My best friend is being held in the girl of my dreams' arms, and I have no one to blame but myself. What have I done? I stand there like a dummy not able to run or join the embrace. Instead I stand then until Aiden is able to gain some composure and pulls away looking even more wretched than before. Anna held up some cookies she had apparently been carrying a ziplock baggie.
"Here," she says kindly but firmly, "eat."
He looked at the cookies thankfully then at her sorrowfully. "Hey listen I'm so sorry about all this, I know we barely just met but it feels like I've known you forever and with this thing with Jesse I just"-
"Hey," she interrupted shutting him up by putting a dainty finger on his lips, "don't worry about it. That's what friends are for, right?"
Friends? Tuh, they seem like more than friends to me.
"Right," he smiles, embracing her in a much smoother hug. Then looking over her shoulder he realizes me at last. "Who's your friend?" he asks with a little frown.
Awkward. If I had known I'd be a third wheel with these two I never woulda came. Then again....who was I kidding? I would go willingly anywhere Anna dragged me.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, clearly just remembering me too. If I was Jesse no one would've forgotten me. I was the chandelier in every room. In this body I was a skinny candle stick. "This is the girl I told you about," she said giving him a meaningful look.
Huh. Curious.
"...wait..." she turned to me with an embarrassed smile on her face, "we didn't really introduce ourselves did we? I'm Anna. You?" she extended a hand to me again.
I stared at it. I hadn't forgotten what her hands felt like and how I practically melted inside of them. I sighed, shaking her hand, wishing I could flirt with her. "Jessie...ca..." I shuddered and tried not to visibly grind my teeth into shrubs.
"You hesitated," Anna noticed. I was surprised she caught that. "Would you like to be called by something else?"
I hesitated again. Can I say Jessie? Jess? Jay?
See what I mean? Transgender material.
"Well...some people call me....Jess..." I utter barely even sure if that's what I want to say "...but Jessica is fine, too I guess..."
She smiled. "Then I'll call you Jess."
"And I'll call you Jessica," that from Aiden. I looked at him and he shrugged modestly, "sorry. I call my best friend Jess...it'll be kinda weird, ya know?"
Double awkward.
"Mm-hm, yeah I understand," I mutter uncomfortably. What the hell have I gotten myself into? Meanwhile Anna is digging through her bag as Aiden and I standing there awkwardly, me in his personal space and him not knowing how much I actually belong there.
"Darn it!" she shouts making us jump.
"Something wrong?" he asks in the softest and most concerned voice. I rolled my eyes. He was "over-nice-ing" it. He did that when he was a kid. He would use this adorable baby-like, cutsie voice when he was hoping to get something but just didn't wanna ask for it. And right now what he wanted was to get rid of me.
Great. Well I don't wanna be here, either.
"I forgot the milk, gosh darn it! You two stay here I'll be right back." And without even giving either of us an option to accompany her or object she took off. An even more awkward silence fell between us in her absence.
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," he says at last, rustling his hand through his already messed up hair, "I usually don't let people see me in this state but..." he shrugged, "you a friend of Anna's?"
Duh.
"Mm-hm," I mutter. "We sorta just met. How long have you two.....known each other?" I struggled with the words.
"Um...probably five days...going on a week now. We met in Econ and we just clicked." he chuckled. "she's a great friend."
"So you two are...."
"Oh no. My girlfriend's name is Jenni. Anna's just a friend."
Mm-hmm.
"Actually, I was tried to introduce her to my friend, Jesse? Yeah but...that didn't work out too well..."
"You tried to do what?!" I cant even process his words. I being pranked. "Well.." I say trying to recover, "why didnt you?"
He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Well I'm sure you heard that my friend's kinda an ass."
Oh. So even he thought so.
"Um...I've heard...stories..."
"Its okay, you can say it. Everyone else does. And he could be, at times; but he hadn't always been that way...."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing," he mumbled sadly to himself, "its a long story and one I don't feel like telling right now." He snorted, "and then he had the nerve to think I was trying to steal her away? I would never...." he sunk back on the bench in distraught.
"God, people say that he's an ass but that's only because they haven't met me..here I am trying to help him...trying to get him away from that bitch Shenise who uses him anyway, and I fail so miserably with that that he thinks I'm trying to steal her! I love Jenni! I'm a shit of a friend," he mumbled again, assuming the hopeless position he was in when we first entered: slouching, head between his knees and both hand in his hair; the look of absolute despair
It was too much information at once she my mind to comprehend. Hook-up? Me? Anna? Shenise? I changed? I stood there like a dummy again not knowing what words to say of comfort and trying to comprehend even more new information.
Finally I made my way over to the bench and sat a few inches away from him. What should I do? What should I ask? "Um..its okay...I'm sure he'll understand..."
Damn right I'll understand. This shit is freakin' complicated!
"Besides," I added with a nervous chuckle, "he's a king. He's Jesse Anderson. No one uses Jesse Anderson. He's all anyone ever needs, and he's all everyone ever wants."
He looked at me and squinted his eyes suspiciously, "That's exactly what he always says..."
Shit.
"Hey you know you're eyes..."
I quickly looked down at my hands, "Uh...contacts..."
"Oh..." he sighed disapointedly, "yeah well apparently everyone but Shenise. She used him for rides and stuff and to make Aaron jealous."
"Aaron!" No way. No freakin' way.
"Yup. So enough about us. What about you? Anna tells me you've been bullied."
Double shit. "The girl I told you about", huh?
I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Uh...yeah, sorta...just..the jock jerks are..bored with life I guess.."
He chuckled, "bored with life? Boy would they love to hear that." I turned quickly to him to plead him not to tell them but he simply laughed softly, "don't worry, mums the word."
I sigh in relief but try to blow it off, "Oh yeah, I wasn't worried."
He was giving me that needle-point dimpled smile. Oh no. what was he up to now? "Oh I know," he answered non-chalantly, "so..what time will you be back to normal?"
What?
I stared at him and he seemed to be searching my face carefully. Before either one of us could speak Anna barged back in with the milk. "Back you two! Sorry it took so long that line was crazy!"
"Oh its fine, Anna," Aiden assured her warmly. I was still staring at him trying to decide if he had really asked me that double-meaning question or if I had just imagined it. After a few minutes of happy cookie eating and milk dipping I figured I had just imagined it.
"So," Anna said turning to me, "You're going to eat lunch with us now?" It was a demand, but I was welcome to refuse.
"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah definitely. Nothing else to do."
"Great," she beamed. She then touched Aiden's knee," and Jesse will eat with us when he gets better, too."
He shrugged, "maybe," he said around a mouthful of cookie. "That's completely up to him, though.." I thought I felt a sideways glance at me but when I looked over he was concentrating on dipping his cookie in his glass of milk.
Weird.
When the bell rang signifying the end of lunch I was happy and miserable at the same time. Happy to get away from this awkwardness, and miserable to face more jock torment.
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That was Chapter 13 and I hope you enjoyed it!! :)
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