That Monday morning, there was a tense silence in the car while Jess and Doug waited for James to unlock the gate.  After Jess had told him she was too busy to talk on Saturday evening, Doug hadn't attempted to bring it up again, and Jess had decided she wasn't going to either.  After all, he was the one who'd done something wrong. 

Once the gate was open and Doug drove through, Jess kept her head turned towards the passenger window, looking at the passing scenery while she fumed.  When they'd almost reached the school, Doug cleared his throat.

"Jess, I'm sorry about what happened on Friday."

"You should be," she replied tightly to the window, and Doug sighed.

"I know how important it was for you.  I feel bad you didn't have a good time because of me," he admitted, pulling into the school parking lot. 

He sounded sincere, and she could feel her anger slipping away.  Doug wasn't a bad person.  She knew whatever had happened between Annie and Mr. Dwyer's son must have been pretty bad for him to react so strongly.  He'd only done it because of how much he loved Annie.  If Jess had been in Doug's position, it was likely she might have done the same thing. 

When Doug turned off the ignition, Jess went to open the car door, but he put his hand on her arm, saying, "Please don't go."  For the first time, she looked at him fully, noticing the dark circles under his sad blue eyes, and the last of her anger left. 

"I want to make it up to you.  I'll take you into town on Friday night, okay?"

"No, thank you," Jess said firmly. 

"Why not?" he asked with surprise.

"Because I'm not interested in hanging out with your friends, that's why," she snapped, irritated he didn't understand what should be obvious.

"No, that's not what I meant," he said with a frown.  "It'll just be the two of us."  Even though he sounded sincere, there was something in his eyes that made her hesitate.  He seemed troubled and Jess wondered if he really did want to take her out.  He'd always balked when his father suggested it in the past. 

"Until you said it, I never thought about how you're cooped up at home all the time," he explained when she didn't reply, unable to meet her eyes.  "I don't want you to be stuck just because you don't have a car.  I just thought maybe – I could –."  He sighed again, and then lifted his eyes.  "I'm trying to help you." 

While Jess examined him, it suddenly became clear what was going on.  He was ashamed of the way his dad was treating her.  Even though he was trying to hide it, she could see the shame in his eyes, and her heart melted.  He was once again stepping into the big brother role of protecting her.

"Sure, Doug.  That would be real nice," she said, smiling broadly. 

"Swell," he replied, his body relaxing with relief.

Once she was out of the car, she spotted Louise on the sidewalk, and hurried to catch up with her.

"Have a good birthday with your family?" she asked when she reached her.

"Yes!" Louise replied happily.  "I got some clothes and a bottle of perfume."

"That's nice," Jess said, seeing Marty.  He was leaning against the trunk of a tree with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her and trying not to smile.

"How about your weekend?" Louise asked, just as he gave Jess a slight nod. 

"My weekend was really swell!" Jess said with a laugh, turning her attention back to Louise.

"What did you do?"

"Oh, I mostly relaxed," Jess answered, still smiling as she thought of Marty's birthday.  "I got to make cupcakes with Annie."

"That sounds like fun," Louise said.  The bell rang and they hurried towards the door.

Later in chemistry class, Jess was doodling on a corner of her paper when Mr. Shaffer barked out, "We'll be doing our first lab today!  Choose a partner, and choose wisely!  This is going to be your lab partner for the rest of the year."

Jess turned to smile at Louise, knowing the two of them would be paired, but to her surprise, Louise had a determined expression.

"Jess, there aren't an even number of students," she said in a hushed voice while other students began talking loudly. 

"So?"

"Think about it!  That means one group will have three people!" she explained as if it was obvious.  "We need to be that group!"

"What?  Why?"

"Okay, maybe we don't, but I do!" Louise said forcefully.  "I almost failed that last quiz, but I know someone who got an A, someone no one else is going to pick for a partner.  We need to get him, before anyone else does."  Jess began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Who?" she asked faintly.

"Marty Cappellini."

"No!" Jess said desperately, then lowered her voice, when she saw Louise's questioning look. "We can do fine without him.  I – I know we can," she insisted, trying to sound convincing.  She'd done alright on that quiz, but only because Marty had explained some of the more technical terms to her better than their textbook had.

"Let's not take all day!" Mr. Shaffer ordered.

"Jess, please!  I don't want to fail this class," Louise beseeched quietly.  Jess glanced to the back of the room.  Marty was still seated at his desk, scowling at the other students, and she slumped, knowing it was no use. 

"Okay," she muttered, and Louise jumped up.

When Marty saw Louise approaching, he leaned back in his chair looking startled, but as soon as she began talking to him, he hunched over his desk, refusing to make eye contact with her.  Jess couldn't hear what Louise was saying over the loud talking in the room, but his eyes came up and met hers.  The grim look on his face, conveyed every bit of the trepidation she had about them having to work so closely together.  She shrugged her shoulders, trying to let him know it wasn't her idea to ask him.

"Miss Blackwell!"

Mr. Shaffer's booming voice scared her, and she turned in her seat to see him glowering down at her.   He'd never accepted her presence in his science class last year even though she'd done her best to show him she was a good student, and he'd been just as unhappy to have her again this year. 

"Is finding a lab partner too difficult for you, or do you feel none of the other students are good enough?" he sneered.

"She has a partner, Mr. Shaffer!" Louise called out before Jess could reply.  She was walking back to Jess and to Jess's astonishment, Marty stood and came towards her too, his eyes flashing with anger as he glared at Mr. Shaffer.

Seemingly disgruntled he couldn't give her more grief about not having a partner, Mr. Shaffer walked back to the front of the room, shouting at the class, "Go to the lab tables and put on an apron!"

Jess followed Louise to a table, feeling extremely uncomfortable while Marty walked behind her.  How on earth were they going to keep Louise from guessing they were friends?  To her dismay, Louise took one of the vinyl aprons and stood at the end of the table.  She took her time slipping on her apron, letting Marty take the spot next to her.  Maybe if Louise wasn't standing right next to her, it would be harder for her to pick up on any clues Jess might accidentally give off.

"Today, you will be making acetylsalicylic acid!" Mr. Shaffer pronounced loudly. 

He turned to the chalk board to write the name, and Marty whispered under his breath, "Aspirin." 

"More commonly known as aspirin!" Mr. Shaffer continued as he wrote, and Louise leaned forward to catch Jess's eye, grinning triumphantly.  Jess forced a smile and Louise turned to listen as Mr. Shaffer started lecturing about the steps they'd be taking. 

With her attention diverted, Jess looked up at Marty to commiserate with him about their predicament, but he seemed to be listening intently to Mr. Shaffer too.  When he nodded at some of the instructions, she was able to relax.  If Marty could forget they were working together because he was so focused on the lab work, maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

Once Mr. Shaffer was finished, he sent the students to the storage shelves at the far end of the room to get the ingredients and equipment they'd need.  While Jess surveyed the beakers and test tubes, Louise leaned close to Marty.

"I couldn't make heads or tails out of what Mr. Shaffer was talking about," she whispered.  "What do we need?"

Without a word, Marty began taking down glass measuring cups, beakers, bottles of liquids, and a small jar of white powder, handing them to Louise and Jess. 

"Let's go," he said after choosing a flask.

Once they were at the table the girls set everything out and then Marty began.  Measuring out the white powder while Jess and Louise watched him, he poured it into the flask.  As he continued, pouring a liquid into another measuring cup, Jess felt a tremendous pride for him.  It was clear to her he'd done this before, no doubt taught by Mr. Dwyer. 

There was nothing stopping Marty from having a career as a druggist now.  With Mr. Dwyer's help, his future was set, but while she watched him handling the equipment as easily as he carved lifelike animals out of wood, it occurred to her there might be even more possibilities open to him.  He was certainly smart enough to become a scientist, and if he was careful and saved the money he made working for Mr. Dwyer, he could go to college. 

And then goose bumps rose on her arms as another, even more radical idea came to her.  What if Marty went to the same college she did?  Immediately imagining them living somewhere far from her uncle's influence, a place where their friendship could be out in the open, she felt her heart swelling with joy.

"Earth to Jess!"

Jess blinked and then realized Louise was snapping her fingers in front of her face while Marty stood behind her, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"What?"

"We're going to the ice bath now."

"The what?"

"Never mind," Louise said with exasperation, taking her arm and leading her across the room.  "Didn't you get enough sleep last night?  You were completely spaced out."

"I guess not," Jess said, trying to hold back her smile as she thought of her future with Marty.

A small tub of ice water had been set up near Mr. Shaffer's desk and Marty set the flask now containing a clear liquid in it.  A quick look around the room confirmed to Jess they were the first group to have reached that step.  Marty began stirring the liquid with a glass rod, and almost right away it turned milky.  As he continued to stir, it became more solid and then formed into a powdery substance.

"Oh my goodness, Marty!  That's amazing!" Jess exclaimed, and he grinned at her.

"Is that the aspirin?" Louise asked excitedly.

"Yeah," he replied easily, taking it out of the ice water and heading back to their table.

While Jess and Louise followed, Louise whispered slyly, "I told you!"

By time the end of class bell rang, Marty had the aspirin crystals drying and the three of them had washed and put away their equipment.  They left the room while there was a flurry of activity as the other students rushed to finish up. 

As soon as they were out the door, Marty headed off down the hall.  Jess watched him until he was lost in the crowds of teens with disappointment.  Sighing deeply, she went with Louise to their lockers to retrieve their lunch sacks.  

"Aren't you glad we partnered with Marty now?" Louise asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I suppose so," Jess hedged, thinking about how they'd have to keep Louise from guessing how close they were for the whole rest of the school year.  "I still think we could have managed without him."

"Are you kidding?" Louise said loudly with shock.  "We'd be in there right now, still trying to make aspirin if we didn't have him as a partner.  You know Mr. Schaffer would be mean enough to keep us in class until we finished."

"I guess," Jess relented.

"I don't know why you're so dead set against him," Louise muttered.

Jess didn't say anything as they entered the lunch room, deciding to let the topic die, but she automatically looked across the room to find Doug.  He was already seated, surrounded by the usual crowd of friends. 

What would happen if he found out Marty was her lab partner?  Would he be angry enough the boy who'd trespassed on their property was now working so closely with her that he'd tell his father?  If he did, she had no doubt her uncle cause a huge scene at the school about it, and then Mr. Schaffer would hate her even more than he did now.  Uncle Jonathon might even decide to take her out of school entirely.  She would hate that, and Marty would hate it too.  Doing homework together was something he looked forward to every day.

While she took seat next to Louise at their table, Jess considered asking her to keep Marty being their lab partner a secret from Doug, but then she realized it was useless.  In such a small school, Doug could find out from any number of people.  And it wasn't like Louise would go out of her way to tell him anyway.  Feeling the weight of yet another secret settling over her, she opened her sack and took out a sandwich, hoping it would all work out.

At the end of the day, when Jess and Louise said their goodbye's outside the school,  Jess headed across the parking lot towards Doug's car.  Doug was having an intense discussion with his friend, Whitey, but as soon as he noticed her, he broke it off and Whitey walked away.  Doug watched her approach and she studied his expression, trying to gauge his mood.  Had he heard already, she wondered.  Was that what he was talking to Whitey about? 

"Ready?" he asked casually, when she reached him.

"Yeah," she replied, letting out a breath.  

During the drive home, Doug seemed relaxed, and Jess was glad, but then she thought of Marty.  What kind of mood was he going to be in?  When they walked into the kitchen, Annie greeted them warmly, and Jess went to get a much needed hug from her.

"Oh, Annie.  Jess and I have decided to go into town on Friday.  I think we may have dinner while we're out," Doug said, and Annie let go of her.

"That sounds swell!" she beamed, looking back and forth between them, and Jess returned her smile. With everything that had happened in chemistry class, she'd forgotten all about it. 

"Homework," Doug announced, taking a plate of sandwiches Annie had made for him and leaving through the butler's pantry.

"I think you two will have a fun time," Annie said, smoothing Jess's hair. 

"Yes, ma'am," Jess replied.

"Now go get changed and I'll get your basket ready."

When Jess stepped into the clearing, she wasn't surprised Marty wasn't there yet.  In spite of the fact he was probably going to be just as upset as she was about what had happened, she was still anxious to see him.  Being around him always made her feel better.  After setting out the food so it would be ready for him, she headed to the front door to see if he was coming, and he stepped through.

"Jess," he said simply, the worried expression on his face saying everything.  "Why didn't you stop her?" he demanded before she could speak.

"I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen to me!" Jess said, holding her hands out.

"This is real bad," he said, shaking his head.  "She could figure everything out."

"We'll just have to be careful!" Jess pleaded.

"What if she tells your cousin?"

"She won't do that.  She knows how my uncle is.  She won't want to get me in trouble."

"I don't know about this," he said shaking his head again.  "Why did she want to pick me anyway?" he added more angrily.  "I mean, what's with her?"

"She wanted you because she knows you're good at chemistry!"  Marty opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it, staring at her with disbelief.  "Didn't you notice we finished before anyone else?"

"That don't mean nothin'," he muttered.  "It's just 'cos Mr. Dwyer showed me already."

"That's not true.  You understand chemistry a lot better than me," Jess insisted.  "I told you Marty!  You're smart.  You're probably the top student in the class."  His expression lightened as he considered what she'd said, and then it changed back to scowling just as quickly.

"That don't change the fact she could figure out we know each other!  And once she does, she'll start wondering –."

"Marty, listen to me," Jess said, coming forward and taking his hand.  "We'll be careful so she doesn't.  But if she does, I'll talk to her.  I'll make sure she doesn't tell anyone." 

She looked up into his brown eyes, hoping he couldn't see the doubts she felt.  Marty had been so focused on Louise, he hadn't thought about the fact that Doug would hear about them working together from someone else.  He already lived with so much worry on a daily basis.  The last thing she wanted to do was add to his burdens.

"It'll be okay.  You'll see," she urged gently, squeezing his hand.

"I reckon," he grumbled, shrugging his shoulders as he gave in, and then he looked up at her through his lashes.  His brown eyes were still filled with trepidation, but also gratitude, and longing.  She felt it too, the familiar urge to wrap her arms around him.  Stepping back before they lost themselves in the moment, she gently pulled him towards the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?  I think Annie packed the last cupcakes."

"Yeah," he said, a smile finally lighting up his face. 

While he allowed her to guide him, she grinned back at him, her mood immediately lifting.  Seeing the happiness in his eyes again, her confidence returned.  They could do this.  Even if Louise guessed, she'd never tell on Jess.  And Doug had shown today that he really cared about her.  He wouldn't want her to get in trouble with his dad.  If he did hear about her and Marty, she was sure she could convince him not to do anything about it.

Setting out her books while Marty ate, she felt at peace.  Finally free from all the worries of that day, her thoughts were able to return to life beyond high school, and to a future that could include Marty.

****

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!  Doug and Jess have resolved their issues, but a whole new can of worms has been opened.  Do you think Jess and Marty will be able to keep their secret from Louise, or from Doug?  What about Jess's thoughts about Marty going to college?  What do you think Marty's reaction will be to that idea?  I can't wait to hear what you think!

I want to extend a big special thank you to all of my readers of Stolen Hearts.  My very first story reached the incredible milestone of 1 million reads earlier this week.  I never imagined it would reach that and I'm sincerely grateful to the many, readers who made it happen.  I find it even more unbelievable that The Boy in the Woods is due to reach that same milestone very soon!  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!  I honestly can't tell you how much I appreciate all your support!

If you enjoyed this one, please consider voting for it!  The video is Come Go With Me by the Dell Vikings and shows a lot of great vintage cars.