Going Pro
Chapter 13: Confusing Situation
His mind was swimming. He wasn't even sure how he got here or why. One moment he was looking at Duel Monsters cards and the next, Simone Summers started saying things he couldn't quite remember anymore, because she kissed him.
She had confessed, right? He tried to recall, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on any one thing. Not caring anymore, he wrapped his arms around her and stopped thinking.
When was he supposed to come up for air anyway? Was he breathing at all? His whole body felt heavy, as if it was falling asleep. He pulled away from her lips and looked at her.
"Jesse?" Simone asked. "What's wrong?"
He only just noticed she was resting on top of him, but it felt like he was bound and trapped under bricks.
"Bi-bi?" He heard in his ear.
"Jesse?" Another voice spoke into his other ear.
"Jesse, wake up."
Jesse opened his eyes and instantly blushed when a few of the Crystal Beasts, the light sleepers of the bunch, were looking at him closely with worried looks.
"W-what?" Jesse asked with a still sleepy and raspy voice.
"Are you okay?" Amethyst Cat was sitting up at the end of the bed.
"Yeah, why?" he said and sat up a little to look at his clock. The alarm was going to sound in less than ten minutes. Not that he needed that anymore thanks to Ruby Carbuncle.
"You were moaning in your sleep, was it a nightmare?" Sapphire Pegasus asked from beside the bed.
Jesse shook his head. "I'm okay, not a nightmare, don't worry about it, it was nothing, eh heh heh haa…" Jesse tried to laugh it off. He got up quickly and gathered his school uniform as well as the clean underwear and socks he would need. "I'm going to the bathroom, just wait here," he informed the spirits that were awake before he left his room to take a shower and get ready for the day. Normally at least Ruby Carbuncle went with him when she knew he was going to take a shower because she was particularly fascinated by the water stream and the drain. However, there were times Jesse needed to be alone. This morning was one of them.
Jesse quickly forgot about the dream by the time he was done and he gathered his deck before getting himself breakfast. It was a little weird to be up so early. Normally he slept through his alarm clock at least once before it would automatically snooze.
When he finished eating, Jesse opened his laptop and checked the international page on the Dueling Network. If he was going to be a pro, he had to be more up to date with what was going on in the dueling world. There appeared to be a special duel being broadcasted live in Japan. It was already late afternoon there. Jesse opened the video to check it out.
"Armed Dragon Level Five!" A black-haired duelist called out as he summoned his monster.
"Wow!" Jesse said in awe as he watched the duel.
By watching, he learned it was the annual school duel between Duel Academy and North Academy. He was actually seeing the inside of Duel Academy's high tech dueling area. Jesse couldn't stop thinking about how much he would love the chance to duel there. Both Chazz Princeton and Jaden Yuki appeared to be fantastic duelists. They were on another level compared to some of the competitions Jesse had been to already.
"So this is the power of Academy duelists…" Jesse breathed. Everyone's cards were so cool. He'd love to see them in person and not only on a laptop screen.
Then something weird happened. Right when the Duel Academy representative was about to win, the duel cut off and the video stopped working.
"What?" Jesse was about to refresh the page to see if it was the connection, but then the video switched to a segment with a couple hosts caught off guard as well and they had to start talking. Either they ran out of time or that Jaden wasn't supposed to win and the program was rigged for North Academy.
"…Weird." Jesse shrugged and checked the time. He had to be on his way to school now.
He picked up his bag and made sure he had his homework and then left, locking the door behind him. As usual, he went to pick up his bike, but remembered why it wasn't there and he couldn't ride it anymore because of the damage.
"Great…" He was sure he wouldn't get to school on time by walking, so he was left with one option. "Time to run!" he chuckled to himself and took off.
There was a narrow path down the hill, but it was along someone's fence up against a small field. Jesse had used it often when he was a kid. Technically, Jesse wasn't allowed to use the path, but he took the risk. It was the only shortcut he had. He still had to move quickly as he followed Ruby Carbuncle.
He had arrived to school out of breath, but less than a minute late. He didn't get to talk to anybody before the teacher came in and began class. After having to make sure he wasn't disruptive with his panting, the rest of the day went by quickly and he managed to stay focused almost the entire day, which amazed him. His only distractions were of his own making when he would find himself daydreaming while staring at Simone's back as she sat at the front of the class. He blamed raging teenaged hormones.
As soon as lunch started he quickly left to get something to eat, so he didn't get to talk with anyone until he got back. Julia wasn't in her usual place, so he figured she stepped out and would return soon. If that was the case, then he could simply wait for her.
"Did you forget about me?" Simone teased as she placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
"Huh?" Jesse answered dumbly. He really wished that wasn't the first thing to come out of his mouth. Almost anything else would have been better. Anything else could have made him appear halfway intelligent. Why did Simone make him so stupid?
To his surprise, she seemed to either not notice or mind. "We're still on for after school today, right?"
Jesse nodded. "Right, I didn't forget," he said, but then remembered something else. "I can't stay long though."
"Aw, why not?" Simone pouted as placed both of her arms around his shoulders as she leaned from beside him. He could smell her.
Jesse didn't want to explain what happened to his bike, it was a bit ridiculous even to him, but he would have to make sure to leave as soon as he could so he didn't get home too late since he had to walk. "I just have to be home by a certain time today, sorry," he said instead.
"Doesn't your mother work nights at that one bar?" Simone asked and Jesse tensed.
Instead of asking how she knew that, he felt defensive. "Not every night, and her shift changes too," he said. He didn't like talking about his mother's job. His mother worked hard with long hours in order to provide, and he didn't want others judging her based on the false assumed nature of her job.
Simone sat on his desk and tilted her head to the side. It appeared she was going to drop the subject. Her hands slid off his shoulders as she moved and he watched her place them on her knees right before she crossed one of her legs over the other. Jesse quickly diverted his eyes when her grey skirt slid up and he received a close ample view of her nylon-covered thigh.
"Anyway," Simone began, "I actually wanted to ask you if you've had a girlfriend before, since you said that one girl was your friend."
Jesse blinked. "Have I? No," he answered. "Girls have always thought I was weird." There were also the ones that hated bugs, but he loved them, so they thought he was gross, but he wasn't going to say that part.
Simone laughed. "You're not weird!" she insisted. "Just a little quiet in class, I've seen you daydreaming."
Jesse just about turned red before he realized that she did not necessarily mean the times he was staring at her while daydreaming. He tended to stare out the window more often. "I just don't like school all that much, I guess, besides gym," he said.
She laughed again. He wasn't even joking. "That sounds pretty normal to me, must be everyone else that's weird," she smiled. "Oh!" she hopped off his desk and turned to face him. "I have to go do something, but don't forget after school today, got it?"
Jesse nodded and she pecked his cheek again, causing him to blush a little since some classmates saw it. Mumbles and not so discreet glances his way started before Simone even left the room. He was starting to hate how bashful he could be sometimes. Not smooth at all when it came to crushes and romance.
Fortunately, everyone seemed to either forget about it or put it aside as soon as class started. Jesse found himself drawing what he thought the Rainbow Dragon might look like. He knew he was probably far from accurate. Still, he had a sense it would be large and majestic. It would be a dragon able to stand proudly beside the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He wondered if it would be as lively as the other Crystal Beast spirits. Would its spirit be kind and gentle? Witty? Sophisticated? Wise? Temperamental? There seemed to be no way he would know until he met it in person.
"Um, Jesse?" Julia tried in a meek voice.
"Huh?" he answered, barely paying any attention.
"School is over," she said. "Did you space out the entire time?"
"What, really?" he jolted upright and looked around. The classroom was already almost empty as the last of the other students left. "Sweet!" he stood up and shoved his belonging into his bag. "I've got a thing with Simone right after this, so I shouldn't be late, you know how bad I am about being on time," he chuckled.
"Be careful," she said softly and Jesse paused and tilted his head to the side as he looked at his friend. Her eyes were downcast, but that wasn't particularly unusual.
"I will, there's nothing to worry about," Jesse assured and she nodded meekly. He hurriedly stepped around her on his way out.
Jesse foolishly went out the wrong door to the building and ended up walking around nearly the entire school building to get to where he wanted to go. Somehow, he got there before Simone and was actually a bit relieved he hadn't kept her waiting.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Simone's voice called out to him. Jesse turned and saw her strolling his way. "I almost forgot I was seeing you again," she laughed.
Jesse blinked. It seemed odd that she would be the one to forget after pestering him about possibly forgetting himself earlier today. "I just got here," he said simply with a shrug.
"I suppose it all worked out then," she said and ran up to him. "Now come with me!" she grinned as she took his hand and forced him to follow as she ran off.
"Wha–," he started but she cut him off.
"You'll see!" she laughed.
He decided to trust her and continued to follow as she led him away from the gym and towards the track. Jesse noted how the track would be a great place to have a duel while it wasn't in use. There was plenty of room for full holograms.
They went around part of the track and actually went towards the outdoor stadium on one side of it. Then they headed up some stairs and continued on up to the top seating. They didn't stop there as she continued into the commentator booth, which was even higher up and placed in a small room on top of the stadium roof. Jesse was surprised the door to it was even open.
"Here!" she smiled and stretched out her arms.
Jesse walked in and saw not only a great a view of the field and the school, but of the countryside beyond the town. The clouds were coming up from over the hills and the start of the evening sun lit up the land just right. He loved the sight of green nature. All his life, that meant more animals and insects and places for him to explore.
"You like it, right?" Simone smiled as she leaned forward to catch his eye.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Come up here often?"
"Hmm, not really," she said. "Someone brought me up here once though and the view is pretty great isn't it."
"I'll say," he agreed. "Are we allowed to be up here?"
"Don't worry about it," she said. "No one will check here, and I needed someplace private."
"For what?" He asked as he turned to face her.
She blinked at him and stepped closer. "Oh you know, stuff," she said simply.
Jesse didn't know. "I guess?" He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to even fake understanding what she was talking about.
"You're cute when you're confused, did you know that?" she laughed softly and Jesse blushed. He was trying to think of something to say, but was just stuttering nonsense when she kissed him instead and his mind blanked.
This wasn't exactly how he imagined his first kiss. He figured it would be at the end of a first or second date. His grandfather had once said that nice girls don't kiss on the first date, but Jesse knew some things changed. Not that he would know if that was one of them. He hasn't even taken anyone on a date yet. This wasn't a date. Simone wasn't his girlfriend either.
Jesse pulled away from the kiss by pushing her away by her shoulders while taking a step back himself.
"What's wrong?" she frowned. "Don't you like me? Didn't you say you thought I was pretty?"
"T-this is a bit sudden," he tried to explain as he blushed, but kept eye contact. "We haven't even gone on a date," he added and her eyes narrowed as she tried to understand what was going on. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now, I'll see you tomorrow," he said quickly as he turned redder.
Jesse wasn't so sure about leaving her there alone. He was more than a bit embarrassed to put such an end to something that he had fantasized about before. It's not that he didn't want to kiss her. He simply wasn't ready for it and he certainly didn't expect it to happen from what he had been brushing off as a simple crush all this time. There was no way he could have mentally prepared for something like that when he wasn't even sure if she liked him or what.
By the time he got home, he decided he could ask Simone on a real date over the weekend. Since it appeared she liked him romantically, she would probably agree to it. Unfortunately, he didn't even have her phone number yet so he would have to wait to ask her at school. Man, this boy-girl stuff was complicated. He didn't know anything.
"The females of your species are awfully complicated, aren't they?" Cobalt Eagle inquired.
"I think some are more complicated than others," Jesse shrugged.
"Am I complicated, Jesse?" Amethyst Cat asked.
Jesse chuckled. "I hadn't thought so, but are you?"
"Hmm, only when it comes to who I like and don't like," she smiled.
"Haven't met many you don't like though," Jesse said as he patted her head, even though it was mostly transparent.
"You are mistaken, I dislike many you have encountered, and that trapper most of all," she said proudly and Jesse sweat a little. He forgot that she was already so attached to him and how she kind of wanted all his attention for herself and the other Crystal Beasts.
Jesse smiled at her anyway. "I don't think I could like a trapper either," Jesse said while remembering Tom's hurt expression when he lost his spirit friend. "I don't want anything to happen to any of you because of them."
"Don't worry about us, Jesse," Sapphire Pegasus started. "We all look after each other too."
"Just keep doing your best," Emerald Tortoise added.
"We all will," Jesse grinned. "And now I say we should go for a jog around the pasture, it's getting a little overgrown already, but I think I can manage."
The Crystal Beasts cheered as the remaining ones appear and they all went to walk, run, or fly alongside Jesse. The tall grass didn't bother them at all so they started playing in it whenever Jesse got distracted by a cool insect or even a bird. He would sometimes take a picture with his phone and then continue on his way until they got back to the house. After dinner, he did his homework and then researched pro-duelists' profiles so he could learn more about the professional world. He read all he could before he got too tired and went to bed.
Morning proceeded as usual and he remembered to leave for school a little earlier so he would only have to briskly walk instead of run. Along the way, his phone buzzed in his pocket, so he took a quick look at it to see if it was important.
'From Julia: People are saying bad things about you, but I know they aren't true.'
Jesse raised an eyebrow at that. 'What things?' he replied and kept walking.
'From Juila: That you tried to force Simone last night.'
'Force what?' Jesse thought it was a typo at first, it didn't make any since. When Jesse read the next message, he stopped in his tracks. He was right in front of the school and it was too late to turn back. This was a serious problem. It was much more than a misunderstanding. It was a flat out lie. There was no way he could just leave this be and let people think what they wanted on this one. This was the kind of thing that could get him into a lot of trouble.
He started into the school and he received more stares and glares in that moment than he thought possible. Appeared everyone had heard it. It was a painful reminder of how fast rumors could spread. He saw Chris leaning up against the wall while staring at the floor and he seemed to be one of the few not looking at him.
Jesse spotted Julia. She was waiting for him outside their first class. "Do you have any idea how this rumor started?" he asked right away.
Julia shook her head. "I heard some girls talking in the bathroom when I got here, I'm sorry I couldn't help put a stop to it, it seems like everyone heard it already." She took a breath, not wanting to say what she was about to. "They said the glamour of being a pro duelist got to and that you think you can take whatever you want now…"
Jesse opened and closed his mouth, trying to put words together as he attempted to wrap his mind around what the situation. "This is unbelievable," Jesse raked his fingers through his hair. "I wasn't even alone with her for than five minutes, how could anyone have got the wrong idea? I don't how this could have happened."
"Neither do I," Julia tried.
"I think I know." Jesse and Julia looked over to see Chris.
"What?" Jesse lowered his brow and remained on guard.
"Simone started the rumor herself, she's like that," Chris said. "Pretty juicy one if you ask me, that's why it got around so fast, not to mention you already had a lot of attention on you lately."
Jesse shook her head. "But why would she say something like that? She's the one who asked me to meet her. It doesn't make any sense." He thought Simone was a nice honor student.
Chris sighed and dropped his shoulders for a moment before relaxing and looking back at Jesse. "It's not really any of your business, but something similar happened to me. She's the reason I got in so much trouble that I was put on probation from clubs. Just know that there are people that know she's full of it and know you didn't do what she said you did. You're just not the type."
"How would you know?" Jesse tilted his head curiously. He and Chris barely knew each other.
"You remember our duel, right?"
"Of course, it was awesome, until the end," Jesse nodded.
"Then you know that we duelists learn a lot about each other through dueling."
Jesse smiled confidently at that. "You're right about that, and thanks for telling me about this rumor stuff."
Chris shrugged. "I just don't that drama queen to get her way just because she was a little embarrassed or something again, even if I would like to see you brought down a couple pegs, I'd rather it be by losing to me in a duel," he remarked.
"You're on anytime."
"I've gotta level up a bit more before I can take you on again, Mister Crystal Beast Duelist," Chris said without a hint bitterness, unlike what Jesse expected. Without saying anything else, Chris walked away.
"Simone doesn't really have many friends because of things like this," Julia said. "She was worse in middle school, and I thought she grew up since then since I don't hear about things like this happening as often."
"That's why you told me to be careful," Jesse muttered, mostly to himself.
Julia frowned and nodded. "I'm sorry. I should have told you about her from back then."
"It's not your fault, come on, class is going to start soon," he said. He knew Julia wasn't much of a gossip and believed her when she said she thought Simone had changed.
Julia followed him into class and the mutters and whispers started again. Jesse ignored it all and acted like he didn't know what it was about. Acting guilty was going to get him nowhere.
Simone was in class and ignored him. Not even a glance was cast his way, much like before she knew he existed. She was even one of the first to leave the classroom at passing time. Jesse wasn't going to let her do that again and in their next class together later that day he got Julia to block her path so he could appear from behind her when she turned to get around the other girl.
"Excuse me, Miss. Summers," Jesse started politely, forcing her to pause. "Did I offend you yesterday?"
Simone turned around again and Julia was still blocking her bath. There was no graceful way to leave without going over desks and chairs. Looking beyond Julia, they found Chris standing in the doorway. Everyone else was allowed to leave. The teacher remained and was cleaning the whiteboard until he heard Jesse's words and paused to see what was going on.
"I don't want to speak to you," Simone said.
Jesse chose to ignore that statement. "There seems to have been a misunderstanding and this misunderstanding has already escalated to a level I cannot ignore, because of the expected repercussions of this accusation."
"So what? It's not like I can take it back."
Julia cut in. "Yes you can," she said. "Many don't believe you already."
"Pardon?" Simone glared at the other girl.
"You might be a good student and everyone is nice to you, but that's only because many know you lie about things and get others into trouble," Julia said. "I'm not the only one here that attended the same middle school as you."
"I'm not lying," Simone huffed. "He was completely out of line!"
"Enough of this, I say we settle this with a duel," Jesse said with his deck in his hand.
"No way am I dueling you, I know I'd lose, it's not fair," Simone defended.
"What you did to me wasn't fair," Jesse countered.
"I'm still not going to duel you," she said.
"Then duel me instead," Julia said and they looked at her. Her voice was still small, but it was firm. "You have a better shot against me and if you lose, you have to take it back or I'll start something about you if you don't follow through." If Julia were to say something, everyone would believe her. Julia not only hardly spoke, but she was known for being sweet and honest.
"Fine," Simone agreed. "And if I win, you all leave me alone."
The teacher approached them upon hearing a duel was going to take place. "I don't know what's going on, but all duels on campus need to be supervised to prevent cheating and antes. You kids need to settle whatever happened right here."
The teens agreed and Chris stepped inside and closed the door. The girls moved to sit down and shuffled their decks.
"You brought your deck for once," Jesse said to his friend.
"I just had a feeling I needed it today," she said.
The girls cut each other's decks and then each drew five cards. Jesse flipped a coin for the first turn and Julia called tails and got it.
"Alright, let's duel," Julia said with a confidence she rarely showed.
Julia: 4000
Simone: 4000
Julia drew from her deck and looked over her hand. Jesse watched her face closely, wondering if she got a good hand. There was sharpness in her eyes that indicated she did. Her poker face wasn't the best, but it certainly was not bad.
"I summon Shining Friendship (1300/1100) and then I set two card in my spell and trap card zone, your turn," Julia said and looked at Jesse. He nodded. Not bad at all for the first move. He wondered what her facedown cards could be.
"Okay, now I draw one from my deck," Simone said and stared hard at her cards. "Alright, I summon my Goddess of Whim (950/700), then I equip her with my Black Pendant spell card, which raises her attack points by 500 (1450/700), and now for my monster's effect, I flip a coin and tall heads or tails, if it's right, then her attack points are doubled, and if I call it wrong, they are halved."
Simone held out her hand to Jesse for the coin he flipped earlier. He frowned and put in her waiting hand.
"I call heads," she said and flipped it, letting it land on the table for everyone to see the result. It was heads. Jesse took back the coin. "And now I use Goddess of Whim (2900/700) her to attack your Shining Friendship (1300/1100)."
"I use my trap card, Negate Attack, to save my monster." Julia moved the trap card to the graveyard.
Simone pouted for a second. "Now I also place two cards in my spell and trap card zone and end my turn."
Julia: 4000
Simone: 4000
Julia drew her next card. "I place a monster in defense position and then I switch Shining Friendship to defensive position as well, and then I end my turn."
Jesse thought Julia must have drawn only strong monsters that require multiple sacrifices or she had a plan.
"Alright, then it's my turn again." Simone drew her card. "To start, I think I'll activate both of my face-downs, first off, Jar of Greed, which allows me to draw one more card from my deck," Simone drew her extra card and then flipped her other facedown, "I now activate Secret Barrel, so you take 200 points damage for every card in your hand and on your side of the field."
Julia counted up her cards. There were six in total so she took 1200 points of damage.
"Now, I tribute my Goddess of Whim in order to summon Dark Witch (1800/1700), and since Black Pendant went to the graveyard, you take 500 points of damage just for that."
Jesse didn't like how much damage Julia took before the battle phase even started.
"Then I equip my Dark Witch with Malevolent Nuzzler, which increases her attack points by 700 (2500/1700). Then I attack your face-down."
It was revealed to be Hourglass of Courage (1100/1200). Since it was in defense position, Julia did not take damage for that.
"Turn end."
Julia: 2300
Simone: 4000
"I place another card in face down defense position and end my turn," Julia said. Jesse was starting to worry about her strategy, if she even had one.
"Got nothing good, huh? This might be easy after all, you know I thought you be way tougher being friends with someone on the pro track and all," Simone commented as she drew her card. "I place one card in face down defense position and then I attack your face down monster with Dark Witch."
Julia calmly placed what turned out to be Hourglass of Life (700/600) in the graveyard pile. Again, she took no damage and it was now her turn.
Julia drew her card. "I play the spell card, Mystical Typhoon, which allows me to destroy one spell or trap on the field, and I choose Malevolent Nuzzler, returning your monster's attack points back to normal (1800/1700)."
Simone put her equip spell in the graveyard pile.
"Next, by removing from play two Light attribute monsters in my grave, I can special summon Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800), which causes all monsters you control to lose 300 points during the battle phase, but first I equip Shining Friendship with Sliver Bow and Arrow to increase its attack and defense points by 300 (1600/1400)."
"Nice come back!" Jesse cheered.
"Now I attack your weakened Dark Witch (1500/1700) with Soul of Purity and Light." Simone moved her card to the grave. "Then I attack your face down with Shining Friendship."
Simone revealed The Unhappy Maiden (0/100) which protected her life points from a major hit.
Julia took a calming breath, but she was still very tense. "I end my turn."
Julia: 2300
Simone: 3500
Simone drew a card. "I play one monster face down and another face down in my spell and trap card zone, and then I end my turn," she said with a now empty hand.
Julia drew a card. "Okay, I'm using my face down spell card I set earlier, Stop Defense, which forces your card into face-up attack position."
Simone frowned and flipped her card, revealing Key Mace (400/300).
"I'll attack now with Soul of Purity and Light."
Simone flipped her set card. "Now that you've destroyed my monster, I activate Regretful Rebirth, which allows me to special summon the monster you just destroyed back to the field in face-up defense positon until my end phase."
"I'll just destroy it again anyway with Shining Friendship," Julia said. Simone didn't take damage for that one, but she didn't want to give Simone a chance to tribute it or use it for something else. "Then I'll set a face down monster during my Main Phase 2 and then end my turn."
Julia: 2300
Simone: 1900
Jesse was happy Julia was in the lead now. He had never seen her duel like this before.
"My turn," Simone said as she drew her card. "I place a monster face down and end my turn." It was all she could do with no other cards in her hand.
"Okay, so I draw," Julia said. "Now I tribute my Shining Friendship and my face down monster, The Forgiving Maiden, so I can summon Wingweaver (2750/2400) in attack position," Julia moved her cards out of the way. "So I attack your monster with Soul of Purity and Light." Simone revealed the card to be Dreamsprite (300/200) before moving it to the graveyard pile. "And then I attack you directly with Wingweaver, ending this duel."
Julia: 2300
Simone: 0
"I hope you keep your end of the deal," Julia added as she picked up her cards.
Simone glanced at her and then at Jesse for a moment before looking back at Juila. "You must be pretty proud of yourself," she said bitterly and then left abruptly.
Jesse watched her leave and Chris simply nodded to him before strolling out by himself. The teacher remarked how it was a good duel and hoped whatever the problem was would be settled now and then had to leave too.
After that duel, they both took a moment to wonder what went so wrong in that girl's life to make her so unhappy that she had to make others unhappy when they upset her.
"Wow Julia, that was some pretty good dueling, and thanks," he said with his hand out.
She gave a small smile and shook his hand. "I think we're even now," she commented.
Jesse blinked. "Oh yeah, I guess so," he chuckled. "We should hurry up and get our lunches now while we still have time."
Jesse started to leave when she stopped him. "Actually!" she started loudly and then shrank back again. "I had a feeling you would be short on time, so I made you a lunch too…"
Jesse's face lit up at that. "Really? Wow, thanks, you're the best!" he said and was about to hug her when he stopped. "Wait, are you psychic?" he asked accusingly.
"What? No, I just… had a feeling," she tried.
"Kidding!" Jesse waved his hands frantically, hoping he didn't upset her. "Anyway, enough jokes, we're running out of time to eat," he grinned and she nodded with a smile before following him out of the classroom.
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Author's Note:
This chapter turned out longer than I thought it would be. Huh.
Okay, I am so sorry about any leftover errors. In my defense, this story doesn't have a beta reader to help proof and edit unlike my pervious fics. I don't know why I leave out words. I even put chapters aside for days or a week or more so I can reread them before posting to catch as many errors as I see. I hate looking at a chapter a month or two later and finding another error I missed somehow. My brain is weird and fills in missing words. Because of this, I often replace chapters with these minor edits, because I think grammar and flow are important. I just wish I was better at it before submitting the final draft, haha.
I know this chapter was a little slow getting posted. Real life things happened that required a lot of my time. A lot of things and a lot of my time. Still didn't let this update lag for months, and I'm still under my self-set two month wait time. Way to go me.
