Chapter 1: Shattered Facade

(A/N: This is only the second DUFF fanfiction on this site!)

Jessica's POV

Everything was happy in my world. Jake was home, I wasn't grounded, and Jake brought his new fiancee with him. It was great—especially since I knew Tiffany. We were having a family dinner on the second night he was home. Everything was going great.

"So, Mom and Dad said you got some friends a year after I left. Tell me about them." Jake grinned good naturedly.

I grinned. "Oh, you'd love them. They saved me from some snobby seniors during my sophomore year. Casey's kind of like me—except she swears—and Bianca is my total opposite—she's really cynical. But she's so nice to me and-"

"Wait, you said your friends' names were Bianca and Casey?" Jake looked pale. "What are their last names?"

"My friends' names are Bianca Piper and Casey Blithe." I frowned. "Why?"

Jake coughed on his food. Tiffany glared—not at me, but at the names.

"Do you... know them?" I asked.

"That's an understatement." Jake muttered.

"Bianca and Casey are great. They always make sure Jessica is taken care of. Bianca even helps Jessica with her homework." Mom said.

"That's funny, because I remember Bianca being a little bitch." Tiffany said.

"Tiffany!" Dad scolded. "You know we don't like swearing around Jessica."

"She just said her friend Casey swears." Tiffany pointed out.

"Bianca isn't a bitch!" I exclaimed. "I mean, she's a little cynical... but that's as far as it goes!"

Everyone stared at me in shock. I'd never sworn before—in front of them.

"I choose not to swear out of the kindness of my heart, not because I'm too innocent." I rolled my eyes.

"Look, your friend Bianca isn't as great as you think." Tiffany said.

"She and Casey are the best!" I argued.

"Why are you insulting Bianca?" Mom asked.

"She's a great kid." Dad nodded. "I think she's just cynical because her mother's rarely at home."

"You promised Bianca you'd stop the psychobabble." I warned him.

"Right, sorry." Dad said.

"I'm sure she's a great friend to you. It's probably so you'll never figure it out." Tiffany rolled her eyes.

"Figure what out?" I scowled.

"That Bianca was Jake's booty call." Tiffany stated.

Jake choked on the water he was using to swallow his food.

"That's a lie! Bianca's never had a boyfriend, and she can't even get out full sentences around her crush!" I scoffed.

Poor Bianca could barely talk to Toby.

"Ask her about it. Hell, ask that Casey girl. Casey slapped me the day after I told Bianca to back off." Tiffany shrugged. "Stupid freshman."

I remembered Casey mentioning that Bianca had a guy break her heart freshman year... but it couldn't be Jake! Jake wouldn't do that, and Bianca was too cynical to like anyone other than Toby.

"Jake?" Dad looked over at Jake with confusion.

Mom looked conflicted.

"Don't tell me you seriously believe this!" I exclaimed. "Bianca and Jake would never do something like this!"

But the thing is... Jake looked down guiltily. "I was fighting with Tiffany a lot, and Bianca really liked me. I feel bad for it now, but at the time... I was stupid. I never even took her on a real date, but she thought it was because you guys wouldn't like her. She didn't know about Tiffany..."

I rarely got angry, but when I did, it wasn't pretty. And this time, I pulled the Bianca move—I threw my drink on Jake.

"Jess!" Jake exclaimed.

"That was for Bianca!" I exclaimed before storming out of the room.

My parents tried to call after me, but even they knew it was no use. I slammed my bedroom door behind me and flopped on my bed.

Bianca and Jake... Bianca and Jake...

Everything made sense now. That's why Casey refused to tell me who'd broken Bianca's heart freshman year. That's why Bianca looked uneasy and left every time I talked about Jake. That's why I sometimes caught her staring into his room. Poor Bianca...

"Jessica?" Jake knocked on the door.

"Go away!" I yelled.

"Jess..." Jake knocked again.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! Go away, Jake!" I yelled.

Jake eventually sighed loudly and went away. And what Tiffany said... I remembered during my freshman year that Jake left the house a lot, but he wasn't hanging out with his friends or Tiffany. And there was a week when I remembered Tiffany and Jake fighting a lot. During that same week, I'd seen Bianca crying a lot and Casey comforting her. I hadn't been their friend then, but they were always an interesting set of friends to me.

I dialed a number and waited as it rang.

"Hey, Jessica." Bianca picked up the phone, sounding nervous—probably because of Jake.

"I was hoping you could drive me to school tomorrow. And that we could sleepover at your house." I said.

"Okay, I guess." Bianca said. "Casey too, right?"

"Of course." I said.

"S-stop..." Bianca said.

"What was that?" I asked.

"N-nothing..." Bianca said. Her voice seemed further from the phone as she told someone to stop it. "Do you need anything else Jess? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I said.

"Okay. I love you, bye." Bianca said. "I'm on the phone, stop it!"

Then she hung up and I was alone again.

I texted Casey. Hey, you and me are sleeping over at Bianca's tomorrow. I just asked her.

Okay, see you at school tomorrow. :-) Casey texted back.

See you tomorrow. I texted.

Tomorrow was going to be a really weird day.