early scene

I have been writing the prequel to Shades of Deception and having a fun time doing so, but I've run into a little issue. I'm planning for the prequel to be a novelette, somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 words long. The great news is, it's going to be available for free! I truly believe that, if you enjoyed Shades of Deception, you're going to love this preview! The problem I've encountered is that I'm having so much fun writing the story, I'm getting carried away - it's getting too long!
Rather than cutting all of those extra words, though, I decided to give a sneak peek into the story. Initially, this scene was going to begin the story, but I've had to move ahead a few years and start further along. Still, though, I thought the scene was fun, and my readers might enjoy seeing it - so, without further adieu, meet David and Jessica!

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jessica blew out a breath in frustration, puffing her bangs out of her line of sight. Her hands were balled into fists at her waist, elbows pointing stiffly out to the sides.
David wasn’t sure what had gone wrong. “But, I thought, I mean,” he stumbled over his words, feeling his face grow hot with embarrassment. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a small group of girls giggling as they watched, covering their mouths with their hands to try to silence their laughter. He turned back to Jessica, his mind scrambling furiously to come up with something – anything – to say that would erase the words that had just come out of his mouth.
Jessica was glaring over his shoulder. David was surprised to see her beady gaze focused on the giggling girls instead of him. He felt like he’d suddenly fallen down a rabbit hole with Alice. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean,” he tried again.
Jessica pushed past him, cutting him off mid-sentence. David turned, watching as she strode intently over to the girls.
“You’re a bunch of maggots! You think that was funny? You are worse than a flock of chickens, pecking at the weaker bird. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!”
They didn’t look ashamed, David thought, watching as they ran to the other side of the parking lot. He stuck his hands into his pockets and took a few steps toward the front of the school. He hated recess. He hated the girls in his grade – in his whole school, actually, but especially in his class. Mostly, he hated feeling like an idiot. Somehow, lately, these girls always made him feel that way.
“David, wait,” Jessica pulled at his sleeve. “David, I’m sorry. They’re just being jerks.”
David shrugged, still walking. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have listened to them, I know better.”
Jessica pulled his sleeve harder, insistent. “David!”
He stopped and turned his head to look at her. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes.
“David – I do like you! You’re the nicest person I know, and I know a lot of people! You’re smart, and you’re funny, and you laugh at my dad jokes even when they’re really bad. I just don’t like you, like you. But I don’t like anyone like that – it’s not just you. Please, don’t be mad,” she cajoled.
The tears hadn’t fallen yet. If he could make her laugh, maybe she wouldn’t cry. David smiled weakly at her. “I am a nice person – some of those dad jokes are really bad!”
Jessica’s smile broke through, lighting up her face, though she used one sleeve to wipe at her eyes. “Hey, want to hear a joke about construction? I'm still working on it.”
David groaned, smiling.