PROLUGE

            More confused than ever, I step onto the hallway of the James’ house, out of sight of both boys in question.

            On one hand, there was Marc, the oldest brother. He is about a year or so older than me and he says he loves me. But he also wants to go very fast, and exciting as that is, I felt hesitation.

            That cause of my hesitation is the younger brother, Jesse. Yes, Jesse James. We’re been skating partners since we were thirteen. We’d also been best friends a year or two before that. He was like my twin in every way, well except his hair color. His was blond and mine was brown.

            Before this whole mess started, Jesse and I were just getting done with our nightly skating practice. Fooling around like usual, we stayed later then the three other couples that practiced with us. Then the accident happened. Jesse’s head hit the ice and he went into a severe coma. That’s when Marc and I got together because of the accident.

            While Jesse was still unconscious, or somewhat so, we did something a little risqué. I fainted, so I’m not sure what really happened and neither does he. So, that’s another thing on Jesse’s side.

            So, back to earlier, I stepped into the hallway and leaned against the wall. Soon, Jesse showed up and we went into his room, because he had something to tell me. What he told me caught me surprise.

           

CHAPTER 1

            The only thing I remembered after I opened my eyes was someone telling me that they were in love with me. I looked around me and saw that I was in a bedroom. Confused, I looked for someone who could tell me what had happened. The only thing that I saw was an empty room. I listened for a sound, any sound, but heard none.

            Quietly, I got up and went out into the hallway. It was empty. I followed it till I was in what seemed to be the living room area of the house. I still had no idea where I was. Once I was fully in the room. I saw two boys, both asleep. A blond, younger looking one, lay folded up in an arm chair. The other had dark hair and was laying on the couch.

            Upon seeing the two of them, everything flooded back. I, Kayden Stewart was dating Marc James the one on the couch. And I also had some kind of feelings for my best friend, Jesse, the blond one. I also remembered Jesse telling me that he loved me.

            As I watched Jesse, he opened his eyes. He saw me standing there and put a finger to his lips. Getting up slowly, he came over to me. Taking my hand, Jesse led me into the hallway. We stood there, staring at each other for a few minutes before he spoke.

            “Are you okay, Kayden?” he asked, slowly.

            “I guess, but what happened?”

            “Well,” Jesse started, but peeked into the living room before continuing.

            Marc must have moved or something, because Jesse pulled me into the bathroom before continuing.

            “Well, I told you that I loved you and you, umm, fainted. That was like two hours ago though, and I was getting worried that you’d never wake up. I-I thought you had like a heart attack or something,” he said looking down at the ground.

            “Why didn’t you call somebody?” I asked.

            “Well, because I panicked. If I had called anyone they would’ve wanted to know what had happened and I wasn’t ready to tell people that I’d killed you by saying I loved you,” Jesse said running a hand through his blond hair.

            He loves me, I thought. But, so does Marc or at least that’s what they both say… What am I going to do?

            “Kay? You don’t look so good,” he said, touching my arm.

            I looked down at his hand accusingly. This was all his fault. He had to pipe in and tell me his feelings. Now I was caught between my best friend and his brother.

            Jesse pulled his hand away and shoved it into his pocket. We stood there in silence again, this time for a longer span of time. The craziness of the last few days all dropped down on me at once and something inside of me snapped. I sank down to the floor and put my head into my hands. Tears slowly made their way from my eyes and then drip off the end of my nose.

            I cried out all the tears that my tired eyes could manage before wiping my face with the back of my hand. Sniffling, I looked up slowly. Jesse stood in the same place as before. His eyes were closed and a pained expression covered his face. It looked like someone had just nailed him a good one. I wiped all of the stray tears off of my face and slowly stood up. When Jesse still didn’t move, I reached out and touched his shoulder. His eyes snapped open and he looked at me.

            “Is it that bad?” Jesse demanded.

            “What…” I started, but he cut me off.

            “No, you don’t talk now. It’s my turn. Look Kay, I don’t care if you don’t love me back, but… But, tell me,” Jesse said, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

            I stood in front of my best friend and partner completely silent. For the first time in Jesse’s presence I was speechless. After a few minutes had passed, he nodded.

            “Okay, I understand. Bye, Kay,” he said before leaving the bathroom.

            Watching him leave, I felt completely numb. Jesse closed his bedroom door and I left the bathroom. I stopped in front of the door and put a hand on the handle. Quickly pulling it away, I continued down the hall. What would I tell him anyway? Hey Jess. Sorry, but I think that I’m in love with your brother?  I thought sadly.

            As I stepped into the living room, the front door opened and Mr. and Mrs. James walked in. I smiled up at them as I went past. Feeling the wind on my face, I panicked. Not bothering to get my stuff or even put my shoes on, I took off running. I heard the James’s calling me, but I wouldn’t stop, I couldn’t stop. Not knowing where I was going, I ran blindly, tears clouding my vision. My tears began to follow the rhythm that my bare feet where making as they slapped against the pavement. I ran till I stumbled and fell into the sand. I looked up through my tears and saw that I was at a beach.

            Getting up shakily, I made my way down to the water. I didn’t bother with rolling my pants up and just stepped into the water. Shivers ran up my legs and goose bumps broke out all over my body as I took another step out into the water, and another, and another, and another, till I was waist deep in the water. Letting the water beat against me, I stood looking out over the water, trying to collect my thoughts.

            Someone came up behind me and slid their arms around my waist. I turned quickly, pulling away from whoever was holding me. I stepped back and looked up. Jesse stood there, also wet from the waves. Angrily, I wiped my tears away, not wanting Jesse to see them. As soon as I had wiped them away, new ones took their place. Reaching out, Jesse pulled me top him. Even though he was cold and wet, somehow Jesse managed to be warm. After a few minutes, I began to shiver.

            “Come on, let’s get you out of the water,” he said, letting me go.

            Taking me by the hand, Jesse led me up onto shore. Once we were up onto the sand, I sunk down and sat. Jesse followed suite and sat down next to me. I leaned against him and tried to hold my tears in. Jesse put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. We sat there till the sun began to set and we were both shivering.

            “Come on, let’s get some dry clothes,” Jesse said standing up.

            He extended a hand and helped me up. We walked to the board walk where Jesse had parked Marc’s car. He opened the front door and reached onto the backseat. Pulling out a bag, Jesse handed it to me. Cautiously, I opened it and looked inside. The clothes inside looked clean enough, so I took them.

            “Thanks, can I use the car?” I asked.

            Jesse nodded and moved out of the way. I climbed into the front seat and over that to the backseat. I turned my back to Jesse and started to take my shirt off when I heard the door close. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Jesse was in the front seat.

            “What’re you doing?” I asked as he started the car.

            “Change would you. I’m taking you home.”

            “Oh,” I said taking my shirt off.

            I took off my wet bra and pulled the sweat shirt that Jesse had given me. Noticing that the car wasn’t moving, I looked back to see what he was doing. AS I looked, I saw that he was waiting for traffic to clear so that he could back out. Turning around again, I sighed quietly. Quickly, I pulled off my wet jeans and underwear and grabbed the sweatpants out of the bag. Before they were even to my knees, I felt a hand on my back. Turning around, I came face to face with Jesse.

            “Yeah?”

            “You have a cute butt.”

            Blushing, I pulled the pants up and sat down in the backseat.

            “What? You don’t want to sit up front with me?” he asked, scanning traffic in the rearview mirror.

            “No.”

            “Why not?” Jesse asked as he backed out into traffic.

            “Well, because we’re moving. It’s not safe,” I said.

            Jesse turned to look at me as he stopped at a red light.

            “Fine,” I muttered as I carefully made my way back up into the front seat.

            The light turned green just as I sat down. Jesse hit the gas and the car zoomed forward. I had to put my hands out to keep from hitting the dashboard.

            “Geez! Are you trying to kill me?” I asked, quickly putting on my seatbelt.

            “No, Marc was walking along the sidewalk, probably looking for you.”

            “Oh, well I’ll call him later,” I said quietly.

            Jesse only nodded, but didn’t say anything. We rode the rest of the way to my house in silence.