Finding Everett | ✔️

Chapter Thirty One

Jesse watched Lizzie and Everett swing back and forth on the hammock in the backyard, the two of them using it as more of a chair than anything. Lizzie had a book in her hands, Everett had a strand of her hair in his, and they looked perfectly content to read a book together.

A smile on his face, Jesse let out a content sigh before letting the curtain fall back into place in his room and walked to his bed. Collapsing on the soft mattress, he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes for a moment. Peeking out of one eye, Jesse examined the envelopes that sat on his desk.

He still hadn't opened any of them. The colleges he applied for replied. Most of them at least, but it wasn't as though it mattered anyways. Jesse still had no idea what to do.

He didn't know his major. He had absolutely no idea where to go with his life. He just wanted to . . . exist for a while.

But that would go against everything Jesse's parents set him up for. They set him up to accomplish things in this world. He had gifts, talents. Jesse felt as though he would be letting them down if he decided to throw all of that away; the support, the summer camps for various things, the car in his driveway he slaved away on.

Someway, somehow, all those things went straight into the back of his mind, not meaning a single thing to him. Growing up, he imagined all the colleges he would apply for and what his life would be like once he hit that point of his life.

Before Jesse hit the age of sixteen, the life of a college student was the only one he could imagine. But now, it seemed pretty empty.

I've gotta tell mom and dad, he thought, sprawling out on his bed. But it worried him. Would his parents even be supportive of such a decision? They were rooting for college; of course they were. College would ensure that Jesse had some sort of a future. Maybe.

Jesse knew plenty of people with college degrees still working somewhere they never imagined one would work with a bachelors.

College didn't ensure Jesse would have a great life. It just meant he would spend more of it wondering what to do with himself.

Tonight, he decided. Tonight, I'm going to tell them. He sighed, shaking his head as he stood and stretched his arms above his head. "I'm so dead."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The dinner table was awfully quiet that night. Jesse felt like his parents already knew his decision, just by looking at him. He knew the notion was ridiculous, but still. The idea stuck in his head and his stomach flopped with nerves.

This would be a big announcement for the family; Everett already had an idea of how Jesse felt, so maybe the news of Jesse's deviation wouldn't come as much of surprise to him.

But to their parents . . .

Oh, to their parents, it would be shocking.

"So, guys - you seem quiet," Denise observed from her end of the table. Cole sat happily with his food in front of him, eyes wide and shining. Denise looked from her youngest to the other two boys curiously.

Jesse nodded in response. "I just . . .I got a lot on my mind," he told her, meaning every word of it. He didn't want to tell her nothing. This would just be a good . . . beginning for the subject to be approached with.

Denise raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? What's bothering you? Anything I can help with?"

Clearing his throat, Jesse pushed his empty plate forward a touch, signalling his finish. "Honestly, I'm not sure it's dinner table talk."

With a smile, his mother shook her head. "I don't know. Food makes everything better, so maybe this is the perfect time?"

Jesse looked from Denise to Peter and back again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Everett give him an encouraging nod. He knew exactly what Jesse wanted to talk about, it seemed.