad things'. But not only that, she cheated on him. Like what kind of a little girl does that?!"

"That's terrible." I said, playing along. I could see the look on his face that he didn't want to talk about this. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's cause I didn't want to make a huge deal out of it like mom did." Jesse explained.

Just then, the front door swung open and heavy footsteps came in. A voice shouted 'I'm home'. That shut Jesse and his mom up pretty fast.

"I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Let's talk about happy things."

"Daddy's home!" A man shouted as he came in the kitchen. It was his dad. He had thick hipster glasses and had a very slim face. His jawline was probably sharp enough to cut paper. He had a little bit of stubble on his face too. He was pretty tall in my definition and he had on dress pants and a nice crisp shirt that had been freshly ironed. He also had on tennis shoes.

"Hello! Who is this?" He said enthusiastically as he saw me.

"Frank, this is Jean. Jesse's friend from Community Counseling." Terri introduced me to her husband and I had a shy smile on my face

"Hi." I muttered, my fingers picking at my top lip. A habit that shy people usually do.

"Howdy there, Jean. Nice to meet you." He said confidently as he shook my hand.

"You too." I said as our hands parted.

"Take a seat and have some dinner, honey." Terri pointed to the counter behind her.

~~~~~~

"So Jean, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Frank asked me as he brought the girls in.

"I have two older sisters; Ramona and Beth." I said.

"That's nice! How old are they?" Frank said as he puts down the plates for Daisy and Grace.

"Beth is 24 and Ramona is 16."

"Who are your parents? I wonder if we know them."

Jesse dropped his silverware on his plate making a huge crash while muttering a faint 'sorry'.

"Um....well...my mom died and I don't know where my dad is." I explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry for asking." Frank said awkwardly.

"It's okay; very few people know that about me." I waved off.

"How's your spaghetti, you two?"

"It's amazing." I said.

"You've out done yourself again, mom. It's fantastic."

"Thank you."

"So Jesse." Frank said as he ate. "Your report card came in today."

"Oh lord. Spare me the details and just kill me now." Jesse rolled his eyes.

"Now hold on we haven't looked at it yet. Why don't we open it now?" Terri suggested. I looked over at Jesse who's eyes were completely wide.

"Mom not now. We have company. You can yell at me when Jean's gone."

"Well I'm sure she doesn't mind. Right, Jean?"

"N-no." I murmured.

"See? Now let's see it." Terri started opening the letter.

"I bet Jesse failed again." Grace said in a snarky attitude.

"Biolology." Daisy agreed.

"It's Biology, little miss smart mouth and shut up." Jesse says as he gives them the kind of smile your mom gives you when you get smart with her in public.

"Kiss my butt." Grace said as she giggled. I could tell Jesse was starting to get embarrassed.

"Hey!" Frank shouted grabbing everyone's attention. "No butt kissing at the dinner table. You guys knock it off. Grace don't be insensitive to your brother you know he tries very hard and Jesse don't say that kind of stuff around your sister."

"What does insensitive mean?" Daisy asked.

"It means you don't care for someone else's concern or struggle with something. Like you don't care for their feelings." Frank said.

"Ohh." Daisy said as she continued to eat.

"Jesse, you didn't do bad this quarter. But like Grace said you are struggling with Biology still but other than that you did pretty good. Mid 70's."

"Ya did good, Jes." Frank patted him on the back earning a happy grin from Jesse. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." He blushed.

"That's better than what I usually get. If I failed Biology Beth would flip." I said.

"We've always asked Jesse to try his best. He's  used to get straight A's in middle school but since high school started he's been slipping a little. He's been more 'lazy' since he hit high school."

"I have not gotten 'lazy'." Jesse said using air quotes. "I just really enjoy doing nothing. It's a hobby I've had since last year that happened to be my first year of high school. It's just a convenient coincidence."

"Mhm sure, Jess." Terri rolled her eyes.

"So what grade are you in, Jean?" Frank continued the conversation that was small talk.

"Ninth." I said.

"How's it treating ya?"

"Eh. I have some trouble with science and history but I'm good at the other subjects; like math and English."

"Well that's good. Everybody's got their strengths and weaknesses." Terri said.

"Yeah I guess." I smiled. Out of the corner of my eye I swear I saw Jesse smile at me. Like he had just seen the most beautiful angel.

A/N: Yay!! I finally updated after several weeks!!! I seriously hope you enjoyed my chapter!!! Make sure to vote, comment on this chapter if you like something and I will be sure to do more of it!!! I will be updating more once I get back to school which is in two weeks for me!! Stay tuned for more Shattered and Scarred!!