Chapter One

I ran my fingers through my hair. Why couldn't I get this right? I racked my brain for some sort of acceptable answer. Why couldn't they just have multiple choice questions on this stupid test?

"Miss Simon, your test please." The words I had dreaded all morning. I looked up into my math teachers eyes with sort of a desperate look. "Miss Simon." He repeated again, obviously not getting the memo.

"Yes, but the thing is, Mr. Minotti, I didn't exactly finish…maybe could you give me a few extra minutes?"

He smirked. "Your test, Miss Simon."

Just because you say it fifty times, dosent mean I'll give it to you.

I honestly thought about shifting to the night before and studying. I was just about ready to. And maybe poison my math teachers coffee as well. But those thoughts vanished when I realized the reality of the situation.

I grimaced and held the paper weakly up to the man in a broad suit towering over me.

"Thank you, Miss Simon."

"The pleasures all mine." I grumbled under my breath.

"Class dismissed!" Mr. Minnoti announced as the bell rang. We all slumped out into the hall, joining the usual sea of people in the corridors.

"That test was brutal!" Ceecee chirped, stepping up to my side. "I am so glad I studied."

I groaned. Ceecee was going to pass and I wasn't.

"What?" She asked, trying to look in my eye which was currently staring at my shoes. "Oh, you didn't study, did you?"

I chewed on my lip. "No."

"Suze, don't worry, it was hard, the whole class probably failed. There will be a re-write."

"No." I hissed. "There wont be one."

"Querida, what's wrong?" I perked up. Jesse?

"Jesse, why are you here?" I stopped at my locker.

"I'll tell you later." He whispered. "Now, Susannah. What is wrong?"

"School stuff."

"Oh. Well," I finshed the combination on my locker and flung the door open. It hit Jesse smack on the nose.

"Oh my god, Jesse!" I bent down on the ground, my papers scattered everywhere. "Oh god…Jesse!"

"Susannah!" He sounded cross. No wonder.

"I am so, so, sorry Jesse, Oh my god!" I yelled at my own stupidity. "Are you okay?" He scooped up my papers. "Oh no, Jesse, let me get those."

"Susannah, it's allright." He picked up some more papers and handed them to me. "And Querida, I'm fine." He smiled and I stood up.

I didn't care if he was 120, I was still mortified. And everyone saw, too. Even Kelly Prescott.

"Oh Jess, I love you, oops, sorry!" She shrieked, mocking me, walking by my locker with Paul holding her arm. She started in a laughing fit until Paul nudged her and they kept moving along.

"Its Jesse." I grumbled. "Anyways, Jesse, what can I do for you?" I was still thinking about what I had just done. I was such a moron.

"Father Dominic wants to see you." He smiled, holding his arm out. "I saw a lot of the other girls walking with other boys like this." He joined his arm with mine. I smiled.

"Jesse, you are a true gentleman." I walked gracefully down the hall and turned the corner, smiling to make Kelly Prescott jealous.

"Susannah." Father Dom greeted, smiling. "Jesse." He nodded his head over to Jesse.

Jesse slided his arm out of mine.

"What do you need, Father Dom?"

"Jesse, if you could leave this to me, please?" Jesse nodded and walked out of the room.

Once Jesse had closed the door, Father Dominic leaned over his desk.

"Susannah, Jesse has spoken to me about your relationship."

"what?" I asked. Why would Jesse be talking to Father Dom?

"Yes, he was talking about your night after the um… dance."

My eyes widened. "He told you??"

"Susannah, I do not know why yo are so flabbergasted at this whole subject. I obviously am not. And I am a priest!" I jst stared at him with wide eyes.

He told him?

"Susannah, it is alltright. I nderstand. Yo and Jesse… well, I gess it wold be appropriate to say, yo and Jesse are in love. However, Susannah, I called yo here to tell yo to jst… Jst don't… Don't use yor… wait ntill yo get married."

"Father Dom!" I shrieked.

"You both come close to it after that dance, and you know it, Susannah Simon!!" He snapped.

"Father Dom!" I shook my head with a disgusted look on my face. I am a good actress. "No!"

"Allright Susannah. Listen." I stood up.

"No worries, Father." I walked outside into the hall. There was no more people in the hallway except for Jesse.

He wore a playfull smile on his face.

"Jesse!" I scolded. "You told him!"

"I am sorry Susannah, I felt…guilty." He held my hand. "Sorry."

The night, after the dance, was more amazing than any night I had ever had before with Jesse. After the last song had played, he drove me to his apartment.

"Jesse? My house is down the street."

"I know, Querida." He stopped the car and pulled out the keys. "béseme." He whispered gently in my ear. I was positive that it was Spanish. But I didn't know what it meant at the time.

He kissed me gently, passing his fingers through my hair. His hands soon moved down to my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"We can do anything we want now, Querida." He whispered, his lips moving against mine. "However we mustn't…" He kissed me again. "do anything…" again. "wrong." He finished. However his advice didn't come to either one of our minds, because we kept kissing.

I qickly unbutonned his black jacket and tossed it to the ground. His white button up shirt was all that was left, and I quickly tore it open, feeling the detail in his chest.

"Jesse…" I whispered against his lips.

He moved his hands to my stomach and then up to my… 34 B. "te quiero." He whispered. What was he saying?

He was about to unhook the back of my Victoria's Secret when he pulled back. "Suze."

"Jesse, it…it's okay. We, we can do this Jesse. Things are different."

He just shook his head. "No, Suze…It feels wrong."

"But Jesse, it isn't wrong, because I love you. And.. You love me." I whimpered.

"No." He said firmly. He started buttoning up his shirt. "Sorry, Susannah. Not tonight." He turned the keys. I straightened up my shirt and stared out the window.

I kept walking down the hallway with Jesse holding my hand until I saw something At the end of the hall. I stopped dead. Jesse had a concerned look on his face.

"Querida? Is everything all right?"

"Jesse." I whispered. "You…you cant see that?"

Jesse looked around.

"See what, querida?"

"I thought…I thought you could see ghosts." I whimpered.

"I can, Susannah. I am a mediator. Like you."

"But…You, you cant see him." I questioned weakly.

"No."

The reason I was so afraid and shaky, was, well…

Down the hall there was Jesse standing there.

Only not the Jesse who was holding my hand. No, this was a different Jesse, who couldn't hold my hand, or even know I could see him.

He was ghost Jesse, all over again.