November 7th, 2007
I loved my family, don't get me wrong, but that didn't mean that I didn't think that they were annoying.
"Mom says you have to clean your room," my sister Camilla sneered teasingly as she opened my door and popped her head inside. "She said that it's so bad that she's afraid that there's vermin in here."
My family was huge, since my parents both had many siblings and there had been a lot of divorces and remarriages between them. But my huge extended family weren't the ones that bothered me.
It was only the two that I had to live with.
I rolled my eyes at my sister, almost completely ignoring her as I continued to flip through the channels on the tiny TV that was in my so called messy room. I thought that it was perfectly fine for a guy my age...
I'd clean my room when I wanted to clean my room. I didn't even think that it was that bad at all...
"Jesse, are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I grumbled, not looking away from the TV when I finally found a good show to watch.
Camilla made a face when she stepped into my room. "You're such a guy!"
"Better than being a girl."
Camilla scowled, placing her hands on her hips as she continued to stare at me. This was why I hated having an older sister. She thought she could just barge into my room like it was hers or something... But hers was the bigger pink room across the hall from mine, and she always seemed to forget that.
Camilla stuck her nose in the air, now crossing her arms over her chest. Was she going to leave any time soon, or was she just going to stand there and glare at me for the rest of the night? I didn't know that my sister was such a creep...
Not to mention that she was always on my back about me having a girlfriend. It wasn't my fault that I was smart enough to get a scholarship to go to a private school for only guys! She was always trying to set me up with girls from her school, but none of them interested me. I was sure that Camilla and my mom probably thought that I was secretly gay or something.
But I wasn't gay. So what if I went to an all-boys school? I didn't want to go to the normal public school that everyone from my middle school went to. Everyone there thought I was a complete idiot anyway...
But Cambridge was boring, to say the least. Since there were no girls, there was no one to stare at. Even the female teachers weren't attractive. But then there were the guys. Almost every single one of them was brainy, skinny dorks who only studied during their free time. I didn't even study, and yet I was the top of my class.
So that was why I joined the gang a few months back. I'm not proud of it, but it was something I could do when I was bored, and the guys were actually tough. Not to mention that the chicks were hot.
But since my sister and mother both didn't know about the gang, they had no idea how much attention I got from the girls that were a part of it. Every time I beat someone up, girls would flock to me like I was a God or something. But it wasn't like I was complaining or anything...
But then there was this one girl, whose name was Erica. She didn't just have a crush on me, but she was pretty much obsessed with me. Not only was she almost four years older than me, she was also the gang leader's girlfriend. So that really wasn't a good thing for me... But I wasn't interested in her, even though she was probably one of the hottest girls on the planet.
"You're going to get in trouble if you don't clean your room now," Camilla continued, her nose still stuck up in the air. I continued to ignore her, way too lazy to get up and do anything right then. Wasn't it obvious that I wasn't listening? But Camilla was just like my mother; they were both stubborn as hell.
"Jesse Isaac Jacobsen!" I heard a voice shout from down the hallway.
Camilla smirked before sticking out her tongue at me. "Told you."
Oh, great. Was she seriously pissed at me for not cleaning my room right when she wanted me to? If not, what did I do now? There really was no end to the answer of that question...
"Yeah, Ma?" I asked as I walked out of my room, trying to act as innocent as I possibly could have. Finally, Camilla went back into her room and shut the door behind her.
"Didn't I ask you to get milk last night?" she asked me, her eyebrows furrowing as her hands rested on her hips. "I can't make scrambled eggs now because there isn't any milk!"
I glanced at the clock that was sitting on top of our small TV. "It's seven o'clock at night," I informed her, as if she somehow didn't know. "Why are you making eggs at seven o'clock at night?"
"I meant tomorrow morning, Jesse," she sighed impatiently, rubbing her forehead as she closed her eyes. "Could you please just go out and get milk for me?"
"Yeah, fine, Ma," I nodded, backing away toward the front door after taking a five dollar bill from her. Why didn't she just get Camilla to go get it? She was sixteen and could actually drive... I was going to have to walk since I was only fourteen. "I'll go get the milk for breakfast tomorrow..."
"You also have to clean your room!" I heard my mother shout right before I shut the front door behind me and quickly made my way down the old stairs that went up to the floor my apartment was on. It was almost completely dark outside, and I knew it was going to turn dark before I could even get to the store.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, making sure to stay on the sidewalk so I wouldn't get run over by a cop. I hadn't ever really liked being outside when it was night, for reasons I really don't want to talk about, so I couldn't help but feel uneasy as I continued on.
The street lights were dim and it annoyed me greatly, but I continued my way down the dark street to get my mother's stupid milk. Was it really necessary that I go and get milk right then? Why couldn't I have just gotten it in the morning? I would have been fine with waking up earlier than I had to...
Sometimes I hated being the man of the house.
Actually, I always hated being the man of the house.
When I saw a group of a guys walking toward me, I got a little apprehensive. I know I sounded like a girl, but I couldn't help but think how those guys looked really familiar to me...
As I walked passed them, the one thing I was afraid of happened. The guy in the front of the group stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening at me before his face turned into a scowl.
"Eh, look," he said to the other four guys he was with. "It's that punk who stole my wallet the other day!"
I froze, but continued to act like the cool punk that they believed that I was. So that was where I had seen them before...
I had stolen that guy's wallet the day before for Hunter, the leader of the gang I was in. I knew that it would get me even more on his good side if I got something from another gang, especially money. I knew he would be pissed if he found out how Erica liked me, so being on his good side was definitely something I wanted to do before something like that could happen...
"Where's my money, punk?" the leader asked, suddenly pushing me against the wall before I could even think about what was happening. I had only been in Hunter's gang for a few months, and I hadn't learned what to do when a group gangs up on you when you're by yourself...
"Money?" I asked, obnoxiously feigning innocence now. I knew there was no way I was going to get out of this, so I might as well be an annoying prick about it. "Why, sir, I have no idea what you're talking about..."
This guy slammed me against the wall once again, his grip on my shirt still tight. "Don't be a smartass, kid. Give me my money and we'll just leave you alone with a nice black eye."
I didn't have any money, besides the five bucks that my mom had given me for the milk, and there was at least five hundred bucks in this guy's wallet. If I came home with bruises and no milk, I guessed that I could have just told her that I had been mugged...
"Sorry, don't have it," I smirked, quickly slipping out of the idiot's grasp. "Looks like you're just going to have to earn your money back by dealing more drugs."
The idiot's eyebrows furrowed at me. He glanced back at his buddies before shouting, "Get him!"
I took off, half amused and half freaked out. The only time I had ever been against another gang was when I was with other members of Hunter's gang. Now that I was alone, I had no idea what I was supposed to do if I got caught.
But I wasn't going to get caught, because it was obvious that I was faster than the morons chasing after me. Hunter did always say that I was probably the fastest member of the gang...
When I saw a bright and crowded store in the distance, I started to feel relieved. They weren't going to do anything when there were so many people around...
It was an ice cream parlor, so I knew that there were probably going to be little kids with their parents here. If these idiots had any class whatsoever, they weren't going to do anything to me in that store. I didn't even think they would go inside because I knew they would stick out...
I shoved the door open, almost completely out of breath from all the running I had done. Before I even knew what was going on, I was suddenly ramming into someone hard. I heard a feminine gasp before feeling stickiness on my hands, and I first looked down to see that it was ice cream. I wiped it away on my pants, not really caring for it very much.
I finally looked up at who I had run into to lock gazes with a pair of big brown eyes. I then focused on the rest of this person's face, and my breath completely caught in my throat. All I could do was stare at her, not even noticing the ice cream that I had spilled on her shirt.
She looked up at me, obviously not knowing what she was supposed to do. She was waiting for me to speak, but I just couldn't find my voice as I continued to stare at her.
This girl... was the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen in my entire life. I said that Erica was hot, but she was nothing compared to the girl who was standing before me right then. She was so beautiful that I had no idea what I was supposed to say. I couldn't even find my voice! Since when did that ever happen to me?
I then glanced over to see the guy standing next to her. He was a little taller than me, and I guess that he was good looking. They were standing too close, and I inwardly scowled. So she already had a boyfriend? Damn it. Why did I have to meet the most gorgeous girl in the world when she was on a date?
My eyes then widened when I saw that this guy was Dallas Berg, the guy that my sister had been gushing over for the past few months. He was a senior at the public school that Camilla went to...
"Um..." the girl blinked, obviously not knowing what to say at all. "Excuse me?"
Even her voice was gorgeous. Damn it, what the hell was she doing to me?
Finally finding my voice again, all I could utter was, "Yeah, excuse you."
The girl's eyes now widened in surprise. "Excuse me?"
Damn it, Jesse! You idiot! Why the hell did you say that?
"You already said that," I smirked at her, not knowing what I was supposed to say myself. No other girl had ever taken my breath away like this, not even girls that I had known for years. I had just met this girl and I was completely tongue-tied!
"Well, sorry," the girl now snapped, taking a step closer to me. I definitely wanted her to come closer to me, but not in the way that I wanted her to. She was taking a menacingly step closer to me, and I wished that it was something more loving and caring... "I didn't run into you! I didn't ruin your favorite shirt!"
I looked down at her shirt and shrugged. "Eh, it looks better."
I might as well continue to act like a jackass...
"Hey," Dallas finally butted in, raising a hand in between us now before the girl's chest could touch mine. How unfortunate... "Just apologize to her, will you?"
"What do I have to apologize for?" I asked cockily now. "I just made her shirt look better."
"You knocked into her," Dallas told me now, as if I had somehow didn't know. I know that I wasn't wearing fancy clothes like he was, and I probably looked poor, but I wasn't stupid. He was the one that went to a public school while I went to a private school... "And I don't care if you think her shirt would look better that way or not. Just apologize to her."
"I don't have to apologize to your girlfriend," I sneered now, not in the mood to talk with the competition. I could see the girl's jaw clench, but I ignored it. "It's a free country, you know."
The girl took another step toward me. "Look, buddy--"
"Jesse," I interrupted before she could continue.
She blinked at me, as if I was some sort of idiot. "What?"
"My name is Jesse," I introduced, sticking my hand out for her to shake even though I knew she wasn't going to do it. "What a pleasure it is to meet you."
The girl glared at me. "I wish I could say the same."
"Come on, Jordan," Dallas finally said, obviously fed up with me as he clutched onto her hand and pulled her toward the door. "I'll take you home now."
Her name was Jordan... That was such a beautiful name. Jeez, I was acting like such a girl, but I didn't even care anymore! I had to see that girl again, no matter what I had to do. I was going to see this girl again.
I froze as she walked passed me and our arms brushed. I didn't know what her reaction was, but all I could do was hope that she didn't notice my reaction.
I stood in the spot that I was in for a few more seconds before finally unblocking the doorway and letting more people in or out. All I could think about was that beautiful girl, and I knew that she would be what I thought about for the rest of my life.
I knew this made me sound even more like a girl, but I now believed in love at first sight.
But... as much as I didn't want to think about it, I knew that there was no way we could have been together unless she joined the gang with me. She would have gotten hurt if she didn't join the gang. She'd have to ditch her friends for Erica and the girls that she hung out with. I wasn't going to do that to her.
So I decided it then. When I saw that girl again, and I was definitely planning on seeing her again, I was going to act like a jerk to her. Because even if she hated me, she would still be a part of my life. Even if we were enemies, that was better than nothing.
I was going to see Jordan again. I intended on it.
"Well, I didn't expect to see you here, Jesse," a new voice now said, almost causing me to jump. I turned around to see Hunter, smirking at me as his hands stuffed into his pockets.
"I actually just ran in her to hide from another gang," I chuckled nervously with a shrug, afraid that he was going to think I was a coward for running into an ice cream parlor from a gang.
Hunter's eyebrows rose. "Really?"
I nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Impressive," he nodded curtly, crossing his arms over his chest as he dodged a little kid running passed him. He scowled as the kid ran by. "Brats..."
"If you don't like kids, why are you here?" I asked, watching as the little boy ran out the door with his mother right behind him. "I mean... it's crawling with kids and all."
Hunter shrugged, as if he was expecting me to ask this question. "I was supposed to meet with the leader of another gang, but decided not to. I know that he wouldn't expect me to come in here, so I'll just stick around until they kick me out or something. But I guess coming in here was worth it."
I blinked at him, not understanding what he meant. "What do you mean?"
"I saw a friend of mine that I haven't met in a while," Hunter informed me with another shrugged. "He had a pretty cute girl with him, too. Maybe if things don't work out with Erica I'll go out with her... But he didn't even tell me her name. But I'm sure that this isn't the last time I'm going to see her..."
I couldn't tell if Hunter was joking or not, but I knew well enough not to ask him.
I wasn't about to tell him about the girl I had met, because then he would have had something on me. So if I ever did something to piss him off one day, he would have used Jordan against me. And I knew that I wouldn't be able to stand if that happened...
"You should be heading home," Hunter advised with a nod toward the door. "Won't your mother be worried?"
I shrugged. "She sent me out for milk. So I'm going to have to go get that before I head home."
Hunter nodded once again. "Alright. I'll see you later then, I guess. Remember, we're meeting behind the public school tomorrow to discuss some things."
I nodded right back at him. "Alright. I'll see you then."
I then turned on my heal, hoping that the gang that had chased me in here wasn't outside waiting for me. I just had to get the stupid milk and finally go home...
If it wasn't obvious, I really did look up to Hunter. He was ruthless and didn't care what people thought about him at all. I really wished that I could have been that way, but of course I wasn't. I was getting all mushy over a girl I had just met...
People would probably think that I was stupid for looking up to Hunter, but I didn't care. I honestly wanted to be just like him. Even though he had killed people before, I still wanted to be like him. Maybe when I was older I'd be able to kill a few people...
Hunter already thought that I had killed someone though, because you could only get into the gang if you killed someone. But I had paid some other guy to do it for me because I just couldn't do it. I was hoping that as I got older it would be easier for me... Maybe Hunter would even make me his right-hand man.
It was hard to believe that he was only two years older than me. People said he still looked like a freshman, which was the grade that I was in, and it always annoyed him. He was a junior, and he always looked like he could have killed someone when they thought he was a freshman.
But he was still big and intimidating, so rarely anyone ever talked to him unless they were in the gang or another gang.
I stepped outside into the cold night, wanting nothing more than to just go home. After what I had been through, I knew that that would have just been the best thing.
Ah, crap. I still need to get my mom her stupid milk.
"Hi, Jesse," an accented voice giggled after I had started walking down the street. "What a surprise it is to see you here!"
I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from groaning. This voice was way too familiar...
"Hi, Erica," I greeted, not wanting to be rude to her. She already had a boyfriend! Why did she have to bother me and potentially ruin my life? If Hunter found out how she liked me, I would have been dead meat! We may have been cool, but Hunter always got pissed whenever a guy showed interest in Erica. What would happen if Erica showed interest in another guy? Hunter might have said that he'd date that girl from the ice cream parlor if things didn't work out with Erica, but I couldn't tell if he was joking or not!
"What are you doing leaving an ice cream parlor?" she asked flirtatiously, clinging onto my arm now. "Were you meeting up with Hunter? I know he was in there..."
"Nah, I just ran into him," I informed her, pulling my arm out from her grasp. Boy, for a girl she was sure strong... "We barely talked."
"Oh, well, okay," she giggled again, wrapping her arms around my neck now. "Well, since he's in there and he can't see us, we can do whatever we want now..."
She hadn't ever been this pushy toward me before. If she had done this the day before, maybe I would have taken up her offer. If she had done this the day before, I was sure we would have been making out in the alley only a few feet away from us. But it wasn't the day before, and I had already met Jordan. Not to mention she was the girlfriend of the guy I looked up to the most...
But the entire time I looked down at Erica's face, all I could see was Jordan. They both had brown eyes, but Jordan's were big and I could have gotten lost for staring into them for too long. Erica was curvy and tan, not to mention older, and Jordan was pale and didn't look any older than me. The clothes she had been wearing didn't reveal any curves, but I didn't even care at that point.
I didn't want Erica. I only wanted Jordan.
And even though she hated me and I would never get her, at least I could have hoped and dreamed.
"Sorry, Erica, but I've already found the girl for me," I apologized, pushing her away as gently as I could have. I definitely thought that Jordan was the girl for me, but I was sure that she didn't think the same way I did. I was sure she hated me guts more than anything right then.
"What?" Erica snapped, and then started cussing in Spanish so fast that I could even understand it. I had just started taking Spanish in school, but usually I knew what she was saying even if it was only a little bit... "Who is this girl? What's her name?"
Telling Erica her name probably wasn't the best idea, but I couldn't help it anymore. I wanted to say this gorgeous girl's beautiful name out loud, because there was a chance that I would never be able to say it again.
"Jordan," I smiled to myself, barely able to wait until I could see that girl again. "Her name's Jordan."
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I. Love. Hunter.
I shouldn't, but I do.
No more chapters after this. D':
There isn't going to be a sequel. But... there is a prequel called Girls vs. Boys.
Jordan and Jesse end up having a son and a daughter, just like Jordan wanted... ;) If you want to know their names, go read The Wedding of Jordan Emery and Jesse Jacobsen on my second account Pocahotmess!
I hate that I edited the above paragraph because now all the inline comments asking about their kids' names are gone...
I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow. What a perfect day to end this. :)
Thank you so much for sticking with this story! Six long months and it's finally over. :( But this story's been with me since November 26th, 2010! I love it so much that I tracked down the day I had the dream that started it all. Dx
Thank you guys so much and sorry for the long author's note!