Disclaimer: On First Chapter.
Till' I Collapse
Part One: Discovering Leslie Burke
Chapter Nine
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August 23, 2007(Saturday)
Cora Perry Neighborhood
The Aarons' Residence
4:07PM
There was the incredibly loud sound of pulsating music in the rather large bedroom on the third floor of the Burkes' home. So loud that the comic-adorned glass doors were rattling and shaking with the mid-ninety's pop style music. Inside the room sat a stunned Jesse Aarons, who watched his best friend literally fly back and forth across the room, singing furiously and dancing like a Micheal Jackson/ Elvis Presley hybrid.
To say that the sight was amusing was quite the understatement. Jess had simply come over to ask her if she wanted to go to Terabithia. Instead he found himself sitting on her soft down comforter—that was covered with rainbow smileys—and watching as she flapped around the room yelling and screaming something that he assumed should've been the song blasting through her speakers.
"Don't stop moving! Can you feel the music? DJ's got us going around, around!!"
Jesse sat on Leslie's bed staring at her in disbelief. She was dancing; dancing quite wildly he thought as he watched her. She sung loudly to the song as she spun and moon-walked across the room. Jesse didn't think he'd ever seen something so ridiculous. He didn't want to say it, but Leslie looked as though she had lost her mind a thousand times over. Jesse practically had to slap himself to prevent himself from laughing when she did some strange combination of an Elvis Presley guitar move and something he'd seen from a Kiss concert that had once played on television.
"Don't stop moving," Leslie howled, and Jesse's hold on his laughter cracked as she started doing the tootsie roll, "Find your own way to it! Listen to the music; taking you to places that you've never been before baby now!"
Leslie danced around her room wearing bright pink knee-high socks, a pair of white cotton shorts, and a black softball shirt that said 'Pink Panthers Burke 16' in neon pink on the back. She did a Charlie horse and sang louder, "Right here on the dance floor is where you gotta let it go!"
"Come on Jesse, dance with me!" she screamed over the eardrum-executing music, and Jesse wiped tears of laughter from his eyes and shook his head.
Leslie pouted, "Please Jess?" She asked giving him the self-acclaimed puppy dog eyes, and sadly, Jesse found himself giving in. After four weeks of being in Leslie Burke's presence, Jesse quickly found out that her big bottle-green eyes allowed her the talent to give the world's most convincing puppy-dog eyes.
Jesse stood up slowly, but he was yanked forward by Leslie almost immediately. For a few seconds, Jesse danced stiffly and Leslie laughed at him.
"No one's here, but me and you, Jess. Forget your inhibitions!" she cheered as Jess finally relaxed and began dancing circles around her. Jesse, even though he didn't know the words perfectly, sang the chorus and Leslie beamed at him as he twirled her around and they skipped together around the room.
Almost twenty minutes of dancing stupidly around the room, Jesse and Leslie sprawled on to her bed laughing hysterically. Leslie finally calmed down enough to talk as Jesse tucked his hands underneath his head and crossed his ankles.
"Let's do something different this weekend, Jess," she told him as she sat up folding her legs beneath her. Leslie forcibly maneuvered Jesse's head into her lap so she could play with his hair. Jesse wouldn't admit it, but Leslie's fingers threading through his hair felt extremely good. He raised an eyebrow at her as she thought hard.
"What do you suggest we do?"
"How about we ride into town?" she asked, the smile on her face huge.
"Ride with whom, Les?"
"Instead of using the four-wheelers, we could borrow my parent's dirt bikes," Leslie said absently, and Jesse exclaimed in shock.
"Your parents have dirt bikes?!"
"Oh yeah," Was Leslie's reply.
----
August 24, 2007(Sunday)
Cora Perry Neighborhood
The Aarons Residence
7:10AM
Jesse didn't want to admit it, but he was staring—no, not staring; more like gawking—at the sight of his friend. This morning he had prepared himself for anything and everything; Leslie may have had dresses, but Jess predicted she'd wear something with a ton of rainbows on it or maybe it would be a blinding yellow color.
He himself was wearing a crisp dark blue button down shirt over a pair of black dress pants and his for-church-only black leather shoes. Jesse fully expecting to have to make Leslie change; had convinced his family to leave ten minutes earlier than normal and let's just say that Ellie and Brenda had not appreciated having to accommodate their schedules for Jesse's "freakish friend".
Now he felt like kicking himself for doubting her. Jesse didn't think he had ever seen something so pretty.
Leslie was wearing a silky lavender dress that had a blowy skirt. The dress had spaghetti straps, but over it she wore a long-sleeved white sweater. Her hair—instead of being straight and funky—was slightly curled in loose ringlets and a white clip held most of the hair off her forehead, but quite a few escaped it and fell into her face. The wind blew gently, and Jess stared as those loose strands of blond hair fell into her eyes; making her blink rapidly and shield her face.
"Hello Leslie," Jesse heard his mother call out of the window, "You look absolutely stunning today."
Leslie blushed a bright pink and replied, "Thank you, Mrs. Aarons."
"Jesse, snap out of it and open the tailgate!" Jesse heard his father yell, and his eyes opened wide as he realized he'd been staring for so long that he'd forgotten to let her in.
Ignoring May Belle's snickering; Jesse hurriedly opened the tailgate, and stretched out a hand to help her up. Somehow, Jess got the ridiculous idea that Leslie's hand was a lot softer than it had been the previous day, but he shook it off and helped her climb inside.
As she stepped past him, Jess closed the tailgate and he stared at her shoes. Leslie wore simple white ballet flats, and he stared at her in surprise as he shuffled over to sit down next to her.
"No crazy outfit today?" he asked; inwardly suspicious that Leslie had been replaced by a doppelganger. Leslie winked at him, before she kicked off her flats, and wiggled her toes.
Jesse burst out laughing at the sight of the rainbow pattern on her feet. Nope, she was still his Leslie he thought as she put her shoes back on. The ride was quiet, but Jess was startled when he felt her fingers on his hand.
She entwined their fingers—hidden by the skirt of her dress and the side of Jesse's jacket—and squeezed gently. Jess smiled at the scenery, and he peeked at her from the corner of his eye. He saw her smiling too, but her eyes were closed and her face was turned up to the sun.
Jesse Aarons thought he'd never seen anything as beautiful as the stunning picture Leslie Burke painted at that moment.
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August 24, 2007(Sunday)
Cora Perry Neighborhood
The Aarons Residence
9:43AM
One thing, Jesse thought to himself dryly, was that Leslie Burke stirred things up wherever she went. Church had started off fine, but when the pastor started talking about Jesus being nailed to the cross in order to wash away the sins of humans, Jess could tell she got uncomfortable.
She managed not to say anything for awhile until she finally burst out, "If Jesus died for all our sins; then how come he wrote an entire book on what would happen if people sinned again? Why did he think we were bound to fail?"
That had definitely shocked everyone including the minister, who gawked down at Leslie before he could actually answer, "Well, young lady, I've never actually had anyone ask questions during a service, but I'll be happy to answer them afterwards."
The minister smiled warmly at a blushing Leslie, "I'm sorry, I was just really curious."
"That's perfectly alright, miss," the old man's eyes sparkled with happiness, "I'm glad to see that some of the young generation are open to learning more about how and why the bible was written; as well as the purpose it serves to our church members, and those not of the Christian family."
Leslie was completely red by the time he'd finished and she buried her face in Jesse's shoulder. Jess absently placed his arm around her shoulders, and tried to very hard not to laugh.
The minister smiled, "Please stay after the service and I'd love to get the chance to talk with you." Leslie gave no response, but the service continued on. Jesse didn't see it, but Mary and Jack Aarons traded a look, both inwardly knowing that their son had found someone different.
At the end of church, Jess and Leslie were approached by the minister about twenty minutes after the service actually ended. The older man was jovial and had a large smile on his face. He shook Leslie's hand.
"May I inquire as to what your name is, young lady?" he asked grinning, and Leslie blushed again.
"Leslie Burke, sir," she answered, shaking the pastor's hand.
"Well, Miss Leslie, I'm Pastor Eric Green, and I must say that it's a pleasure to meet you. Its not often I get questions like the one you asked me earlier today," he replied, and Leslie beamed. "Walk with me for a few minutes and I'll be sure to explain as best I can," the man said, before glancing at the Aarons' family, "That is if you don't mind the wait Jack?"
Jesse was surprised when his father shook his head, and Leslie practically blindsided him with a hug. "Thank you so much, Mr. Aarons!" Leslie cried, and Jess thought his father looked incredibly surprised as he hesitantly patted the girl's back, before she let go and ran back to the pastor.
Jesse smiled as Leslie waved brightly back at him, before taking off with the minister. They came back almost thirty minutes later; Leslie was looking a lot less confused, and the minister had a grin on his face.
"Thank you sir for taking the time to talk with me," Leslie said politely, causing the Pastor to grin.
"You're welcome Miss Leslie, and just so you know I'd be pleased to see you back here next Sunday morning," he told her, before saying goodbye to the family and heading towards his wife, who was waiting for him by the podium. Leslie and Jesse watched as the two kissed briefly before a blur ran into the man's leg causing him to laugh as he lifted the child in the air.
It was an eye-opening sight, but Leslie turned to Jesse with a reminiscent smile on her face, and the Aarons family left the building. Pulling up to the Burkes' driveway, Leslie saw her parents standing near the road waiting for her. She beamed and waved.
"Hi mom! Hi dad!" she yelled as they pulled in and finally came to a stop. Jesse opened the tailgate and helped her out of the truck. He was tugged out as well, when Leslie wouldn't let go of his hand. He walked by her as they spoke with her parents, and explained the reason for being so late.
Bill and Judy seemed to be amused at hearing the story of Leslie's outburst, but as she began explaining all that the minister told her, Jesse saw his mom tell him to hurry up.
"Hey Les," he interrupted, and she looked at him as he started walking back towards the rust-stained pickup in the driveway, "I have to go home now, but I'll see you tomorrow." he told her. Leslie broke away from her parents and stopped him by grabbing him in a tight hug. Jesse automatically wrapped his arms around her, but his face was red.
"Bye Jesse," she whispered into his ear, before he felt her shove something in his jacket pocket. She pulled back, and stared at him for a moment before she leaned forward and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek. Jesse blushed harder. Her lips had been entirely too close to his own, but he shook it off as he let go of her. Leslie was red in the face when she stepped back and Jesse blinked at her.
"Les, what…?" he asked, but she only smiled mysteriously, and ran back to her parents.
They were gaping over at him as Leslie ran past him, and Jess stood there frozen for a few seconds. He unsteadily made his way back to the truck, and sat down hard against the wall of it after closing the tailgate. He dug out the note in his pocket and read it apprehensively,
'Take nothing for granted; not even love in its purest form; friendship.'
And he smiled, before tucking the note away. It was a good day.
Thanks for reading!
-TellNoOne