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.
Jesse didn't particularly resent his brother; he had taken those feelings and morphed them into the outgoing and sometimes troublesome nature that he now possessed. He had figured out early on that he needed to one up his siblings on all scales to get attention.
Granted, not all the attention was positive, but it calmed Jesse to know that his parents did realize he still existed and that they somewhat cared about him. It showed him that even though he wasn't the center of attention, he was still an important person.
Taking long, determined strides towards the front of the school, Jesse kept his back straight and head held high. He wasn't the most popular guy in school, but there was a ridiculous amount of people who knew his name. That's what came with being the class clown, the master in shop class and one of the better looking guys in his grade.
The name Jesse North was whispered in every hallway, every corner. He possessed good looks, his family wasn't exactly poor, and he had a killer car to boot. All the girls wanted him and nearly every guy wanted to be him. He really couldn't complain.
"Hey, Jesse."
A girl with flowing blond hair passed him, smiling at him from under her heavily mascara covered eyelashes.
Jesse returned the smile, watching her as she passed.
"Nice to see you, Trisha," he responded, sliding the sunglasses to the top of his head as he entered the hallways of school.
The semi-quiet school grounds turned into a roar of chatter and commotion in the small walkway. Groups ranging between the numbers of three and five littered the black locker lined halls. Occasionally slowing down to listen to conversations, Jesse maintained a steady and even pace towards his own private piece of the building.
Locker number one hundred and twenty two, located just beside the windows at the end of the hall. It was farther to walk to each class and so he had to carry more books with him during the day, but the view was worth it. Out the window, a perfect eyeful of the New York skyline. It brought a surprising amount of inspiration to the ever turning gears in his mind.
Sliding the key on his key-chain in the small lock that Jesse had put on his locker. Not wanting the typical twist locks that came standard on the school property, he had switched it out for a secure padlock he found laying around the garage during one of his motor head sessions.
Popping the lock on the door, Jesse flung open the black metal square and pulled his back pack down the crook of his elbow. One by one, he unloaded his books into his locker before folding up the backpack and stuffing it in a compartment he created in wood shop the year prior.
His locker was well organized, neat, tidy and had more perks than any other locker in the school. The only reason was because of his handy work in wood shop. An extra shelf put in up top, where he usually stored his backpack. A small mirror and a wooden box had been hung on the door for pens, note pads and a few extra granola bars for between classes. And the best part is it was all removable. He could take it home with him and use it there somehow.
Nothing could take away the uniformity he had created in his life.
The warning bell rang loudly, echoing through the hall. Teens from every direction started to scramble, locker doors slamming shut. Jesse, after checking to make sure his keys were still in his pocket, casually shut his locker, reconnecting the padlock and strolled down the hall. He had at least three minutes before the next bell rang; plenty of time.
"Okay, Miss Baldwin, just go all the way down the hall and Literature will be the last door on the right."
Jesse let his attention swerve to the door leading to the principals office, slowing his pace for a moment. For once, it didn't look like anyone was in trouble.
Just lost and a bit confused. The door opened just as Jesse passed; a short girl with layered brown hair and big blue eyes stepped out, one hand holding her shoulder bag to her body, the other gripping a piece of paper.
Jesse scowled to himself. As much as he wanted to stop and get straight to a first name basis, he had to get to class.
Miss Baldwin would have to wait until another time.
Turning down the next hall, Jesse looked over his shoulder to watch her pass, her tip of her nose stuck to the piece of paper as she studied her schedule and the map of the school that came with it.
The second bell rang, making Jesse wince. His footsteps quickened, nearly breaking into a run. Only nearly though; he couldn't run the risk of getting busted by any hall monitors as the ones in this school were overly diligent in their duties.
Jesse swung into his classroom, earning a scowl from his teacher. Mr. Jones hated Jesse in the first place and whenever he came in even the slightest bit late, it only encouraged the balding man.
"Are you losing your hearing, Jesse, or are you just so much of an imbecile that you have no idea what the warning bell is for?" Mr. Jones demanded, his arms folded across his chest and his foot tapping impatiently on the floor.
Jesse merely shrugged. "I know what it means, sir. I was just running a little late since I had to drop off my brother at school. Sometimes he runs overtime."
Few of his peers or teachers knew he had brothers. Even less knew of Everett's disability. It wasn't so much that Jesse was ashamed of Everett; it was more than he was afraid of the ridicule Everett would get behind his back if others knew.
The world was hurtful and cruel when it wanted to be and everyone needed someone to pick on to mask their own insecurities or flaws. Jesse didn't want his brother to become a victim.
"Well, maybe your brother should get his own car and drive himself to school," the man snarled before pointing a bony finger at the object of his anger. Jesse clenched his pencil in anger at the older man's statement.
"No more tardies, young man."
As soon as Mr. Jones turned around, Jesse rolled his eyes, flipping open his notebook. Social Studies was never Jesse's favorite class to begin with; add on the burning stares of the teacher and it was a nightmare to contend with.
The rest of Jesse's day went by smoothly enough to keep him satisfied. There were two subs in, thanks to some virus floating around the teachers lounge, and that always meant an easy day of just studying a little bit. Jesse was thankful for the one free period he had; he had slipped away to the library and snoozed in the back corner until the alarm on his phone went off.
His little brother had kept the entire family up all night. Jesse had been called into the nursery several times during the night and by the time it hit 5:30, he just helped himself to a cup of coffee and stayed up with his parents until he needed to get around for school.
He knew Everett hadn't gotten much sleep last night either, but he was the only one in the house who didn't help on the nights that Cole needed it. Jesse wasn't sure if he couldn't or wouldn't.
It was hard to tell; Everett never told anyone how he felt.
Come to think of it, Everett didn't tell anyone much of anything anymore. No one really knew went on inside that head of his. He went to school, came home and then just went straight to the piano and ignored the rest of the world.
When Everett took his spot at the piano, the rest of the world didn't matter; he tuned everyone out and just got lost in the music.
It sometimes irritated Jesse. Like it wasn't bad enough that he lost an older brother as a kid or that he got ignored most of the time; no, of course not. It was added on that he didn't even know said older brother.
He had a feeling his parents had a vague idea of what went on inside Everett's mind; they had said when Everett was younger, the boy couldn't shut up. He was constantly talking and saying whatever popped into his head.
But that stopped eventually. Now, Everett barely said two words to anyone except for the occasional question, like this morning when he asked which chair he was standing at. That was as far as it ever went.
Pulling himself away from all his thoughts, Jesse swung open the door to his second to last class; Art. It was a class he thoroughly enjoyed. He wasn't the best, but he could sketch his way through it. When it came down to painting, though, he fumbled a little bit.
Pencils were easier to control; they didn't drip, run or mix together until you told them to. Ten pencils could fall on the floor together and it wouldn't make a difference whether or not they touched. Paint wasn't the same way. At all.
Taking a seat at one of the available two seater desks, which were new from the singles before spring break, he set down his sketchbook and crossed his arms on the desk, leaning on it. He carelessly thumbed through his own pieces of work, every so often stopping and adding in a new detail.
Feet shuffled in the classroom around him and he looked up to see the intruder. The same girl from earlier, Miss Baldwin, made a zig zag pattern through the tables towards a table further back. She passed him, pulling a stool away from the table behind him. He smiled and snapped his sketchbook shut, sliding off of the stool and made his way to the empty seat beside her.
Clearing his throat to catch her attention, he rested one had on the desk. "You're new here, right?" he asked, giving her a smile.
She looked up at him. "Yeah. It's my first day here. Any tips on survival?" she chuckled, leaving the rhetorical question lingering in the air.
Jesse, however, still felt the need to answer. "Just don't be too much of a loser; geeks don't survive very well in this school."
He looked her over real quick and bit his lip. "You might wanna ditch the look you're going for, too. That'll get you stuffed in a locker for sure," he explained, as if he was giving life saving advice.
She scowled at him, before poking a finger angrily at his chest. "First of all, that wasn't a question meant to be answered. Secondly, the only reason I'm even wearing what I am right now is that most of my boxes are packed and I had to run to the local thrift store to find anything. There was slim pickings given the time of year, so I ended up with this which, by the way, isn't a bad outfit to begin with. Now, if you'll excuse me, you pompous freak, I will be sitting here alone and you can go give your wise words to some other sap who will actually listen."
She nodded harshly and diverted her attention to the nail polish on her fingernails, chipping away at the robins egg blue color with her eyes narrowed.
"Wow, you really know how to put a guy in his place," he chortled. He waited for her reply, but it didn't come. "So ... anyways, if you need help getting to know the town, I'd be more than happy to show you around."
He nodded, as if doing a great deed towards the girl in front of him. Still no reply. A dead silent thirty seconds passed before he tried again. "Not much of a talker, are you?"
"Yeah, well, talking about my inevitable social decline doesn't exactly whip me in a verbal frenzy," she dead panned back at him, lifting her blue eyes to glare at him.
Jesse couldn't stop the smirk from spreading across his lips. He stared at this girl for a moment, intrigued. This girl didn't take it from anyone, did she? He nodded slowly and sat down in the seat next to her. "I like you," he announced, pulling his sketchbook from his backpack.
A sigh of relief came from beside him. "Oh, thank God! You know, I was going to be tossing and turning all night if I didn't get your stamp of approval."
A blank expression crossed Jesse's face for a brief moment as he stared at her. He then frowned and turned his attention back to his desk. "I think I'm going to just skip the pick-up lines with you. I doubt they would work anyways," Jesse mumbled under his breath, crossing his arms and leaning them on the table. Even though it was hilarious that she was easily able to reject him, it slightly stung.
No ego maniac wanted to hear a big fat no.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Jesse noticed the slight smile that stretched across her face. She promptly became the object of his attention again. "What's so funny?"
The girl shook her head and smile, holding out her left hand for him to shake. "Lizzie. Nice to meet you."
Jesse let his grin come back and he shook her hand. "Jesse."
His hand dropped back to his side and he exhaled. "So what do you do? Sketch? Oil paints? Sculpting? Colored pencils?" he inquired, once again opening his sketchbook to an empty page.
"I dabble in a little of everything," she told him coolly. "I don't have the patience most of the time to settle on just one thing, so I tried my hand at it all. I do think painting is my thing though. I'm pretty decent at it. That's what I like to believe, anyways."
Before he could reply, the teacher entered the room with a grand sweep, a smile on her face.
"Good afternoon, class!" she greeted everyone cheerily.
She was a different teacher from the one that they had before spring break; she didn't look too old either, maybe her early thirties. Golden hair fell down to her middle back in loose curls, complimenting the yellow dress she had on.
Jesse leaned around the side of his desk and nudged Lizzie to look as well. The woman had no shoes on. She was sporting the barefoot look.
Both slowly sat up and stared at the new teacher as she wrote her name on the board.
Sunshine. The woman's name was Sunshine.
Not Miss whatever, Sunshine.
"Alright class, I know I'm probably not the same person you had last year, in any way."
A few chuckles came from the class and she smiled.
"But I think we're going to have fun. You may have noticed that there are now duel desks instead of those silly one person types. I did this because I have a strong attachment to creating partnerships within the classroom, because partnerships can lead to friendships and strong bonds between two people. That being said, turn to the person next to you and say hello to your new partner for the last bit of your semester!"
Jesse and Lizzie looked at each other uncertainly. Would their partnership really be such a grand idea? They already had one disagreement. What would the rest of the school year do to them?
"The point of this partnership is to see the collaboration between two different styles. Let's see, ah! You two!"
She pointed at Jesse and Lizzie who both sported a deer in the headlights look. "What are your artistic specialties?"
Sunshine practically floated towards their table and leaned on it, her hands under her chin.
"Uhm, I'm into drawing. I've been told I'm decent," Jesse stammered out, a little disturbed by the close presence of his teacher.
She clapped her hands together. "How wonderful! And you, sweetheart?" she addressed Lizzie next.
"As I told Jesse before class, I dabble in all of it, but I enjoy working with oil paints the best."
Clapping her hands together once more in giddiness, Sunshine scurried back to the front of the class, leaving Jesse and Lizzie to look at one another in amusement. "You see? Two very different styles, and that's just in the basic categories! One may enjoy drawing darker things, whereas the other paints bright, sunny landscapes. When two people are put together like this, in a random act of serendipity and spontaneity, anything can happen."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So when do you want to start the project?" Jesse asked as he came up behind Lizzie and leaned against the locker next to hers.
He grimaced as he looked inside. "It's only your first day here and your locker is a pigsty. What is wrong with you?"
She slammed the door, nearly catching his fingers, and hooked the lock together. She chuckled at his horrified expression that darted between his fingers and the locker door.
"There is nothing wrong with me. And if you keep insulting me, you will be down one friend and project partner," she warned.
During the class, as they tried thinking through some project ideas, the pair had come to a mutual agreement that their personalities were those belonging to friends. Maybe eventually they could be best friends, but nothing more. Lizzie had been more than happy to comply to those rules and guidelines.
Holding up his hands in surrender, Jesse followed Lizzie as she swung her back pack over her shoulder. "So do you want to work on it tonight? You can come over to my place if you want."
They exited the building and walked towards the sidewalk. Jesse felt his phone buzz and pulled it out of his pocket. It was a text from his mom.
Picked Everett up from school for you - he's at home already. Your father and I won't be home tonight, at least not until late. We're taking Cole to the doctor. There will be money on the counter for pizza.
Love you, Mom
"We can just head over there now," he suggested, looking up from his phone.
Now he had the room to bring her straight over to his house. The fact that there would be soda and pizza later in the night made his stomach growl.
She pondered his proposal for a moment, before shrugging and saying, "Okay, but I need to stop by my house for my sketchbook first. And I probably need to let my family know I'll be out for a while," she added on, pulling out her phone to shoot a message to the previously mentioned people.
Jesse shook his head, leading the way to his car. "No need. I have a million at home, most of which haven't even been cracked yet. You can have one of the empty ones."
Jesse slipped on his sunglasses and pulled his bag even farther onto his shoulder as he searched the parking lot for his car. If there was one thing he had an issue with, it was remembering where he parked. He lost his car in almost every parking lot he's ever been in.
He finally caught sight of the forest green sparkle and gestured in that general direction.
Upon approaching the car, Lizzie let out a disgruntled sigh.
"This is your car? Seriously, I have to walk everywhere I go and you own this? I loathe you," she declared dramatically as she swung open the door and helped herself to the passengers seat.
It became crystal clear that loathing Jesse didn't make the ride any less appealing.
Jesse climbed into the drivers seat and threw his bag in the back, starting the engine up and pulling out of the spot. "So, no car, huh? How come?"
Lizzie shrugged in response.
"My family tells me that when everything that is mandatory is within walking distance, a car is not necessary. And apparently, walking distance is 5 miles one way."
She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "Not that I don't love having to walk ten miles everyday just to get an education, but seriously? The least they could do is drop me off!"
The rest of the car ride was filled with the chatter of new found friendship. Jesse and Lizzie realized very quickly that they had more in common than they had thought. Of course, they both had a very strong opinion on certain matters, whether the other party liked it or not, but they stuck to their guns and it only made them like each other more.
"Alright, this is my house," Jesse announced, pulling in the drive way and putting the car in park.
Lizzie was already out of the car, staring at the home that was obviously built in the early 1900's. "It's perfect," she breathed out.
Turning to Jesse, she jammed a thumb in the direction of his home. "I always wanted a place like this; old style houses have so much character. However, my family goes for the more modern look, so I was outvoted on it," she chuckled as they entered the home.
The inside, at least the living room, seemed reminiscent of the Victorian era, a perfect fit for the home. The walls were a deep red, accented by gold curtains and black decals. The carpet was white, a bold choice in Lizzie's opinion, and a large piano sat against the far left wall, facing the rest of the room.
"Who plays?" she asked, pointing at the piano.
Jesse stayed silent at her inquiry and instead, guided her to the next room as he began the tour of the lower level. He didn't know enough about her and if he had it his way, she wouldn't meet Everett today. It was painfully obvious that he couldn't see and if she was anything like the last girl he brought home for a project, this would be a bad day.
So he did what he did best and evaded the question, changing the topic to one of the portraits hanging on the wall.
They rounded the corner, into the kitchen for a drink and there stood Everett; exactly what Jesse wanted to avoid.
"Mom said she left some money on the counter for dinner," Everett said blandly as he picked up a glass off the shelf and set it on the counter. Popping open the milk jug, he started pouring, listening very carefully for the sound cups always made when they were reaching the full point. "She recommended pizza."
Jesse really hated that Everett could hear him walking into the room. If Everett hadn't they could have just gone up to his room. Sure Lizzie would have had questions, but at least he could evade them cleverly.
Of all the days that my brother could be a chatter box ... he thought to himself. His gaze continuously went to the stair case, wanting an out.
"Jesse, that is you standing there, right? Because if I can't tell when you walk in the room anymore, I might as well give up right here," he grumbled out at his brother, taking a drink of his milk. Lizzie frowned, cocking her head to the side as she studied Everett.
Jesse sighed in defeat, rubbing a hand over his face. "Everett, someone's here."
His brother visibly stiffened, like the thought of him speaking around another individual was painful. It probably was.
"This is Lizzie. Lizzie, this is my brother, Everett. Lizzie's over here for a project."
The next words were a bit heavy on his tongue and he tried to spit them out casually, but they came out loaded with guilt. "It's for art class."
Everett tensed again and for a moment, Jesse thought he would throw his cup of milk in the sink and storm away as best as he could. Instead, Everett surprised him by spinning his heel and grinding out, "Have fun drawing your stupid stick figures." before making haste to his room, where the door was promptly, and loudly slammed.
Jesse sheepishly looked at Lizzie, holding out his hands apologetically for his brothers behavior. "Well, uhm, shall we start drawing?"
So I decided to go ahead and upload chapter two to this story! Yay! *party*
I hope you like Jesse and Lizzie!
There's been a cast list change, as you can probably see in the sidebar if you are on the internet browser version of Wattpad. Joe Jonas was originally cast as Everett, like back when I started this story two years ago. I have no idea why I changed it to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but it's back to the original list I intended. I have the entire North family in there, so ta-da!
Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. Make sure to comment, vote and fan!