Chapter 9
Getting out of bed this morning is interesting, I feel like I've had a good and bad dream all at once. Leslie and Jack were gone, now Leslie is alive again, it's all like it's just a crazy dream. I smack my face a couple times to make sure I'm awake before I go outside to do my chores. I guess I'll know what's real by the end of the day, in the end, I gotta cope with either reality.
While walking outside, I saw Bill Burke's car pull up to his house, they pulled Leslie out of the car. She was asleep, probably tired from all the time in the hospital. I smiled at the fact that my friend is still here, plus the fact Jack didn't possibly sacrifice his life for no reason. Today is Saturday, that means there is no school. Hopefully I can see her at some point today, I felt the worst pain of loss I've felt when I was told she was dead.
I went around and did my chores, I thought about going over to see Leslie, but I don't want to bother the Burkes. The thought through my head to go see Jack, but then I remembered he is no longer here. I am alone again like I was before they came around, so I decided to do what I did before they came around. Run. I sprinted around and for once, I am glad I am not the fattest kid in my school. It's crazy how in 5 months, the most important thing in my life changed so much. I go from only care about being the fastest, to caring about two friends I thought I'd never have. I knew exactly what the most important thing to me was when I heard the words your friend is dead. I love Leslie Burke; I have accepted that and don't care what people think. I just don't know how I am ever going to tell her.
I finished running and went to take a shower before my sisters went crazy. After finishing, I did my homework and started drawing, I looked at the clock and saw it was 7 o clock. My mother called me down for dinner, I ran down and noticed dad was not at the table.
"Where's dad?" I asked
"He's having to work overtime at the store this week, he's going to be working nights for a awhile," answered mom.
I'm kind of relieved about that, my dad was barely even around when Leslie was hurt. I guess he cared a little bit when she died, but it wasn't too long before she was back again. My dad is always going to be his angry usual self, I just have decided to accept that and move on with my life.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Leslie as I had hoped today, but I guess it's better then what the alternative. The picture of Leslie smiling I drew the night before she got hurt was lying on my bed open. The poem I drew next to it reminded me of the alternative of what could've been, I'm over her complaining about in my mind about not seeing her, but she was almost dead. I drew a picture of a bridge to Terabithia I had thought about to replace the rope as I fell asleep.
The next day I started walking to the bust stop, Leslie walked out with her dad to the car.
"Hey Jess, I'm taking Leslie to school today because of the concerns with her head. If you want to ride, you're more than welcome to," Bill said as he saw me walking by.
"Thanks ," I said while getting in the back seat. Leslie smiled at me, I hadn't seen her in a couple days, but when you feel like somebody is gone, it feels like eternity.
"You are feeling any better Leslie?"
"A little bit, I'm excited to be back in school. I'm scared to see how far I am behind at this point," answered Leslie.
Of course, her main concern is where she's at in school. "At least you're in the top of your class now that Jack is gone," I smirked knowing she would be mad.
"If it wasn't for my doctor saying nothing that could cause any injury, I'd punch you right now," Leslie said slightly annoyed.
This brought something to my mind, should I tell her what Jack really is? He also told me he was probably going to be punished and probably killed for saving Leslie, is it fair to put that guilt on her? I'll think about this later, now's not the time.
"I heard that Jack's father saved me, did you get to meet him Jess," asked Leslie
"For a minute," I answered. I wasn't trying to lie, but I can't tell her in front of her father. He would freak if he found out anything about any of this. I honestly feel like I'm in a movie or something at this point.
We arrived at school, Mr. Burke bid us farewell as he drove off. Me and Leslie were a little early, so we went and got breakfast and just talked about regular things. I was worried about how life was going to be after this incident, but everything seemed normal.
"Hey Leslie, I was thinking, we should build a bridge across the stream into Terabithia, so nobody gets hurt," I suggested.
"That's a great idea, I'll mainly have to give moral support though, I can't do much heavy activity for 3 months."
"That's fine, your dad said I could use some lumber that is behind yall's place, we can probably start working on it this weekend," I suggested.
"Sounds good to me, I'm free," she agreed.
We looked up and saw class was in 15 minutes, so we both started walking to Mrs. Meyers class. Mrs. Meyers was lecturing on some historical event I didn't care about, so I just kept drawing in my sketchpad. The class had to put Leslie's desk back in because she turned out to not be dead, I'll tell Leslie next time were in Terabithia about that.
Class went by slowly and recess time was finally here, Leslie wasn't allowed to outside due to her physical limitations. I asked if I could stay with her, but they said I still had to go outside. Scott Hoager tried to make fun of me not having my "girlfriend" around, but I just ignored him. The big thing around is kissing girls right now, if you hadn't had your first kiss, you were a loser. I've never been huge into the whole girl thing until Leslie came around, the discussion made me think about how I should handle my feelings for her. I should've asked Jack what I should do before he left, but things were chaotic at that point.
Recess ended, and we went back to class, Leslie sat next to me for Mrs. Edmonds music class and we passed each other notes during class. She passed me a letter saying how annoying it was people were harassing each other about not having their first kiss, and she had been hearing it from all the other girls at school. After school ended, Bill was waiting to pick us up, I asked him for permission to use the lumber behind his house for a project I wanted to do. He agreed, so me and Leslie went to build a bridge across the stream into Terabithia. We started chatting about how the school day went and the usual annoyances.
"Jess… who saved me for real? I can tell you've been holding back the truth," asked Leslie.
"Leslie, you're going to think I hit my head, but Jack isn't from here. He is a guardian of another universe who was looking for his friend here. He saved you when you fell, you are supposed to be dead right now Leslie." I replied.
"How did he know I was supposed to die," she asked.
"His timelines time is ahead of ours, he wasn't supposed to change anything, but some bad guy from his timeline showed up and pretended he was the cause of your death. He saved you for that reason, I ran into him when I was on the way to go meet you. He's 20, he just changed himself into a younger person for trying to find his friend. I don't know if I should tell you this, but I guess I will, he is probably going to be killed for his actions of saving you." I said painfully mourning my friend.
"That explains why he was writing papers far beyond our level, I feel really bad about what's going to happen to him… I don't know what to say about that," she said beginning to shed tears.
I put my hand on her back trying to help cheer her up, "He told me to tell you to not feel bad, saving people is what he does. He thanked us for being his first true friends who didn't follow him for who he was. He stayed longer than planned because he had something for the first time in his life, a normal life."
She looked up at me "When we finish the bridge, I want to make a memorial for him. It's the least I can do for what he has done. By the way, my parents said something about you not going with Ms. Edmonds the day I got hurt, why did you not go? I thought she was like the person you adored."
My heart dropped, without thinking I said, "Because I wanted to spend my Saturday with you instead of going to some museum," I instantly realized what I said, both me and Leslie were blushing beat red.
She leaned forward and gave me a small kiss on the lips. Ok I was dreaming.
"That's for you being so sweet, and so people at school will quit bothering us about not having kissed anybody," Leslie said while smiling.
I felt like I was going to pass out, even if it was just because of something stupid at school, Leslie just kissed me. Jack would be calling me hopeless right now, I could just hear him laughing at me. Heck, he might be here right now in spirit if he's really gone, I'm not even going to try to understand any of this stuff. I miss him and feel bad for him, but I am grateful to the end of time to him for saving my friend.
"I also know a secret, the girl Scott Hoager said he kissed, she said today she hasn't kissed anyone," Leslie said with her mischievous grin.
"I'm assuming you're wanting to write another letter tomorrow," I asked laughing
"Let's just say, he's going to regret harassing me and you about it," Leslie chuckled.
The day went by, I finished the bridge with a sign I painted on top that says nothing crushes us. We went to the treehouse and I painted a picture of me, Leslie, and Jack all standing together at the bridge. I made a cross and taped the picture on it, we placed it next to the treehouse as we both payed our respects.
I started first paying my respects, "Jack, you were an awesome friend to me, you got me through some hard times I never thought I'd get through. I'm assuming what you said would happen happened. I hope you have peace wherever you are, and just want to thank you for everything.
Leslie started tearing up and said what she had to say "Jack, you were a big part of building this place. The short time we had with you was amazing, I'm hoping wherever you are you're happy. I am grateful for you saving my life, I realize I'm not even supposed to be here. It almost feels like you gave up your life for mine, I feel horrible about it, but I guess what happened. I guess all I can say is thank you," Leslie planted her head on my chest in tears.
I'm sure it's unbearable to know one of your friends was going to die because you lived. There wasn't much I had to say, so I just let her cry. I'm grateful she is here though, thank you so much Jack.
It started to rain so we ran back home, we didn't have to swing across the rope that almost severed our friendship for eternity, so I'm thankful. We bid each other farewell as I ran back to the house.
I laid in bed smiling; I had my first kiss with the love of my life. The feeling I got down my back from it is something I cannot describe. I pulled out my sketchbook and drew a picture of me and her in the middle of a heart holding hands. I pulled it out and locked it in one of my little lockboxes, don't want to take the risk of her seeing this until I'm ready. She still left it open by saying the whole thing with the stuff that's going on at school. Either way, I went to sleep with all being right in the world.
