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Archivers: Go for it.  The world is yours for the taking.
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, no $, forget it.
Category: V, not really HR but a couple-y sort of scene, but more like
friendship...oh, I don't know. I'm really bad at this; take your pick.
Summary: Jessie's Sweet 16 is a happy occasion for her, but one person
is left out of the fun.

Sidenote: My fanfic disk has been found!  Bless the JQ Gods/Goddesses!

						--Dark Sentinel



	THE REAL (LIFE) ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST

	"Overlooked"

	Dedicated to my sister on her Sweet 16, she may have forgotten me but I
will not forget her

	written by Dark Sentinel

	"Okay, now say cheese!" Jonny instructed, holding up a camera.  Jessie
grabbed two of her nearest friends and hugged them close to her.  They
all leaned in and smiled.
	FLASH! went the camera.  Jonny grinned.  "Good shot!  Jess, this roll
of film is gonna be great!"
	Jessie's face was bright and happy.  She was having a great time, and
was very grateful to Jonny for offering to immortalize the event on film
for her.  After all, a Sweet 16 did only come but once in a lifetime. 
This was HER day.  And it was a blast.
	Jonny sauntered around the Quest compound.  He stopped in the kitchen
to snarf down a hero or two.  The adults, namely Race, Dr. Quest,
Estella, and a few others, realizing that they would be considered old
fogeys by the teenagers, had wisely retired to the kitchen and avoided
the crowds.  Jonny quenched this mounting thirst from the potato chips
with a can of soda.  He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and beamed at the
adults.  "I'm gonna go take some more pictures."  With that he exited
the kitchen.
	Jessie was dressed in a blue sleeveless gown.  The fabric shimmered
satiny highlights.  Her rhinestone tiara twinkled in the soft light
emanating from the chandeliers.  She held a small, silver star wand. 
For her dress-up Sweet 16 party, she had dressed as a birthday princess.
	Daintily moving away from the mob for a moment, she stood solemnly in
the mammoth dining room, thinking.  The glimmering reflections from the
polished hardwood and the crystal that was illuminated in a cabinet
display nearby was enchanting.  Jonny happened upon this scene and
froze.  Jessie did not notice as he quietly aimed the camera and
captured the fiery-haired birthday girl forever on film.  He knew inside
that that photo was going to be treasured by Jessie for years to come.
	Startled, she looked up.  "Oh, hi, Jonny.  I didn't notice you there! 
Listen, thanks *so* much for being my photographer.  I didn't want Dad
going around, you know?"
	Jonny empathized with this and nodded.  "Anytime, Jess.  You are the
birthday girl, after all!"
	Jessie tilted her head and smiled.  "Should we do the cake soon?"
	"Yeah; I'll go remind my dad."  Jonny returned to the kitchen once
more.
	"Hello, son," Dr. Quest greeted him.  
	"Hey Dad!  I think Jess wants to do the cake now."
	Race stood up.  "I'm all for that!  I'll get the candles."
	Jonny skibbled into the dining room.  Jessie seated herself at the end
of the table and watched Jonny scamper off to alert the twenty some-odd
teenaged friends of Jessie's that it was cake time.
	A whoop went up from the crowd and Jonny was nearly trampled as all
dashed to find a seat at the sprawling mahogany table.  Jonny found a
place to stand that was to Jessie's left.  He readied the flash for a
barrage of pictures.
	But instead of the normal procedure, Jonny was surprised to find that
the cake was brought out unlit.  The lights remained on.  And nobody
sang.  Confused, he watched Jessie pull out a piece of paper.  Race
handed her an extra candle that was lit.  
	"Okay folks, settle down, this might take awhile!"  Jessie unfolded the
paper and held it up.  "I'd like to dedicate this candle to my best
friend Catherine.  We've shared a lot of fun times together..."
	Jonny tuned her out and realized that she was going to dedicate all
sixteen candles, and the extra for good luck, to someone special to
her.  He nudged one of her friends that was dressed as a moose who was
sitting nearby.  "Can you take my picture when it's my turn?" he
whispered hoarsely.
	"Sure," they whispered back.  Jonny smiled a thanks and resumed his
position.
	Catherine walked up to Jessie.  They hugged each other, then each held
onto the end of the candle and lit it.  Jonny snapped a few pictures.
	
	The candles dragged by.  Down to the last one.  Jonny handed the camera
to the girl-moose he had spoken to before.  This one had to be for him,
and him alone.  Race, Estella, Dr. Quest, even Alice Starseer, who had
traveled a long way to attend, had gone already.  He was Jessie's best
friend.  Surely he would go now.  He almost started to walk up to her.
	"I would like to dedicate this last, and seventeenth candle to somebody
who is very special and important in my life.  This person has been
there for me throughout most of my life."  Jessie looked up from the
paper and shot a glance in Jonny's direction.  He blushed, then noticed
Hadji do the same.  His friend was standing very close to him, and now
Jonny realized that she could have been looking at Hadji too.  He became
tense.  Had she chosen Hadji?
	Jessie now seemed to be speaking to the person rather than about them. 
"You've saved me from impending death more times than I can count. 
You've given me sage advice when I was in indecision."
	Jonny worried.  This sounded like Hadji.
	"I remember how you saved me when Surd nearly had me killed when I was
playing MegaQuest."
	Jonny relaxed now.  He had helped save her.
	"There is more to say about you than time can permit, so I will
conclude with saying thank you for being my friend.  Hadji, please come
up and light candle number seventeen."
	Jonny froze and his jaw dropped.  It couldn't be, it just couldn't. 
How could his best friend forget him on her Sweet 16?  
	Hadji, not realizing that Jonny had been skipped, brushed past him. 
Jessie and Hadji embraced in a hug, and Jessie kissed him on the cheek. 
With faces that were illuminated with happiness and candlelight, they
held the candle together and lit the final flame.  The moose near Jonny
flashed pictures uncontrollably.  Applause followed.
	Jonny looked back at Jessie as he turned to leave.  She began to cut
the cake, laughing and talking with her friends nearby.  He saw Race
sniff and smear away a tear that was forming in his eye.
	The moose turned around to return the camera to Jonny.  She dropped it
in surprise when she saw he was gone.

	Jonny walked through the blinding snowstorm outside without a jacket. 
He shivered with dampness and entered the lighthouse a few minutes
later.
	Listlessly, the drippy-haired blonde ascended the winding steps on the
side and up into an abandoned room that nobody ever went into but him. 
It was a low-ceilinged, badly-insulated circular room with two small
windows.  One faced the ocean and the other faced the main house.
	Jonny fluffed a dusty pillow that he had brought up there for when he
wanted to spend some time alone.  He spread his worn, threadbare blanket
on the floor and lay down on his side, propping his head up with one arm
and gazing out at the ocean.
	All the while he stared at the tossing waves, he couldn't believe she
could have forgotten him.  "How could I have been overlooked?" he
murmured dully to himself.  "I thought I was as important to her as
Hadji...How could I have been overlooked?"
	He lay on his back for a bit, gazing above him at the cob-webby
ceiling, and at the circular stairs winding up to a third floor, where
the lights were located.  The wind shrieked and screamed past the
windows and a horrendous draft escaped into the room.
	Jonny rolled over and crawled to the window facing the compound. 
Staring out, he saw a lone figure hunched into the wind, walking to the
lighthouse.  A stream of blue taffeta escaped the long jacket.  Jessie.
	Jonny did not want to be bothered by her.  She had forgotten him; why
had she chosen now to remember he existed?  He had been betrayed.  
	Scrambling across the floor, Jonny flipped off the light switch for
downstairs.  He resumed his lying-down position in the middle of the
room.
	He heard the wind blustering loudly as the door was opened, then
slammed shut.  There was a faint click as the lights were turned on.
	"Jonny?" a familiar voice called from downstairs.  "Jonny, if you're
here, come on out because we have been looking all over for you."
	She received no response.
	"Guess he's somewhere else," she mused, then left.
	Jonny waited in the silence for a minute.  He watched her travel back
to the compound, wet and bent over.
	With a sigh, the blonde flopped down on his stomach on the blanket
again.  He buried his head in his arms.  It wasn't so much that he
didn't get a fantastic write-up like Hadji did, nor that he didn't get
that perfect photo opportunity, like Hadji did, it was just...he had
been forgotten.  Completely neglected.  Overlooked.
	He mashed his head into the crook of his elbow and clenched his fists
in rage.  Tears of loneliness and betrayal dampened his sleeves.
	Hours later, Jonny was found by Estella.  She, Dr. Quest, and the rest
of the party-goers had been frantic as to his whereabouts since he had
disappeared.  She looked strangely at the fifteen-year old, who was
curled into a fetal position and asleep.  The pillow near his eyes was
damp.
	And then it occurred to her why he had left the party.  "Poor kid," she
sighed as she pulled a corner of the blanket over his shivering body. 
"Poor kid."
	Her voice echoed throughout Jonny's empty dream.


__________________________________________________________________
QUESTions, comments, or money?  Send 'em here: ackcor@erols.com
Please comment.

						--Dark Sentinel

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