DISCLAIMER: All major characters are copyright 1996 to Hanna-Barbera, Inc. and Turner Entertainment. No permission was asked. No money is being made (although it is a wonderful thought). =)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is for all the HR's out there (and you know who you are!
*grin*) and my college roommates Jen, Julie and Tahnee. . .without whom, I would
still be watching JQ with a straight face.
FIRST DATE (Part I)
by lil'nix
Hadji chuckled softly to himself. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What do you think, Hadj? The dark denim shirt?"
"Or how about the green, button-down. . .green is her favorite color--"
"A sweater is out of the question--"
"A tux would be too formal--"
"So this is where my Yoda tie got to--"
"My black pants are here somewhere--"
"I think this one's dad's--"
"I liked the blue striped denim better--"
Jonny looked exhausted when he finally took a deep breath and said to his best friend/adopted brother, "You know, Hadj. I don't have a thing to wear tonight."
Hadji burst out laughing.
Jonny frowned at his messy room, then at Hadji.
"What's so funny?"
It took a minute for Hadji to calm down. "You are, my friend."
Jonny looked perplexed. "Why? What did I do?"
Hadji shook his head. He looked around at what was once Jonny's clean room. Dresser drawers hung open. The closet doors were also open, revealing a semi-empty space inside. Tee shirts, turtle necks, and button-down shirts were strewn around the room, some still on their hangers while others were ruthlessly ripped off. Jonny had turned his room inside out in search of the perfect outfit. But he had only succeeded in making a mess.
Jonny followed Hadji's glance around the room and groaned.
"C'mon, Hadj. It's not funny," Jonny said. "I have to impress Jess."
Hadji looked seriously at his distressed friend.
"Why would you have to impress Jessie, Jonny?" Hadji said, a bit confused. "She would not have agreed to go out with you if she wasn't already impressed."
"But. . ." Jonny's voice trailed off. He wasn't sure exactly how to put it. "Things have changed in the past year."
Hadji knew Jonny was struggling to put his feelings into words. He walked over to Jonny's bed and sat down. This could take a while.
"Such as," Hadji prompted his friend to continue.
Jonny looked up at his friend a little surprised. Hadn't he seen the changes, too? Of all the people Jonny was closest to, he thought Hadji would have seen it coming.
"Well. . .sixteen is different from being fifteen," Jonny began his explanation.
"It is only a year older, Jonny," Hadji replied.
"I know that, Hadj. It's just that. . .something just kinda happened. . .like overnight."
Jonny had turned sixteen nearly a month ago. On the day of his birthday, everything started to change. He got up earlier than usual to get ready for school. He didn't wear his normal blue jeans and black tee shirt, but instead opted for a pair of black jeans and the light blue, button-down, denim shirt his father had given him as a present. He even sat down to the breakfast Mrs. Evans had prepared for them.
School was different, too. Jonny began to notice things he had taken for granted before. Girls were looking at him, some sizing him up, and for once he didn't feel uncomfortable about it. He found it easier to talk to some of them, too, starting conversations in class and in-between. His friends were also different. When he went over to Todd and Ian before class, there were no jokes, no snide remarks, just a simple and hearty "hello" from each of them.
One other thing had caught Jonny's attention. Jessie. She was standing across from the group, getting her books out of her locker. Oddly, she looked different to Jonny. Her hair was still tied back from gym class. She wasn't wearing her usual attire, but a pink tee shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. Jonny wasn't aware of staring at her until she slammed her locker door closed. An electric shock went through him as their eyes met across the hallway.
That never happened before, Jonny had thought.
Ever since then, Jonny kept getting "a feeling" whenever he was with Jessie. Their relationship hadn't changed in any way, though. She still went into Questworld with him, raced with him on the hoverboards, and beat him in Monopoly. They did the things they'd always done together. For the life of him, Jonny couldn't figure out what was different.
Maybe it was a crush. She was, after all, his best friend.
Then came the day when one of Jonny's friends asked Jessie out. Jonny was goofing off between classes with Ian, Derek, Todd and Jessie. Ian had mentioned that Gretchen, a German exchange student, had asked him to the Homecoming dance. Derek and Jonny congratulated him when Todd turned to Jessie and asked her to go. Jessie was a little surprised, but she smiled and told him she'd think about it. Jonny wasn't surprised that his friend had asked her out, but it bothered him. And bad!
So what if they went out?
Almost a week later in History class, Jonny realized what was happening to him. Jessie had always been there for him. She'd been a true friend and confidant when he needed one. She was, for the shame of being cliche, his better half. This feeling wasn't a silly crush. And it wasn't Jessie who had changed. . .it was him! His feelings for Jessie were changing. But what should he say to her?
What if she didn't feel the same way?
Last Friday, in study hall, the two teens were alone. Finally, Jonny had the chance to ask her out on a real date. Mustering up his courage he wrote her a note and placed it on her physics book. As he was crawling into bed that night, he heard someone at his door. That's when he noticed a piece of paper with Jessie's handwriting on it. He opened it up and found that it was her reply to his earlier question. What he read made his heart skip a beat.
"It's a date!" she wrote.
Jonny was in seventh heaven.
Hadji listened to Jonny explain the events of the past few weeks and told him, "You will never know her true feelings unless you ask her, my friend. She is your friend, after all."
Jonny glanced up at the edge in Hadji's voice and was greeted with a smile. He smiled in return.
"You're not jealous, are ya, Hadj?"
"Let me put it this way," Hadji said, throwing the green button-down shirt at Jonny. "If you would not have asked, then surely I would have."
***** *****
*****
"So, Bandit, what do you think?"
Bandit barked happily from his resting place on Jessie's bed.
Jessie finished putting on her earrings and turned to Bandit.
"It's not too much, is it?" Jessie asked, doing a quick turn for a second observation.
Bandit barked happily again.
Jessie smiled down at the little dog then glanced across the bed to her full-length mirror. She carefully studied her reflection. Her red hair was pinned up at the sides to prevent it from falling into her face. Her ivory blouse was unbuttoned at the collar, revealing a gold, heart-shaped pendant. Her emerald green skirt hung loosely from her waist and stopped four inches above her knees.
*Not bad, Bannon* Jessie smiled to herself.
From the doorway, Race Bannon silently watched his daughter. How long had he tried to prolong this moment? Days? Months? Years? But here it was, staring him straight in the face. The moment he had been dreading worse than his own death. His little girl was going out on her first date.
*And with Jonathan Quest at that,* he thought. *It should definitely be interesting.*
"Ech hem!"
Startled, Jessie turned toward the doorway. There, in the dim light of the hallway, stood her father. A bright smile lit up his face.
"So," Race said. Jessie saw her dad fidget a bit and realized he was nervous. "Are you ready for tonight?"
Jessie nodded. "Just about." She skipped over to her closet and pulled out a pair of green dress flats. One by one she slipped them on her feet. "OK. Now I'm ready."
Race shook his head in amazement. Jessie had grown up so much in the short time she had spent with him at the Quest Compound. He could still see the little girl in pigtails he'd first introduced to Dr. Benton Quest and his son. She was six then. She was a young woman of sixteen now. Race had tried to convince himself that this would never happen. . .not to his little girl. But when Jessie told him that she and Jonny were going out on a date, Race gave up.
Jessie noticed the far away look on her father's face and asked, "Dad? You OK?"
Race smiled down at Jessie, taking one last look at the little girl he saw there.
"Just fine, Ponchita. Ready?" He offered his arm to Jessie. She accepted it with a giggle.
"Ready." She smiled up at her dad. *I think.*
***** *****
*****
Dr. Benton Quest, world-famous scientist, was sitting in the family room when father and daughter came in giggling and laughing. Benton's nose was planted firmly in the latest edition of a journal. He looked up briefly and smiled.
"What's so funny?"
Jessie disengaged herself from her father's arm and went off into the kitchen. Race watched Jessie go, then sat himself in a chair next to the doctor.
"I was telling Jessie about the night I met her mother."
"If I remember correctly," Dr. Quest commented, "It was quite a tale."
"Yeah," Race said closing his eyes. He rolled his head back and forth to stretch out his neck muscles. Then he said, "They grow up so fast, don't they?"
Benton placed his bookmark in the journal and closed it. He looked out into space for a moment, then at a photo of his wife, Rachel, hanging above the fireplace.
"I suppose they do." Benton looked at Race. "We can't stop them, Race. No matter how hard we try."
Race opened his eyes as Jonny and Hadji walked into the room. Hadji was calm and collected as usual. Jonny, on the other hand, looked like a nervous wreck.
Jonny saw his father and Race sitting in the family room as he and Hadji entered. Judging by how quickly they became silent, Jonny knew they were discussing "parent" things.
*Oh, great. They're gonna give us a lecture and a half before we can get out of here* Jonny thought with an inward groan.
Not wanting to get into a conversation with either adult, Jonny looked at his watch and said, "Where's Jess? She said she'd meet me down here."
As if on cue, Jessie Bannon entered the room from the kitchen. Jonny's eyes suddenly focused on her, blocking out everyone else in the room. Jonny thought his heart was going to bust.
*Slammin'!* his mind screamed.
Jessie, too, noticed only Jonny as she reentered the family room. He was wearing a pair of black denim jeans and a washed silk, button-down shirt. And a green one at that! Jessie wasn't prone to fainting, but one look at Jonny and the thought had some serious potential.
Race and Dr. Quest looked at the children, then each other. *Yes,* they both thought, *They do grow up fast. And there isn't a single thing we can do about it.*
The sound of keys jingling in his ear brought Jonny out of his dream world. He looked next to him to see a broad grin on Hadji's face.
"Take good care of her." Hadji placed the car keys in Jonny's hand. For a moment, Jonny wasn't sure if his friend meant Jessie or the car.
Jonny gave Hadji's shoulder a friendly slap. He tossed the keys in the air with one hand and snatched them up quickly with the other. Wordlessly, Jonny offered an arm to Jessie.
The giggling girl forgotten, Jessie accepted Jonny's arm with a bright smile. Not even a sarcastic remark passed between them as the two teens waved to everyone and exited through the front door.
END PART I