If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends." Well I gotta have friends first. I don't need to be king again, but for the next few months, I am gonna bring a little fabulosity into your lives.
Look out Westerville!
NOTES: Jesse gets ready for his first day of school with a bit of his mother's help.
"You’ll get used to it," he sighed to himself, picking out his outfit for the first day at Westerville South. He caught his reflection in the mirror of his closet doors and stopped. The pale brown lines of his fathers fingers still circled his neck and his cheek was a splotchy greenish yellow. He ghosted his fingertips along the bruises, eyes losing focus as flashes of memories overtook his mind.
"My son a fucking faggot!?" His father’s voice echoed between the sounds of the back of his head hitting the wood floor. "Lil’ sissy bitch boy likes to take it up the ass just like his bitch mother, huh?! Is that it, you stupid cocksucker?!"
"Jesse?" He startled back to the present at the sound of his mother’s voice, snapping his hand down to his waist. "Jesse are you up?"
"Y-Ye—" Suddenly his throat felt tight, but he cleared it quickly. "Yeah, mom, you can come in."
A second later the weathered oak door was creaking on its brass hinges to reveal a smiling, pale face framed by warm red hair. “Morning, sweetie!”
"Morning." Jesse smiled tiredly and embraced his mother before sitting down at his vanity. They talked about pointless things from the weather to the quality of Grandma’s cooking, just enjoying each other’s company in quiet solitude, as Jesse went about his morning moisturizing routine.
The movements of his hands slowed and lifted whenever he passed over his cheek and neck. Once or twice he even winced, albeit subtly. He could tell his mother noticed, because whenever it happened, she would pause ever so slightly in conversation and run her thumb over her naked left ring finger.
Jesse tried to ignore the pain that seeped into his heart as he remembered all the times he could’ve helped her, all the times he chose to outright ignore the obvious fact that his mother was being broken. Lynda has noticed. She’d even tried to do something about it. But he had done nothing.
"You know I used to get my fair share of hickeys in high school," the older woman mentioned seemingly at random.
Jesse chuckled threw his nose and turned back to his mother, still beautiful and glowing in the morning light despite the slowly healing lip and the bruise under her eye that was too dark to cover entirely. “What does that have to do places to eat near campus?”
She stood, graceful and strong as she took the two steps to sit next to him. “I’m talking about these.” Her voice filled with sorrow as she ran her finger along the bottom edge of his cheek. “I can help you cover them up. For school, I mean. All the girls used to come to me for help when I was your age.”
"Did they now?" Jesse teased to lighten the mood. "Was my mom a hottie in high school?"
"I was a regular Betty Rizzo," she teased back, reaching for the drawer. But Jesse stilled his mother’s hand. "What is it?" She stopped and turned toward her child. "Do you not want to go? Because you don’t have to start yet. We’ve only been here a day, it can wait."
"No… No, that’s not it. It’s just," Jesse ran his hands back up her forearms and clasped her hands in his, "He tried to destroy us, Mom. That’s what he did. He tried to break us into tiny little pieces, but we survived. We got out and we survived. I feel like we don’t need to hide that.”
Jessica’s face had gone from slightly shaken to a soft smile of awe. She freed one of her hands from Jesse’s and curled it around the back of his head. Craning her neck and bowing his head, she gently kissed her son’s forehead. He could practically feel the admiration flowing from the simple touch.
"You’re right," she replied, letting her hand circle around to cup his unmarked cheek. "You are… but this is a new start for us, a new start for you. I would hate for you to have the last few months of your high school career marred because you were labelled something cruel on your first day, especially when it’s my fault."
"Hey!" He turned and picked up her head as she tried to bow it in shame. "Hey, it is not your fault. You did nothing but love him and love your children. You were a perfect wife and an even better mom. This," he stroked gently over her cheekbone, "This is all him. He’s the one who did this, he’s the one to blame. You did nothing to deserve this."
"I know… I know, I just—" she was already crying, dropping her eyes because her son wouldn’t let her drop her entire head like she wanted to. But she couldn’t look at him, not in this state.
At least that’s what Jesse thought. A split-moment later she was waving her arm through the air with authority. “You know what? No. ‘I just’ nothing. I’m not going to keep making excuse for him. It’s not fair to me and it’s not fair to you. I may still love the man he used to be, but he’s not that person anymore. I can’t keep holding onto that. I have to let go because… because I need to be here for you.”
She sniffed wetly as a proud grin broke over Jesse’s face. “We Martins gotta stick together,” he said.
And she laughed, “Exactly.” Oh how he’d missed her laugh. It was bright and melodic and it filled the room, and he swore just the sound of it intertwined with a single word warmed his heart several degrees.
"Care to lend your expertise?" Jesse held up a clean sponge pad. A clean sponge for a clean slate, and Jessica took it with a smile.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR CHARACTER’S HOBBIES: Social Sciences, such as Sociology, Politics, Psychology, Anthropology, not so much History. Lab sciences also pique his interests because they were his sister's focus. Singing too.
FAVORITE COLOR: Periwinkle; other violet purples.
FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTISTS: Queen, Spice Girls; fun., Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, MIKA, John Legend, Frank Ocean, Annie Lennox, Cheyenne Jackson, Ke$ha, Florence + the Machine, Joan Jett, Jonas Brothers, Neon Trees, Panic! At the Disco, Patrick Wolf, Robyn, cultural staples
FAVORITE MOVIES: Steel Magnolias; Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, Love Actually, Moulin Rouge; Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Anastasia; The Hours, Notes on a Scandal, Cold Mountain; Saved!, Mean Girls, Jawbreaker; Funny Girl, The Way We Were, Camille.
FAVORITE TV SHOWS: Scandal, Revenge, Teen Wolf.
FAVORITE BOOKS: The Color Purple; Song of Solomon, The Will to Change, The Hunger Games, Wicked,The Bell Jar, The Southen Vampire Mysteries.
FAVORITE ACTORS: Tilda Swinton; Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Idris Elba, Ewan McGregor, Ezra Miller; Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett.
POLITICAL STANCE/ARE THEY ACTIVE IN POLITICS OR DO THEY NOT CARE: Officially registered as Leftist Liberal, but personally identifies as a vague "left" since he doesn't like the collective Democrat or Liberal communities.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THEIR PET PEEVES: When people talk about things about which they know nothing, when people are wrong, when people don't dress well, when people revolve their lives around significant others.
WHAT SORT OF GIFTS DO THEY LIKE: Flowers, books, clothes, coffee, significantly insignificant trinkets, verbal validation
WHAT IS THEIR FAVORITE TIME OF DAY: Afternoon/Evening
WHAT IS THEIR FAVORITE SEASON: Spring; It represents beauty and new beginnings, and he's all about those right now
WHERE DO THEY LIKE TO SPEND THEIR TIME: Out with friends, parties.
FAVORITE FOOD/DRINK: Anything cajun; water
FAVORITE ANIMAL: Ferret; they're adorable and slippery, mischievous, and cunning.
WHAT RELAXES THEM: His daily moisturizing routine followed by light makeup for blemishes. Primping and making himself look good. The moment of knowing he's just thrown a successful party.
DO THEY HAVE ANY BAD HABITS: He hides his intelligence behind a wall of airhead-ed narcissism and trite behaviour. He parties and drinks. He bottles up most of his intense emotions to promote his shallow, carefree facade.
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