Twisted Connections

Tessa

The rest of the day passed as quickly as it had come. As Tessa pulled her books mechanically out of her locker, stuffing them in the small kanken she had brought to school, she mulled over the day. She thought mainly back to English Lit. Why had she asked Jase to be her partner? Now, thinking and worrying about the decision, she could tell it had been a bad one. Jase wasn't...reliable. The whole school knew that he was trouble; he dealt drugs and the three detentions that Tessa had ever sat had been in his delightful company. Working with him could pull down her grade average, and she needed to get a good score, and scholarships to university, and would he try to pressure her into drugs? Tessa couldn't see that happening, but still so many worries flowed to the crevice that Jase had broken into her perfectly ordered brains. In reality, she had asked Jase to pair up because she hadn't wanted to talk to Fred. 

Fred. Tessa couldn't look at Fred, his tired eyes, messy hair, full lips. All she saw when she looked at him was that summer. The summer her mother had attempted suicide, the summer that her father had left them, the summer that being with Fred had become too much. That was why she had broken up with him, leaving him without explanation. And now he tried to reach out to her, comfort her even though she'd been a witch to him. Tessa sighed, but even this was interrupted to by a worry, which came in the handsome form of Jase. Handsome? Tessa pushed down this thought.

"Hey," she smiled. Strangely her worries melted away, as they had seemed to do in English.

He smiled back, his eyes searching her probably tired and worn face. "I was thinking that today would be a good day to get started on the essay." Today? Wasn't that, a bit, early? Tessa thought to the alternative, going home with Addie and talking with the cheer squad about Roland and Fred. Maybe even with Roland and Fred.

"Today sounds fine. My place or yours?" She questioned, closing her locker.

"Yours." His reply was startlingly quick, and Tessa's thoughts immediately dived into his personal life.

"Mine it is then. Should I drive?" The thought was stupid, she had ridden with Addie, she couldn't drive him back.

Before she could take her words back, he shook his head. "We'll take my bike." For a second, Tessa had a thought at them riding a small kids back to her penthouse. Then she remembered that Jase and Fred had both ridden motorbikes. Weren't they old friends?

"Sure, sounds good." He led her out of school, lighting up a cigarette. The smoking didn't bother Tess, her mother had smoked regularly in a very french way, and somehow the bitter smell soothed her. Somehow Jase soothed her.

He cocked his head back and offered her a smoke. She smiled, let the cigarette fall between her fingers and breathed in, letting the feeling calm her nerves. A bike was dangerous, but the excitement in her heart was undeniable.

He slipped onto the bike, and Tessa tried not to think as she climbed on behind him. Hesitantly, she slipped her arms around his waste, tucking her head against his shoulder. The warmth of his body soaked through her, and she tucked her legs against the sides of the bike, breathing in his cologne. Then they set off.

It was like nothing Tessa had ever felt before. Her body was moving with the wind, yet it was spurring her on, and she tucked herself closer to Jase, letting her dark curls flow free. Her stomach was elated, and she felt her legs rise before she even knew what she was doing, standing as Jase pulled corners. "This is frickin amazing," she whispered in his ear, and he turned back round to her, giving her a mischevious smile.

"Yeah," he yelled, elongating the syllables, kicking the bike so it roared and they pushed faster. They laughed, and she moved her hips against his as he swerved, letting her body swing in the actions. "Where to next?" She gave him the directions to her house, trying to ignore the sting of disappointment as the bike slowed to a halt.