Chapter 29

I'm sorry for how uneventful this story has been lately...I will be getting there soon!  Also, I appreciate all the comments I've been receiving.  I especially love the ones from new people <3.

"Jezabelle, what have you been doing all your life?  Why have you waited until now to attempt to find us?  We have tried, sure, but nothing came up.  We figured you were gone forever...anyway...?"

My family and Ian were gathered in the living room after Shelby said bye to her boyfriend.  I wonder what he had been thinking...now his girlfriend found her lost sister!  Ha, I can imagine it now: ugh, so now Shelby has a long lost sister, where does that leave us?  Will she have time for us anymore?  How long will this honeymoon last?  Well, I can't help feeling a teensy bit sad for him, but only a little since I want a boyfriend. Ian! What is his deal?  Speaking of Ian...let me get back to the present.

Ian answered my mother for me, he began blinking hard, "Oh...Jezabelle had amnesia and didn't remember anything about her past life...she lived at...Mrs. Roswell's house growing up and she was over protective...not letting her leave the house, and she never tried to help her figure out the past...when Mrs. Roswell passed away, I met Jezabelle at the coffee shop and we instantly fell in love..."

Well, I was glad that Ian was saving my butt, but we haven't fallen in love though I'd like to.  If he doesn't find it appalling to say so, why can't he make a first move?

Mom answered, "Oh...um...I see.  That's quite unfortunate, Jezabelle.  Why couldn't Jez answer me?"

This time I stopped Ian from answering for me again, "because it is quite painful for me to talk about..."

"Well, you're lucky to have a boyfriend like Ian.  He seems very sweet."

She turned to him and smiled.  Great, now I have to lie not only about my past but also that Ian is my boyfriend...

"So mom, what have you been doing with your life?"

"Glad you asked." I already had a brief idea since Ian told me a little about her from a few articles, but I wanted to hear it from her. "I work as a second grade teacher.  I love my job, my kids are so good to me.  Kids are a joy to me...that's why I had two other kids when you left.  I always wanted two kids..."

Silence encompassed the room for a few moments.  Of course thoughts passed through my mind, but I couldn't blame her for having two kids since I had disappeared for what seemed like forever.  Oh, so just because I was no where to be found you just had to have two more kids and forget that I exist? But I'm a logical girl, I knew what I was thinking was silly.  But the funny thing about logic is..your thoughts usually aren't logical.

"Anyway, mom.  Anything else?"

"Oh, yes.  Now keep an open mind about this next part...I'm really into lucid dreaming and dreaming in general.  Lucid dreaming is a dream that you know you're dreaming while in the dream.  I've presented in a few dreaming conferences."

I nodded.  Sure that's kinda weird, but in a sense I had been living in a lucid dream my whole life except I was never lucid...so I was living in a dream.

Then Shelby spoke up.  Candace, Shelby, and Dad have been pretty quiet this whole time.  The fact that Dad was so quiet and mom so not makes them a perfect couple.  It's funny...

"Oh...can I talk now?"  Looking amused, mom nodded.  "Alright.  I will be going to college soon...and I'm not quite sure what I want to major in yet.  But, I'm thinking psychology.  I'm not sure what part of psychology, but I'd love to help people sort out their problems."  I tried to supress a grin.  Sure I don't really know my sister that well, but she didn't seem like the 'confront your feelings' type.

Then Candace looked over at me and spoke, "I am not really sure what I want to be yet, but I'm only a sophmore in high school, so I have time.  But I do get really good grades and I actually try in school.  Right Shelby?"  She rolled her eyes.

Then there was a beeping that interupted our conversation.  I looked down at my pockets and realized that my cell phone was ringing.  I looked at everyone and said, "oh, it can wait."  But I took it out to see the caller ID. Landgraab Science Facility. I gasped to myself and said, "oh, scratch that, I actually better take this."

I walked to the front area and pressed talk as soon as I gained composure of myself.

"Hello."

"Hello, Jezabelle.  I have called to inform you that you are hired as a lab assistant at Landgraab Science Facility."

I sucked in a breath.  "When will I have to come for my first day?"

"Come over anytime today or tomorrow to fill out some paperwork and we'll make it official.  We will also discuss proper work attire and go into more detail as to what your job will entail."

"Thanks so much.  I believe I'll come over tomorrow to fill out the paperwork.  I'm quite busy today..."

"Sounds good, Jezabelle.  See you then."

"Ok, bye."  I hung up the phone.

After putting the phone in my back pocket, my heart was thudding really hard.  Oh my gosh, I have a job!  My first job!  I can't believe it.

Then I whispered to myself, "I can't believe it...I have my first job!"

Then I heard Ian sneak up behind me. Ugh, talking to yourself and Ian surely heard it...

But Ian didn't even mention it, "congrats on your first job, Jezabelle!  You're just lucky you skipped a step, well actually two steps.  You didn't have to have a fast food job, and you didn't have to go to college."

I raised an eyebrow.  If this position usually required college, why was I exempt?

I decided to say my thought aloud, "Um...if this position usually required college, why am I emempt?"

"Oh, like I told you before, I have connections.  I know that you can do it with all of your chemical experiments, and because of that, it was enough."

I raised an eyebrow but didn't continue to ask.  I guess I just can't question luck and genius.  Ian works in mysterious ways.

"How about we go back to your family and tell 'em the good news, eh?  I'm sure they'd like to know."

I nodded and followed him.

We went back into the living room and sat back down. "So, what happened?" Alex said.

I smiled.  "I got a job!"

"That's great Jez!  What is it?"

"I'm going to be a lab assistant!"

Lucky for me, mom didn't ask about prior experience, "well, I'm so happy for you!  Is this your first job?"

I nodded. "It's not as bad as you would think.  My first job was at KFC.  It was okay, but being a lab assistant for your first job is tremendous!  You must've worked hard to get there."

I nodded slowly.  Not really...

Then mom looked at Candace. "You should try to get a job!  I would tell Shelby that, but she's going to be signing up for college soon and that needs to be a priority.  You should start some applications.  My parents made me get a job at your age."

She nodded slowly.  "But mom, I want to achieve my goal of becoming a valedictorian!"

"Valedictorian shmaledictorian.  You do quite well in school, but you always have so much free time.  A job would be good for you."

She half smiled, defeated.

"It would be good for you to have the experience."

"Yeah, I guess so..."

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Later, mom and I were making dinner together.  I know I didn't have to help, but it was time that I tried my hand at cooking.  Everyone is always making food for me, so the least I could do was help.

Dinner was going to be lobster thermidor.  I've never had it, but mom told me it's really fancy and she bought it especially for my homecoming.  She left the house earlier just to buy that so we could eat it...I'm a very big deal.

While she was seasoning the lobster I was trying my hand at some rice.  It seemed simple enough and I have to start somewhere, right?  We cooked together in my parents' amazingly large kitchen.  If someone were to pass us as we chopped and seasoned, we would've been fine without having to move over.  

"It's so sweet of you to make lobster...I'm sure it'll be delicious."

"Well, you're worth it, Jezabelle.  My oldest daughter has finally come home!  You'll love it.  That's a promise."

"I'm sure I will..I love trying new things."

Mom laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's just I'm so picky I hate trying new things.  But don't let me sway you."

I laughed.  Yeah, she isn't an ordinary mother.  At least I think?  I've never known any other mother (I rhyme!).  Harah doesn't count.

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Later we all sat in the dining room while dinner was cooking because 'I'm just so worth it.'  I get fancy lobster and to sit in the fancy dining room-I'm so important.  Mom was still watching the lobster and rice cook, and she insisted that I sit with the rest of the family.

"It's alright, I got this.  It's your day, you don't have to be working the whole time!  Go sit with everyone else," she had said.  "Alright mom, alright..."

When I went to sit on the table, I figured I should ask dad about his life.  I just realized that everyone else said something about their life except for him.  Ian didn't go into his past, but I don't think it was the day for that.  I'm sure that he was greatful.

"So dad, tell me about your life.  Mom went into it..."

"I am the manager of Billy's Tunes.  I used to be a door to door salesman, but now the old manager/owner is getting so old that he just lets me run everything.  The man is like eighty five now!  My goodness..."

"So, you like your job?"

"Yeah, I suppose.  It gets the money on the table, and I'm good at it. But my passion is dreaming-just like your mother."

I guess I should really start paying more attention to my dreams-from skimming a few articles my mom has written....it sounds interesting.  But, I'm not going to put all of my energy into it.  Sometimes noobs have to or it doesn't work out...I don't want dreaming to be a priority in my life.

Later, we got to dish ourselves the delicious meal-or should I say buffet!  Mom cooked up so many delicious sides, including the rice of course, but also noodles and biscuits.

I took my first bite and smiled happily.  "Wow mom, this is so good."

She smiled showing her teeth.  "Thanks Jezabelle.  I'm glad that you love it."

I laughed to myself-I just realized that neither of my parents have called me any pet names.  Of course, I was glad about it because I always hated when Harah called me something other then Jezabelle or Jez, so I wouldn't want my real parents to call me pet names either, but I would be willing to deal with it.  They're not creepazoids like Harah-sure they're weird, but they're real weird.  As in real and they're weird...real isn't an adjective for weird.

And of course, mom had to question my little laugh, "what, did I say a joke or something?"  She changed her voice to sound extra girly.  Alright, so this time I really laughed.

"It's just that you're calling me Jez or Jezabelle....not some other name."

"What other name would we call you?"

"Oh, come on, you know what I mean."

At that moment she decided the joke was over, "right, that's because I was annoyed when my mother called me a pet name so I don't do it for my children and they don't seem to mind.  You don't, right?"

"Oh, you bet.  I hated that when.... Mrs. Roswell called me pet names."

"Yes, it's official.  Children don't like to be called pet names.  Usually."

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After dinner, we played uno.  A lot. Today I just learned that my parents love games a lot.  It's funny, I don't really remember playing games in my youth-but of course my youth had been messed up.  It was fun: and Ian creamed us all.

Later, mom took us upstairs to show us our room. She insisted that we stay over for the night.  'I can't bare not to see you tomorrow, or I'd wake up thinking it was all just a dream.  Please stay over'.  How could I deny her? Yup, because she thinks we're boyfriend and girlfriend, she's going to make us share a room.  Frankly that didn't disappoint me too much.

The hallway was rather roomy, and by the stairs you could see down to the first floor just like at Ian's.  I love that house placement.

We walked to the end of the hallway, last door.  "Alright, this is your room.  Come into ours, next door, if you need anything.  See you guys in the morning."

We went into the room, and I turned around to see mom go, but she was already gone.  Talk about giving us privacy.

I looked around and smiled.  It was a very nice tan room.  It wasn't decorated fancifully, but it was perfect.  The room smelled fresh.

I looked awkwardly at the bed and realized that there was just that- a bed.  I wouldn't mind sleeping with Ian...kinda.  But isn't that going a bit far for now?  It's not like I could tell mom that I couldn't sleep with him-then we'd have to come up with an alternate answer about who he was, then she'd ask about my life.  And I canNOT do that.

For a few minutes, we didn't say anything.  We just stood there staring at the room.

To ease the awkwardness, I took a pillow and whipped it at Ian's waist.  Quickly he took another pillow and whipped it at me.  Once our little pillow fight got messy, we decided to quit.  I don't want to explain to my mother tomorrow why she has to buy new pillows...We want to sleep on pillows with feathers still in them.

After that, I took a deep breath and layed on the bed.  My face looked chill, but my heart was pumping so fast.  Alright, now- "Ian, why don't you lay by me?  This bed is very comfy."

"No, Jez...I can't..."

I gave him a look.

"Jez, I can't.  I just can't...I'm going to go to my house to get a sleeping bag."

Before Ian disappeared, I went over to touch his hand.  I just realized that I needed my pj's.

In under ten seconds, we were in Ian's room.  He went under his bed to grab his sleeping bag and I skittered to my room to get my pj's.

"Jez, why'd you have to come?"  He sighed.

I held up my pj's for him.  He nodded lightly.  "Ah."  Ever since suggesting he come on my bed he has been acting very unamused.

"Well, let's get back.  We don't want your mom checking on us only to find we're gone.

"Right..."  I touched his hand and we teleported back.

"Jez, I have something to tell you...I'm sorry...I'm just sorry for the way I've been treating you."

I yawned.  I was so tired that I didn't care what he had to say.

"It's okay-I'll tell you tomorrow.  Goodnight, Jez."

"Night Ian."

I went and layed in the bed alone.  I was sad-I figured that I was finally going to be able to snuggle up against Ian while I slept.  But who was I kidding?  He dissed me.  He doesn't want me at all, we haven't even kissed yet!  That probably won't happen.

But as my final consciousness of the night came, I became very curious by what Ian was going to say.  What if it was something other than 'Jez, I don't like you'?