Finding Everett | ✔️

Chapter Two

Dedicated to wildgreenskittle and her story Windswept. If you haven't read it yet, go check it out. It's amazing!

He was never one for responsibility. He was a bit reckless most of the time. And the power of a muscle car only added fuel to his already roaring fire. Jesse slid the sunglasses on the tip of his nose back up, his right hand firmly gripping the shifter. There was nothing like it to him; he could feel the hum of the engine beneath his body as he sat at the red light, the sensation sending a smile right to the very corners of his mouth.

Jesse had found the car in a field two summers ago. It was old, beat up and needed pretty much everything replaced.

But Jesse had never wanted anything more than that Ford Mustang. He pleaded and begged with his father to buy it for him as his first car. His father was a little skeptical about it. It was rusted out, old and in his eyes, useless. But Jesse put up a fight. He had made his case that he would pay for all the repairs and it would be his responsibility only. Finally, his father consented and purchased the vehicle. Later on, Peter had admitted that the look on Denise's' face when they pulled up with that thing had made the entire ordeal worthwhile.

For the next year, all of Jesse's extra money and resources went straight into fixing up that car. He could talk about nothing else but how it was coming along; at dinner, he explained what he was doing and how to go about doing it. When he repainted it a deep green color, he tried his best to explain it and the way it sparkled in the sunlight to his family before they saw it. It was a new experience for him and he found pleasure in it.

It was practically narcotic the way rebuilding a carburetor or just shining up the new chrome pieces for his engine eased his troubled mind. The garage had become his own personal hide out and sanctuary. When things inside got too intense for him, which happened to be most of the time, he ran to the safe keeping of the garage. It came as no surprise that most of the intense times ran with having Everett as a brother.

Jesse didn't fault his brother for his disability. In fact, he applauded Everett for the way he took charge of his own life and made sure that he had some amount of independence. However, the attitude that Everett displayed was lacking in many ways. His face was sullen all the time and he never smiled. Jesse couldn't remember the last time Everett was actually happy.

Had he ever been so? Or was he always just a grouchy person? Jesse couldn't pin point one or the other.

The light in front of him finally blared green and Jesse thrust the shifter into first, spinning out his tires a bit as he flew forward. Even though he knew it wasn't a race, Jesse felt pride that his car had left all the others in the dust. Most of those people were in his grade, naturally giving him an ego boost - everyone who saw him in this car would know he was nothing short of awesome.

The free time he had during spring break gave him just enough of a window to finish rebuilding the car - he was happy to know that it was ultimately worthwhile.

Swinging the car into the school parking lot, Jesse slowed his speed and began looking for a space. The people that littered the pavement stared, the rumbling of the engine capturing their attention. They moved off to the side, allowing him to pass through. If only they realized how much of an ego boost they were giving him by their reaction to his car. Finally, Jesse whipped into a parking space, revving the engine once or twice before turning the key and letting the noise die.

Stares came from every direction and Jesse relished the attention. Maybe he was being a bit pompous and narcissistic, but could anyone really blame him? As much as he tried to push it to the back of his mind and ignore the facts, he couldn't help but feel as though he was shoved aside from the time that Everett lost his sight. It was bad enough that Jesse was the youngest at the time, but adding on the fact that the family had suddenly began to revolve completely around Everett made things a bit tough for him.