Short Stories

Not Jesse (first draft)

I was sitting at my desk one Tuesday morning when in walked a boy. 

"Hey, Jesse!" One kid called.

"That's not Jesse,"  I mumbled quietly as I observed the boy. Sure they looked identical but this boy was not Jesse.

"What'd you say?" The kid asked, looking at me curiously.

Taking a breath, I raised my voice a little more, "That's not Jesse."

"Have you lost your mind? That's obviously him!" Another kid argued back.

"It couldn't be. Are you people blind? Do you really not see the differences?" 

"Explain it then. Why do you think he's not Jesse?" The third kid raised an eyebrow and looked at me with a smirk, obviously expecting me to not have a reason.

I looked over to where the boy was sitting in what was typically Jesse's chair. "Hm, okay. Where to start." I sat and internally debated on a starting point. "Alright. When he walked in, he walked with quiet feet. He was graceful, with quiet confidence. Jesse has heavy feet, with a shorter stride. His shoulders are typically more hunched and he walks with an overconfident swagger. If you look at how Not-Jesse is sitting now, he's sitting up straighter but still with a little of a hunch as if when he sits down at a desk, he has something he bends down closer to look at. This can come from anything really. Jesse, however, sits slouched with his legs stretched way out in front of him. Not-Jesse has hair a shade lighter than what Jesse has, with darker tanned skin as well. His hands are calloused instead of the smoother hands Jesse has. If you look at his eyes, Not-Jesse has sharp intelligent blue eyes that are also a shade lighter than Jesse's light blue eyes. Not-Jesse," I paused for a moment before turning to 'Not-Jesse', "What's your name? It's getting a little tiring constantly saying Not-Jesse."

A small smile formed on Not-Jesse's face and his eyes lit up with humor. "Kane." When he spoke, a chill ran down my spine.

"Nice name. As I was saying, Kane is more observant. Also, Jesse is more built than Kane. Jesse's muscles are bigger on his arms and he loves to show them off. Kane still has muscle, no doubt, but he seems to be stronger in the legs. He looks leaner than Jesse, though he could possibly have better muscle endurance. Who knows. His hair is even done a little differently, and he looks less sloppy with the way he dressed. Kane's voice is slightly smoother than Jesse's gruffer voice. So obviously, Kane is not Jesse."

Everyone stared at me with a surprised expression. 

The first guy who spoke spluttered out, "Bu-but how? How could you possibly know all that and you've only seen him for 5 minutes?" 

"I'm detail oriented," I deadpanned. Perking up, I gave him a cheeky smile. "Plus, Jesse has a birthmark on his neck, and Kane does not have that birthmark on his neck. Kane also has a little scar above his eyebrow that stands out on his tanned skin whereas Jesse is not that tanned and has no scar." I paused for a moment as if considering something. "Well, there's also the fact that Jesse has mentioned a twin several times." I give the other students a wink and then I turn back to my bookbag to grab my sketchpad. 

"You didn't even get through the door before she noticed, did you?" Came an all too familiar voice. 

"Nope." Came the beautiful voice from beside me. Looking up, I saw Jesse walking towards us and to my right was a very smug Kane. As Jesse got close, Kane held out his hand and a $10 bill was placed in it. 

"You had a bet?" I asked them, unsure on whether I should be offended or not. 

"Well, I do sit next to you during every class we have together and that hasn't changed in the past 5 years since you moved here. Because of that, I know that you've memorized every detail of me and would be able to tell that it wasn't me. I was counting on the fact that you'd have your nose stuck in a book or in your sketchpad as normal, but today was apparently different than the rest. Kane thought you'd notice immediately before he'd even been in here for a minute. You let me down, Picasso, you made me lose $10!" Jesse whined.

"I didn't force you to take the bet, now did I?" 

"Well, no."

"Then it's all on you, Golden Boy. Can't help it Kane's smarter than you and he doesn't even know me."

"Hey! That's offensive." Jesse pouted.

"But it's true." I sang. I winked at Kane and to my surprise, he winked back. 

Internally, I was screaming.

"Well, I happened to know quite a bit about you. He never shuts up about you sometimes. He goes on and on, bragging about his best friend." Kane laughed. "And then he'll start talking about this girl he likes. Do you know who our little Sunshine has been crushing on?" He leaned closer to me with a mischievous grin.

"I can't say that I do," I replied, also leaning closer and matching his expression. Looking into his cornflower blue eyes, I saw mirth reflected back at me. I got lost in them for a moment. 

Jesse made a sound of exasperation. "You're gonna tell her all my secrets?" 

"Yup." He replied, popping the 'p'. He turned back to me. "Do you know a Cora Martin?"

I gasped and looked over at Jesse. "You're crushing on my best friend?" I whisper-yelled. "I bet you're only using me to get to her." I gave him a teasing smile. "Ask her out," I began, serious, "She likes you too."

"Really?" Jesse seemed uncertain.

"Yeah, I wouldn't lie about that." 

"I'll be back." Jesse stood up with a determined look on his face before marching out of the room.

"Hm, well he moves fast." I turned back to Kane laughing but when I caught sight of his intense face, my laughter died off. "What?"

"You're really much prettier than he says you are." Kane commented casually. 

Blushing, I turned back around before adding under my breath, "Yeah well he never mentioned how hot you were either." 

I grabbed my sketch pad and began drawing the Adonis sitting next to me. Getting lost in my art world, I looked up at Kane to make sure I was drawing him as close to perfect as possible and was pleasantly surprised to find that he was holding still for me. 

I had a feeling he and I were going to become very close, er, friends. 

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Aight I know what you're gonna say and I'm sorry, I didnt mean to make this crappy.... love you guys? Im still working on the sequel to the soulmates short story and there should be a sequel to this one too.

Sorry duckies, I know I need to do better.