Chapter 1: 'It Has Always Been You'

Chapter summary: Susannah meets a new guy at the Mission Academy, and Jesse gets jealous. (:

I nearly dropped my stack of homeroom books when I saw him.

He was staring at me, that I was sure of, but for what rhyme or reason, I couldn't tell.

He was fairly tanned, and he had green emerald eyes, like mine.

But the fact that he was staring at me wasn't the thing that made my heart thump madly.

Oh no. It was the fact that he was staring, smiling and walking towards me that made my heart hit painfully into my ribcage.

I felt my muscles work furiously to return the smile. But all that appeared on my face was a grimace?

When he was standing 3 inches away from me, I was almost certain that he could hear my heart beating wildly over the voices of the entire student population.

"Hey. I'm Marco Swarettez. What's your name?"

His breath still smelled of the mint toothpaste he used that morning.

"Hi…I am S-Susannah S-Simon. N-nice t-too meet y-you," I managed to stutter.

Nice. Did I just make a fool out of myself in front of a cute and handsome guy?

Apparently, he must have noticed that I was nervous, and he took the advantage by leaning in closer to me, so that we were about an inch apart, and he said, "I see that your first class is homeroom. I'll see you around…"

I could feel his voice reverberating, given how close we were standing together, and the next thing I knew was CeeCee firing all sorts of accusations at me.

Uh great. Did I ask for that?

"What about Jesse?" she demanded to know when I refused to answer her.

I froze. Yeah. Marco would probably get torn to ribbons when Jesse finds out about him.

"I've got you there, haven't I?" CeeCee said smugly before striding into the classroom with Adam closely beside her.

I had barely warmed up my seat when Sister Ernestine stepped into the homeroom class and whispered something to our homeroom teacher.

The whole class had started whispering furiously, all wondering what was going on.

Then, Sister Ernestine nodded, and she announced to the class that the principal wanted to see me.

Oh wow, that was so PERFECT.

Ignoring the numerous stares that were increasing as I stood up, I strode over to the classroom door and went out.

Father Dom had better have a good reason for dragging me out here, I thought, my thoughts going back to the loud whispering of the entire class, and their smirks on their faces, including Marco's.

I flung open the door to Father Dom's office and sat down in the chair.

"Susannah! What kind of manners are these?" Father Dom exclaimed.

I shrugged and let him continue his lengthy 'speech' about the importance of manners before I said, "You just ruined my reputation by announcing that I was to report here."

I pouted a little, even though I don't usually do that in the presence of well, the male species, and even more specific, I don't do that in front of Father Dom.

That did it. Father Dom's expression softened and he finally told me why he wanted to see me.

"There is a new student here in the Mission Academy, he is called uh..." Father Dom furiously tried to remember the name of the new student.

"Marco Swarettez?" I tried, seeing how difficult it was for him to remember names.

He nodded, and asked if I would be his buddy, and show him around, as he was in all my classes.

That was so great. Not.

Marco probably thought I was some bad girl who made frequent trips to Father Dom's office, according to the latest rumor about me, but that was so NOT true.

And now being assigned by Father Dom to be his buddy just made things worse? Yeah, it just did.

Sighing deeply, I retreated out of the office, and I was 'greeted' by the whole student population bursting out of their respective classrooms.

Great. Father Dom's nagging has just made me waste a period of homeroom, and probably, now that CeeCee is not really on talking terms with me, she must have left my bag and books in the freaking classroom.

So it came to me as a surprise when I saw Marco walking towards me with my bag and books in his hand.

"Hey," I greeted him, all my previous nervousness gone.

He smiled back, and handed me my things.

However, when I was about to take them, he pulled back suddenly, and said, "Uh, that's too easy. How about," he took a step closer to me, not even caring that we were probably in the centre of attraction, "we make a deal. I give you your things, and you go out with me."

I gazed at him in utter shock.

Did this guy actually know what he was saying?

How was I ever going to face Jesse again? This was insane.

I muttered a defiant 'no', and he grinned. That grin sent shivers down my spine. It was almost…evil. I could feel my defiance against what he was threatening to do to my books falter.

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I drove my mum's car back home. I wasn't really concentrating on the traffic at all. So you could say that I was lucky to even make it back home.

Jesse opened the door for me, and he smiled, when he saw that it was indeed me. Who else could it be?

I couldn't even meet his eye. I was practically two-timing by agreeing to Marco's date. Were my books that important? No way.

"How was school?" he asked, closing the front door behind him.

It was fine, yeah? I met a cute guy called Marco Swarettez and he used my books to threaten me to go out with him on a date this Saturday night.

Like I could say that.

Holding my wrist delicately, as Marco had the heart to dump my heavy books plus my designer bag onto my outstretched arms, spraining my wrist as a result, I replied with a voice that didn't really sound like my own, "School was fine. Had a lengthy talk with Father Dom about my manners, and nothing much happened."

I wasn't comfortable with lying to Jesse, and he seemed to know what I was thinking as the next second later, Jesse was dragging me to his room - well, it was the previous guest room, and he had shut the door behind him.

What was he planning to do? Was he going to do me there?

That was quite impossible, as he stuck to his no sex before marriage rule, and I was okay with that.

So what in the world was he up to?

Not to mention that he was grabbing my wrist, the one that was sprained, in a firm but gentle way. Either way, it still hurt.

Forcing myself not to grimace too much because I couldn't bear to see Jesse fussing around with my wrist, (not that I didn't like it), not when I was too timing.

"Susannah, is there anything you're not telling me?" he asked, his gaze on me.

Oh GAWD. Like I could tell him everything.

It was at that moment, the house phone rang. With a final gaze at me, he let go of my hand and picked up the phone.

I saw his eyebrow, the one with the scar above it raise, and his frown deepened with every second that passed.

After a while, he said, "It's for you, Susannah. Someone called Marco is on the line."

I gulped. What was he calling for? And why did Jesse pick up the receiver?

"H-hello?" I said, nervously. How could I not be nervous? Jesse was listening intently beside me to every word I said.

"Hey Suze. Was that your brother on the line?"

"No. He is not my brother. What do you want, Marco?" I said, getting annoyed by the guy's presence. He kind of reminded me of Paul Slater.

"Then who was that?" he sounded almost jealous. But then again, why should he be? Like he even liked me…or did he?

I didn't dare answer. Who knows what he might do to Jesse? I didn't want to risk another event involving the welfare of Jesse.

"Why should you bother who he is? He is just my cousin okay? Now shoot. What do you want?" I said quickly.

I distinctly saw the color from Jesse's face drain away from the corner of my eye.

"I just wanted to remind you that our date is this Saturday night. Dress appropriately." He sounded a lot triumphant than jealous this time.

Oh God. How was I going to explain to Jesse?

I threw the receiver back onto the phone and said frantically, "Look Jesse, it isn't what you're thinking it is. I-"

I was cut off by a very angry Jesse pushing me against the door of his bedroom.

"I'm just a cousin? Oh really, Susannah?" Jesse asked. His hands were pinning both my wrists against the door, making me unable to move.

I looked into his eyes and said, "No. You know that I don't take you as a cousin, Jesse."

"Who is this Marco on the line just now? A new classmate? He didn't seem too friendly."

I gulped again. I looked away from him.

His grip on me was tighter when he realized that I wasn't too keen on answering him. That renewed the pain from my wrist. It was throbbing, and not exactly something I could just ignore.

"Querida…" he started, his voice gentle.

He knew that whenever he said that, my heart would soften and naturally, I'll start blabbing everything.

I felt guilty. And that guilty feeling hurt me more than the sprain did.

I blinked the tears in my eyes away. Jesse's grip softened and he released the grip on my hands.

That was when he noticed that my left hand was red and swollen.

"Querida! What have you done with yourself?"

There it was. He just asked the inevitable question. I would have to explain to him, and he would be furious and go to find Marco and I'd rather suffer eternal damnation than for any harm to come in Jesse's way.

The next moment, I began to sob hysterically, something which I, Susannah Simon, the mediator would never do, but because I loved Jesse so much, I had to.

As you probably would have guessed, I began to tell him everything. Before I finished, however, I grabbed his arm tightly and made him promise that he won't go looking for Marco.

Jesse wasn't too keen, however.

"Susannah, forget about this for the moment. I need to get your hand –" he started to say, when I cut him off with a kiss on his lips.

And I didn't stop there. I pulled away for a few seconds, looking straight into his eyes, and looking back to his lips.

Finally, after all this time, I could actually feel Jesse's lips warming mine. Ghosts didn't have warmth, and therefore, I couldn't feel Jesse's warmth on me.

But after the incident in the hospital, I could finally feel him – his touch, his warmth, his reverberating voice… and all this made the tears well up in my eyes again.

Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. I started kissing him again. This time, he responded, his arms sliding behind my waist, and pulled me closer to him.

I wanted to stay in that position forever, and never let him go, feeling the pressure on my lips, and the warmth of his body against mine.

Feeling horny now, I started to suck seductively on his lower lip and nibble softly; while I let my hands wander to his chest, feeling his abs below his shirt.

I distinctly heard him moan softly, and I smiled.

Without warning, he scooped me up into his arms and took me to the bed.

Oh Gawd. I had been dreaming of that for ages.

Both of us were panting hard. Slowly, I leaned against the frame of my bed, and pulled him close to me again; giving him the most seductive smile I could muster.

I could tell I was getting to him, because the next moment, he had lowered his lips to my neck, and started kissing and nipping.

It was my turn to start moaning. He had found a sensitive spot on my neck, just behind my ear, and he nipped it. I shuddered. Gawd. He did know how to please a girl.

With great reluctance, I pulled away from him, and I started to inhale deeply, moving my chest at the same time.

Jesse realized what I was trying to do, and stopped me. "Querida, stop," he said, forcing himself not to look down.

"Why?" I asked seductively.

"Oh God, Susannah, you're trying to seduce me right?

I nodded, and stopped seducing him.

"Okay, fine, Mister Hector de Silva. Can you treat my wrist now?" I asked in a voice quite unlike my own. It sounded a lot like the one Kelly Prescott uses to attract Paul Slater.

Jesse looked at me for a moment, before allowing himself to be seduced by my voice.

He pressed me against the bed frame and started to kiss me, possessively. Not that I didn't like it, of course. It was nice having a change.

I kissed back with an equal amount of passion. I felt his hands roam around my back, and I could feel his body press against mine, like Paul Slater's once had.

When we both broke free for air, we were panting and Jesse managed to gasp out, "I'll treat your wrist now, querida."

It must have been a cruel coincidence, because just at that moment, Doc came in with a bunch of roses and said that it was from a guy called Marco.

"Marco?" I managed to choke out. I made a grab for the roses, and uttered a hasty 'thanks' before shutting the door on him.

I retreated to the window, and I saw that there was a card. I was aware that Jesse was still looking at me, so I decided to throw the card away, but he asked, "Aren't you going to read that, Susannah?"

I paused at the dustbin, and gripped the letter tightly.

"What?" I asked, looking at him disbelievingly.

"Go on. Read it." He urged.

I opened the card and read it, just like he told me.

Dear Suze,

I really look forward to our date this Saturday night. I hope your 'cousin' won't be too jealous.

Love,

Marco.

God knows when Jesse came up behind my back, and started reading.

I noticed that he was expressionless. He is usually expressionless when he is angry.

God. What has he to be jealous of? Like he didn't know that I only loved him.

Before I could even say a word, he strode out of the room. Like it was my fault that Marco had to send the letter just after we made out.

Feeling horribly pissed, I went to my cupboard and grabbed some clothes. I was going to go out to get some fresh air. Apparently, I had grabbed a bare back and a mini skirt.

Well, I didn't exactly choose it. It was on the top of the clothes pile so I just grabbed it.

Not caring about what I wore, I just threw it on over my tank top and went out to the porch.