Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Mediator characters.

AN: I am so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I disappeared into the hole known as Harry Potter mania week and then got stuck halfway through the chapter. Anyway, here it is, hope you like it, and there is more to come as soon as I finish deciding what their plan is!

Chapter Eight

I called Jesse to let him know what time the party was at and then sat down on my bed. How could I have let myself get into this? The plan would never work! I groaned in frustration and lay down on my bed. We would find a way to make it work, but at what cost?

I reached for my phone again and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" said a voice on the other end.

"Hey Cee, it's me."

"Hey Suze, what's wrong?"

And so I launched into the story of Sharon.

"Wow," was all CeeCee could say when I had finished. "Um, I wish I could help you but I can't. I have no idea how you are going to pull that off. Good luck."

"Pull what off?" said a voice in the background.

"Is that Adam?" I asked.

"Yeah," CeeCee admitted.

"I'll let you go then, thanks for being my sounding board."

"Anytime," she said. What was even cooler was the fact that I knew she meant it.

At 6:15 that night, I got in my car and drove over to Jesse's. Since he had to return Father Dom's car earlier that day, it only made sense that I would pick him up. When I got to the door of Jesse's apartment, he opened it before I had a chance to knock.

"You look beautiful querida," he breathed.

I smiled, glad that I had decided to wear my green off the shoulder sweater that matched my eyes with khaki cargo pants. It sounds like a weird combination, I know, but it totally worked. Plus I was wearing my totally comfortable and totally fashionable sneakers. To put it in a few words, I looked good.

"You don't look half bad yourself," I grinned. It was true, Jesse was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, and a jean jacket. He looked good enough to eat.

He smiled back and leaned down to kiss me. Lacing my fingers with his, I led him back to the car. Being the gentleman that he is, he offered to drive. I told him no because technically he didn't have a driver's license yet. Plus he didn't know where Kelly's house was, I did.

I felt a knot growing in my stomach as I drove to Kelly's house. Sighing, I parked on her long, winding driveway and made my way with Jesse to her front door.

She had hired some beefy looking guy to check the invite list. "Names?" he grunted.

"Suze Simon and Jesse de Silva," I said in my most authoritative voice. I was here on a mission, not to party. As much as I would loved to have danced with Jesse again, I just couldn't now.

Beefy man nodded curtly and we walked past. I heard the kid behind us insisting that he had been invited even though his name was not on the list. Poor guy.

"You ready?" Jesse asked me.

I nodded even though I didn't want too. I would never forgive myself for agreeing to this plan. I was stupid. The plan was stupid. Kelly was stupid. She hadn't done anything yet, but I was willing to bet that she would do something stupid before the night was over. I mean, it's Kelly, how could she not?

My stomach quivered as I watched Jesse walk away from me and over to the refreshment table where Kelly was standing. I turned away from them, unable to watch. I trusted Jesse, but still, Kelly was dangerous around guys. The idea was that Jesse would keep Kelly busy so that I could get the journal out of her bedroom.

But of course, I couldn't head straight up to Kelly's bedroom. That would be awkward. So I had to mingle and talk to people that I really had no interest in talking to. As I was finishing up a conversation with one the bimbos in my math class, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and saw Paul standing behind me. "What do you want?"

"Come on, don't be short with me Simon. I got you invited to the party. And your boyfriend, where is he by the way?" he asked with that evil grin of his.

"I don't see how that is any of your business Paul."

"Well, it becomes my business when he is chatting up my girlfriend."

I looked in the direction Paul was facing. Sure enough, Jesse was standing next to Kelly. However, the part that Paul had neglected to mention was that Jesse looked uncomfortable. I turned back to Paul and shrugged my shoulders, "He can talk to anyone he wants to, I'm not worried. I know that he is devoted to me." I gave Paul my smuggest look and was about to walk away when he said something to me.

"What makes you so sure that Jesse is devoted to you? It looks like he is getting pretty cozy with Kelly."

I glanced back at Jesse. Kelly was standing there with her hand on his chest, tilting her head flirtatiously. Her back was to me and I could see Jesse giving me a sort of panicked look over her head. "Yes, your girlfriend does seem to have the propensity of throwing herself at the first guy who walks by. Maybe you should put a leash on her, then she truly would be yours."

"But where does that leave Jesse?"

"Oh, you mean the fact that my boyfriend is looking at me instead of the girl who is trying to plaster herself to him, gee, I don't know how to take that."

Paul gave me a dangerous look, "You shouldn't be so cocky Suze. We may be friends," he paused as I snorted, "but that doesn't mean I won't stop you when I know you are in over your head. There is a reason that you wanted to be here tonight and I'm not leaving your side until I find out why. That means Kelly will plaster herself to Jesse all she likes. Because I'm not losing sight of you for a minute."

I glared at Paul, turned on my heel, and walked away from him. I made my way to Jesse, who had managed to stop Kelly from touching him, and gently grabbed his arm. "I thought you were going to be getting me a drink," I said sweetly. "What's taking so long?"

Jesse frowned slightly as he saw Paul standing behind me.

"What are you doing here?" Kelly spat at me.

I gave her an incredulous look and said, "You seriously thought Jesse would have come here without me?"

Kelly returned my look with a venomous one before grabbing Paul and making out with him. She obviously wanted to make it a competition of whose boyfriend was more devoted.

I would have snuck away then and there to complete my part of the plan if Paul hadn't been watching me. It was the most awkward moment of my life. I mean, who wants a guy to stare at them while he is making out with his girlfriend? Talk about creepy.

So all that was left was to find a way to ditch Paul.