It Smells Like Rain

Chapter Nine: Falling & Flying

"It Smells Like Rain"

Copyright. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter Nine: Flying & Falling

My great grand-daughter sits in front of me, holding a glass of warm tea.

"So what happened after that? What happened to Jesse?" She leans forward in her seat, eager to know the finer details of my life during that time. I smile at her.

"Be patient, Kila. I'll get around to that."

Jesse was released from the hospital a week after that. I'd gone to see him everyday, though Rachel had also been there. Arden came with me one day, and I was surprised he didn't die, because if looks could kill, Jesse most likely would have done the job.

The day Jesse got out, he told Rachel he was too exhausted to do anything, as opposed to what she wanted to do. I was in the room at the time, so I believed it. But later that night, when everyone had gone to bed, I tossed and turned in mine, unable to sleep because of the way he'd looked at me when he'd said that. I sat up when I heard a thud. I stood up apprehensively, and grabbed the baseball bat I kept under my bed for emergencies like this. I stood against the wall of the french doors that led to the balcony, and cautiously slipped the curtain to the side, a small gap, so that I could see through the glass. What I saw surprised me, to say the least. Jesse pressed his ear against the balcony door, and I took that opportunity to yank the door open, so that he stumbled in. I snickered, and he brushed imaginary dust off of him, glaring at me. Then he grinned.

"Hey, Cass."

I raised an eyebrow at him before stowing the bat back in its hiding place. I sat on the bed cross legged, and narrowed my eyes at him. "I thought you were too tired to do anything?"

"Just too tired to do anything with Rachel. She's always yapping, like a Chihuahua. She never shuts up, and quite frankly, I've developed a temperamental issue because of her; it gives me headaches just listening to that voice of hers." His eyes searched mine, and he gave a soft smile. "I never realized how annoying her laugh was until I compared it with yours."

I laughed nervously, looking down and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Thanks."

"Anytime." He sighed and sat down at the edge of my bed. "So now what?"

I shrugged. Honestly, I didn't know. Arden and I had been together for months, and I knew that, despite how much Jesse meant to me, I couldn't leave him. Of course, he'd be moving away soon, and I would be alone again. But there was a deep, unsettling feeling that something bad was going to happen soon. Something very bad.

"Arden's leaving soon," he commented. "I guess I have to wait until then to call you mine."

I shook my head. "So what? We're already plotting against him?" I stood up, scowling as I paced around my room. I hit the wall with my fist, but the pain in my hand barely registered. I rested my head against it, depressed. "You couldn't at least have waited to confess until he was gone?"

"What would it matter? What's the difference of me telling you last week than me telling you months from now?"

I shook my head, unable to come up with an answer. I felt more than heard Jesse approach, until he stood behind me. He rested a hand on my shoulder. "Cass." He turned me around, and looked down at me.

"Everything's going to be okay." Then he kissed me. Again.

At first I was shocked, and didn't respond. But of course, my body responded for me, and at that moment, everything was okay.