Wicked Confessions (Excerpt Only)

chapter four (confessed by Jesse)

Senior year! Finally! Time to blow this popsicle stand and escape! I couldn't wait! I was on the verge of turning eighteen and being an adult! And the day after graduation, I was so moving out of this town and leaving everyone in it behind me! No more being a taxi for my annoying sister! No more screaming matches with my obnoxious father! No more watching my mother play the perpetual victim! Oh, heck no! Gone and never looking back!

One hundred and seventy-nine school days to go. But who was counting? Oh, right. Me! I was counting! Yesterday was freshmen orientation, so I had the day off, but it counted as day number one, so one hundred and seventy-nine more! Yeah! The end was in sight!

"Jesse!" Gabby whined at me. "Jesse! Dad said you'd give me a ride to school!"

Of course he did. He always volunteered me to cart her around. He didn't care if it meant I'd have no life whatsoever, as girls didn't want a guy who hauled his kid sister everywhere. "Look, Gabs, it's my senior year, so you're getting dropped off down the block, and I'm never bringing you into the senior lot. Got it?"

"Oh my gaw! You are the worst big brother ever!" she declared. Good. If I ticked her off enough, maybe she'd actually pass her driving test one of these times, get her own car, and leave me alone, once and for all. "But okay, but only if we can pick up Sis on the way."

"Gabs, I'm not bringing your dead friend to school. Not even if you both get out of my car two blocks away."

"Oh my gaw! She's not dead! Why would you even say that?"

Seriously? "Uh, cuz she looks dead. But yeah, no. Zombie girl ain't welcome in my car."

"Jesse! She's your friend! And she's my bestie! Remember when you gave her a ride home from the dance? And remember when you went to the king/queen dance with her?"

Of course I remembered. I may have had my butthead moments in life, but I wasn't stupid. "She wasn't dead then."

"Oh my gaw! Stop saying that! She's not dead!" my idiot sister insisted.

"So, I shouldn't call the hearse and see if it's stopping here on its way to the cemetery?" I teased.

"That's it! I'm telling!" she shouted as she scurried off.

Predictably, Dad flew into the room, raging and ranting about how I needed to give the girls a ride to school and drop them off at school or else he'd take my car away. Man, I hated that guy.

One hundred and seventy-nine more days.

When I pulled up to P.S.'s house, she emerged looking like, predictably, death. The only color that was anywhere near her was her long, red hair. It waved like a flag against a sea of pale skin and black clothing. Dang, the Goth thing was hot on her, but she was only fourteen and, for all intents and purposes, basically dead.

But she wasn't dead. Not remotely. It was all an act. A pathetic cry for attention or something. Whatever. I could chauffeur her around without understanding it. But thank goodness I was wicked popular, as otherwise, this driving Gabby and Dead Girl around thing might just ruin my reputation.

"P.S.! You do know that the Goth look was passé a decade ago, right?" I chided her.

"Thanks for the ride," she replied.

"Hold the presses! P.S. said, 'Thanks' for something?" I joshed. Manners were never her strong point.

"Jesse, shut up and just drive us to school," Gabby demanded.

"Fine. Whatever," I agreed, checking P.S. out in the rearview mirror. Maybe it was those knee-high black boots or that short skirt. Naah, it was the hair. It had always been the hair. And... shoot, she caught me looking. Save face, Jesse. Save face, Jesse. "P.S., if you're gonna do the Goth thing right, you're supposed to dye your hair black, too. I mean, gingers just don't evoke the image of Goth."

"Come to think of it, Jesse, please drop us off two blocks away from school," Gabby decided. "We don't want to be seen with you!"

I slammed the brakes on. "Let me make it even easier," I fumed. "Get out, NOW!" I expected Gabs would protest, but to my shock, P.S. jumped out of the car! Um, okay. If she wanted to walk the rest of the way to school, more power to her. Then, Gabs followed her lead. Perfect. I had my car to myself. I cranked my tunes, sang at the top of my lungs, and arrived in the senior lot with no stupid, little sophomores in tow. Life was back to good.

And all morning, it stayed that way. I nabbed a locker in the center of the senior hallway, and when Kelli Carlton arrived, I waved her over, and she graciously took the locker next to mine, which had been specifically saved for her. I had been in love with this girl since middle school. She was gorgeous. Alas, she had been going out with the captain of the football team, Mike Hill, for the past three years. Mike was everything I wasn't. Yet, Kelli had co-starred in so many shows with me that I knew that she, likewise, was everything he wasn't. She and I were perfect for each other, and sooner or later, she'd figure it out, too.

To top off the superb start to my senior year, Kelli was in all of my classes! Looking at her, all day, every day, would make the next one hundred and seventy-nine days quite bearable. Yeah, poor Mikey didn't stand a chance when we two thespians were simply destined to be together.

And at lunchtime, who did I sit with? Kelli and her hot friends! Mikey? Yeah, not so much. But I didn't miss him. Neither did Kelli.

But then, unbelievably, above our lovely conversation, I heard a shout of, essentially, "What did you say to her?" as some guy lunged over the table and grabbed me by the collar! Of course, he offered no explanation of what he was talking about. No, as food flew everywhere, his fist crashed into my face, and when they finally broke the fight up, they hauled him off to the office. Good. He started it.

"Jesse, are you okay?" Kelli's angelic voice wondered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I admitted. "What was up with that guy?"

"Who was he? And what did you say to his girlfriend?"

Smugly, I noted, "If I knew who she was, I'd know what I said."

"Oh my goodness! Jesse! You're bleeding!" Kelli revealed, pointing to her lip. Man, she had nice lips, but if, at the moment, mine were bloody, she wasn't thinking about kissing them. Sigh. Story of my life! Some anonymous creep picked a fight with me and bloodied up my lip when I was having lunch with Kelli Carlton. Yeah, that was about right in my world.

"I'm fine," I dismissed. "But I'll have the nurse fix it up all nice and pretty." I winked at her. "Think they'll let me go home for it?"

She shook her head. "But if they do, tell them I have to go with you to take care of you." And Kelli hug. Mmm, her hair smelled good.

I agreed, "Sounds like a plan." Yeah, and a darn good one!

All the way to the nurse's office, I tried to figure out who that guy was and why he felt the need to attack me! It wasn't Mike Hill, and quite frankly, he was the only guy at Red Clover with a reason to worry about me talking to his girlfriend. I hadn't even talked to any other girls at school! Whatever. The guy was probably high.

So, anyway, the nurse cleaned up my lip and sent me back to class. So much for going home early. Sigh. Maybe next time.