"I will follow him, follow him wherever he may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep me away

I must follow him, ever since he touched my hand I knew
That near him I always must be
And nothing can keep him from me
He is my destiny."
—I Will Follow Him by Little Peggy March

Chapter 9: Sarah Bradfield

I saw Sarah leaning on a tree in front of Lark Creek High School, and I suddenly felt nervous.

"H-hey, Sarah," I greeted as I came near her.

"Hey, Jesse," Sarah greeted in return with a beaming smile, but her face suddenly fell when she saw who was behind me. "Oh, hello, Burke. Fancy seeing you here," she flatly said.

Leslie smiled at her innocently. "Hello too, Bradfield. Well, it's a small school, and my best friend invited me to come, so…"

Sarah quickly faced me and shrieked, "You what?"

I gulped while scratching the back of my head with one hand to ease my nervousness. I'd made a promise to myself not to regret my decision, and that was final. "Um, I kind of forget how the Dawn Treader really looks like, and Leslie's a Narnia fan more than I am, so I asked her to come with me if I have any questions and clarifications," I reasoned. "I can't ask your brother, can I? I mean, what if he gets an idea or something?" I'd already told Leslie about Sarah's planned gift for her younger brother, and she'd agreed immediately, making me sigh in relief.

"Why didn't you ask your questions while you were talking to her earlier, Jesse?" Sarah asked with a scowl.

"Bradfield," Leslie said seriously before I could reply, "I believe it's much better if I'm there with Jesse so that I could check and tell him right away if there are any errors while he's drawing and, you know, to protect him from you."

Wait, what?

Sarah frowned again. "What're you talking about, Burke?"

Leslie smirked slowly, which made me kind of uneasy. "Oh, you know full well what I'm talking about. I mean, you're the witch, and Jesse's the princess."

"And you're the prince—the one who's going to ruin my plans. Well, I'm not gonna let that happen."

Leslie just smiled innocently again.

I didn't know what they were getting at, but I knew I had to say something now.

"Er, Sarah?" I said. She gazed at me with an unreadable expression on her face, making me gulp. "Actually, I want to ask my questions before I start drawing. It's easier for me that way. I hope you understand and let Leslie come with us…"

Sarah looked at Leslie again with disapproval, but sighed in resignation a moment later. "Fiiine. For my little bro."

"And besides," I continued, "maybe by doing this, you two will start getting along—"

"Not gonna happen!" Leslie and Sarah interrupted me at the same time, arms crossed over their chests.

I slapped my forehead mentally. "Look, I don't know why you two hate each other so much, but—"

Sarah raised a disbelieving eyebrow at me. "Really, Jesse?" Then she smirked at Leslie. "So, you haven't told him yet? You want me to say it to him instead, Burke?"

Leslie glared daggers at Sarah. "He's not yet ready, Bradfield."

"He's not yet ready?" she asked mockingly. "Maybe you're the one who's not yet ready, because you're scared that he'll choose me over you."

My eyes darted to Leslie and Sarah in confusion. "Wait, 'not ready' for what?" I asked before my queen could respond. Now this was really confusing, and I didn't have any clue on what they were talking about. If it was about girl stuff, then I didn't want to be a part of it.

The two simply ignored me. Since Sarah was taller, she started leaning down dangerously on Leslie's face, her brown eyes narrowing. "But still, I love this rivalry we have, Burke. You're definitely going down."

Leslie smirked as she looked up at Sarah with fierce green eyes. "We shall see, Bradfield."

I interjected between them before a volcano exploded. "Um, shouldn't we be going now?"

Sarah took a step back from Leslie, and I inwardly sighed in relief. "Yes. My Dad's waiting. Follow me."

000

I gaped at the sight I was looking at as we got out of Sarah's family car, which was a gray Mercedes-Benz. Their two-story Victorian house had a wrap-around porch that was surrounding the entry and the turret housing the den. It continued around the side and back of the house.

I turned to Leslie and saw she had a bored look on her face, still chewing a gum. I guess she wasn't impressed because they were also rich and had a grand house.

Sarah had introduced us to Jasper Bradfield—her dad and a businessman—after getting into their car a while ago. I'd been sitting between Leslie and Sarah in the backseat for the whole trip. My queen had just been gazing out the window while chewing a gum and listening to music on her iPhone using her earphones. I couldn't even talk to her; it looked like she'd been shutting me off, and Sarah had kept talking about her brother's planned birthday party to me. I'd only replied with nods, yeahs and ahs, because I really had had no idea what to say and had been worrying about Leslie.

Sarah's dad bade us good-bye, saying he still had a business meeting to attend. We thanked and told him to be careful on his trip. With a smile, he drove off.

"You all right?" I asked Leslie.

"Yeah, even though I'm at enemy territory," she said, still not looking at me.

I chuckled awkwardly. "I'm sure everything will be fine. We're together."

She smiled slightly. "I hope so."

"Why're you two still standing there?" Sarah called, already at the front door. "Come on in!"

We followed her inside. Their white living room was so spacious and had a lot of classy furniture.

"My mom's still not around. You go to my room upstairs; it's the first door to the right. I'll just help Elizabeth prepare the snacks," Sarah said while going to the kitchen.

"O-okay," I uncertainly said, and Leslie just shrugged nonchalantly.

000

"Too girly," Leslie commented with a face as she switched on the fluorescent light of Sarah's bedroom. I saw purple everywhere when we entered.

Squatting on the purple carpet, I got my sketchbook and number-two pencil from my bag. "What does the Dawn Treader look like again, Les?"

Leslie thought for a moment, sitting next to me. "Well, she has a gilded bow, resembling a dragon's head and has wings," she answered by heart. "The dragon wings run along the port and starboard sides. A single mast extends from the center of the main deck, and holds a single, large, square, purple sail. The color of the hull is a rich green, with smooth, flowing lines from bow to stern. She also has an upper deck, lower deck, and oars on the side."

I did my best to write all of the information on the last page of my sketchbook. I thanked her, envisioned the image in my mind, and then sketched the dragon's head first.

There was only the sound of me sketching and erasing on the paper until Leslie asked something out of the ordinary.

"Jess, what do you think of Bradfield?"

I paused, shooting her a perplexed look. "What?"

The door suddenly opened before Leslie could say anything more, and Sarah popped in, carrying a tray with a middle-aged lady behind her, who I believed was Elizabeth. They put the trays on the floor. Sarah introduced Elizabeth Jenkins to us. Leslie and I said our hellos with a smile. Elizabeth smiled back and said "Such lovely children" before going out of the room.

"Elizabeth's not only our maid," Sarah said as she got a cracker on a plate from the tray and squatted to my right, making me in-between them again. "We also treat her as a part of our family. She started taking care of me when I was five years old."

"That's nice," I replied as Sarah gave Leslie and me a glass of orange juice.

"Thanks," Leslie said flatly, accepting the glass.

Sarah smirked. "Gosh, Burke, lighten up a bit."

"It seems that I can't, 'cause I don't see any novels around here, Bradfield."

"Then go to my brother's room. He has tons of novels there."

"Maybe later."

I pretended not to hear them and just concentrated on my drawing.

The door opened all of a sudden again, and a black-haired boy with blue eyes barged into the room. "Sarah!" He paused when he saw Leslie and me. "Oh, you have visitors."

"Lance!" Sarah cried. Startled, I immediately hid my sketchbook under her bed. Leslie helped by blocking Lance's view. Thank God for her quick thinking.

"Hmm, you're handsome, but your sister's ugly," Leslie mused.

The boy laughed. "I agree!"

Sarah glowered at them. "Shut up, Burke. Lance, what do you want?"

"What? You're not gonna introduce me to these new faces?" Lance whined, gesturing his hand to us.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Lance, this is Jesse Aarons. The girl over there is Burke. They're my classmates in literature. Jesse and Burke, this is Lance–my younger brother."

Leslie hummed. "Actually, Bradfield, I have a first name–it's Leslie."

"I don't really care."

"Hi, Lance," Leslie and I greeted in unison.

"Ah. Hi, Leslie," Lance said. But his eyes widened when he looked at me. Was there something on my face? "You're that Jesse Aarons? The one who's also Sarah's classmate in geometry?"

I blinked. "Y-yeah. Why—"

"Whoa! Did you know that Sarah and her group of friends talk about you most of the time whenever they have a sleepover here? They said you were cool and artistic and your jawli—"

Sarah clamped a hand on Lance's mouth fiercely. "You brat! We didn't even say those things."

Lance wrestled away from his sister's grip, and stuck his tongue out. "I so believe you."

"If you continue babbling such nonsense, I'll not give you my gift this Thursday."

"What?" he shrieked. "But that's blackmailing!"

She smirked. "My point exactly."

"Whatever." Lance turned to me. "Hey, what were you drawing?"

"I-I wasn't d-drawing," I lied.

"What's that pencil you're holding for, then?"

"Hey, Lance," Leslie interrupted, and I thanked God again she did so. "I heard from your dearest sister here that you love to read books."

Lance's attention was now on Leslie, his eyes beaming. "Yep! I have Fablehaven, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Spooksville, Jake Ransom, Harry Potter, and my most favorite: The Chronicles of Narnia," he shared jovially. "They're all complete, and I've already finished reading all of them, mind you. Wanna see my collection?"

Even Leslie's eyes were now beaming. Yeah, the feelings of the bookworms. "The Chronicles of Narnia is my favorite, too. And of course I want to see your collection, Lance."

"Yeah, do the geek stuff," Sarah said. "And that later is now, Burke."

"Let's go!" Lance exclaimed, grabbed Leslie's wrist, and then headed for the door. Leslie's eyes met mine, and I immediately understood what her silent message was: Continue drawing while I talk to Lance.

Then they were gone. Leslie had sacrificed herself so that I could finish the gift for Lance.

Not that I blamed the child.

It was just Sarah and me in the room now, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. But I didn't show it to her. I just hoped Sarah wouldn't notice my uneasiness.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. "I hate to admit it, but I guess I have to thank Burke for that." Sarah faced me, and my uneasiness grew tenfold. "Sorry 'bout my brother, Jess. He can be so meddlesome most of the time, especially when I have visitors. He's always looking for attention. Gosh! If he's still here, who knows when that drawing will be finished."

"N-no worries. I know that you still l-love him," I stammered.

Sarah laughed. "Duh! He's my only sibling."

"Lance's kinda talkative." I got my sketchbook under Sarah's bed. Remembering when I was seven years old, I was very silent, not talking to anyone except to my family and when someone asked me a question. Then all of that changed when Leslie had come into my life.

"I know, right? But sometimes, he doesn't even want to go to school so that he can just read inside his room. The horror for his social life!"

I cracked a smile and continued drawing. "Nah. I'm sure he'll do great."

"Yeah. Say, Jess, you have siblings too, right?"

I nodded mildly. "I have two younger and older s-siblings. A-all of them are g-g-girls. I'm th-the third child and only boy."

Sarah smiled sweetly. "That's kinda cute, you know."

I just shrugged, not knowing what to reply to that. I also couldn't help but feel a blush rising on my cheeks.

What the heck?

Then Sarah started talking about random stuff and her favorites while I was drawing, and that kind of made me less uncomfortable with her, in a way.

I learned that she loved to listen to The Wanted, Train, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Avril Lavigne. Her favorite television shows were Glee, Teen Wolf, and The Carrie Diaries. I hadn't heard any of her favorites, except for that singer Avril Lavigne.

I thought of Leslie's favorites. I knew them by heart, of course. Her favorite singers were Sara Bareilles, Britt Nicole, Owl City, Jon McLaughlin, and Christina Grimmie. Her favorite television shows were Once Upon a Time, Big Bang Theory, and Sherlock.

Leslie and Sarah had different tastes, I concluded.

After a while, it was hard for me to draw now while I was listening to Sarah, but I didn't tell her this. I mean, I didn't want to sound rude. But it was still nice of her to keep me company.

Then I wondered how Leslie was doing right now. I suddenly wanted her here beside me, checking the progress of my drawing. Maybe I shouldn't have had let her leave the room. But if I'd done that, then the surprise would be ruined.

A phone started ringing. Sarah checked her iPhone, and I saw a brief annoyance cross her face. "Oh, a call from Diana. Must be about the costume. I'll leave you alone for a while, Jess."

I gave a slight nod, then she went to her room's balcony. I continued sketching the oars. Half of the ship was already done, but there was still the coloring. Good thing I'd brought my coloring materials with me.

I didn't notice how many minutes or hours had passed. I just concentrated on drawing. It was a good feeling when you were drawing to your heart's content, but great if my queen was currently here by my side.

With the added touches to the tail, I got my coloring materials from my bag and then started putting life to the Dawn Treader. I could hear Sarah laughing from the balcony, probably talking about girl stuff now with Diana.

After combining the colors, Sarah walked in, and I let her see the outcome.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. I added another strike of orange and blue on the sky. The Dawn Treader was now sailing at the Last Sea while the sun was setting, semi-facing the front.

Sarah grinned. "Okay, double whoa! I'm so glad I thought of this. Your drawing's perfect, Jess!"

"Thanks, S-Sarah," I said shyly, but I felt relieved that she liked the drawing. I hoped that Lance would like it, too.

Sarah shook her head. "No, Jesse. I should be the one who's thanking you, so thanks a million. I'm sure Lance would love this. I'll have it framed tomorrow. Oh, could you add 'to' and 'from' on the drawing, please?"

I added To: Lance Bradfield and From: Sarah Bradfield on the upper right side of the paper using my own artistic font—the one that was Leslie's favorite.

"Add your name at the 'from,' too," she said, then paused. "And Burke's. You two are invited to Lance's birthday party this Thursday. I'm sure he'd love it."

I gratefully smiled at Sarah, and then wrote my name and Leslie's beside hers. I ripped the paper from the sketchbook and gave it to Sarah as we both stood up.

"You don't have to be shy if you're with me, Jess, especially if we're alone together."

"U-um…" Was it really that obvious?

Sarah smiled sweetly, and then did an unexpected thing: she stood on her tiptoes, placed her arms around my neck, brought her face inches from mine, and closed her eyes.

BONUS

Author: *hugs Leslie* I'm sorry for what I did at the last part of this chapter, Les. Don't get me wrong, I ship you and Jesse, but the last part would be really nice. The readers would get all hyped. That's why phillyboy requested for a Sarah and Jesse kissing scene. You understand me, right?

Leslie: *shakes head furiously* NOOOOOOO! Why did you listen to him?! Jess should be my first kiss! You know that, Chem!

Author: *releases Leslie from the hug* Yes, I do know that. Well, we'll see in the next chapter if Sarah will indeed kiss Jesse. You never know what I'll do.

Leslie: *nods* I believe in you, Chem. No matter what happens.

Author: *grins widely* Yes, Leslie. Just believe in me.

Jesse: Um, what are you guys talking about?

Author: Uh-oh. I better get out of here, fast. *runs away like a ninja*

Jesse: Hey! Where are you going?!

Sarah: *smiles sweetly* They were just talking about our kissing scene for the next chapter, Jesse.

Jesse: Wait, what?!

Leslie: In your dreams, Bradfield! You two are not going to have a kissing scene!

Sarah: Shut up, Burke! As if you know what will happen.

Leslie: As if you know what will happen, too!

Jesse: Um…

Nigel: Can someone please tell me when will I appear in the story again?!

Author: (in a far-away voice) Secret!