Jenny - Ch. 1 (1,885 words)

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CHAPTER ONE - Jenny

May 2007,
A small town in central Illinois

Mrs. Leeroy was a bitchy old woman, but she paid well, and that’s why I stayed.

Well, that and the possibility of maybe bumping into her son one day… it hadn’t happened yet, but I was still hoping.

I babysat for her two young girls, Lily and Elizabeth, who were 8 and 10. Mrs. Leeroy had two older kids, Jacqueline, who was a sophomore in high school, a few years younger than me, and Caleb, who had gone away to college a couple of years before.

But the summer was inching closer, and that meant Caleb might be coming home soon, which I was outrageously excited about.

He went to one of those schools up by Chicago; I think his major was either science or political science. I’d overheard his mother talking to him on the phone about it one day before she’d left for work.

I’d never actually seen Caleb live and in person, but Mrs. Leeroy was the kind of mother who had fifty-seven thousand pictures of her kids plastered on every wall in her house.

And trust me, she had a big house.

I’d seen little Caleb as a baby, his kindergarten pictures, his awkward middle school days, what he’d looked like all four years of high school, and then the photos she had of what he looked like now.

He had blonde, wavy hair, with blue eyes, high cheek bones and a sweet smile. He had a little bit of build, nothing to brag about, but you could tell it was there. And you knew he was a good kid, because there were never any frowns or scowls in any of his pictures, even the ones that weren’t portraits. He was perfect.

I’d been babysitting for Mrs. Leeroy since last February when her old babysitter quit. Since then, I’d been at the Leeroy house Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays when she wanted to pull in an extra shift at the hospital) from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m.
At the beginning, I’d wondered why Mrs. Leeroy even bothered to get a babysitter. I mean, she had a teenage daughter.

Then I found out about Jacqueline, and the kind of person she was.

I guess she started out as some kind of outsider her freshman year, and then was pulled into the wrong crowd. She stayed out every weekend partying, doing all different kinds of drugs, and having unprotected sex. I heard a rumor once that she’d gotten an abortion with her mother’s forged signature.

A lot of times she’d sneak in about 1:30 when the girls were asleep and I was watching TV.

I think Mrs. Leeroy had an idea of what Jacqueline was up to, just because every night before I went home, she would go upstairs to check on her, without even thinking about Lily or Elizabeth. Then she’d come down, complain about something that had happened either at home or at work, that had absolutely no relevance to me, and then tried to blame it on me.
I think she just needed someone to blame, and was too much of a bitch to put it on her own kid.

But like I said, I was paid about $100 a night, and what 18-year-old would refuse that kind of money? Especially since my other job as a cashier at the local grocery store didn’t even pay me 8 bucks an hour and Rudy, the manager, only gave me ten to twelve hours a week.

I guess there were other reasons I kept my job at the Leeroy house too, like how much I adored Lily and Elizabeth. They were so sweet, always making me cards and drawing pictures for me. Especially Elizabeth—she had a very artistic talent. They’ve made me cookies, pudding, and even a birthday cake the day before I turned 18. Whenever we went to Family Video, they’re always telling me to pick out the movie.

And they are just so well-behaved. And even though they do fight occasionally, once I tell them to stop it, they do. They do their homework, eat their vegetables, and go to bed on time.

I told them that when I have kids, if I have a girl, I’m naming her Lilliane Elizabeth.

~

Although I spent my weekends at the Leeroy house, it didn’t mean I didn’t get to go out and have fun. My best friends and I would occasionally have Girls Nights on Fridays, and I was able to go out on Saturday mornings and afternoons, too.

I guess we did what every teenage group did—hung out, watched movies, ate pizza, and spied on the boys. None of us had boyfriends. It was great.

Last year, we’d all had them, and although it was nice to go on double and triple dates (as well as the private ones), it was better we were all single.

It was kind of a fluke. Within a two month span, they dumped us, one after the other. I was the first one, back in August. And although it sucked, because he had been my first love, it was nice that the other two had gone through the same thing, and we were all there to comfort and encourage one another.

It was getting close to graduation, and all three of us were headed to separate schools. Lindsey had even signed up to study abroad, so she was going to be gone this summer, starting off her college career in Spain. Then she would be headed to Illinois State in the fall.

Marie was going to the community college because she was undecided, and since she was the one footing her college bill, she didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a four year school that might not be right for her.

I was headed to Eastern, a decision I had recently almost come to regret. Not because I’d be far from my best friends, but because of the silly crush I had on Caleb.

What if, when he came home this summer, something happened between us?

Why hadn’t I looked into college choices up north?

But the truth was, when I visited Eastern last year it was the perfect fit for me. It was cheap for a four-year, was a small campus and had a small student to teacher ratio. I’d never met friendlier people.

The journalism department had a great reputation, with all different kinds of awards and a recent college grad who had gotten a job right off at the Wall Street Journal.

After four years of working with words and pictures in high school, I’d grown a little attached. I’d worked my way up to Editor in Chief and I knew this was what I wanted to do. This school had the tools I needed to go farther.

But that was before I knew anything about Caleb.

Lindsey and Marie—of course—thought I was crazy with the whole Caleb thing. They said exactly what I’d been thinking in the back of my mind: he’s cute, but what if he’s already got a girlfriend? What if he’s not willing to have a long distance relationship?

They wanted me to go out with our friend, Charlie McAvery, who they’ve been thinking has had a crush on me for God knows how long.

At one point in time, I did consider this. Charlie was not bad looking, and he did have a fun personality. He’d text me often just to see how I was doing and when we all hung out before school he’d find ways to make fun of people we both hated, or crack jokes about the celebrities Marie was obsessed with, just to make me laugh.

But a girl I used to be good friends with back in grade school, Priscilla Downing, had told to me one day in math class that she was taking Charlie to the Valentine’s Day Dance.

That’s when I stopped crushing.

Lindsey and Marie had convinced me over and over again that it must have been a mistake; that Charlie would never go to a dance with that “troll” (their words, not mine). They told me Priscilla had never really liked me—which was true—and had only said it to prevent me from asking Charlie myself.

But sure enough, when the dance came around, they both entered, arms linked. Lindsey wanted to go and confront him about it, but I told her that if he wanted to talk to me, he’d come over himself.

He didn’t ever come to see us, didn’t even say hi. In fact, I don’t remember seeing him again that whole night.

When we went back to school on Monday, it was like the whole Priscilla thing never happened. I didn’t ask him about it, and I ordered my best friends not to mention it for fear of humiliation or embarrassment.

We never saw Priscilla with Charlie again, but it was enough for me to set my sights on someone else.

~

On the third weekend of May, Caleb came home. I noticed right off because all of his boxes and suitcases hadn’t been moved up the stairs yet. I let myself in, because the door was open, which I thought was odd because it’d been raining.

“Mrs. Leeroy!” I began, walking in and setting my umbrella on their end table. “I’m here!”

Two seconds later, Lily came rushing into their front room to greet me. “Jenny! Caleb came home!”

As she said her brother’s name, a shiver went through my spine. I kept a smile on and tried not show on the outside that my insides had flip-flopped.

I knew Lily had been anticipating her brother’s arrival because she kept telling me he was going to take her and Elizabeth to the movies. They were going to see Shrek The Third.

“Oh, it’s just you, Jenny,” Mrs. Leeroy said as she entered the room, with a tube of bright red lipstick in her right hand. “I heard the door open and I could have sworn it was someone else.”

“The door was already open. Sorry I’m a little early—”

“Early? You’re late!” she growled, applying the lipstick. “Now I’ve got to run, but before I do, I have bit of bad news for you, my dear.”

“Really?” I asked.

“My son came home from school this morning—”

“He was supposed to come next week! He surprised us!” Lily interrupted.

“Lily! I’m trying to talk, sweetie,” Mrs. Leeroy sneered. “He’s out right now, visiting a former friend of his, but when he gets back you can go. My son can take it from there. Here’s your usual paycheck.”

She handed me a $100 bill.

Then she left, picking up my umbrella as if it were her own. She didn’t even say goodbye to her daughter.

“Where’s Elizabeth?” I asked Lily as soon as the bitch left.

“She’s upstairs. She’s not feeling good today.”

“Is she sick?”

“No,” Lily said. “Just sad.”

“What happened? Is it because Naomi’s been saying things to her?”

Naomi was Elizabeth’s best friend, and recently the two had gotten into an argument.

“No it’s worse. This time she broke her heart.”

“Well, let’s go up and see her,” I suggested. Before we headed upstairs, I closed the front door.