I Almost Killed My Crush's Mom

Chapter 7:: The Plan

Chapter 7// The Plan

I don’t even get a chance to press the bell before Jesse swings open the front door.

“Come on,” He says, grabbing my forearm and leading me back away from the house towards the sidewalk. His face is set with determination, and I stumble along confusedly for a few steps until the realisation kicks in. What the heck is Jesse doing? Why is he leading me away from the house? I open my mouth to ask him for answers, but Jesse only shoots me a look and it’s enough to silence me. “I need to talk to you,” He sighs, “Okay? Now shut up and keep walking.”

“Well you could have just said that in the beginning,” I roll my eyes, “Instead of dragging me cluelessly away from the door. I can walk by myself you know.” Jesse glares at me for a second, before releasing my forearm from his vice-like grip. I rub the spot tenderly. I bruise like a peach; no doubt I’ll have a juicy red mark there later. “Where are we going?” I ask him curiously. We’re walking towards my house, but surely that’s not where we could be headed. I’ve just come from my beach café shift with Adam: maybe we’re headed there?

“We’re just going on a walk,” Jesse replies curtly, irritation seeping into his tone.

“You need to talk to me?”

I find myself holding my breath slightly. Okay, okay, so we all know it’s not going to be a romantic speech, but a girl can dream. He is my crush after all: it’s natural for my hormones to go a little crazy when he says that sentence. He looks especially nice today: his hair is styled messily, and he’s wearing a loose tank top and shorts with his typical black converse. Honestly, my crush may be way out of my league, but at least I have someone to drool over. “It’s about how you can make it up to me,” Jesse mumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets and interrupting my daydreaming.

“Right…” I drag out the word, indicating for him to explain.

“My mom seems to have forgiven you,” Jesse suddenly seems to be on edge: his fists knotting at his sides, “And maybe I should too, but after I found out that it was you involved in the accident…well I couldn’t help but be angry. You could’ve killed her, and although you didn’t, you could have and that thought haunts me. It’s hard to explain, but try and think about it this way. If it was your mom and I backed a car into her, wouldn’t you be mad?”

“Yeah I would,” I reply steadily, but my breaths are shaky. What does he want from me? What can I possibly do to make it up to him? It’s already happened! I can’t reverse time, as much as I want to. “Just tell me what you want Jesse,” I groan, “I’m torturing myself here.”

“Do you know who Rita Hall is?”

Rita Hall. She’s one of the most popular girls in school, flanked by Billie and Sophie. Her hair is a glossy shade of red, she’s confident, flirty and just happens to be Jesse’s ex-girlfriend. Everyone knows Rita Hall.

“I know Rita.” We’ve reached the end of the alleyway now, and we’re onto the promenade: rows of pastel coloured beach huts stretching along the bay in front of us.

“You know that she’s my ex-girlfriend?” Jessie asks me awkwardly, pushing a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. I nod in reply: Jesse and Rita’s relationship was huge in our school. Considering how small-town our students are; they were the closest we’ve ever come to an ‘it’ couple. They went out for a few years, I think, and broke up about a year ago. Since she broke up with Jesse, Rita has been testing the waters with tonnes of boys, whilst still miraculously leaving her friendship with Jesse intact. She needs to write an autobiography, that girl. I’ve never really liked her, but then again that might have something to do with her being the only girl in history to have a serious relationship with my crush.