When I awoke the next morning, I was startled when I discovered my position. I had spent the whole night sleeping on the ground in my backyard! But not only was I just outside, I was sleeping on Chris’ sleeping bag! In his arms! How the hay did this happen? I tried to think back, but couldn’t remember ever falling asleep. Within the next few seconds, Chris was awake too, looking just as surprised as myself. Me- “I, um….how?” Chris- “I dunno, wooooooah……..we just, like, slept together?” Me- “Um, looks like it……do u know what time it is?” Chris- “Hold on, I’ve got a watch in my bag….*gets up and takes out his watch* ……itz only 7:40am…” Me- “I’m surprised we didn’t freeze to death! That wind last night was brutal!” Chris- “I know, huh? Those stars were great tho…” Omgosh! The stars! The kiss! I must’ve fallen asleep while looking up at the sky with Chris! OMGOSH! I made out w/ Chris! What was wrong with me? Why had I done that? ……Why did he have to be so sweet? Cate, Gabby, and Eva would kill me if they ever found out! Me- “Um, Chris….” Chris- “Yeah?” Me- “About last night, um the kiss? ….Well, I um, I don’t think that we should tell neone about it.” Chris- *kinda sad* “Oh, ok…” Me- “No! It’s just becuz of the others…..they’d be really mad if they ever found out. U understand, rite?” Chris- *sighing* “Yeah, I guess that’s true….ok.” Me- “Ok, good. *pushing Chris’ shoulder* “Altho, I’m not saying it wasn’t a good kiss….” *smiling* Chris- *tickling my sides* “OoOoooOoh, so u liked that, huh?” Me- *laughing* “Maaaaaaaybe! AaAaaaaaaah! Stop Chris st-----” *I stop laughing* Chris- “what?” *stops tickling* Oh no. What was I doing now? Wasn’t it just a few days ago that Jesse was tickling my sides? Wasn’t it just a few days ago that I was kissing Jesse? Less than a 24 hours ago, the only guy in the world I could think about was Jesse! And here I was being tickled by Chris now? Chris Trousdale? The hottie and former mascot of the “Chris Trousdale fan club”? The club formed by my own friends??! Me- *softly* “……I, um, Chris I don’t think that we should be doing this either…” Chris- “Huh?” Me- *rubbing my forehead* “I dunno, I’m just confused…..But hey! I 4got to ask…What happened last night at Chrysta’s…..after I left, I mean.” Chris- “OoOooooh, well, it wasn’t too pretty, let me just say that…” Me- “No, really, come on…….what?” Chris- *exhaling* “Well, there was a lot of yelling, and people swearin’ all over…….course I don’t think that neone else got hurt…” Me- “Guess thats good about the injury part…………….*pausing*……but what about--” Chris- “Who? Jesse?” Me- “Um, yeah…” Chris- “He only ended up staying a few minutes longer than u did I’d say……..he looked pretty upset.” Me- *raising my voice* “But WHY though…….???” Chris- “Cuz of YOU of course! Duh, what else?” Me- “But what about Eva? And Chrysta?” Chris- “Val! Can’t u c it? Jesse doesn’t care about them the way he cares about u!!” Me- “Yeah, but what about that kiss? U saw it too…….what about that?!” Chris- “Yeah, ure right, I did c it………*Chris pauses for a few seconds blankly, as if picturing it all over again*…….Man that sucked………Watchin’ that made me feel sick.” Me- “Same here, I’m still feelin’ terrible just thinking about it now…” *We both sit wordlessly for a few moments* Chris- “But u know what?” Me- “What?” Chris- “After all that pain and torture……..I still forgive her 4 it…” Me- “U do?” Chris- “Well, hell yeah. I mean, even tho Eva made a mistake, I still love her to pieces……Just bec--------” Me- “Wooooooooah there. CHRISTOPHER!” Chris- “Um, what?” Me- “What about ure gf………um, GABBY?! U weren’t just using her, were u?” Chris- “What? No way! *pauses* But I guess I should explain….” Me- “Please do…” Chris- “Well this time u gotta keep a secret for me, ok?” Me- “Of course.” Chris- “First off then, Gabby and I aren’t together nemore. I kinda put an end to our relationship last night b4 I came here…” Me- “--------oh.” Oh. Oh no! Poor Gabs! She was probably heartbroken………I wished that I could’ve known that b4 so then I could’ve called her to comfort her…… Chris- “I think it was the best thing to do, honestly…..It would have been worse to have liked Eva while I was already dating Gabs…….I didn’t know I cared so much for Eva until we broke up……I just wasn’t feelin’ the same connection w/ Gabby I guess…….I’m sorry.” What was there for me to say? “No u can’t do that, cuz shez my friend, and I said so!” Nah, definitely not. Chris was speaking the truth I could tell, and I couldn’t change it just becuz I wanted to. In the past night I had learned a lot about Chris. He was very thoughtful, and well, a charming kind of guy. He seemed to always know what he was feeling and didn’t deny it. All of his qualities made him very attractive. However, I myself did not know what I was feeling. My emotions were scattered all over the place. After sum more talking, Chris started on his way home and I gathered my stuff and headed for my front door. My excuse to my parents was that an emergency doctor’s appointment had come up with Chrysta, so she had taken people home so she could go. I knew it sounded pretty cheezy, but in the end, my parents were convinced. As I sat alone on my bed, I knew it was one of those times to sit down & just reflect. Did I still feel the same way about Jesse? Or was I moving on now? *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* I sat around and thought about the whole issue for a long time. I had missed breakfast, but my decision had been concluded before lunch had arrived. I called Jana and explained to her my latest controversy 2 ask for her opinion. We ended up both agreeing. Jesse deserved a chance to explain himself. Chris’ words had helped me in the process of making that choice. Also, after thinking things over I realized sumthing. Even though he was a really wonderful guy, I didn’t feel nething more towards Chris than friendship; a strong friendship. Even tho the kiss we had shared had been nice, it had been more of a thank you-kiss, than a lovey-dovey kind. I was still very happy that Chris had been there for me last night. The night wouldve been a whole lot colder and gloomier without him. The next thing I decided to do was call Jesse to say that I was gonna let him explain. LoL, but I couldn’t resist scaring him a little first. Jesse- “Hello?” Me- *in an angry tone* “Oh hi, *sigh* this is Jesse rite?!” Jesse- “Oh hi Val, listen I----” Me- “Save it, ok? Look, meet me in front of Greg’s Pizza Parlor in an hour, alright?” Jesse- *kinda surprised* “Um, ok?” Me- *still sounding mad* “Good. Well, it’s important ok? So be there. Bye.” Jesse- “Bye?!” *click* Haha, he was so cute when he was confused! Little did he know what I had planned. I had learned before that the pizza parlor was pretty close, so I walked it. I was pretty hungry by the time I got there, too. It was a little past 12 and I still hadn’t eaten a thing. I had spent the whole hour getting dressed and making phone calls. Jesse didn’t know it, but I was planning on making this special. I had put on one of my prettiest outfits……(*gasp* A dress! LoL) and had fixed my hair up as best as I could. I still wanted him to think I was mad, so I had on a long coat with my hood up to hide everything. When Jesse arrived a few minutes after me, he looked kind of upset. Apparently, he had walked here too. His head was looking toward the ground and he had his hands stuffed into his pockets, kicking pebbles down the sidewalk. I was guessing he didn’t notice me with my head covered up, cuz he sat down on a nearby bench as if he was waiting. I sat myself beside him and started the convo. Me- “Um, hey Jesse…..” Jesse- *in a dull voice* “Oh hey Val, didn’t recognize ya…” Me- “I wanted to ask u sumthing, that’s why I asked u here…” Jesse- “Well ok……..what?” Me- “That kiss……..with Eva. How did it make u feel?” Jesse- *taking a deep breath* “Well, u may not care to hear this, from the moment I pulled away from that kiss, I completely regretted it. It was one of the stupidest things I could’ve done. I hate myself for being so foolish n selfish. I AM really sorry. Truly, I wish I could undo the whole thing…” That’s what I was hoping he’d say…..And with that I took my hood off and pulled Jesse in for a long, hard kiss. I guess he wasn’t really expecting it, cuz he kinda fell over when I grasped my arms around his neck. I was so happy though! With Jesse fallen on top of me, I suppose our position probably appeared disturbing to the passing people around us. Ha, and I could hear the hobo guy who had been standing near me cheering us on. I really didn’t want to pull away, but I was losing breath after a little while. It was the best kiss I had ever had…..it was true, it was love. Me- “And how did that kiss make u feel?” Jesse- “I think I’m falling for u all over again…” Me- *in a whisper in Jesse’s ear* “I missed u so much…” Jesse- “It wasn’t the same without u, and I hated it!” We continued to talk in the coldness for a few more minutes, then entered Mr. Raposo’s pizza place. When we had gotten our order of fries and a sprite, we found a booth and took off our jackets to settle down. Jesse- *looking at me and then down at his jeans* “Jeez, u sure look wonderful today Jelly Belly!” Me- “Aww thanks Jess….” As we both sipped thru our straws from the same soft drink, I smiled. My plans weren’t over yet. After we finished off our last fry, I excused myself and sneakily (%Is that even a word? Oh well.%) crept up to Greg’s dad behind the counter. I whispered a few sentences to him and then walked back to our table. Jesse- “That was the shortest bathroom run I’ve ever seen!” Me- “Shhhhhh, quiet. I love this song….” Jesse- *very confused* “Um, hunny, I hate to break it to ya, but there’s no music playi--” Just as he said this a familiar song began to play…… ……I never thought that I could I miss, The touch of your hand, or just one kiss, I never meant to say it’s over…… Once again, the restaurant was empty except for Jesse and I. I looked up into Jesse’s gorgeous green eyes and said softly, “This is for you…” After I said this, I caught Mr. Raposo flicking the light switch off, leaving us in a dark set room. Jesse- *standing up* “My fair lady, may I have the pleasure of this dance?” Me- “Why of course, Sir Butthead…..” I stood up too and we began slow dancing in the middle of the floor… …….This time I’m gonna find a way, to hold on to the love, that I thought, we lost forever. This time I’ll find the words to say…To make it better, let’s stay together this time… The two of us both knew what the next part of the song was and smiled. Jesse began singing it softly into my ear. He decided to adjust the lyrics a little bit for today. Jesse- “Woooah-wooooah-ooh…. Val, I made out with Eva late last ni-ight. And when it was over, I started the fi-ight. But now I’ve had time to think it ooo-ver… My lonely heart had see-een the light. Thanx for the chance to make it ri-ight. I had prayed I’d see this day when you’d retur-urnn….” After the next chorus part, it was Frankie’s part of the song. Haha, I knew this becuz last Thursday I had gone out and picked up their cd in my spare time. I had practiced the words to this song earlier, so when this part came on I quietly sang the lyrics to him. (Of course I do not sing like Frankie, lol…..) Me- “Please, don’t say good-bye……Boy indeed-----we can keep our dre--am ali-ive, if we tryyyyy…..oh Jesse, this time….” A little later the song ended and the lights turned up again….revealing a very surprised Gabby, Cate, Frankie, Chris, Chrysta, Greg, Matt, and Eva. (Ryan was not there.) I could’ve sworn I’d seen Mr. Raposo tearing up near the cash register, hehe…. Matt was the first to interrupt the quietness… Matt- “Heyyyyy! Does this mean that the Jester and the Val-enator are back on again??!” I looked up at Jesse and he looked back at me. It was simple to read each other’s thoughts. Jesse- “Well of course!!” Everybody seemed in a better mood today. Even Eva, (with her black eye) smiled when she heard that we had hooked back up again. |
| Chapter 16>>* This Time |