Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Bridge to Terabithia. It belongs to Katherine Paterson. Although I do own the idea of this story.
The Girl Who Saw Him Cry
Jess couldn't hold his emotions anymore that he started crying. He couldn't remember the last time that he smiled. For the past sixteen years, he had never felt or experienced real happiness. No one from his own family taught or showed this to him. Before, he looked up to his father for the strong man that he was. He would then wonder if his father ever slept at all, for his father's work demanded every bit of his supposed family time. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Ever since he was a little kid, all he wanted was attention. Love.
"Jess?" A female voice called. Jess thought that maybe May Belle or Joyce Ann followed him here.
"Go away May Belle! If that's you Joyce Ann, you better leave now or I'll break your barbies." He warned the girl. Not exactly caring who it was.
"No Jess. It's me. Leslie Burke."
Jess wiped his tears and looked up. Leslie looked like an angel sent from above.
"Go away, please… I don't need your help…" Jess begged her. Leslie took his hand and put it on hers.
"I can listen to you Jess, whatever your problem is."
"You wouldn't understand, Leslie Burke." He said, as though he wanted to spit on the name he mentioned. Now that someone actually cared about him, he felt funny.
"Jess, I… I can feel your pain…" Leslie said to him. Jess' ears perked up.
"You're not someone I know," he glared at her, "so don't pretend that you 'feel' my pain because no one can and no one will!"
"For once can you stop being so stubborn? Why are you afraid that someone might actually care for you?"
"Because I don't want to trust anyone! If I put that trust I just end up getting hurt!" Jess said. He fought back the tears building in his eyes. "You wouldn't understand… Please, just leave me alone." He begged her for the second time. But Leslie didn't listen to him. Instead, she went up to him and hugged him. "Why won't you listen?" Jess said, his words muffled because of Leslie's jacket. "Ssh… Don't talk. Just cry. I'm lending you my shoulder to cry on." Leslie told him. She felt him smile and hugged him tighter.
"Just cry Jess… Let it all out…" Jess buried his head on Leslie neck, inhaling her sweet scent. Leslie's warm embrace was enough to make him feel much better. After a while, Jess broke from her hug.
"Uh… t-thanks… a lot…" Jess stuttered. He wore a somewhat goofy smile on his face that made Leslie giggle.
"What's funny?" He asked her.
"Nothing," she continued to laugh more, "when was the last time you actually smiled? Because it seems like you don't know how to do it anymore." She grinned at him. He smiled.
"I don't know. It must have been when I was born." He joked. Leslie giggled again. And then an awkward silence fell between them.
"I'm here for you Jess, whenever you need a shoulder to cry on." Leslie told him.
Jess sneezed and wiped his nose with his jacket. "It's embarrassing," he sneezed again, "I'm a guy and I cry." He continued. "That's not a problem at all Jess. You can't just hide what you feel forever. It's bad." Leslie replied. Jess nodded in agreement. "So, we're officially friends now?" Leslie asked, "Yeah." The two teenagers smiled at each other.
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