Chapter 31

"Gee, I wonder where you were" Marta teased as I went upstairs. She was standing at the top of the stairs, her hands on her hips, blocking my way to my room.

"I was just out" I replied trying to get past her.

She held her ground and crossed her arms over her chest, "You really expect me to believe that when you're smiling like an idiot? You were with Su-" I clamped my hand over her mouth and dragged her into my room. After I'd closed my door I uncovered her mouth and saw that she was smirking at me.

"Alright, you win. Just don't go telling anyone" I pleaded.

She smiled and did a little girl-ish squeal. "I don't have to tell anyone," she said plopping herself down in the chair by my desk, "Everyone at school already thinks you and Suze are a couple. In fact, from what I've heard, you guys are the new 'It' couple."

"What? How is that possible?" I asked, so confused with what I was hearing.

"Apparently some senior dude tried to hit on Suze yesterday at the beach, but she told him that she had just moved out here to be with her boyfriend. And when he asked her who her boyfriend was, she told him you. It also didn't help that you and Suze were spotted being all cute and friendly at the beach. I heard there was some water wrestling involved; care to tell me what happened?"

"I…I…I don't know what to say," I breathed, "I mean, we didn't water wrestle. I carried her to the water and dumped her in, then she tackled me-"

"Which constitutes water wrestling" Marta interjected.

"But we didn't do anything really couple-like" I said trying to remember every minute of our time at the beach yesterday.

"Okay…did you hold hands?" Marta asked. I nodded and felt like banging my head against something. Okay, so we acted a little bit like a couple.

"Did you…put sunscreen on each other, at the beach? The parking lot wouldn't count because no one would see" she questioned. I nodded again, swallowing hard.

"Oh boy" she sighed, "Well, you didn't kiss her did you?" I looked at her, my cheeks feeling as if they were on fire.

"You kissed her at the beach! The day you met her!" she shouted standing up so fast she knocked over my desk chair. I tried to calm her down and get her to stop yelling.

"Okay, okay, I'm calm. Now explain exactly what happened" she sighed through deep breaths.
"You might wanna sit back down, it's a long story" I told her. She let out a deep breath and sat down looking at me expectantly. "Do you want to know the whole-whole story, or the Sparknotes version?"

"I wanna hear everything, in detail. Just don't get all gross about the kissing stuff, I really don't wanna hear about you kissing Suze; that's just too weird to think about and I really don't need anymore mental images" she answered.

"Alright then…So, CeeCee called me early yesterday morning…"

&&&

"Wow" Marta sighed after I'd finished telling her all about what had happened since yesterday morning. "I never knew you could have a life, let alone a love life. And with someone as awesome as Suze too. That just baffles me."

I threw a pillow at her from my bed and she caught it laughing. "But seriously Jesse, I'm happy for you. Suze is a really great girl, I just can't wrap my head around what she sees in you" she said straight-faced until the end where she burst out laughing.

I tossed my other pillow at her and it hit her square in the face. That's when I let out a bark of laughter.

"You know you're a really mean older brother" she commented.

I placed my hand over my heart and replied, "You really know how to wound me."

"Pufft" she sputtered before throwing back my pillows and leaving my room. "Night Romeo" she chimed as she closed my door behind her.

Not ten minutes later I heard tiny little footsteps running towards my door. They stopped and a light knock came from the other side before Mapi peeked into my room. She smiled at me and gave me her big puppy-dog eyes.

"You better be ready for bed when I get to your room otherwise no story," I said. She gave a cute little squeal before she closed my door and took off down the hallway to her bedroom. I smiled after her and then waited five minutes before getting up and going down the hall to her room.

"Ready for bed?" I asked as I entered her room. She ran in from her bathroom and jumped up onto her bed before crawling under her covers. "Ready" she sang happily and patted the space next to her on her bed. I sat down beside her as she stared up at me with a big smile on her face.

"What story should we read tonight?" I asked her glancing over at her book collection. We'd already read just about every book on her shelves twice, and her favorites were practically committed to my memory.

"I wanna hear something new. Make up something" she suggested giving me her big smile that I could never resist.

I thought for a moment before finally deciding on something. "Okay, …once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Susanna-I mean, Susan. She lived in a great big city and loved to dance every kind of dance imaginable."

"Even the Mexican dancing with the big skirts that swirl around?" she asked sounding excited.

"Yep, even ballet folklórico" I answered with a smile. "Well Susan's dad died when she was little, leaving only her and her mom. But when Susan got older her mom fell in love with a man named And-rew, Andrew. Susan's mom married Andrew and together they decided that Susan and her mom would move far away from their home so they could live with Andrew and his three sons."

"She had to leave all her friends and her home?" Mapi asked sounding concerned.

I nodded and continued; "Susan's mom went to her husband's house first so she could set everything up for Susan when she finally moved. Well Susan came to visit her new home before she moved in and met a girl at a restaurant her age. She and the girl became really good friends and Susan felt better knowing that when she moved to be with her mom and new family she'd have a friend. So Susan went back to her big city home one more time and then moved out to be with her new family."

"Wasn't she escared?" Mapi asked.

"She was, but Susan is a brave girl and she moved in knowing that everything would be okay. But on the day Susan got to her new home her friend took her out to see her new home town. And on that day Susan's friend introduced her to me-I mean, Jess-I mean Jeff. Well Jeff knew the moment he saw her that he liked Susan, and not only because she is so incredibly beautiful, but because they had so much in common and could talk for hours. Jeff felt that around Susan he was a better person, and so he always wanted to be around her. Susan liked Jeff too and together they decided to try and make Susan's new house and family seem like home for her."

"That's it?" Mapi questioned furrowing her brows together, "No happily ever after?"

"They're starting on it" I told her before kissing her forehead. "Now you get to go to bed."

She sighed but relented and wiggled around under her covers trying to get comfortable. I got up and went to her doorway.

"Jesse, I like Susan and Jeff. Can you tell me more about them?" Mapi asked, her eyelids starting to look heavy.

"Some other night" I replied, "Night Mapi-posa."

"Night big brodder" she mumbled closing her eyes. I smiled and turned off her light before closing her door and going back to my own bedroom.

"Night Jeff, say hi to Susan for me" Marta called from down the hall, across from Mapi's bedroom. I shook my head before retreating into my room and calling it a night.

&&&

"So apparently we're the new 'It' couple," Susannah said as we sat down at a table in the coffee shop. She had a smile on her face and a caramel macchiato in front of her, which is why I was in a good mood: lovely company who happens to want to kiss me, and caffeine. Was there ever a better combination?

"So I'm told" I replied with a smile.

"So, how should we, as the new 'It' couple, handle this?" she asked trying to look very serious, but smiling a little.

"Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint the people, because as the new 'It' couple we have a certain standard to meet" I suggested.

Susannah laughed and nodded her head a little. "Of course, we wouldn't want to disappoint anyone. And what standard exactly is it that we have to meet? I've never really been part of an 'It' couple" she responded.

"Well, neither have I, but from what I've seen of past 'It' couples I believe we basically have to be seen together a lot and just act like a couple in general. Also I believe there's some kissing required" I answered trying to look completely serious but failing miserably.

"I see" Susannah sighed, "And just how much kissing do you think is required?"

"Lots" I said before both Susannah and I broke out in grins.

Afterwards Susannah and I finished our coffees and then headed towards the school, holding hands, as was required to act like a couple we had agreed.

"Oh, Jesse I'm supposed to go meet with Father Dominic. You wanna meet up later at break?" Susannah asked before we passed the main office of the school.

"Actually I'm supposed to meet with him too. I was gonna walk you to your homeroom and then head back here" I admitted.

Susannah smiled up at me and gave my hand a squeeze. "Ever the gentleman, aren't we?"

"I do my best. Come on," I said, pulling her towards Father Dominic's office.

"Good morning" the secretary greeted us with a warm smile, "Can I help you kids with something?"

"Actually we're supposed to meet with Father Dominic before class. Is he busy?" Susannah replied, sounding equally amiable.

"Oh, no, not at all. Go on in" she told us.

I knocked on his door just in case and waited until he responded with his usual "Come in, the door's always open." I opened the door and motioned for Susannah to enter first. "Jeez I'm gonna get spoiled with all this" she said with a bright smile before going in.

"Ah, Susannah, my dear child, how are you this morning?" Father Dominic asked as Susannah stepped inside. He sent a questioning glance in my direction when I followed closely behind Susannah. "Jesse, I'll only be a moment with Miss Simon, if you would be so kind as to wait outside for a moment. Actually before you step out I have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything Father" I said.

"Well, Miss Simon here is a new student and I was wondering if you would escort her about campus today, make sure she doesn't get lost" he explained.

"I'd be happy to" I answered, smiling at Susannah, who gave my hand another squeeze.

"Do you two know each other?" Father Dominic questioned, looking at us strangely.

"Yeah," Susannah said, "me and Jesse go way back." Father Dominic eyed us suspiciously noting Susannah's sarcastic tone. We smiled at each other before she added, "We're dating, actually."

Father Dominic looked from me to Susannah and back again. "You're dating each other?"

"Yeah, wasn't that implied?" Susannah asked sounding kind of confused. Father Dominic opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking a bit like a fish out of water. "Sit" he instructed us.

Susannah and I shared a confused glance before complying, and each taking a chair, me of course helping Susannah into her's.

"Now I realize that I have no say in who you two choose to get involved with, both in friendships and relationships, but I must express my concern about this situation. Both of you being mediators must realize how dangerous relationships can be, but getting involved with another mediator could be even more dangerous. I don't particularly know about your past relationships, Susannah, but Jesse and myself have experienced ghosts who will use your relations with someone against you" Father Dominic lectured.

"Father D, I get the whole 'dangerous relationship choice' thing, but I can't help liking Jesse and wanting to be with him. I know the risks, I've gone through this before and experienced the worst outcome possible, but with Jesse, I'm willing to take the chance" Susannah countered, her eyes looking a little watery. I reached over and placed my hand over her's. She looked over at me and attempted a smile.

"Susannah I had no idea" Father Dominic breathed, "I'm terribly sorry."

Susannah blinked back her tears and put on a brave face, "its fine Father D. It was a long time ago, and…it's fine."

"Oh my, look at the time! Go on and get to homeroom before you're late. I'd hate for that to happen on your first day as seniors. And Susannah, I want you to know that there was an error in the computer and your homeroom is actually Mr. Ochoa's classroom, room 217." She nodded and we both got up, waving goodbye to Father Dominic before exiting his office.

"Querida, are you all right?" I asked once I'd closed Father Dominic's door. She nodded and sent me an appreciative smile, "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."

"You wanna talk about it?" I questioned grabbing hold of her hand. "Later" she replied, "If I get emotional I don't want to have worry about people knowing I just cried." I pulled her into my arms and gave her a big hug, kissing her hair before we pulled apart.

She stared at me for a second before smiling and then leading us back through the office. As we passed the secretary's desk she smiled brightly at us, "You kids try and have some fun your first day back." We nodded and smiled at her before turning towards the door, but stopping as we noticed Adam sitting down in one of chairs lined against the wall.

"School hasn't even started yet, and already you're in trouble. Adam what did you do this time?" I questioned, smirking at him.

"Nothing, I just…I wasn't alone. CeeCee should be in here too. It's not like I can get caught making out by myself. Besides, we weren't you know, tongue wrestling, just kissing, a little" he admitted, blushing the whole time.

Susannah and I burst out in laughter, but then remembered we had to get to homeroom. "We'll catch you later lover boy" Susannah chimed as we darted out of the office and towards Mr. Ochoa's classroom.

Just as we entered the classroom the bell rang and Mr. Ochoa laughed and said 'thanks for deciding to join us'. Susannah and I took two seats towards the back of the room and sat next to each other.

"All right, I hope you're all happy with the seats you're currently occupying, because those will be your permanent seats for the rest of the year," Mr. Ochoa informed us before taking roll and then reading the morning's announcements. After that he told us we could talk quietly amongst ourselves until the class change.

When it was time to go to our first classes I walked Susannah to Mrs. McDonald's room for English before heading off to Mrs. Walker's room for AP Calculus. When I walked into the classroom I glanced over the seating chart Mrs. Walker had printed and placed on her podium, and took my seat beside Kevin, an acquaintance of mine from student council.

"Yo, Jesse. Dude, I heard you're dating the new girl," he said sounding extremely interested.

"Umm…well, yeah. Her name's Susannah, but she goes by Suze" I replied getting paper out for Mrs. Walker's lecture.

"Oh, dude you are one lucky guy, she's totally smokin'! I saw her show up with my man Brad, but that dumb ass didn't even glance in her direction, after they got out of the car. But yeah, she's fine!"

"Well, Brad is Susannah's stepbrother, so that's probably why he wasn't looking at her" I

explained.

"No way" Kevin muttered, "wow, that's trippy. So how is it that you got to be the luckiest guy around, dating Suze and all?"

"We met through a mutual friend and really hit it off. We've been together ever since" I answered, not telling him that 'ever since' has been about two days.
"How long have you guys been going out?" he asked, honing in on just the topic I didn't want to discuss.

"For a while" I replied, lying "but things were weird at first because we were long distance for a while."

"Dude from what I saw, she'd be worth the wait. You tapping that?" he questioned giving me an expectant glance.

I had to think for a second what he meant by 'tapping', but when it finally hit me I couldn't help but look completely shocked.

Kevin noticed my shock and quickly responded, "Sorry, if you don't wanna talk about it it's fine. I'm just saying, she's the kind of girl you can't help but wanna brag about nailing."

Again I could tell the shock was evident on my face because Kevin stopped talking and faced forward. He didn't talk the rest of class and when class ended he mumbled a 'later dude' and took off.

I hurriedly went and got Susannah from Mrs. McDonald's classroom and then escorted her to her locker before searching for mine, only to find that mine was right next to her's.

"How…that's…how?" I stammered. Susannah merely laughed and replied "They probably didn't see the de in front of your last name, so they sorted you by Silva."

"Suze!" I heard someone squeal delightfully from across the breezeway. I turned around and saw Marta, with an open locker right behind her. This is NOT happening.

"Yay we're locker buddies" Susannah joked before running over and hugging Marta.

"Please tell me you never use your locker" I sighed.

"Sorry big bro, I'm here all the time. See you two love birds around" she chimed before slamming shut her locker and then strolling down the breezeway towards her next class.

"Ugh" I breathed sticking my head inside my locker. Susannah laughed at me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Come on, it won't be that bad."

"Yeah, quit being such a baby" Brad teased spinning the combination on the locker on the other side of Susannah.

"Please tell me you're playing a really mean prank on me and that's not really your locker" Susannah pleaded.

Brad laughed, "Relax Suze I never use my locker, I just stick a change of clothes and some cash in here in case I forget my bag for practice or something. I usually share Debbie's locker. But I better not hear of any locker make out sessions."

Both Susannah and I blushed, and then quickly shut our lockers. Brad walked off to his next class, I assumed, while Susannah asked me what class I had next.

"History with Mr. Walden" I answered, "You?"

She smiled brightly at me, "Same."

"Oh my gosh, me too!" Adam said, appearing out of no where, and attempting his best Kelly Prescott imitation.

We all burst out in laughter and together walked to Mr. Walden's classroom. When we all sat down the bell rang and Mr. Walden introduced himself. He then asked the class, "Is there a Miss Simon here?"

"Right here" Susannah replied, raising her hand and giving him a wave. This earned Susannah a few stares and some hushed murmuring, but she seemed unfazed by the attention. Mr. Walden nodded back before taking roll and then beginning his lecture.

Class seemed to zoom by because when I zoned back into class Mr. Walden was handing out something. "Alright class, I'm passing out your homework. These worksheets cover the reading on pages 8-21, and you can complete these in groups of two, which I will be selecting" Mr. Walden stated.

After he'd handed out our homework he went down each row, pairing people up. Luckily Susannah sat right in front of me, so we were partnered up.

Susannah turned around in her seat so we could talk and we were deciding where we should do the homework.

"Well, why don't you just come over to my house? All my stepbrothers have stuff to do, so we'd have the house all to ourselves" she hinted, one of her eyebrows raising slightly.

I smiled and replied, "Okay, but if you're going to start kissing me we better be somewhere far away from your front door."

"Excuse me, but I believe it was you who kissed me" she corrected.

"Maybe, but you kissed me back, which led to what your stepbrothers walked in on" I countered.

Susannah in turn very maturely stuck her tongue out at me.

"Whoa, what'd they walk in? Were you two crazy kids doing something…inappropriate?" Adam asked us using his whispering voice.

Susannah and I both blushed before turning away from Adam and avoiding eye contact with each other. "So…this is awkward" Susannah mumbled.

I laughed, "yes, that it is."

"Children, so immature" Adam teased before getting his stuff together and leaving the classroom. Apparently class had ended.

"Come on, let's go for a walk" I offered, after gathering my belongings, and holding out my hand.

Susannah smiled back at me and shoved her stuff in her backpack before she took my hand and let me lead us out of the classroom, into the open breezeways.

"Do you have to go to your locker?" I questioned.

"No, I have yoga next" she answered.

"They offer yoga?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, starting this year. Father D. told me about it when he met with my mom and me for my interview to transfer. He suggested it after I asked about any dance classes I could take" Susannah said.

"Wow, you really like dance, don't you?" I questioned, looking at her with a newfound interest and respect.

She smiled before replying, "There's just something about the way you can move your body that really fascinates me. But I take every kind of dance and movement class I can to learn. I feel like I'm being let into a certain cultures' world by learning their interpretation of dance, and, in a sense, respecting their traditions."

I stared at her, amazed even more by this beautiful, intelligent goddess. She was so insightful and knowledgeable, but at same time captivated me with her sense of humor and shyness.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" she babbled nervously.

"No, nothing, it's just…you continue to amaze me. Just when I think I've got you figured out, you pull a fast one on me and completely surprise me; in a very good way. And I don't think anyone has ever completely astonished me, and confused me, all at once."

She smiled at me, while her cheeks flushed. "I don't really know what to say…except, thanks. You know you have the same affect on me. Just when I think I've solved the anomaly that is Jesse de Silva, you do something so spectacular that just confuses the hell out of me."

I smiled back at her just as we reached the stone pathway that leads to the graveyard. No one ever really goes there. Well, unless you want to be discreet about making out with someone.

"What's down there?" Susannah asked me, looking down the path towards the graveyard, which looked slightly foggy. I found it odd that there was still fog out at this hour. Normally the fog evaporates by midmorning, but now fog covered the ground of the graveyard, making it look eerie.

"The graveyard" I answered, pulling her closer to me and stringing my arm around her waist. She smiled shyly at me before pulling her arm around me and resting it against my back.

"I wanna see" she breathed, sounding a bit nervous, but pulling me with her down the stone pathway. I went with her, feeling slightly drawn to the foggy graveyard, and noticed how cold it seemed to have gotten all of a sudden. By the time we opened the gate and walked inside I could see our breath in the chilly air. Something was off.

"Jesse, there's people over there" Susannah said nodding in their direction. I looked over, but the fog made them hard to see. It was a man and woman, that much I could tell, but details were undistinguishable. Susannah drew us nearer to the couple, and although my brain told me I should be steering us in the other direction, something told me to go to them.

We could hear them mumbling to each other, but the words didn't completely reach us. They sounded anxious about something, but you could tell by their body language that these two people really cared for each other. The man sweetly reassured the woman about something, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him close and whispered something to him that made his eyes light up. I didn't hear exactly what she said, but my guess would be 'I love you'.

We neared even closer to the couple and eyed them carefully. What were these people doing here? Hardly anyone visits the graveyard. After all its filled with some of the first residents of Carmel, who could they know?

"It's us" Susannah whispered, her eyes wide in shock. I looked carefully at the two people and was startled when I realized Susannah was right. These two people were us. The woman who appeared to be Susannah's twin, albeit, slightly older looking, spotted us first and tapped the older me twin. He turned around to see us and gave Susannah and I a smile.

"Hey guys" the woman said. She sounded just like Susannah, which seemed to stun Susannah completely. She stared ahead at her look-a-like, her mouth agape. Susannah pressed herself against me tightly and I too held her securely. What the hell is going on?

"I know, you're probably freaking out, but don't worry, everything is fine, you're not going crazy. We actually need to talk to you, finalize some things" the woman told us, holding onto my look-a-like's hand.

She continued on, explaining the situation to Susannah and I which somehow caused us to remember everything our look-a-likes, were talking about. The de Silvas then reminded us that we had to decide which universe we wanted to continue living in.

There were a few moments of silence, until Mrs. de Silva informed us it was time to make our final decision.

Susannah and I looked at each other, staring into each other's eyes intently.

"Okay, we've decided" I said. Susannah hugged me tight, and finished, "we want to permanently live in…"

&&&

(Third person)

The de Silvas were in the graveyard waiting for Jesse and Suze.

"I don't think we should tell them querida," Mr. de Silva said.

"Jesse, they deserve to know. What if, he actually does come back, then what?" Mrs. de Silva protested.

"Susannah, Father Dominic said the chances of him coming back are next to zero" he stated.

"Yeah, and if it were anyone else I'd say we have nothing to worry about, but it's not anyone else, it's Paul" his wife replied.

Mr. de Silva pulled his wife into his arms and held her gently. "Querida, if something happens and he does manage to come back, we can take care of it. There's no need to worry these two, they have enough to deal with as it is."

She sighed and then nodded her head. "Fine, but I still don't like this."