Jesse's Girl

Chapter 2

I was overreacting

     As I sat in class, I thought on and on about my meeting with Jesse.

     He was a natural born flirt, which wasn’t odd considering how many girls he had crawling at his feet, but I realized that he didn’t shine up to that by in any way offering me to take the crying girl’s place with him in the janitor’s closet. He had only asked to help me with my stuff. Not that I would have said yes to the offer anyway, but still. I shouldn’t be so hectic over something that probably didn’t even mean anything.

     I bit my lip and sank back in my seat.

     Or maybe I could be wrong?

     No. I decided. I’m right. I have to be right.

     Once the bell signaled the end of the period, I gathered my belongings and walked out alongside Katrina. When she waved farewell and headed off to catch her bus, I huffed at the weight of my textbooks, and made a quick stop at my locker before I could head to my car to leave.

     Opening up the cheap, iron door and tossing in the textbooks I didn’t need anymore, I suddenly caught sight of the aged mirror stuck on the door with a cheap magnet on the backside. I hadn’t removed it since my freshman year, so I wasn’t surprised that my reflection in the glass seemed as if I were shrouded in smoke.

     I could see my brown hair in it though, and smoothed it out when I noticed strands falling in my face. As I pushed them aside, I noticed the mirror was also showing that my eyes were dark, but I knew they were really a brown-green shade, a hazel color that I had inherited from my grandfather.

     I attempted to wipe the mirror with the sleeve of my shirt so that I could see myself clearly.

     Then, just as I began to smile at how clean I’d made it—and practically out of nowhere—there was suddenly someone else in the mirror.

     Now, I was no physics major, but I know I jumped a good foot in the air when I saw another person in it aside from me. Not to mention I practically yelled like a vulture in surprise, which was kind of embarrassing, but irrelevant when I realized that the face belonged to Jesse. Annoyance settled over me at the sight, just like it had before.

     Well, maybe I had been wrong about his intentions after all.

     Before Jesse could even begin to talk, I slammed my locker shut—mentally grimacing when I heard a loud clatter of things falling inside—before whipping around to stare him down. “What the hell do you want?” I demanded.

     He raised his hands in what looked like a peace offering. “Whoa—hey, I wasn’t doing anything! I just wanted to help you out with your stuff.”

     I remained still, glancing around uneasily. “Why?”

     “I just want to help.”

     “Yeah, I got that, but why?”

     “Because…” He gave me a look that made me feel as though I looked crazed. “You look like you can use it?”

     Just as I opened my mouth to reject his offer again, a whimper and a gasp cut me off, and I turned over my shoulder to find the source. Sure enough, I caught the eye of the girl in my class who had stormed out of the closet earlier. After bypassing Jesse and I, she started up with the whimpering again, disappearing down the hall while her friends reassuringly patted her back and whispered things like it’s going to be okay and it’s his loss.

     Jesse rolled his eyes at the sight, unfazed by her, and then looked back to me—and so help me, he smiled.

     I shook my head and resisted the urge to scrunch up my face in disgust, and instead hoisted my bag higher on my shoulder and gave Jesse a tight, forced smile. “I don’t know if you realized this or not,” I told him. “But I came to my locker in the first place to put my things away so that carrying them to my car won’t give me trouble. So no, I don’t need any help.” I decided to be civil for a split second and added, “But thanks.”