A/N: To everyone who reviewed - thank you, thank you!!!
Chapter Two - Strangers
Andi
For a split second I thought maybe I was mistaken. But I wasn't. I'd never mistake those eyes. He frowned a little and I realized I was doing the same thing. I didn't know what to say. I hadn't seen him in four years, and I was in complete shock. Puberty had been very kind to him. Jesse had always been a cute kid, but now he was a hottie. Not in the same league as Micah, but then who was? He seemed to beat least afoot taller and had filled out into a strong looking huggable frame with broad shoulders. Nice...
He turned his frown down to the workbooks as he took hold of them and mumbled an awkward, 'Thanks.' Holy crap! That was not Jesse's voice! He sounded like he had swallowed a Barry White impersonator! Alright, his voice wasn't that deep, but it was certainly undeniably manly. I tried not to stare at him as he took a workbook and passed the rest of them along, but my head seemed to involuntarily jerk around to look at him, as if being pulled by some, extraordinarily stronginvisible magnet.
Jesse looked back at me and my heart did a little flip. He was still frowning as he began to speak in a whisper. 'Hi... Do you... um, do you remember me?'
I nodded and couldn't help but smile at him for asking such a dumb question. 'Of course I remember you,' I replied. Mr Karim slapped the text book he was reading from down on the table and shot me the evil eye.
'Ms Addison,' he said coldly. 'What part of no talking did you have difficulty understanding?'
'The first part,' I answered completely straight faced. I couldn't believe I had just said that - but it had been a complete gut reaction. I hadn't spoken back to a teacher like that since the fifth grade and even then I only did it because I was under Jesse's influence. I saw him grinning out of the corner of my eye and I got a little flutter of warmth in my stomach. Surely I hadn't just said that because Jesse was there - just because subconsciously I knew that that kind of thing always made him laugh when we were kids? God that was lame. Sassing a teacher because I thought it would impress a boy? That was so pathetic. I had been in the presence of Jesse for all of two minutes and already I was reverting back to being a ten year old.
'Just keep the lips zipped,' Mr Karim continued. 'Is that clear enough for you?'
'Yes sir,' I replied.
Jesse
The second I saw her I knew it was Andi. She had the exact same expression on her face as she did the last time we ever spoke - she was majorly upset about something. The teacher told me to take the seat next to her but she didn't even glance in my direction. Seeing her like that was so surreal. She looked so different. The Andi I knew never wore make-up and the last time I'd seen her she didn't have any.... well let's just say the last time I'd seen her she hadn't been fully formed, and now she most definitely was.
Her hair was a different color too. In all the pictures I have of her she has long chestnut colored hair, but now it was a rusty red color, still long but with a lot of layers. I saw the shock in her face when she recognized me and it made me really nervous. The last time we spoke she'd told me that she hated me more than she ever hated anyone and that I made her want to puke. I was relieved when she smiled at me after I asked her if she remembered me. I never thought I'd see Andi smile at me again. But just as she was replying the teacher yelled at her for talking.
She made some smart ass comment back to him and I had to choke back a laugh. She still seemed too innocent to be able to pull off back chatting a teacher, but it was still cute as hell.
Andi
The urge to keep looking back at him was overwhelming, I just couldn't help it. Every thirty seconds or so I had to keep sneaking a glance over to my right to make sure it really was him and I hadn't just had some weird psychotic breakdown and was hallucinating. I mean that would really give the gossips something to get their teeth into, they'd be all like, 'Hey, did you know that Andi girl had a breakdown, she's walking around school talking to people who aren't even there and telling everyone that her long lost best friend has unexpectedly returned. The break up with Micah must have really hit her hard.'
But he was no hallucination. It was so strange. I mean, it was definitely Jesse, just not the Jesse I remembered. It was very weird. A couple of times he caught me gawping at him and gave me a little smile. Have I mentioned that it was very weird? There I was sat next to someone who was once the person I was closest to in the whole entire world, but now he just seemed like a stranger. When the bell rang at the end of class my body seemed to be taken over by a rush of nervous adrenaline. I didn't know what to say to him, but I had to say something. It would have been really rude not to, and I didn't want him to think that I was still holding a grudge after all this time.
So as the two of us rose up out of our chairs and I noticed just how high he towered above me I said the only thing I could think of. 'Wow, you've really grown.'
His face lit up in a smile and he shook his head with amusement as he replied, 'Yeah, but you haven't.' Not long ago the issue of my height had been something of a sore point with me. For some cruel reason which only that evil bitch Mother Nature knows, I stopped growing at fourteen which meant I was destined to be a quarter of an inch under five foot forever - or at least until I got really old and starting shrinking back down again in that creepy way old people tend to do. One lousy quarter of an inch! It had taken some time and a lot of tears, but I'd finally made my peace with this. Fortunately this meant that I was able to brush Jesse's comment off as the harmless little joke it was intended to be.
'So what are you doing back here?' I asked. It seemed like a pretty safe route to go down. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Fling my arms around him and start gushing about how much I'd missed him? No. He and I hadn't exactly been friends when he'd left, and like I said, he was pretty much a stranger to me now.
He gave a shrug of his broad shoulders. 'My Mom got remarried, I didn't like her new husband so I thought I'd come back here and give living with my Dad a try.'
'Oh,' I replied lamely. Seriously, that was all I could manage. One measly, pathetic little 'oh'. A wave of sadness suddenly hit me. All those memories I had of Jesse were just that, memories. For all this time I had been able to keep an idolized image of him in my mind, but now he was back and he was a real person again. Not just some hallowed legend from my past. The good thing about legends is that, unlike real live people, they can't let you down. Now I had to endure this awkward moment of realizing that Jesse and I weren't what we once were. I'll say it again; it was weird.
'Hey Andi!' Carly's voice cut through the awkward silence and I looked over to see her standing in the doorway waiting for me. She had promised to come and meet me after each one of my classes so that I would never have to walk through the halls alone. Now that is what I call a true friend. 'Come on!' she yelled impatiently.
I was filled with conflicting emotions. Part of me didn't want to leave Jesse, but part of me wanted to run like the wind. Standing there with him was awkward and strange, but it was also kind of compelling. I know that generally strained and stilted conversations can't really be described as compelling, but this was a unique situation.
'What class do you have next?' I asked.
'Uh, geography I think,' he replied. I had English. I didn't know whether to be relieved about that or not. I hiked my backpack up over my shoulder as a signal to Carly that I was on my way and I didn't need her to screech at me again. Jesse on the other hand didn't seem in too much of a rush to be going anywhere. He had always been laidback, and I guess that was one thing that hadn't changed.
'Well, see ya,' I mumbled, giving him a pathetic little wave and weak smile combo. I headed for the door, then being unable to resist, took another glance back over my shoulder at him. He was gathering up his things and shoving them in his bag. Turning back to Carly I noticed that she was checking him out too.
'Who was the honey?' she asked once we were out in the hallway.
'Oh that was Jesse,' I replied. I knew without even having to ask that he had just made it onto her 'boys I'd like bang' list. She actually has one of those, and I mean a real list that's written on paper and tacked up behind a poster of Adam Brody in her bedroom. It came as no surprise to me, he was just her type - nice build, big brown eyes, and shaggy dark hair.
'Is he new here?' she asked. 'I don't think I've ever seen him before.'
'He lived here until he was twelve, then he moved away and now he's back,' I informed her. 'We used to be pretty good friends actually.'
'Awesome,' she beamed linking an arm through mine. 'That means you can introduce us.' I was suddenly hit by the urge to say, 'Sorry hun, you're not his type.' But how the heck should I know what his type was? I barely even knew him anymore. And why was I so eager to put her off him anyway? Okay, there was the fact that once upon a time I had been totally sure that he and I were going to get married one day, but that was a long time ago. That was way back when I thought Taylor Hanson was hot. Those things were phases, nothing more. Things that you can look back on and laugh about.
'So did you see Micah?' she asked as we trudged up the stairs, pushing our way through the throng of elbows and backpacks that were all jostling against one another in different directions.
'Mmm,' I mumbled. I hadn't really given him much thought after discovering that the new kid sat beside me was actually Jesse, but now that Carly had mentioned him again, he was back in the forefront of my mind just like he always seemed to be.
'Was it really awkward and awful?' she asked again with big pitiful eyes.
I grimaced at her. 'Can we talk about something else please? I don't want to think about him anymore.' Like I even have a choice, I added silently.
'Sure thing,' Carly replied. 'I actually wanted to tell you about the fundraiser meeting anyway. We're going to have it at lunch in the cafeteria. You think you can make it?'
'Of course,' I nodded. Every year all the students at Everett High organize a number of different fundraiser events to raise the money we need to subsidize the annual school trip to Colorado in January. They were usually a lot of fun, and add to that the fact that we got to go on a weeks skiing trip with the proceeds, and it's pretty easy to understand why everyone always looked upon the whole thing even more favorably.
By the time lunch came around I had grown used to all the looks and whispers I was getting and they started to fade into the background, like a nuisance that just didn't register with me anymore. I settled down at the table and opened up my lunch bag just as the meeting got under way. Gathered around the table were Carly Spencer and Kylie Hunter - my two best friends, Drew Doherty - Kylie's boyfriend, Marshall Vincent, Kayleigh Hammond, Simmone Vance, Garth Wilber, Zak Egan, and Aisha Parmer. We had pretty much stuck together as a fund raising group since freshman year with the odd addition here and there, like Carly for example who had only started at the school the year before.
'Okay, I call this meeting to order,' Kylie giggled goofily from the end of the table.
'Oh great,' I grumbled less than enthusiastically.
Kylie frowned. 'Geez, I haven't even started yet Andi, would you just give me a chance?'
'What?' I looked up at her feeling a little perplexed. 'Oh no, I wasn't talking to you. I just realized I picked up Marnie's lunch instead of mine this morning.'
'Ooh big tragedy,' Carly replied sarcastically as she set about unwrapping her own sandwich.
'Actually it kind of is,' I replied. 'Marnie is going through this weird stage where all she eats is mushed up peas and celery sticks.'
'That's sick,' Zak said, scrunching up his nose. 'She some kind of freak or what?'
'All six year old girls are pretty much freaks,' I retorted getting to my feet. I'd have to buy my lunch - there was no way I was going to eat squished peas and celery. I told my friends I'd be back in a few minutes and walked over to the lunch line. I had just grabbed a tray when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking around I found Jesse gazing down at me.
'Hey.' He smiled at me, but it still had that odd this-is-really-weird edge to it.
'Oh hi,' I replied quickly. Instinctively I shoved the tray I was holding into his hands and turned around to take another one for myself. I'd always done stuff like that when we were younger, and I guess old habits die hard, even if you haven't done them for a while.
'Uh, thanks,' he mumbled.
I flashed him a quick smile and hoped it didn't look as nervous as it felt. 'No problem.' The line inched along and as the two of us moved forward I realized I couldn't carry on acting like seeing him was no big deal.
'God, this is really strange,' I said to him. 'You were the very last person I expected to see here today. I never thought I'd see you again.'
'Nice surprise?' he asked with a lopsided grin.
'Well, yeah, of course,' I replied. Did he really think I was still mad at him after all this time? Surely he couldn't, but I had to make sure. 'I went into total shock when I'd found out that you moved away all those years ago. I was really upset.'
'You were?' he asked looking kind of uncertain. 'I thought you hated me. Don't you remember all that stuff you said to me the last time we spoke?'
'I was mad at you, sure,' I replied. 'But I didn't hate you. You were the closest friend I ever had until you turned all mean on me.'
He frowned regretfully as the line shuffled further forward. 'Yeah, sorry about that,' he said pulling a face that was too cute to be called a grimace but was along those sort of lines. 'I guess my hormones kicked in and they turned me into a jerk.'
'Seems they turned you into kind of a hunk too,' I smiled. I saw a slight blush color his cheeks, and a cute little dimple popped up as he lips curled into a bashful smile. I could tell from the way his eyes had grown a fraction wider that he hadn't expected me to say anything like that. Okay so it was a little flirty - but not flirty flirty. That was just the way I interacted with guys now. Growing up you soon learn that a small compliment here and some subtle flattery there really makes conversation with guys run a lot smoother - it's not real flirting, it's just a way to relate. Before you know it, it's second nature and these things just slip out without even thinking about them, even if they're not true. Only in this case it was true. In this case it was very true.
'Well, um, you certainly seem different too,' he said finally, his cheeks returning to their normal color. I seemed different? I had called him a hunk and all he could say was that 'I seemed different'? That was definitely a signal that he was not as bowled over by my physical transformation as I had been by his. But that's okay. I'm a big girl now, I can take it. Jesse Matthews opinion is no longer the be all and end all of my life. That particular honor belonged to Micah now, which thinking about it, wasn't really much of an improvement.
The line moved along some more and I grabbed myself a slice of pizza, an apple and a bottle of water. As we queued up to pay Jesse asked, 'Would it be okay for me to sit with you?' I looked up at his earnest face and instantly turned to mush inside. I was remembering our first day at Kindergarten, the way he had saved me a seat next to him and got into shoving matches with about six different kids who had tried to take it. Even back then he knew how nervous I was about being in new environments and meeting new people and he had done everything he could to keep me from crying and getting upset. Now it was my chance to return the favor. Although I doubted there was really much chance of Jesse crying or getting upset.
'Of course you can,' I told him with a smile. 'But be warned, we're having a fundraiser meeting and they have been known to get pretty grisly in the past. Oh and there's one girl who may leer at you in a totally pervy way - but don't mind her, she's harmless.'
We paid for our lunches and made our way over to the table in the corner. As we got closer I heard Zak giving his big speech about car washes - the speech he gave every year that always got shot down in a second because it was such a lame idea. 'Hey guys,' I said interrupting. 'Do any of you remember Jesse?' I thought that a few of them should. Kylie for one, and Kayleigh, Marshall, Garth and Aisha should all have known him too seeing as they had gone to the same elementary and junior high as us.
'Oh my God,' Kylie said slapping a hand up to her mouth. 'Jesse Matthews? Is that you?'
'Kylie, right?' he replied with a thoughtful little smile.
'Oh my Lord!' she exclaimed jumping out of her seat. 'I can't believe it's you. Damn, you look so different!' She hurried over to him and gave him a friendly hug. 'How have you been?' Kylie's response too seeing him again was really putting my response to shame. Anyone would have thought they had been best friends.
'Good. You?'
'Oh terrific,' Kylie grinned. 'Here take a seat, let's introduce you to everyone!' All conversation was pretty much centered on Jesse for the next ten minutes or so, until Garth finally rapped his knuckles on the table loudly.
'Guys,' he said commandingly. 'Let's not forget why we're here - think fundraiser people!' Immediately we switched topic and everyone was sharing their ideas.
'I know this isn't something we'd usually do,' Kylie piped up taking a handful of flyers out of her backpack and handing them around the table. 'But I found out about this art competition where the prize is $10,000. The deadline is on December thirteenth, and basically the criteria is that a group of students need to work together to produce a piece of artwork that reflects life at their school. Whaddya think?'
She was greeted by a chorus of, 'I like it,' 'Sound's good,' and 'We should give it a shot.'
'Hold up,' Carly said tapping at her chin thoughtfully. 'I detect a flaw here. None of us are great artists, we wouldn't stand a chance of winning this thing.' Immediately I was struck by an idea.
'Felix!' I exclaimed to the group excitedly. Carly looked at me like I'd just vomited all over the table.
'Andi, have you suddenly developed tourettes or something?' she sneered. 'Why are you shouting out gross things like that whacko kid's name?'
'You guys,' I said insistently. 'Felix Sanders is an amazing artist! You should see his work. It's totally magical. He is unbelievably talented.'
Garth was shaking his head. 'No way,' he snapped. 'The guy's a total freak. What do you want us to do? Hand in pictures of disemboweled rats and headless corpses? Sure, that would win us the money.' I glared at him. He didn't even know Felix - he just made assumptions about him, and just like everyone else at this stupid school, he had Felix figured all wrong.
'Sorry Andi,' Kylie said with a shake of her head. 'I've got to veto that suggestion too. Felix is just too weird.'
As everyone moved on to the next topic of discussion I felt Jesse leaning in to me. I turned to face him and found my nose almost touching his as he whispered, 'Why's everyone bitching about Felix?' He seemed genuinely puzzled. Felix had been sort of shy and quiet back before Jesse moved away, but that was no where close to the way he was now. Now he was a million times worse.
I leaned into Jesse's ear and whispered a reply. 'His Dad died a few years ago. He didn't take it too well and some jerks labeled him a weirdo.' It was a very condensed explanation but Jesse would get the picture soon enough anyway. It seemed that a week didn't go by without Felix being the butt of some cruel joke or the victim of a childish prank.
'That sucks,' he said leaning back in his chair. 'Poor Felix.' When the bell rang for the end of lunch everyone got up and began to go off in their different directions. Jesse gave me a quick wave goodbye before being rushed off by Drew who was giving him a detailed run down on who was who at school i.e.; who to avoid and who to be nice to. I frowned deeply. I knew which list Felix was going to be on and I just hoped that Jesse wouldn't take Drews advice to heart. Felix didn't need anymore people avoiding him, or being mean to him - especially people who he had once called friends.
It annoyed me that Kylie and Garth were so nasty about him. They had known him before he had changed and they knew all about his Dad's death, but for some reason they just wouldn't cut the poor guy any slack. It seemed to me that they just went along with the general consensus of the rest of the school. It was a stupid mob mentality and it sucked. I was silently stewing over this, and how it was unfair of them to rule Felix out when he was such a phenomenal artist, when I felt Carly skipping up behind me, squeezing my shoulders and giggling.
'Uh... are you okay?' I asked turning to face her.
'I'm more than okay!' she grinned. 'I am totally in love! Jesse is SO hot! I couldn't stop staring at him. You have to fix me up with him Andi! You have to, have to, HAVE TO!!!' I felt my stomach drop to the floor. Carly and Jesse? That thought was majorly unappealing. It shouldn't have been really. I mean the both of them had been really good friends to me, I should have thought that the idea of the two of them hooking up was totally adorable. But I didn't. In fact I thought it was totally sickening. Logically, I knew I shouldn't have felt that way. But Jesse... well Jesse was Jesse. He had been my first friend, my first crush, my first kiss, my first heartbreak. I felt possessive of him.
Having realized this my heart was quickly following my stomachs example and descending right down to my feet at an incredibly rapid rate. I couldn't allow myself to feel possessive over Jesse. I hardly knew him anymore, and I had gotten over the heartbreak he caused me a long time ago. I was consumed by a different heartbreak now - I couldn't add jealousy and possessiveness over another guy to the list. I'd go insane.
'Please say you'll talk to him Andi,' Carly said tugging at the sleeve of my sweater. 'Please, please, please?!' I sighed outwardly whilst groaning inwardly.
'Okay Carly,' I told her. 'I'll talk to him.' Her eyes lit up like a firework had just gone off behind them.
'Oh thank you,' she squealed wrapping me up in a too-tight-hug. I patted her on the back and sighed again. So I was now matchmaking my ex-future husband with one of the people who had been his replacement as my best friend. Weird. This was all I needed.