How Jesse Got His Karma

nine

True to his promise, Jesse was kind enough to drive me back to the hotel where I got my clothes for school that was in my duffle bag.

The whole car ride to school was completely silent.

The silence was absolutely deafening and as much as I would like to speak, interact, or do something that kind of kills the awkward atmosphere in the car. I wasn't sure if Jesse wanted to speak to me.

It was even a hassle to get him to give me his phone very quickly so I could call Paola and ask where she was and if she had my phone.

When I asked him for it the first time he said, "You'll see her at school."

I then told him that he doesn't know if that's actually true. Paola tends to be a bit of a free spirit. As smart as she is, she really could care less about going to school.

I do remember this really sweet boy coming up to her at the party though. Paola was standing in front of me in the kitchen while the guy was standing behind her looking like he wanted to speak to her and I kind of got the hint and told Paola to turn around to speak to that guy.

She was tipsy at this point but very aware. I was eavesdropping on the conversation.

What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?

After he finished stuttering, he told her that her beauty transcends time and space. That it was a crime to look as gorgeous as she does despite the fact that she's unaware of how it causes anyone with eyes to stop and stare just to admire her.

Needless to say, she was very much into everything he was saying, and that caused him to ease up a bit and become comfortable enough to spark up a conversation about the things they had in common.

And that's all I remember before I blacked out and tried to seduce the man next to me.

I begged him at least two more times and he finally did give me his phone.

I was a bit taken aback when he reached into his pockets and pulled out a flip-phone.

When I called Paola she did pick and tell me that she'd come to school to meet me and that she had gotten caught up with the boy she met.

It's weird though because when we hung up I realized I forgot to ask Paola if I had any missed calls or messages on my phone from my parents but when I texted her she never responded.

I wouldn't blame her if she couldn't understand what I typed since I always found it hard to spell out every letter when it came to texting on flip-phones. I don't know how millennials did it.

Jesse was quick to grab the phone out of my hand and put it back in his pockets as he motioned that we should head out of the room after I grabbed both mine and Paola's things.

So now we're sitting in the car together and when I opened my mouth to speak as we got inside, he was quick to raise the volume of the radio. At first, I assumed that it was because he liked the song but nope.

Because it was Party In The U.S.A by Miley Cyrus

So either he's patriotic as hell or he just doesn't want to speak to me.

I went with the latter.

I looked over at him as he removed his right hand from the wheel and placed it on his thigh as he slowed the car down as we came to a red light.

His jaw clenched when I looked over at him as he stared ahead at the road waiting for the light to turn green.

I took this as an opportunity to start up a conversation since we had at least a 10-minute ride ahead of us. I'd like to fix the image he already has of me in his head.

I don't know if it's the way he described the situation but I feel like some sort of sexual predator.

The light went green and he placed his foot on the gas lightly. There weren't many cars on the road. I decide to be a bit bold and lower the radio. I reach my hand over to it and turn the dial to the left so it can be at level 4. The sound of Rude by Magic! played softly as he looked at me with an eyebrow raised before turning back to the road.

"So how has your day been so far?" I start by not knowing what to say.

"You were with me the whole time." his eyes not moving from the road

"Well, yeah, but not the whole time."

"Are you referring to when I left you alone so you can change?" he laughs

Ok, so this idea isn't going the way I thought it would.

I decide to sit quietly after this. The song was still playing softly as I decided to hum along to it. I couldn't hear that well and I was scared to touch the radio because who knows how he could react.

I continue to hum along to the chorus, singing along quietly absentmindedly not realizing that it was loud enough for him to hear. I didn't know he heard me until I heard the song play quieter. He subtly turned the volume of the radio down a bit more out of the corner of my eye.

It wasn't as high as it was when he first raised it up but just loud enough for us both to hear the beat of the music. The lyrics were no longer able to be deciphered. As my voice was the only thing to be heard in the car. This caused me to stop very quickly.

I start to feel a wave of nausea all over again. There was a bathroom in the room that I woke up this morning. My body had focused on one thing at a time so I guess I was hungover but my initial shock of being in the room with Jesse hid how sick I really felt.  I started puking after Rico had walked in on me.

Placing the palm of my hand on my forehead, I lowered my face down covering it as I was starting to feel my headache come back to me in waves.

Trying not to make a scene, I sigh lowly and rest my head against the window.

That 10-minute ride was over and he parked his car directly in front of the school. I looked over at him getting ready to thank him and before I can say anything he's shaking a bottle of Tylenol in my face.

"How did yo--"

"I heard you this morning." he says, "Well actually a friend of mine heard you. Don't take that on an empty stomach."

I thanked him quietly and he didn't say anything. I looked outside of the window, just now noticing that the windows were tinted so we could see outside and they couldn't see us.

He grabbed a bottle of water that was unopened and in the cupholders in front of us handing that to me as well, leaning back in his seat.

"Um...are you not going to get out?" I ask him considering that we're literally parked horizontally in front of the school taking up at least three parking spots.

"I have things to do."

"Yeah...like your homework... and going to class."

"It's only the second day of school, I'll catch up" he scoffs, "Don't worry about me, doll." he motions for me to go by putting his hand into a 'shooing' motion and I slowly get out of the passenger seat, opening the backdoor on the same side to get my and Paola's bag out of the back seat.

Once I shut that door, I step away from the car putting up two fingers to say goodbye.

He looks behind me before he focuses on me again, he shakes his head and chuckles before he drives off speedily grabbing the attention of some angry pedestrians that he almost ran over.

"Did I just salute him?" I say to myself looking at my hand weirdly.

Shaking off the embarrassment that I've been feeling since I woke up and from what happened in the car, I turn around to face the front of the school only to be greeted by the shocked and jarred look on some peoples faces as they look at me as if I have two heads.

-------------

:)))) This is really a filler