Hey all. Don't expect such quick updates in the future… I'm on Spring Break and all my friends are gallivanting off in Florida or the Caribbean, so I am alone with my computer and no life.
But I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.
I'd like to thank my darling daughter SAZZMATAZZ for being a consultant on this story :)
By the way, the song for the story: "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" by U2
PS- I changed a bit of the previous chapter… the ice cream thing takes place about a week after the first day of school, if you're too lazy to re-read the previous chapter… that's about all I changed, anyway.
Chapter 3
Jesse pulled his slightly battered car into the parking lot of a more than slightly battered Dairy Queen right on the ocean. It was a place that I'd seen, but never been to.
Cee Cee and Adam were all ready out there, waiting for Jesse and Rachel to show up. They waved when they saw Jesse's car pull up, and got even more excited when they saw me.
"Suze! Hey, you came!" Jesse led me around the old wooden fence and sat down on top of one of the picnic tables, next to Cee Cee.
"Uh… yea, I did," I said, unsure of what to do and say.
"I was over at Susannah's house to work with her brother on a project for history, and when I left I kidnapped her and took her along," Jesse teased, winking at me. I smiled back, getting caught up in him.
"Hog tied and everything in the trunk," I said seriously. They laughed, and I smiled. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
I got myself a cherry Mister Misty, while Jesse got himself a vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles.
When we sat back down, Cee Cee, ever the inquisitive and observant one, asked, "Did you always live here in California? Because you have a weird accent and I can't place it." I laughed.
"I grew up in Brooklyn," I said, "but moved here about a year ago."
"New York!" Rachel said, impressed. "What was that like?"
For the next 20 minutes, I recounted memories far less painful than those more recent. Somewhere in there, Jesse's arm ended up casually around my waist. At this point, though, I didn't care. Here I was, having fun, enjoying myself. Everything that had happened was out of my head.
Until…
"Suze?" I heard someone call out, and my blood froze.
Out of nowhere appeared three people I was very familiar with. "Oh my God, it is you!" one said. "Everyone has been wondering what happened to you." My blood thawed a bit. Maybe things had improved. "Marissa said that you killed yourself. I mean, considering what happened last month, none of us were particularly surprised," Jenna said. Her voice lowered, though everyone I was with had gotten so quiet, they heard it too. "Or upset." Jesse took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly, while my other hand gripped the edge of the table. The other girl, Maria, noticed this.
"God, Suze, you're sleeping with some other guy already?" Since holding hands always means sex, my still functioning piece of my brain said dimly. "I always knew you were a slut." With that, I launched myself from the table, and ran as fast as I could out to the beach. In the back of my head, I dimly heard Jesse calling my name, and Maria and Jenna laughing as Adam tried to tell them off.
God, how could I have forgotten? How could I have been so stupid to think that things could change?
Jesse caught up with me and grabbed me around the middle to keep me from running any further. "Susannah," he said, turning me around to face him. Embarrassingly, I felt him wipe away my tears that were running down my cheeks. "Are you alright? Who were those girls?" I sniffled, hastily finished rubbing the moisture from my cheeks, and took a deep breath.
"I'm fine, Jesse. Don't worry about it. It's nothing." He frowned.
"Susannah, this is not nothing. Who were they? Why did they say such things to you?" I shrugged.
"I don't know, they're bitches. Come on, let's get back," I said, and started walking back towards the building, but Jesse grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him.
"Susannah… you don't have to pretend that everything's okay. Not with me." His hand held my face so softly, more gently than it's ever been held. I couldn't move. All I could do was look into his eyes.
His face slowly came closer, and closer, and I prayed that he would kiss me.
But then I remembered what happened last time this had happened… the last time I had fallen for someone.
And I had swore to myself I'd never let it happen again.
I pulled away from his gaze and his grip, and looked down at the sand. "I'm sorry, Jesse, I have to go."
And with that, I ran, again. He called after me, but I couldn't face him.
I found a payphone at another small restaurant a little less than half a mile down the beach. From there, I called my mom and had her pick me up.
And when I got home, I crashed into bed and cried.
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"Mmm…""Paul… stop…" I moaned. His hot mouth continued trailing down my neck, his hands kept at the button of my pants—he had already discarded of my shirt. "Paul, NO." He finally rolled off me, breathing heavily. I sat up and reached for my shirt, slipped it back over my shoulders, and started at the buttons.
"Come on, Suze," he said, his voice heavy.
"Not now, Paul. Not here."
"Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do Paul. It's just that I'm not ready." He sighed, and rolled off of the bed. He reached for his own shirt, clearly brooding.
"Are you mad?" I asked carefully, buttoning the last button and running my hand through my already tousled hair. He didn't respond for a moment. Eventually, though, he took a deep breath and turned around to face me.
"No, Suze, I'm not mad. Now come on, let's get back downstairs. There's still a party going on there." He took my hand, and pulled me back down to the loud, pulsing music and hordes of bodies.
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"Suze? Suze…?" I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. Cee Cee was standing there, anxiously, looking down at me. "I tried to call you last night, but your mom said you were asleep. Jesse tried too." I shrugged, not looking her in the eye.
"I was tired." She sat down on the bench next to me. School was about to start.
"Are you… okay?" she asked carefully.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I said, getting up. "I've got to go see Father Dominic really quickly."
With that, I walked away without another word.
"Hey, Father D," I said, coming into his office. "What's up?" He looked up from his papers.
"Hello, Susannah, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I was wondering if there were any leads in Annie's hit and run," I asked. He took off his glasses and looked at me.
"What?"
"Annie? You know, that little girl who's been visiting us every once in a while? Do you know if they arrested anyone?" He looked at me, amazed.
"She's never told either Jesse or I how she died."
"Really?" I was surprised. "She told me she was walking home from her friend's house when a blue or black car—probably an SUV—hit her." Father Dominic narrowed his eyes.
"You didn't… do anything to her, did you?" He had seen some of my, ah, techniques with another particularly stubborn ghost.
"No, of course not! She's 10!" Father Dominic nodded distractedly, and pushed a button to connect him with his secretary.
"Sister Jillian? Can you call Jesse de Silva down to my office please? Thank you." He disconnected. "Jesse would be very pleased to hear what you've learned." I quickly stood up.
"Uh, Father Dom, I think I should get to class now… big day in The Tempest," I said. "I'll talk to you later." I was almost out the door when he stopped me.
"Susannah, did something happen with Jesse? Why don't you want to see him?"
"Me? Not want to see Jesse?" I scoffed. "That has nothing to do with it! I just need to get to class." He still looked suspicious, but let me leave.
However, my luck had run out. As I was rounding the corner, Jesse was coming in the other direction. Some students were still scattered about, but most had already gotten to class. First period would start any second.
"Susannah!" he said. "What happened last night? Where did you go? We were all worried about you." I shrugged.
"I was tired. I didn't want to bother you, so I called my mom and had her pick me up." His frowned deepened.
"Susannah," he said gently. "Don't do this."
"Do what?" I asked innocently.
He had opened his mouth to reply when a novice came up to us. "Excuse me, where are you two supposed to be? Get to class."
"I have a pass to see Father Dominic," Jesse explained. She shooed him off, and I hurried the rest of the way to class.
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After school, I was about to go home when I felt someone grab the back of my shirt and shove me in a car. I shrieked, of course, until I saw that it was Adam.
"Come on, Suze, we're going to the beach." I raised my eyebrows.
"Just us?"
"I thought Cee Cee and Jesse might get jealous, so they're coming too." I quickly tried to open the door, but he had already started driving.
"I don't have a bathing suit," I said, "or a towel or anything! Besides, I have a lot of stuff to do, and-"
"Nonsense. I am taking you personally to your house, so you can get changed and get your stuff."
"Really… it's okay. You can just drop me off here. You don't need to go to that trouble."
"No trouble at all. It wouldn't be worth going if you aren't there." Suddenly, I realized.
Maybe these guys wouldn't turn on me. Maybe… just maybe, these people wouldn't hurt me like my old friends did.
Of course, they weren't the ones who hurt me the most.
Paul takes that prize.
Adam, true to his word, dropped me off, where I quickly changed into my black bikini and grabbed a towel and suntan lotion and my sunglasses.
I left a hurried note to my mother, telling her where I was, and, happier than I was in weeks, jumped back into the car with Adam.
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When we got there, Cee Cee was already sitting underneath her umbrella with her beach gear—long pants, long sleeved shirt, sunglasses, hat, and SPF 80—on, with Jesse on the town next to her, wearing only a bathing suit.
I was totally right from my first assessment of him. He had an amazing body. I scoped him out, glad I had my sunglasses on so he couldn't tell that I was staring at him.
"Oh, I grabbed some soda on the way here," Jesse said, "and some snacks. Susannah, can you come help me bring them over?" Figures, he would chose me.
"Sure," I said. Hey, I was in a good mood. I followed him to his car.
"Father Dominic said that Annie spoke to you about what happened to her," he said as he popped the trunk. "How did you do it?" I shrugged.
"I just asked her, and she told me."
"I've asked her dozens of times, but she hasn't said a word." I grinned as I grabbed the bag of chips.
"I guess I've just got skill, huh?"
"Sure you do," he replied, rolling his eyes.
"Hey!" I hit his arm, and he laughed.
Back at our area, we dropped the stuff on the blanket, and I reached for my suntan lotion and started spreading it over my arms and shoulders.
"Can someone get my back?" I asked, taking off my shirt.
"Sure," Jesse volunteered—rather quickly, I noticed—and he came around behind me.
Suddenly, he got very quiet.
"Susannah… where'd you get this bruise?"
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And review, my precious(es).
