Chapter 20: It's too late.
"Psst, Liz Prescott, you awake?" Jesse Tuck whispered in Liz' ear. He had snuck into Liz and Justin's bedroom in the middle of the night.
Liz moaned, then opened her sleepy eyes. Even in the darkness, Jesse could see her complexion, and even if she had just woken up, she was not mess. Her hair was gorgeous, a stallion's mane in the moonlight. Her eyes were amazing, those ever-blue eyes. Her lips looked smooth and moisturized even without lip gloss—she was beautiful. "I am now!" she muttered.
Talk about major de ja vu!
"Good," Jesse whispered again, "come take a night walk with me. There's something I need to tell you."
After a lot of thinking, Jesse decided that it would only be fair if he told Liz about his secret. Maybe if he told her, Liz would realize that she loved Jesse and would not get married to Justin. That was a completely out-of-hand theory, but Jesse Tuck wasn't that educated.
Liz, realizing it was something important got her coat. "Come on!"
"The night air is so crisp, so refreshing!" Liz exclaimed, throwing her arms out, and breathing in deeply.
"Yeah, I like it." Jesse simply said.
"So, Jesse Tuck, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Jesse smiled. "You've been waiting for years. Can't you wait for about a few more minutes?"
Liz shook her head. "Now."
"First, we need to get to that tree."
"The Tuck tree?"
Jesse nodded.
Once they were at the tree, Jesse took a deep breath, and started. "I'm not exactly from around here, Liz."
Liz giggled. "I go to Yale, Jesse, I'm not dumb!"
"Well anyways, when me and my family first came here...we were traveling. We took a rest, and drank out of the spring under the tree." He pointed to the spring.
"And yes, it's a spring—that chemical stuff was crap me and my family made up at the last minute. We're not very educated. Anyways, after that, we settled on a farm. Miles got married and had kids. But then, strange things started to happen, Liz. Strange unexplained things. I fell off a tree once. A tree that was at least five miles in the air. Ma was sure I'd died or was suffering major injuries—but there was not a scratch on me. Not a scratch, Liz!"
Liz stared at him, wide-eyed. What was he trying to say!
"Then later on, Pa got bitten by a rattle snake. Did nothing to him. Then, our horse (who drank from the spring too) ran off and got mistaken by hunters for a deer. They shot her, but she was alive. Not a mark on her either. Then we knew. We were blessed—or cursed with everlasting life."
It took Liz a few seconds to absorb the information, and to Jesse's surprise, she grimaced. "Jesse, if I didn't buy that whole 'MDMA' shit, then I won't certainly believe this!"
"But—"
"Jesse, seriously, no one lives forever!"
"Well apparently, I do!" Jesse defended himself.
Then, he had an idea. "Liz, do you have a sharp object?"
Liz shook her head.
Jesse searched his surroundings, and found a hatchet leaning against the Tuck tree. Some other idiot tried to sabotage the tree again, he thought. He violently grabbed the hatchet, and held it before him.
Liz trembled in fear. Jesse was going to kill her!
To her surprise, the hatchet's blow was backwards, on Jesse. Blood splattered, and Jesse immediately fell backwards.
"Jesse!" she cried. "Jesse, no!"
She ran over to him, examining his wound. Jesse had his eyes open, and didn't seem like he was in any pain. "Now watch," he said.
As she watched for the next ten seconds, she noticed that the deep wound quickly decrease in size, and fade away. Soon, the wound had completely disappeared, not even one drop of blood appeared.
Liz gasped! How could this be!
"See," Jesse said getting up, "I didn't die."
Liz was about to faint when Jesse said, "Time is a wheel. A wheel of life. And apparently, we Tucks don't belong in the wheel anymore. Mortals like you, Liz—you're aging by the minute. By the hour, by the days, by the weeks, by the months, and by the years. Me? I'm immortal, whether I like it or not. I no longer belong in the wheel of life. I will stay this age forever."
Suddenly, Liz realized something. "How old are you, Jesse?"
"I'm over 200 years old, but I have a body of a seventeen year old."
Seventeen! He was younger than her!
Liz laughed. "That sounds nice, to stay that young forever."
Now they were getting somewhere! "You can!" Jesse said giddily, "You just have to take a drink from the spring! Then we can run off and get married and—"
Liz laughed as if Jesse had been some little boy, telling his fantasy about how he wanted to become a Power Ranger. "I don't think so."
Jesse was heartbroken. How could this happen! "Wh-why not!"
"Do you realize the age difference? It's almost three years!"
Ah, so that was it! "Actually, I'm a lot older, by a couple of hundred years!"
Liz shrugged. "It doesn't matter, your mind is still seventeen, and so is your body!"
It was true; Jesse did still act like a child.
Liz felt badly, so she added, "I'm thankful for you to share your secret with me. That preserved our friendship."
Friendship. That was it. All they could ever be was to be friends.
"Yeah, you're welcome." Jesse murmured.
Suddenly, tears began to spill from Liz' ever-blue eyes. "If you had told be this three years ago, then it could've worked out! It's too late now, Jesse, it's too late!"
Jesse was bewildered. So Liz did want to be with him! "The guy doesn't always have to be older or the same age as the girl, right?" he asked.
Liz shook her head. "Not always, but usually, the man is at least eighteen!"
Jesse sighed. "I was seventeen going on eighteen when I drank that water."
"I'm sorry, Jesse."
Jesse swallowed the pit in his throat. He wasn't going to cry, he was going to be a man.
"I'm getting married to Justin tomorrow." Liz said. "I don't even know if I love him anymore!"
"Then don't get married."
Liz shook her head, letting more tears fall out. "No, we've all worked so hard on this wedding. Besides, Justin's a nice man. He'll be good to me, I'm sure."
Jesse nodded. "He's an Atkinson. If you combine yours and his fortune together, you will become very rich." Then he gave a half-hearted "Congrats."
"NO!" Liz yelled, "I don't care about the money! I don't fucking care!"
Jesse was amused.
"But I...look, it's too late. You had your chance, Jess, now you must suffer the consequences."
"So you're gonna punish yourself too, just to teach me a lesson?" Jesse sneered.
Liz didn't have to be hearing this. "I'm going home." she whispered.