robtaymattlouned: Thanks for your review, Lucie! Yes! You changed your name back! Woo! Go you! He might be… You'll have to read on.
SweetestReject: Nope. Not Paul. Yes. Jealousy is good. Very good. Thankies.
Teen Psycho: I love your name! It's great! I'm putting it up! Now. Just like you said. Everyone seems to like the jealousy. Good. Expect a bit more. Thanks
Enelya Tinuviel/PoeticKiss: He WILL be jealous. But it won't be Paul. Sorry. I might put our lovely Paulie in my next story. But I'm not sure. Well, not my next one, that's gonna be a songfic, but the one after that maybe. Wait and see. Thanks.
ChocolateEclar: Hehe. I was hoping it would make someone laugh. It was my attempt at humour. Thanks for the review! Yum… Chocolate éclairs… Yummy.
Smileyblob: Aww. Thanks! Awww. I can't say any more than that. And Thanks!!! I love your name!
GroundedSouls: Oh, you know he can't do that. Tell her how he feels. Yet. It would make everything far too easy. No story. Thanks for the review! Hurry up and give me the next chapter. I need to keep my brain functioning.
muzacgurl: Aww. Thanks! I'm finally continuing. You have an interesting name…
Mystique Angelique: Aww. Lolly. What can I say? Thanks for the review.
Clavel: Thanks!
RooneyRockz: Pam! Indeed. He is hot and strange. I'm updating! Thanks!
Tory: AWW!! You are so sweet! Thanks!
mediatorgurl: Hehe. Yeah. She kinda fails to see good moments. Doesn't she? Thanks for the review!
Delilah Wigglesworth: Yay!!! Emily!! Woo! Yeah, I think I was hyped up on sugar at that part. And Mongrel? Play nice. Tut tut. Come on MSN already! I need amusement. There is a strange rumbling noise coming from my washing machine and it's freaking me out. Gracias for the review.
xxStar: Merci for the review. Was a bit short, no? But thanks for taking the effort anyway.
Wow. 15 reviews. That was tiring and I haven't even started the chapter yet. Wow. Thanks a lot guys!
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I ran down the stairs before Brad turned blue from all the shrieking. I sat down in my seat while Andy was coming back from the kitchen with several trays loaded with plates of duck a l'orange.
"So, Susie, how was your day?" my mom asked as Andy set down the food.
"It was okay." For once, I wasn't lying. It seemed the only days she asked me were days that sucked. Usually involving ghosts. Although for some reason Brad seemed to find something funny. He showed his mirth by snorting into his food. Everybody looked up expectantly for him to reveal the cause of his disgusting reaction. You would think I would eventually get used to my stepbrothers' appalling table manners, but after eight months it still grossed me out.
"Suze got forced into being VP," Brad informed everyone. Jake wanted to know what was so funny about this.
Well, at nominations this morning, Cee Cee nominated me for VP. Then Adam seconded it, before it was passed a second later. But I didn't want to be Vice President of the junior class; I already had too many things on my hands. Like Jesse. Not that he was on my hands, or that he cared whether I was there or not… Or did he? I was so completely confused by him now. Way to make a girl mixed up. Well anyway, since absolutely no one else was nominated–well I nominated pretty much everyone but none were passed– it meant I was VP yet again. Whether I liked it or not. I think my shouts were heard all over Carmel, maybe even California, when I showed Cee Cee what I thought. I suppose she was just trying to get someone voted in who, as VP, wouldn't just go along with what Kelly said. I mean I can understand that, but why me?
Brad explained this, with a bit of over–exaggeration, while Jake still couldn't work out why it was so funny. I don't know why either. I think it was the fact that anything that caused me pain caused my middle stepbrother joy. Talk about brotherly love.
My mother was ecstatic– she always wanted me to be like she was– homecoming queen, cheerleader, popular. I would have resigned the next morning, had it not been for the fact that it made my mom so damn happy. After all, with everything I've put her through– late night visits from the police and the like– I thought she deserved some happiness. Too bad it came at my expense. I mean, I did leave my entire life in New York for her to live in Carmel with Andy and his three sons. But I had given her a lot of trouble. And living here wasn't that bad– Andy was a brilliant cook and really handy with tools. Plus Cee Cee and Adam were great, I was pretty popular out here, not to mention the extra mediating help from the good father, even if we disagreed on methods. Then there's Jesse. Even without all the other good things, Jesse more than makes up for having to cope with Dopey, with his amazing abs and dark, flashing eyes. Jesse's abs, I mean. Not Brad's. Ew.
After I finished the gourmet meal, I ran back upstairs–didn't want to waste any time– and walked coolly into my room. To find no one in sight. Just when I had made a fantastic entrance, but then, that made sense– it would make my life too easy if I ever looked good in front of my Latino lovely. Not that he's mine. Jesse, I mean. People are their own things, not anyone's possessions or anything. But I would love it, if I belonged to him. Like if Jesse would pull me into his arms and call me his querida. Not that he would. Call me his, I mean. Or pull me into his arms, for that matter. Well, he did it once, but unfortunately it never happened again. Plus, after he did it he barely spoke to me. It was only now that everything is back to normal between us. It took three weeks. I preferred to remain on speaking terms with him. I didn't think I could handle not speaking to him for another three weeks. How sad was that? I could barely last a day without him. I couldn't see how I had lived without him before, when I was back in good old New York. I had only known him for eight months, and already I couldn't live without him. Boy, I had fallen hard.
Seeing Jesse wasn't here, I changed–in the bathroom–and got into bed. I was shattered; I had been lacking sleep these last few days, having only just finished dealing with a rather impatient ghost. One who'd only moved on after she'd had a nice long chat with Jesse. Ghost–to–ghost. I'm sure that must have changed her view of heaven. It sure did for me. Meeting Jesse, I mean. It's actually a bit depressing. Jesse can do my job better than I can. Soon they won't need me. Well, I suppose they'll still need me to pass messages on. Suze, the messenger, because when it came down to it, that's all I was, a messenger. And a punch bag. The term–'don't shoot the messenger'– is obviously one that's not too well known around here.
I clapped off the lights and snuggled into my covers. Just as I was drifting off, I swear I heard a voice whisper "Buenas noches querida." But I must have dreamt it.
"Suze! Get the hell down here!" I was woken to the sound of my three stepbrothers screaming at me. Well, two of then anyway, David was already in the car, using his laptop that he got for his birthday, to start next month's assignment. The one that he asked for in advance. I was late. Again. Damn. I shot out of bed, snatched my clothes from where I'd placed them the night before and sped into the bathroom.
Two minutes later I was perfectly made–up, my hair was in a good state, with a great outfit on. I knew I looked good, as when I got out of the bathroom, Jesse was sitting on the window seat. When he saw me, his jaw dropped. Literally. I was tempted to go and close it for him but:
a) I was already late.
b) I was playing hard to get.
So I settled for giving him a secretive smile before high–tailing it down the stairs.
We got to school with time to spare, on account of Jake's mad driving. He dropped us all off before speeding off to college.
I went straight to Father D's office and walked in. Father Dominic was talking to an extreme hottie–of course not as hot as the ghost haunting my room– when he looked up.
"Ahh, Susannah. This is Henri, the new student that I told you about." Yeah. But you didn't tell me the most important detail. That he was red hot. But of course I didn't say that.
Henri looked up when his name was mentioned and I got a good look at his face. And I mean good. It was enough to make even me– who was very much in love with another– swallow hard. He had floppy brown hair, gorgeous, all–seeing hazel eyes and chiselled features.
He was looking me up and down. So the outfit was working the way it was intended. Excellent. Okay, sure, my heart was fully pledged to someone else, but it didn't mean I wasn't going to try and impress the new guy. It wasn't like Jesse wanted it. My heart, I mean.
It wasn't until Henri waved his hand in front of my face that I realised he was talking to me.
"Anybody home?" he teased in a deep, slightly accented voice. Just hearing that voice almost made me weak at the knees. His voice had a hint of Italian in it, that was every bit as sexy as Jesse's Spanish one. Well close enough. When I looked up, startled, he laughed a low, throaty chuckle. It made me shiver, and not in a bad way.
"Oh, sorry. Must have zoned out. I'm Suze Simon. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand, and he took it with his own strong one. When I looked up– he was quite tall– I gazed into his soul–searching eyes, just as he stared back into my green ones.
"Ahem…" Father Dom looked uncomfortable, well he did when I finally tore my gaze away from Henri's.
"Henri just moved here from Italy with his younger cousin. He has been put into most of your classes, Susannah, so you can help him out. Now, you had better get to your first lesson, children."
We obediently walked out of the room and started down the hall.
"So, Susannah–"He began.
"It's Suze," I told him.
"Okay, Suze, what's this place like?" His hazel eyes sparkled as he asked me.
"It's all right, nothing special." Father Dom would kill me for saying that, but whatever. Well, he'd kill me and make it look holy.
But wow. I was doing a good job of endearing this Henri to me. Not. "Oh. Here we are." We stopped outside my – um, our – homeroom. I opened the door, introduced Mr Walden to Henri and sat down. Unfortunately Cee Cee was home, sick with the flu that had claimed half the junior year. So I was looking at a lesson alone. Debbie was flipping her hair expectantly, with Kelly sick too, she was by an empty seat as well. I assumed Henri would take the seat by Debbie, he seemed the type who was impressed by airheads. Well, pretty ones anyway. He didn't hesitate, he sat down, right in front of me. Debbie was outraged. She gave him a look, as if to say–'Why did you sit by her?' I didn't see the look he shot back, but she turned back very quickly. He looked back at me and grinned, I smiled back, still stunned that he sat by me and not Debbie.
We barely talked that lesson, until about a minute before the end.
"Hey, do ya wanna go out with me on Friday night?"
I'm sorry to say I seriously considered it. And I'm sorrier to say, it wasn't just because I liked the guy. Sure, he was cute, but he was no Jesse. The real reason I thought about it, was to make him jealous. Jesse, I mean. I debated for a minute before deciding it was unfair to do that to him, both of them, even though it was unlikely he'd care–Jesse, that is. It was a good way to play hard to get, but it was just way OTT to date someone, just to get another guy. "Um…" I said finally.
"Great, I'll pick you up at eight." Dammit. I had given him my phone number and address earlier on, so he could contact me for, you know, homework help. Or, when he phoned, for me to see Jesse get jealous, like with Tad. Oops. I was just about to protest when Mr Walden dismissed the class and he shot out of the classroom. Henri, not Mr Walden. Well, him too. Presumably to get doughnuts.
Well, at least no one could accuse me of being too easy for Jesse. Mostly because they couldn't see him…
God, Men.
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