Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the story Bridge to Terabithia

I am just a fan of one of the most emotionally powerful books that I have ever read.

Chapter 3

Friday morning dawned bright and sunny, it was a beautiful morning for the last day of spring break. Leslie showed up at Jesse's house early. She found Jesse busy with his chores.

"Hi Jess," Leslie said coming up behind him.

"Oh hi Leslie," he said turning to face her with a yawn. She yawned back at him in an involuntary response. They were both tired because they were up half the night, and they both had a guilty conscience. Jess because he had cut down the enchanted rope and Leslie because she spied on him doing it.

"So Jess," she asked with a coy smile, "do you want to go there today?"

"What? Go where?" Jesse asked hoping to avoid the subject.

"You know perfectly well where Jesse; to the kingdom." Leslie could see Jess was distressed, and she enjoyed watching him squirm, it made him look cute, she thought.

"Oh yeah…I mean no. It's still all wet and muddy," he said, " and the creek is probably overflowing."

"Come on Jess,' she said pressuring him, " we haven't been there since Monday. It was pouring rain then, but today it's sunny and beautiful. So come on let's go."

"I don't know," Jess said, desperately trying to dissuade Leslie from wanting to go there today, "don't you want to do something else? Aren't you bored playing there?"

"Bored! No way." Leslie was sounding shocked and angry, her eyes probing him, he looked away but he could feel those eyes burning into him.

"Well I feel like doing something else." He said firmly, "Let's go into town or something." He hoped she couldn't hear the shaking in his voice.

"No! I'm going to Terabithia this morning with or without you."

"Ok, ok I'll go." Jess said, feeling like he was going to be sick.

"Good, are you almost finished with your chores?" Leslie asked as her demeanor softened and she smiled at him.

" Yeah, give me about a half hour." Jess said with a sigh. He had been defeated. Leslie felt a slight pang of guilt making Jesse suffer like this, but that scolded puppy look on his face was so cute, it almost made her laugh out loud. Besides he deserved it for cutting down the enchanted rope.

"Ok," She said, "I'll be back in a half hour. "She turned and ran off up the road in the direction of her house.

This is just great, he thought, he had hoped to get through the weekend without a crisis. She was going to find out about the rope sooner or later. Why couldn't it be later? Then before he knew it Leslie was back.

"Hi Jess, are you ready?" she said coming up to him. He had just finished doing his chores and was going inside to clean up.

"It's been a half hour already?" He asked, starting to feel uneasy. He was hoping to figure a way out of this, but he was too tense to think straight.

"Ok, I guess I'm ready, let me clean up first, then we can go."

Leslie and Jess walked down the path to the creek where the rope had hung, Jess was becoming more and more distressed with every step.

"You feeling ok Jess? You look a little green." Leslie said, toying with him.

"Yeah I'm ok." Actually he was feeling so guilty now that he was certain his crime was written all over his face.

They came to the banks of the creek, and looking up saw that the rope was missing.

Leslie, feigning horror, exclaimed. "What's happened to the enchanted rope?"

"I don't know," Jess said, trying for all the world to look shocked and bewildered.

"Who did this?" Leslie demanded in a loud voice as if to ask the forest itself. Jess was sick inside; he wasn't fully prepared for her reaction to finding the rope missing. He knew she would be angry, but he had hoped he could have broken the news to her more gently. It was too late for that now, the damage has been done. Jess decided he'd just pretend he knew nothing about it.

"Yes," he commanded, shouting to the tree tops, "who cut down the enchanted rope?"

"Cut down the enchanted rope, Jess?" Leslie turned on him, with a smirk, " how do you know it was cut?"

"I...I don't know, I...ah... just assumed it was cut," he stuttered, he was shaken by Leslie's question.

"Do you have something to tell me Jess?"

"What do you mean?"

"About the rope Jess, what do you know about the rope?" Jess was sick with fear and guilt, he wanted to run and hide. He didn't want to tell his best friend that it was him that cut the rope. She wouldn't understand.

"I don't know anything about the rope, I'm as shocked as you are," he said as firmly as he could.

"Are you Jess?"

"Yeah."

"You know nothing about it?"

"No why, what do you know?"

"I saw you Jess." His eyes went wide, and a shiver ran up his spine. His heart was about ready to pound right out of his chest. He was trapped.

"What!"

"I saw you cut down the rope." She said trying to look into his eyes, but he avoided them.

"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, I swear."

"Jess, " she spoke in a low sad sounding voice, " I saw you go by my house last night around midnight; you were carrying a knife. I was so scared, I thought you were going to use that knife to kill yourself, so I followed you. You came here, and you climbed that tree, and I watched as you cut down the rope."

He was busted. He hated himself; he never wanted to hurt his friend.

"But Leslie let me explain..." he started to say, he was frantic.

"Forget it Jesse, when you cut that rope you severed our friendship. I never want to see you again," then hanging her head and looking down at her feet, not wanting him to see the smirk on her face, she said, "Goodbye Jesse."

Leslie turned to go and started walking up the path toward her home.

"Leslie wait," Jess ran up to her putting his hand on her shoulder, "listen to me Leslie, I can explain."

Leslie shook his hand off her shoulder and said," Go away Jesse, leave me alone, just go away."

Jesse stood there downhearted as he watched his best friend in the world walk out of his life. Tears filled his eyes and he felt his heart break in two.

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