"Jessi…I'm sorry, it wouldn't work between us, and Amanda is the one I love…"

Of course she is, Jessi thought. Jessi wasn't good enough for him and probably would never be but still it cut her heart like a knife to hear Kyle, the one she had always cared for, always stood behind say this.

"…Can't you understand that Jessi…"

"Of course Kyle, you made your choice, I know this is hard for you and living in the same household doesn't make it easier…" Jessi said concealing the pain she felt would surround and swallow her as soon as she left him, just as the pain of Sarah death had before, or when Brian had showed her his true nature, or once again with Emily hiding the truth.

"Yeah I know…I'm not going to be able to hang out with you as much either, I want to respect Amanda's feelings the best I can, and I know that our relationship is a little…you know"

Jessi didn't want that but she swallowed those words and instead said, "Yeah, sure Kyle…um…well I should go…"

"Jessi"

"No, no, it's okay, I'm okay, and I just want to be alone."

"But Jessi…"

"Please Kyle."

"Yeah alright" he looked down as though he was ashamed. But Jessi couldn't comfort him; she wouldn't so rather she turned around and left him alone to process things. Jessi could no longer stay her and allow Kyle to feel her heart shatter. She told Lori she was going for a run and would be back later.

Lori understood her feelings and let her go. The more she ran the more anger, frustration, sadness, and heartbreak escaped her through her tears. Finally too tired to continue she collapse near a tree in the forest area and allowed she to sink in that darkness she tried so hard to hide earlier. The deeper she sank the more hysterical she became knowing that everything she wanted was destroyed with that one line. How could she be so blind to allow herself to believe he could actually feel anything for her, stupid, idiotic…damn it.

Finally the tears stopped and she knew she would never allow them to escape in front of Kyle ever. She wanted him close but decided to push him away instead. She felt empty, as though nothing could fix her in that moment….nothing.

As she walked up to the rode, she saw clouds blooming up ahead, so she began running back home. On the way, not too far from home, she found an auto store with a helped wanted sign in the window. Remembering Kyle's words of not being able to spend time with her because of Amanda she decided that this would be the best step to staying away from him. She entered the shop to find this was a mechanic job, when she asked about the sign the shop owner looked doubtful so in order to persuade him otherwise she helped his co-worker fix a broken bike close by. The owner was impressed and decided to allow it. After introducing her to the others, she found she enjoyed the atmosphere quite a bit; a chance to get dirty, the guys were easy to talk to and not judgmental at all about her. At that moment two young boys about her age ran in, as far as Jessi could tell both of them were rather handsome. They too were surprised but accepted her easily, she was shocked to find they both went to her school; their names were Dean, a tall boy with dark hair and gray eyes, and Aaron, the other boy who had blond hair and brown eyes.

Aaron was reserved and bit more of a loner as he proved when he preferred to work alone while Dean was rather loud, funny, and immediately attached himself to Jessi. She smiled at his energy and enjoyed his company.

"You're really pretty" he said bluntly.

She turned slightly red from surprise but got over it quickly, "Thank you".

"So are you starting tomorrow?"

"Yup"

"You need a ride?"

"Um…yeah sure, thanks."

"It's cool."

"Dean, why don't you give Jessi a ride home, it's getting late?" the owner asked.

"Oh you don't have to" Jessi told him.

"Nah, its cool, follow me." He led her outside where a beautiful motorcycle stood. "This is Samantha he announced proudly. Jessi raised an eyebrow.

"Cool name huh?" he smiled

"Sure"

"So where do you live?" She told him and he nodded at that still thoughtful, "Let me have your cell number so that we can meet after school."

"Kay" and she gave it to him. He noticed she seemed sad about something and flicked her forehead.

"Huh?" she said.

"No being sad, pretty girls look better when they smile. Kay?" He said smiling.

She laughed.

"There you go" he said, "much better, your more beautiful that way."

Jessi felt her cheeks burn "Thank you"

"No need, I like making you feel better anyways lets go" He grinned.

As she got on his bike she felt almost blissful…almost, Kyle was on the back of her mind.

"Hey, do you want to get something to eat before I drop you off?"

"Yeah okay" she smiled instantly turning brighter.

Meanwhile at the Trager home:

"Where is she, she's been gone for hours" Kyle panicked.

"She just needs them Kyle, you know air to breath, stop worrying, and she's fine." Lori reassured him.

Then he heard it, the beating of Jessi's heart, it was pumping fast as though she was excited. Then two other sounds caught Kyle off guard, the first was the sound of a motorcycle and the second…the second was the sound of someone's heart. It was a boy's heart. What is going on?

Jessi arrived at home, and got down, she had never experienced anything like that, almost like flying. She was smiling and felt bubbly for some reason. "That was amazing" she laughed still astonished by the ride home on his motorcycle.

"Wasn't it" he replied, "Well then I should probably head back" he sighed and look down, he didn't feel like leaving Jessi just yet; she was amazing in the short time he got to knew her, he now realized that Jessi wasn't like most girls, she was honest, smart, sarcastic, funny, and she was a girl that didn't mind getting dirty or playing video games. He hadn't felt something like this before, sure he had dated other girls but Jessi felt different almost like nothing could beat her.

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked

He smiled knowing that she was just as eager to be with him again "Of course" he responded, "See you tomorrow gorgeous." And with that he started up the engine and drove away. Jessi watched him go until he was out of sight.

She then turned towards the door and went inside only to find Kyle and Lori standing right near the entrance. Niccole, Stephen, and Josh all arrived in that area as if on cue. Jessi looked towards the clock to find that it was 10:30 pm. Niccole was the first to break the silence.

"Jessi, where have you been?"

"I'm sorry I'm late Niccole, it's just that I was out jogging but on my way home, I found that this auto shop nearby was looking for a new worker so I decided to try my luck."

"What?" Lori replied.

"I thought it'll give me a chance to have something on the side, you know extra spending money, and I like working on motorcycles and cars, it hands on and something that can help me clear my head." She told them.

They were all slightly shocked by her response but decided if it made her happy, which it obviously had seeing as she was almost jumping with excitement.

"Who gave you a ride home?" Kyle asked.

"Huh? Oh that was Dean, he goes to our school he's also the same age as me and he said he would give a ride to work tomorrow" She smiled at this.

Lori was the quickest to response to this. "That's really nice of him Jessi; it's great that you're already becoming friends with them."

"Yeah, thanks, anyways I think I'm going to go take a shower and then head to bed."

"Aren't you hungry Jessi?" Niccole asked worried at the girl's lack of appetite.

"No thanks, I've already eaten."

"Well alright then."

Kyle just stood there unsure of what to say as he saw Jessi and Lori heading upstairs where he knew Lori would get the full story out of Jessi. Something about this whole situation was getting Kyle irritated, he didn't like this Dean guy, but Kyle didn't know how to get Jessi to stay away from him. He knew it was wrong of him to feel this way but he didn't like it, and he did something that made him feel even worse; he eavesdropped on the conversation between Jessi and Lori.

"So tell me everything" he heard Lori say.

He also heard Jessi sigh, "Well you know I needed some room from Kyle and figured that maybe I should try to get something that I could connect with too so when I saw that the help wanted sign I thought it would be a great idea to help out there doing something I actually didn't mind. The environment there is so quiet and makes me feel at ease. I really like the people there as well; they were able to accept me so easily."

"That great Jessi, I'm happy you found a place to feel at key with. So…what about Dean, what's the deal with him?" Kyle's hearing became more perceptive.

"Honestly it's refreshing being around him. I can tell that as long as he's making smile then he's happy too. Something about his energy is different from what I'm use to but besides that, I don't really know much about him. I mean we talked for awhile and I know some things about him but he's still a bit mysterious to me.

"But he might like you."

"Maybe, who knows, all I know is that he knows how to make me laugh and smile when I feel down."

"Well then, good for you Jessi."

"Thanks, I should take a shower now."

"Kay night Jessi"

"Night Lori"

"Oh and Jessi…"

"Hmm…"

"Thanks for letting me in." Kyle felt Jessi's smile.

"No problem" Kyle then heard the door close and another open followed by the shower being turned on.

Kyle returned to his own head unsure of what to make of Jessi and Lori's conversation, he wonder about him and Jessi and how he made her feel. He banished that thought as soon as he thought it and told himself he just missed not have Jessi around but he had Amanda so Jessi's presence shouldn't make much of a difference even if they were close friends. He decided to just go to bed and dream all these feelings off.