Prolonging the Inevitable
"Jesse, we look terrible… And not to mention, we smell!" I wailed, pulling out my hair tie and letting my hair drop past my shoulders. "My top is ruined" I continued complaining, peeling my shirt from my stomach, noticing that it was now a murky brownish colour instead of pink.
Jesse smirked at me, and reached over to pull a bit of moss out of my damp, tangled hair. "I'm sure you'll survive" He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes at his comment. "Yeah, unlike someone else we know…"
"Good riddens to him," Jesse said through gritted teeth, as he flicked a strand of sea grass from his own shirt.
I looked over at him and scowled. "Don't say that Jesse, it's not funny. Brett really may not survive you know…" I said, trailing off as we trudged up the hill.
"And you care? Susannah, after all that he's done to you -"
"That doesn't mean that we have to go and kill him!" I shouted. Jesse hushed me, noticing that a few neighbours' heads had turned our way. "You of all people should know what it's like being dead! And you know who he will be coming after…"
"Oh please!" Jesse said, annoyed at the fact that I had reminded him of his past status. "He's only got water in his lungs! They'll pump it out, and he'll be fine in a day or so… Just you wait and see"
I looked over at Jesse, who seemed pretty certain about his theory on Brett's current life or death situation. He hadn't even noticed that I was shocked at what he had just said, until I stopped walking and grabbed his arm.
"How do you know that?" I asked, looking directly into his dark eyes.
"I don't know… Isn't it obvious?" He replied, shrugging.
"Um, No. It's not always that simple… I mean, people die from drowning you know"
"But he didn't drown, he choked on a little bit of water… There's a difference" Jesse raised his voice above mine, and poked a finger in my direction.
"Hardly" I mumbled, turning to continue walking up the rest of the hill.
"Susannah," He protested, stepping up beside me, being careful not to touch me. "… I thought I was trying to help you"
"I know…" I whispered. "… And I truly appreciate it" I stopped and turned to face him, as tears started to well up in my eyes.
"Please don't cry, Querida" Jesse spoke softly, as he wrapped his arms protectively over my shoulders. "… Not for him"
There was a brief silence as we both stood there on the footpath, almost near the top of the hill.
"I really love you, Jesse" I sobbed, covering my watery eyes with the back of my hands.
He slowly released his grasp around my shoulders and placed his hands on my wrists, gently pulling them away from my face. I let out an uncomfortable groan, and avoided his gaze. I must have looked like a complete wreck…
"… And I really love you, Susannah" Jesse whispered, as he turned my face towards his, and pressed his nose up against my own.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as my lips formed a slight upward smile. Jesse linked his arm around mine, and we continued walking the rest of the way home.
"Oh Suzie, honey!" My mother gasped as we entered into the lounge room. "What on earth happened?" She asked, as she looked over Jesse's and my own damp, dirty clothes."Um, we had a little accident… I - well, I lost control of where I was going… And I fell into the pond" I said, letting my arms fall lifelessly at my side.
"… And I jumped in to save her" Jesse added, all rather heroically.
"Oh dear… Well, it seems as though you're a good bloke to have around hey?" My mum smiled at Jesse.
I rolled my eyes and rubbed my back in an uncomfortable manner. "Yeah, well, excuse my lack of enthusiasm, but I'm gonna go change out of these wet clothes"
I was bored out of my mind. It was around 8:30pm, and Jesse was off with my annoying little brother, Doc. Why can't he go call one of his dorky little friends over, and stop stealing my man!
Anyway, I wandered aimlessly around the house, trying to find something to do…
As I wandered past the spare room next to Sleepy's, I noticed the large green pool table sitting there. I can't play pool, and I've never wanted to try it, but I was so bored that I thought I'd give it a try while no one else is around.
I picked up a stick form the side rack and emptied the balls onto the light green table. This was completely weird, and I didn't exactly know what I was doing, but I bent over and tried to aim the stick at a ball when I heard soft chuckles coming from my left, near the door.
"Jesse?" I practically choked, completely shocked to find him standing there. I thought he was with Doc, damn it!
Jesse continued to chuckle as he leaned casually against the doorway, with his arms crossed across his chest.
"Oh, Susannah…" He started, shaking his head in disbelief, as he observed the large table with scattered balls. "This is a sight to see!"
I looked around the room and shrugged my shoulders, agreeing that this was rather weird… For me!
"Man, I was bored, ok… I thought that you were with Doc?" I said, casually placing the stick onto the large table.
Jesse raised an eyebrow and started to walk towards me, on the side of the table next to the end I was standing at.
"One of his friends called him on the phone, so I thought I'd leave him alone…" He said, picking up one of the shiny pool balls, and examining it.
"Awe, how thoughtful" I said, kind of sarcastically. "So that's when you decided to come and see what I was up to?"
"Hmmm. Trying not to cause too much trouble? I hope" Jesse smirked. "You should've come and got me, if you were bored"
"Whatever - I thought you'd be too engrossed in discussing scientific things or something" I said, lacking enthusiasm in my voice.
"Susannah, you should know that I'd drop anything to spend time with you" He said, placing the ball back onto the table and stepping around to my end of the table. "Especially since you have no idea what you're doing" He grinned, as he picked up the stick, which I had earlier placed on the table.
"Huh?" I laughed out loud. "What, and I suppose you do?" I asked, giving him a weird look.
"Obviously clueless" He sighed, shaking his head. "You forget that I've lived for so many years. I've grown used to modern day living, Susannah"
"Yeah, right. So let me guess, previous owners happened to have had a pool table, and you have spent your time watching them play?" I said sarcastically, as I rubbed an itch that was on my neck.
"Yes. Well, something like that anyway" Jesse smiled, casually resting one of his hands on the edge of the table. "At least I seem to have gained more knowledge than you have," He added, flashing his shiny white teeth.
"How rude!" I protested as I punched him, which didn't seem to even bother him at all. "It's not my problem I've never played before, and that I don't silently watch others play!" I snarled up at him, wrinkling my nose.
"Then whose problem is it, then? He smiled casually.
Jesse didn't seem to be looking straight into my eyes though; he was looking at my hair. So I took the curtesy to fill him in. "Oh, yeah, I had a shower before… It's still wet," I said, running my fingers through my tangled, damp hair.
He raised one eyebrow in a sexy, curious kind of way. "You definitely should've called me…"
I pulled a slightly disgusted face as I grabbed the pool stick from Jesse's other hand, and poked the end of it into his stomach. "Don't be cheeky with me, Jesse - " I blushed, luckily being interrupted.
"I'm so sorry Susannah, I didn't mean it like that… " He quickly said as he shifted his weight, suddenly becoming a little uneasy.
"Umm, ok. Well if you know so much about pool, how about you show me something?" I said, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah alright, good idea. Could you rack 'em for me" He said, taking the stick back off me.
"I beg your pardon?" I replied by looking up at him dumbfounded, not knowing exactly what he had meant by 'rack 'em'.
Jesse let out a short chuckle, and then he leant across me, brushing against my arm as he picked up a yellow ball from the table.
"See these… Get that black triangle thing over there…" He said, pointing behind me. "And put all of these little coloured balls inside it, yeah?" He smirked, looking down at my dumbfounded facial expression.
"Oh…" I said, drawing the word out slowly, feeling kind of embarrassed. "Well, I didn't know what you meant" I tried to defend myself as I started gathering the balls and putting them inside the triangle.
Jesse laughed a little as he moved around to the opposite end of the table, where he placed the white ball down.
"Now, come over here" Jesse said seriously, as he bent down and eyed the distance from the white ball to the coloured ones.
Ooh, yes please! I thought, as I stepped up beside him, trying hard not to stare at him as he leant over, positioning himself, getting ready to hit the ball. But I couldn't help it; my eyes won over my strong willed mind, and got the better of me. Like he would notice me checking him out when he's busy concentrating on hitting a ball, right?
"Susannah?" Jesse sighed, snapping my gaze away from his perfectly toned backside. "Are you watching?"
"Yeah…" I coughed, clearing my throat. "Yeah, I was watching"
Jesse looked up at me with a look of disbelief upon his face. "Really?" He questioned, slightly raising both of his eyebrows. "And, what exactly did you have you eyes on?"
"Err, you" I replied blankly, wishing I'd never even taken a peek.
"Thought so" He grinned, laughing to himself as he turned back to concentrate on the ball, which was sitting there, waiting to be hit.
"Shut up, Jesse" I said, blushing as I pushed back a few strands of hair behind my ear.
Forcing the stick backward in a swift movement, the white ball flew forward, sending all of the coloured balls flying in every direction possible.
"Whoa" I gasped, impressed as he sunk quite a lot of them in one go.
"Impressive, huh?" He smiled, walking around me to other side of the table.
"Yeah, well, I've seen better" I said to him blankly, not wanting him to get a big head or anything.
Jesse made some sort of grunting sound in response, and ignored me as he started sinking balls into the socket until only a few remained. I couldn't let him totally think that he's perfect, so I did what any normal person would have done. Stop him!
Just as he bent over to sink yet another ball, I moved over to where he was and slapped my hand against his arse, forcing him to miss the ball completely. Jesse was temporarily stunned, and obviously speechless as he slowly looked up at me.
"Sorry, I thought I saw a mosquito" I said, trying so hard to stop myself from cracking up in laughter.
"Hmmm" Was all he muttered as he raised a single eyebrow at me.
"Move over, it's my turn!" I laughed, motioning for him to move over, while holding my hand out for the stick.
Jesse cooperated, surprisingly without hesitation, handed me the stick, and moved over… A little.
"Do you mind?" I asked in a squeaky voice, looking at the space of distance that was now between us.
"Do you mind?" He repeated, referring to my pervious act of um, physical abuse.
"Yeah I'm, err, sorry about that…" I stuttered, as I looked up at his face.
"Oh, don't be sorry… This just means revenge" He said, as I noticed a hint of light shimmer past his eyes.
"Hey! Don't forget your honourable intentions!" I tried to laugh, warningly pointing my finger right in front of his nose.
"How could I forget? …" Jesse smiled beautifully down at me. "I'd never treat a lady disrespectfully, Susannah" He said, drawing out my name into three very long syllables.
I nodded suspiciously, and looked down for a ball to aim for. "Right, now help me out here"
He chuckled…once again. And moved even closer beside me. "Ok, firstly, you need to move you hand down further" Jesse said, while moving my hand with his own as he spoke.
After he had positioned my hands properly on the stick, he now stood behind me, closely, causing my heart to skip a few beats… Suddenly, his arms enclosed around my body, taking a hold of the stick. He gently placed his hands over mine, and I could feel the warmth of his body up against my back, as well as feeling his breathing movements… Well this certainly shut me up!
"Ok" He whispered against my hair, sending light shivers down my body. Oh God I hoped he hadn't noticed that I was completely melting here!
"Now relax, and keep your eye on the ball" He continued to whisper, leaning forward a little more in the process, forcing me to bend down a little.
I think that maybe Jesse could sense that I was completely out of it, because he seemed to take over and forced the stick back, and then followed through, and hit the white ball toward the intended coloured one.
"Way to go!" I said with enthusiasm as the ball went into the hole.
I stood there, rather frozen, trying to ignore the fact that he was still practically hanging over me, and I was seriously sweating it out here. Not that this was an easy thing to just ignore!
Jesse finally decided to step away, taking the stick out of my hands. I turned around quickly and stepped sideways, catching him checking out my backside. He looked up, seeing me starring back at him, realising that I had um, yeah, noticed... I had expected him to get all apologetic on me and all, but whatever he was thinking, he didn't say anything and gave me an amused grin instead.
"Yeah, so…" I said, placing my hands onto my hips. "I suppose you do this often?" I said, meaning about him playing pool… But unknowingly, I guess he was thinking that I meant about him checking me out…
"Um… I don't know what would give you that idea," Jesse said, nervously glancing over my face.
"Well, you are pretty good at it" I said, pointing over my shoulder towards the pool table.
"Oh" He replied in a surprised tone. "Yeah, um, I guess I just picked it up form watching -"
Suddenly, we heard loud music blaring from Sleepy's room next door, and both of us jumped a little in a sudden reaction.
"Alright, well… Would you like to come up to my room?" I blurted out.
Jesse didn't even really need to respond he just smiled and followed me out into the hallway. But unfortunately for me, my mother called me to help wash the dishes. So I told Jesse that I'd meet him up there.
To my surprise, when I entered my room I found that Jesse was sitting at my desk, reading something on a piece of scrap paper. It only took me a few seconds to realise what exactly was written on that paper! Shit – Brett's threat note. And not to mention the '12:30pm – Mall' Which I had scribbled down beneath it.
After Jesse had intently scanned the bold text, he looked up into my eyes sincerely.
"You didn't mention that you were going to meet him at the mall" He spoke quietly, and seemed to look rather hurt.
"Jesse. No… That was before – You've got to understand, he wasn't going to stop. I thought that maybe if I talked to him…"
"You know what he's like. You know that he'd only hurt you again. Look at what ended up happening today!" Jesse frowned.
"I made a mistake," I said helplessly, letting my arms fall limp beside my body.
"You should have told me about this, before jumping on the phone" Jesse frowned, eyeing me with his glassy gaze.
"Look, I'm sorry" I said softly, as I walked past him.
Jesse quickly stood up and followed after me, stepping in front of me and taking my hands into his own.
"I don't want to argue with you, and I don't want you to be mad at me…" He spoke gently as he bent down a little to look into my eyes. "I just – I don't want you to get hurt, Querida"
"I am hurt" I half laughed, not knowing what else to say as I rubbed my back. "… I've got aches and pains everywhere"
But Jesse didn't seem to find it as funny as I did. "Why don't you lie down and rest… You've got to go to school tomorrow," He said as he guided me over to the bedside.
I moaned at the word 'school' as I helplessly flopped down on the bed, and buried my face in the mattress. It shocked me when I felt the bed sink down a little next to me... Was Jesse lying on the bed? I turned my head and saw that I was right!
We layed sideways across the width of the bed, silently, just taking in one another's presence. I was lying on my stomach, resting my chin in my hands, while Jesse layed beside me on his back, crossing his arms up behind his head. I suddenly felt that Jesse's eyes were upon me, so I slowly wandered mine over to check… I was right. He was looking at me, and he had a suspicious sort of grin upon his face.
"What's on your mind?" I asked in a curious tone of voice.
"Oh, I was just thinking…" He smirked, drawing out each word as he sighed happily.
I eyed him suspiciously; he was definitely up to something here…
"I don't think I'm gonna like where this is heading, am I?" I asked, fidgeting as I scratched my forehead.
He let out a low chuckle and positioned himself onto his side so that he was facing me.
"Hmm… Does a particular embarrassing bedtime story sound familiar to you? Because I somehow remember someone promising -"
"Yeah, alright Jesse! Yes, I do remember…" I whined, flopping my head back down onto the mattress.
Without warning, he started frantically tickling my side. "Don't make this harder on yourself"
I couldn't say anything to that; I was in stitches. I tried to squirm out of his grasp, except he was too strong, and my laughter had made me weak.
"Do you give in? Are you going to tell me?" Jesse asked, without giving up tickling me. So I tried to nod my head. "Is that a yes?" He chuckled, watching tears of laughter form in my eyes.
"I will find your weakness one day, Jesse" I said, rubbing my side. "And when I do… Whoa, you better watch your back!"
"I choose to remain silent…" Jesse said, smirking and aimlessly rolling his eyes at the ceiling.
I narrowed my eyes down at him and poked his chest. "Oh really?" I said, propping myself up so that I was leaning over his chest.
"Anyway… You should know my weakness by now, Susannah" He said rather casually, smiling, as he gazed up at me with his dazzling eyes.
Hmm, I wonder if he meant me? Was I his weakness? I decided that I'd test my theory out! I smiled down at his beautiful face, and slowly moved in to kiss him. I'm mean sometimes – I know it! Just as I was millimetres away from brushing my lips up against his, and once he had closed his eyes, anticipating my touch – That's when I backed off, deciding to tickle him instead...
"Susannah!" He uttered in complete shock. It didn't seem to be from the tickling though… Because Jesse isn't ticklish.
"I'm sorry Jesse, I couldn't help it!" I laughed hysterically at the look on his face. "I… I had to see if –"
But my words were abruptly cut off, as Jesse rolled me over and leaned on top of me… Pressing his lips against mine. It took about 3 seconds for my laughter to stop, and I totally melted into him, bringing my arms up, and around to massage his back.
He was unable to hold the weight of his body up, as I was gently pulling him down. So he eventually gave in, and dropped down on top of me, squishing me slightly… But, hey? This is Jesse we're talking about here!
But unfortunately, Jesse soon seemed to regret kissing me or something… Because he got off me, with a look of concern upon his face. I was stunned, I mean, come on! So I returned the same look of concern, as he looked down at me.
"I'm sorry Querida… Please forgive me"
"Jesse, please –" I started to say, getting a little annoyed with his apologies.
"Was I squishing you?" He finished.
I was dumbfounded… I can't believe he was thinking about that! How sweet. My dumbfounded look soon turned into an amused one, and I started to giggle.
"Well, yeah… But – Hold on… Did you just say 'squishing'?"
Jesse nodded at me. "Um, I believe that I did…"
"That's so cute" I interrupted in a childish voice. Ok, I'm guessing by the look on Jesse's face that he obviously thinks I have lost the plot or something…
"Are you feeling ok?" Jesse asked. "Or are you just trying to prolong the inevitable?"
"I'm not trying to prolong anything!" I chuckled. "I just think that hearing the word 'squishing' coming out of your mouth, is hilarious"
"Really…" Jesse slowly said, giving the word multiple syllables. "Well then, maybe I should say it again?"
"Could you? Please… I have to hear it again" I laughed, urging him to say it by shaking his arm.
"Only on one condition" He grinned cheekily, pointing a finger into my shoulder.
"What?" I asked a little wryly.
"You know exactly what I want…" Jesse said smoothly, lying back, looking extremely… Hot!
I couldn't resist, and I definitely couldn't hold back any longer. My body took over and without any second thoughts, I moved on top, and found myself straddling him.
"Susannah" Jesse said softly, swallowing uncomfortably.
I hushed him by placing my index finger on his lips, leaning down, getting ready to kiss him… But to my total dismay, he stopped me!
"Susannah, you promised me" He said seriously, as his strong hands held my body back by my shoulders.
I let a loud sigh escape from my mouth, and then couldn't help but to laugh. "I can't believe that you're more interested in hearing my stupid story, over kissing me"
Jesse was silent for a moment as he looked intently up into my eyes. Then, the corner of his lips started to curl up into a grin. "There's plenty of time for that, later"
Ooh, now that caught my attention! I gave him a cheeky grin back and playfully slapped his chest. "Wise guy, huh?"
So I gave in to his request, and reached over to my nightstand, pulling out my purple diary from the top shelf. Jesse watched inquisitively as I carefully unlocked the diary with a small golden key.
"I haven't written in it since I was like 12… But when I was flicking through it the other day, I came across something interesting" I said slowly, as I gently flicked through the light purple pages.
"You know, my sisters used to keep diaries" Jesse said, as I briefly glanced up at him. "They would spend hours on end just writing…"
I think that he had expected me to say something right then, or make a comment…
"… I don't know what kind of things they used to write about though" He continued, in a tone that suggested he was asking me to spill gossip about what girls write about.
I suddenly stopped flicking when I had come across the page, which I had intended to find, and briefly scanned over my hand written text, before looking up at Jesse. His eyes flickered from the diary to my face, to the diary, and then back to my face again.
"You really are interested about this, aren't you?" I laughed.
"I haven't heard it yet" He scoffed.
"You have to promise me that you won't laugh…"
"Ok…" He said slowly.
"That's not very convincing" I pouted.
"Susannah, I promise to contain my laughter to the best of my ability… But if it's funny -"
"Jesse, I'm serious!" I interrupted. "I just don't go around reading my diary entries out loud to anyone, you know"
"I am sorry… I know, It's just; you're building this whole thing up to be some sort of dark, and mysterious secret. I'm just dying to hear it, let alone concentrate on whether or not it's going to be funny"
"I used to write down my dreams, in here… And today, well, something brought memories back to me about one particular dream…"
"Well, come on… Don't let me hold you back" Jesse said, urging me to shut up and read.
"Ok…" I coughed, clearing my throat. "Dear Diary -"
"Who exactly is Diary?" Jesse asked, interrupting me. "I never have understood why girls start off like that…"
"It's not - It's just… It's just how you begin… You know, like you're confiding in the diary or something…"
"Fair enough…" He shrugged, not completely understanding, but just agreeing anyway.
I stared at him for a brief moment, taking in his beautiful facial features. He noticed that I was getting side tracked again and stared back at me, before waving a hand in front of my face.
"Hello, I'm still waiting" He said, raising one of his eyebrows.
"Oh, yeah –" I coughed, clearing my throat. "Yeah, well, are you going to actually listen? Or are you going to continue to interrupt me every 10 seconds? Because if you are-"
"Susannah! Don't force me to rip that out of your hands and read it myself" He said impatiently, before chuckling.
"Now, forgive me… But shut up, and read!"