Author's Note: Hey guys. So so sorry for the long wait. It's been what, a year?! Time's just gone by way too quick. However, I gave you guys the longest chapter yet to try to (hopefully) make up for it. Again, thank you all for reading this and, as always, make comments!
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"Jess, are you there?" Leslie asked. He prepped himself the previous night, his plan at the ready. It was finally his moment. He would succeed. After all, there was no room for failure. Not anymore.
"Jess, where are you?" Here! I'm here Les please! Leslie! His plan wasn't working, he couldn't talk. She would die. Yet, again, Jess would fail. Why must it be like this?
Why must Jess be tortured in this way? Every single day, his mind repeated the same damn thing over and over, the same stupid words. Those cursed words had made themselves a home in Jesse's mind, he was certain they would never be forgotten. Les! Listen to me. Please? If he could cry, he would, but any physical motion seemed unlikely.
"Leslie, wait! Don't go on the rope!" Although it physically strained him, he had gotten the words out. He stalled her for the time being. Leslie's head darted towards Jess, although he was barely visible. He had regained his voice, just not his bodily movement yet.
"Huh, why? You're just saying that because you want to win some sort of race!" she said and began to move again towards the rope. To be fair it was a reasonable suspicion; they always used to race.
"If you go on it, you'll die!" Jess said. Leslie immediately paused, slowly backing away from the rope, the words obviously impacting the young girl. "In about fifteen seconds, I'll be able to move. I'll swim over to you and carefully show you the rope."
"D-die? What do you mean die? I'm not dead." He had regained movement. He moved into better view of the rope so that he could see Leslie and the rope better, letting Leslie could see him as well, albeit cautiously. Another slight smile crept onto her face. "J-Jess! I need to tell you something!"
"Leslie, don't move! Stay still! I'm coming over now." Jess didn't care that his clothes were going to be wet, as long as it meant that Leslie would survive. He had reached the other side, which had been a challenge as the currents of the river were very hard to navigate. He almost lost control twice, and as a result, he was more downstream than he prepared to be. He grabbed a hold of the rope and gave it a pull, yet it didn't budge. He would have to have his entire weight on the rope for it to break, but he wasn't willing to risk it. Or was he?
Who was he kidding? This was Leslie Burke's life as play here!
"Leslie, I'm going to swing on this rope, and it's going to break. I'm going to try not to get knocked out and hopefully be mostly safe. I promise that I will explain this all later. Just whatever you do, do not go past that tree. No matter what." He pointed to a tree in the vicinity of the bridge's territory. It was the only way that he could logically explain it, although, based upon Leslie's face, it confused her as well.
"Jess, don't!" But it was too late. Jess swung on the rope and it snapped in midair. He navigated his body away from the rock that had brutally murdered Leslie, and managed not to get too seriously injured. He quickly swam to shore, which physically hurt him as he had a gash on his leg, but he didn't mind. He hobbled over to Leslie. "You died for me, Les. I went to a museum with Ms. Edmunds and I didn't invite you. I'm so so so sorry."
She tilted her head to the side. "So you're from the future?" Jess nodded. "So what's different?"
"A lot, honestly, but Les I haven't seen you in forever. Les I-"
"And how do I know you're telling the truth?"
Jess thought for a moment. There wasn't a lot of things he could say that wouldn't make him seem crazy. Unless... "The diary, Les. I know all about it. How you wanted to be unique and do it virtually, how you planned to, well, you know too. Hope you don't m-"
Jess was cut off by Leslie engulfing him in a hug. "You saved me, Jess. Thank you!" P.T. jumped on Jess, obviously sensing the excitement between the two children. "Jess, what happened to me? In your reality or whatever."
"You were cremated, and your parents moved away. I became friends with Janice but couldn't bring myself to get out of bed most of the time."
"You saved me Jess. Thank you."
It began as tiny spots in the corners of his eyes. yet quickly spread. Jess lost control of his body, and he flew towards the ground. Leslie had caught him before he hit, yet his muscles seemed to have given up. "Jess? Jess, are you okay?" He was having trouble breathing, and Leslie could sense it too. She began to do chest compressions, yet it did not seem to help. What was happening to him? "Jess stop! Someone help!" she screamed to no one, yet he knew no one would come. No one ever comes. No one ever helps, at least him.
He was dying.
No, he was waking up. Oh good god, this wasn't real.
None of it was real. It was all his mind. He regained little control of his muscles and threw Leslie into another hug. "Leslie?" These last words would be the hardest to get out, not because he didn't want to say them, but because his body was physically restraining him from completing the task. "I love you too." And then everything faded to black.
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Jess refused to move for at least the next hour. He wasn't going to move after that. He had built up too much hope over the past day only for it to be shot down there, just like that. It needed to work, she was supposed to be with him right now. Instead he was alone, like always. It was all his imagination, like it always was. Everything was fake.
"Jess, are you awake?" his mom asked, clearly anxious.
He sighed. There was no way that he was going to be able to avoid his mom. May Belle he could, but not her. He'd be kicked out if he did. "I am, but May Belle isn't. What's up?"
"You're going to have to wake your sister up. Me, you, and May Belle are going to welcome the new neighbors!"
He groaned. "When?"
"Right now."
"Are you joking? I gotta do so much stuff first!"
"Just brush your teeth, wake your sister up, and get ready. We don't have much time!" Jess heard his mother stroll away while humming a song that he didn't recognize.
He groaned yet again and got up against his own will. "May Belle, there's a fire!" Jess said while shaking his sister awake. Siblingly love.
"Leave me alone," she muttered. He had done this before, so she was probably used to it.
"I'm joking, but you gotta wake up. We're gonna greet the new neighbors, like, now, so hurry up."
She groaned as well but shot up from the bed, obviously excited. "You mean Courtney and her family?" She had always wanted an older sister figure which neither Ellie nor Brenda provided throughout her early childhood.
"No, I mean the other house near us."
"There is one actually. They built it a while ago, like six months. Can't see it from here, but it's over that way." She pointed behind Jess.
"Wait really?" She nodded. "How did I not know about this?"
"Mom tried to tell you, but you were too busy with Terabithia, so you either didn't listen or just didn't care."
"Okay, well, whatever. And yes I mean Courtney. We can eat breakfast after, just get ready to go." He paused for a second. "And I think Mom baked a pie for them," he said based on the smell that was wafting into their room. The two siblings hurried to get ready, as both were excited to see Courtney, although one was more secretive about it.
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"Hi, it's very nice to meet you! How are you all getting settled in?" his mother asked. They had gone to Courtney's house and were talking to her mother, although Courtney was nowhere in sight.
Her mother had brown hair tied back into a bun, locks of it going down the side. She had a stubby nose, the same as Courtney. Her smile was the same as well.
"Nice to meet you too!" Courtney's mother, or only what could be assumed, exclaimed. "We're getting in well." She turned around to yell. "William, come here!"
A well-groomed man with glasses appeared in the door frame. "Nice to meet ya," he nodded his head towards Jess and his sister.
"Um, I'm Jess, and this is May Belle. We're your neighbors." He had to introduce May Belle as even she appeared starstruck.
"Very nice to meet you!" he exclaimed, clasping May Belle's and then Jess's hand. "You know, I think I saw you two talking to Courtney yesterday. Is she behaving?" The children nodded their assent. "Well, I gotta go, duty calls!" he said, holding up a pen. He then backed up out of the door frame and left.
"Hey ma?" he said quietly. "Do you mind if me and May Belle explore round the house for a bit? It's just been a while you know."
A glimpse of recognition flashed across her face, yet quickly disappeared. "Of course, Jess. Go ahead. Just don't do anything illegal." She paused for a second. "Just don't get caught."
He laughed, a real laugh, the first in a while. "Will do ma."
The two adolescents sprinted around the side of the house.
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"Girls take an awful long time to get ready!" May Belle exclaimed, prancing around. "Do you think that Courtney's in Leslie's room?"
"I don't know, maybe? The house is big, I bet there's a bunch of bedrooms."
"Can we go check?" asked May Belle. "Please?"
He sighed, wishing to see Courtney yet trying to not make it obvious. "How would we do that, dummy?" he said playfully, as to not insult his younger sister.
"The tree!" she exclaimed, having previously thought of the idea.
He thought for a moment. "Fine. But there's no 'we'. No repeat performance of last time now, little miss."
"Oh come on! I'm not that bad!" Jess gave her a look that removed any possibility of her coming with. "Ugh, fine. Tell her I said hi," she said while smiling.
He quickly ascended the tree, having over a year of practice due to Terabithia. And he was just good at climbing trees in general. He tried to pull the window up, yet was unsuccessful. They must've locked it when they moved in.
They're locking him away from Leslie.
He quickly rapped on the window, having experienced a quick sensation of discomfort that he could not place. Courtney's face appeared in the window, full of surprise. Not expecting anyone to show, Jess recoiled from the window, almost falling from the tree. He heard May Belle audibly gasp. Instinctively, Courtney grabbed Jesse and pulled him into her room, which led to Jess tumbling into the room. Courtney fell backwards as well, under Jess.
"Uh. . . Hi there," she said softly.
"Sorry!" he quickly exclaimed and scurried away. He brushed himself off, having collected some dirt from the window, yet not thinking twice of the situation that had previously happened. "So, uh, hi."
"We-well uh why'd ya climb the tree to see me? I was just about to come down, you know." She seemed flustered, although Jess couldn't figure out why.
"I-It was her idea!" he said, pointing out the window, signaling towards May Belle. Both adolescents could hear her audible denial.
There was a quick tap on the door, making Jess again scurry behind the bed, to where the newcomer could not see him. "Courtney!" called out Mr., well, William, as he did not know their last name yet. "Time to meet the neighbors!"
"Few minutes!" she called back. Footsteps could be heard as he exited the doorway. "Well, what are you doing here?" she asked, hands on her hips, yet not quite mad. Amused was the better word.
"It was May Belle's idea, I swear it!" And then sheepishly, he said, "We snuck in this way before you guys moved in. We just wanted to see if anything changed!"
"It's ok, it's ok!" she insisted. "You just might want to leave before my dad comes in again. He's been trying to make me get ready all morning," she said, putting stress on the all. "And plus, any dad would be . . ." she paused, trying to think of the correct words. "fairly mad if they saw a guy in his daughter's room."
"Smart, smart," he said and headed for the window.
"You know you don't gotta leave that way, there's a door for that reason."
"Oh c'mon! Your dad would kill me, wouldn't he?"
She thought for a minute. "Oh shush."
Jess exited the window and quickly descended the tree, making sure not to stumble again. However, when he reached the bottom, May Belle was quick to say, "You're worse than me! You almost fell, you loser!"
"Oh shush."
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"So Courtney's father was interesting to say the least. Where do you think he's from?" May Belle asked. He and May Belle decided to leave soon after, not alerting Courtney.
"Brokenheartsville."
"There's no way that's a real town."
"You haven't heard that song? The one that goes, 'da da da' wait, I can do better. 'I think the devil drive a Coupe de Ville'."
"Oh, do you think he wears that hat to cover his horns?"
"You do know it!" Jess exclaimed, though he wasn't particularly surprised. It was all over the radio a few years back, around the time May Belle was born.
"Hello?" a female voice was heard throughout the forest, which made the two siblings look towards the sound. A tuft of blonde hair could be seen through the trees. Leslie? "It's Courtney. What are you guys doing out here?" Wow, he REALLY needed to stop that.
Jess and May Belle looked at each other uncertainly, each scared of Courtney discovering their magical kingdom. "We went for a walk after meeting your dad. He's a ... character?"
"Yeah he's a writer. I don't get to see him as much as I wish I could though." A glimmer of sadness shone through Courtney's dimly lit facade, yet only momentarily. She quickly regained herself and said, "So it's just all woods back here?", asking curiously, although Jess couldn't figure out why. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Probably, right? Or maybe she moved here in order to find out about Terabithia and its ever-so-magical powers?
"Um, yea, mostly," Jess said, stuttering on plenty of his words. Great, that made him look even more suspicious.
"So why are you guys back here?"
"We talk about," May Belle paused for a second, obviously not wanting to talk about Leslie. "stuff."
"Oh, sounds pretty serious," she said with a smile. "Am I allowed to join in on one of these talks?"
God, she did look like Leslie. That was something she would say too. "We don't necessarily talk about happy stuff," he said with a certainly forced smile.
"Nothing I haven't heard. Shoot, I've heard about everything. In my old school, there weren't no kids that were worth shootin'. So?"
He decided to not hold back. Hell, why not? They'd be gone sooner or later, freaked out by the ghosts in the house. "Well, there was a girl that lived here before you. Her name was Leslie Anne Burke. She was my age," he said quickly, making sure to not assume hers. His mother taught him that girls hate it when you do that. "She was my best friend."
"Yeah, I heard my mom and my dad talking about that. Y'all were close, huh?" she said with a southern accent. Where was she from, somewhere south? The northern words seemed to disprove that.
"I'd say so," May Belle said, rudely interrupting the conversation. "It got so bad, my mother, not my father because he didn't know her as well, starting calling them by their names combined instead of separate."
"Liar! They did not do that!" Jess squealed.
Yeah, they did it a lot Jess. You just never noticed. They went, 'Jeslie! Come here!'" she turned towards Courtney. "They were near inseparable. I mean, Tera-" he quickly nudged his sister as to make sure she would not reveal their special secret.
"Tera what?" Courtney asked, slightly interested.
"Terrarium," Jess responded, having learned the word yesterday, after he looked for "Terabithia" in the dictionary, trying to find if Leslie actually did create the word. He found out that she had. He continued after seeing Courtney's confused face. "It's what we call the greenhouse by our house. The word just means plants in glass. Cool sounding though." He had to give it to himself, he was quick thinking.
"Hm," she said, having seemingly accepted the answer. "Say, do you guys want to do something today?"
He scoffed, knowing there was nothing in Lark Creek that would be considered interesting. Apart from Terabithia, that is. "Yeah, like what?"
"I was actually kinda hoping you had the ideas," she said sheepishly.
He had finally had a clear cut view of the girl, if he could call her that. Her hair was very short, what some might consider boy length if cut any shorter. It ran down to her shoulders colored light brown, yet mixed with some very blonde highlights. She was twirling her hair around her index finger subconsciously.
Leslie's hair.
She seemed a tomboy of sorts, dressed in all kinds of crazy clothing that he was certain many teachers and children would find unacceptable in Lark Creek, as it was always the last to hear about the new fashion trends. Lark Creek seemed as if it was still in 1977,(and apparently, when it was 1977, the fashion was like during Vietnam at some times) although that had been almost thirty one years ago.
She was not a bad looking girl by any means, Lord, Fulcher would probably call her cute. But Jess wouldn't think of girls that way. His father would say he was just too young. His birthday, after all, was in a few days, being April 11th. He was significantly younger than Leslie was, hers being October 20th.
Is.
He thought this over for a minute. "Well, we could go into the town part, or what you would call a town. There's a few stores and stuff," he said, making sure not to assume her family's situation with money. He had learned his lesson from Leslie already. "Or we could go to the school. Me and May Belle might be able to show you around a bit. It's about three miles from here though."
"Sweet! I absolutely love walking!" she said, putting stress on love. "And racing, to be completely honest. But can we go back to my house first? I gotta let my parents know. I don't have any phone." The I Phone had come out a few months ago, yet due to the family's financial situation, none of the Aaron's had the ability to purchase one, nearing nearly five hundred dollars. Rumor had it that a newer, faster I Phone would be coming out soon. As for flip phones, no Aaron's held one either, so none saw the reasoning behind purchasing one. Their landline was sufficient enough.
The same one that Ms. Edmund's had used on that faithful day.
"Race ya?" he asked, not knowing the girl's speed.
"Sure!"
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The three children bolted into the brisk morning air.
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She was certainly fast. Faster than Jess was a given. She had at least six paces on him before they had even reached the edge of the woods. This girl was good.
"Man, you sure are slow!" she called out from behind her.
"Am not!" he screamed while evidently trying to speed up yet to no success. He was just wasting valuable breath.
She had reached his house, which for some reason she went to, a minute before he had, May Belle would arrive in a bit. She was sitting on the rope swing that his father had installed a few months ago, swinging back in forth as if in a daze. He waved his hand before she noticed him. "Man, you are slow!' she exclaimed as if the past moments hadn't happened.
"Am not!"
"Are too!" he blew raspberries at her in a childish way.
"Ew, gross! Jess! You're a kid!" A squeak came from the doorway, making the two children freeze.
"What is going on out here?" his mother asked, only seeing Jess. The rope swing was behind a corner, leaving Courtney not in her line of sight. Slowly, Courtney inched forward.
The shock on his mother's face was evident. Her jaw dropped quickly, staying there for what seemed like forever. Recognition was scattered across her face, yet she quickly regained herself. "I-uh-wow-yo-hello! You must be the new neighbor! Sorry, you just reminded me of someone I used to know," she said, glancing at Jess. Who was she implying? "I'm sorry I missed you when we came over, I went to go get Jess and May Belle and they just vanished!" she said, but without any real anger in her voice. They did that pretty often.
She quickly stood up and shook her hand in an obvious attempt to become liked. "Yes I am. I'm Courtney. It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Aarons." He decided not to ask about how she learned his last name. "Sorry, we were just racing back here."
"Oh, it's no problem at all! How is your family settling in?"
"Pretty well, actually. We have a bunch of boxes though," she said, glancing quickly at Jess.
"Oh Jess, you should go help them!" his mother said with an expectant smile.
"I was actually gonna show her around the school, we were just coming back for permission."
"Jess, no person wants to go to school over Easter Break! Help the girl unpack, for Lord's sake!"
He looked at Courtney for assistance, but she just shrugged her shoulders. "I could use it," she said shyly.
"There!" his mother exclaimed. "And if you need any extra help, I'm sure the girls would like to help. Now get going you two! Lots of unpacking to do!" she said while softly pushing them away.
He tried to look at Courtney but she was already a few paces ahead of him. He had to speed walk to catch up. "Sorry about that," he muttered. "I think she's just happy that we have a neighbor again to be honest." They began to walk towards her house.
Leslie's house.
"If anything, I should be the one apologizing. You're kinda stuck helping my family unpack for the day."
"Oh don't worry about it. I did this for the last people here anyways." It shocked him how easily he could bring Leslie up in casual conversation, or how willing he was to do so.
"Oh yeah. Leslie Burke, right? I heard my ma talkin' bout her with my dad. They never told me what happened, though. Can you?"
He hesitated, which was obviously sensed by Courtney. "You don't have to if you don't wanna," she insisted.
He made an on-the-spot decision. "No I will but it'll probably take a while, so let's wait till we get to your house, okay? Maybe in private?" Leslie was supposed to be his, so he certainly didn't want any over lookers. Or, in this case, over hearers.
She quickly nodded, obviously relieved that she did not strike a nerve. Inconspicuously, she began to speed walk to her house, which they were basically at already.
"Mom!" she called out. Her mother appeared in the doorway after a few seconds. "Is it okay if Jess helps me unpack?"
"If that's okay with him, sure! The more the merrier!" she said, quickly retreating to the confides of her own house.
That's not her's.
Courtney ran towards Jess quickly and quietly, trying not to be heard. "Shh, I'll go through the house, but you should go through the window. It might help their suspicion, ya know," she said after seeing Jess's quizzical look.
He wasn't necessarily keen to sneaking in to his friend's room again, but accepted in the end. Courtney quietly ran inside while Jess hurried around the side of her house. The tree was quite familiar to him, so he quickly ascended it. He knocked on the window and quickly braced himself to fall in, remembering what happened last time. Courtney opened the window, yet he was prepared and swiftly entered the opening, only hitting his head twice (which was not a small feat).
"Smooth," she said and sat down on her bed, which was located in the center of the room, signaling for him to sit as well. He did it cautiously. It was weird to be in a girl's room that wasn't his sisters, nevertheless on her bed! He felt as if he was doing something wrong, though he couldn't figure out exactly what.
"So Leslie Burke, tell me." Why did she need to be so insistent? Couldn't she tell it hurt talking about her? Couldn't she tell it hurt thinking about her? Couldn't she tell what happened? Why couldn't she just know? Why does he need to be the one to tell her? Her closest friend, her only full friend.
"Nope. One and one-half. Monster Mouth Myers doesn't count." She had said that, hadn't she? She told him that he was her one whole friend, no one else, it was just him. Floating in a sea of Leslie's mind, he was the lighthouse, constantly looking for the boat Leslie was on.
He would never stop.
"Shwadaeen," he muttered unintelligibly, making Courtney lean closer to hear what he said. She quickly breathed, sending shivers down Jess's neck.
"What?" she asked, curiosity mixed with concern in her voice.
"She was the queen." He lowered his head. It pained him to say those simple words, how was he supposed to have a full-on explanation?
"The queen to what?" she asked again, full of belief this time.
And in those few seconds he made a quick decision, debating with himself mentally and eventually deciding for the latter. He would do it. After all this time.
"Everything." No, he wasn't ready to tell anyone else yet, nevertheless her. That was his and Leslie's place, no one else, apart from maybe May Belle.
"I'm sorry, Jess. She must've meant a lot to you, huh?"
"Yeah, she did," he said, chuckling. He brought his head up again. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to tell someone else, right? "She must've moved in during the summer but I never saw her. She walked into Mrs. Myers, sorry, you might know her as Monster Mouth Myers," he said chuckling yet again. He refused to call her Monster Mouth after she talked to him. He gained enormous amounts of respect for his 5th grade teacher then.
"Anyways, she walked into the class and spilled her books. I was the only one who didn't laugh. I guess I must've pitied her, but it didn't feel like that. There was a race later in the day in which I convinced Squo- sorry, Hoager to let her race. And she beat everyone, even me."
"Yeah, no duh, you're slower than a turtle."
He laughed again. Whether she knew it or not, he had drawn a cartoon similar to that around the time that he had met Leslie. The turning point in his life, he called it. He had that painting hung on his wall.
"Am not! Anyways, she was really insistent on becoming my friend. I thought she was following me home after she got off the bu- oh crap, that's how it sounded familiar. When I met you, it was nearly the same conversation that Leslie and I had."
"Uhh, maybe it's destiny?"
Or maybe Leslie had sent her.
Nope, not happening. "Destiny it is!" he said a little too quickly, but hopefully not quick enough to raise any eyebrows. Was it really Leslie? Did Leslie send her?
"Anyways," he said in an attempt to divert his mind. "Leslie, um, yea same conversation, blah blah blah.
"After a while, we became friends, real close you know. We found this rope swing that used to hang from a branch and we swung across it."
"Used to?"
"Yeah, used to. I took it down a few weeks after she left. I couldn't bare to look at it anymore. I let it go into the river." Honestly, he regretted taking it down. It was one of the only things that he had of Leslie, well, before the diary. When he took it down, it felt like he was trying to erase that part of his past, the one that he remembered involuntarily.
"Well why were you over there anyways? And there's a river?" she asked, confusion scattered across her face.
Terabithia. Uh oh. He paused. "Uh-I-uh I went to get ... closure," he said, which was technically the truth. "I needed it. And yeah, there is a river, it's near where we were today, I'll have to take you sometime.
"Anyways, me and her grew closer, she met my family, we painted the golden room together," he said, remembrance in his voice. You know, the one in your house. For Christmas I got her P.T."
"Physical therapy? I think I've heard of that, weird Christmas gift though."
"No no no, P.T. is a dog. Prince Terrien. He's with the Burke's now."
"You named a dog Prince? Jess, this story's confusing."
"Ugh, you'll get it in a bit, just be patient.
"So I told you about the rope swing, uh, she went to church with me on Easter. She was curious as she wasn't religious and wanted to learn about it. May Belle pestered her on that."
"Cause if you don't believe in the Bible," she said with those famous wide-eyes. "God'll damn you to hell when you die."
Involuntarily, he muttered, "I wonder if she still believes that."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, nothing."
"What if you die? What's going to happen to you if you die?"
"May Belle! We don't say things like that!" he insisted.
"It's okay, Jess," she said, giving that infamous Leslie smile that could get her out of any trouble that she needed. Not like she got into much anyways. "And you need more than one book, you guys! I'll get you the new Harry Potter next Christmas, it's coming out soon!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"It was great though," she persisted. "I'm coming back next Easter. Maybe earlier," she said, sticking out her lower lip. She only did that when she needed to, as if punctuating a sentence.
"Jess!" Courtney said nervously. He shook his head. She smiled. "I lost you there for a moment, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I was just remembering something. Then was spring break. Ms. Edmunds called me on a Thursday. It was April 5th. May Belle woke me up saying it was my girlfriend, which was weird as she referred to Leslie as that, not Ms. Edmunds. She wanted to take me to a museum and I said yes, telling my mom while she was half-asleep." He dropped his head again. Home stretch now. Too far to give up.
"I didn't ask Leslie to go," he said quietly. "And that is the biggest mistake of my life."
"Jesus Jess. What happened?" She didn't know yet? About the tragic fate of Leslie Burke? It was infamous in Virginia, nevertheless the town of Lark Creek. Where in the HELL was she from? Invader.
"It rained for a week prior, so the creek was high. She assumed I went to the rope since I didn't tell her I was leaving." He took a deep breath.
"She called my name out twice, asking where I was with P.T. in her arms. She grabbed the rope while smiling; she admitted to her diary she loved me the day before. Maybe not in a relationship way but in a best friend way. I guess I'll never know. She shifted her weight onto the rope, holding it with one hand. Her feet skimmed the water since it was so high. She thought it was exhilarating. It's that kind of once in a life feeling, the one when you have no problems.
"The damn rope snapped," he said, choking up in the process. Why'd it have to be so damn hard? Dammit Leslie, why'd you have to go? You were supposed to be mine, as I yours.
"It was loud, yet not loud enough to raise any suspicion. She screamed but was cut off. She rotated in mid air, landing on a stray rock and fell unconscious, trapped under the raging rapids. P.T. paddled, barely able to keep himself afloat. He eventually made it out, shivering wet. But Leslie didn't.
"She was floating upside down and speeding down the river. Blood seeped from her head as if it was a toxin in a person's body, it needed to get out. And I wasn't there to save her." His face shriveled up, revealing all of his weaknesses. He didn't care that Courtney was right in front of him, it was just another time he had to relive Leslie's death.
"Leslie Burke drowned that day." An audible gasp emanated from Courtney before she could muffle it with her hand. "And I killed Leslie Burke. I have had to live with that for the past three hundred and sixty-one days.
"I have counted each and every single day. I have counted each and every single lonely hours. I have counted each and every dreadful minute. I have counted each and every single second that I think about her. And I will continue to count every single solitary year."
"I failed her. And then she left me."
"Your friend Leslie's dead."
No she isn't. Why are you lying to me?
"She drowned in a creek this morning."
No she didn't. She needs to be alive. Leslie's perfect, she can't be dead.
"Apparently, she tried to swing across a rope and it broke."
Liar. I tore that rope down three hundred and thirty-four days ago.
"They think she hit her head."
She could swim real well. She ain't more dead than me.
"N-No, it's not that kind of rope."
But what if it was?
"I-It couldn't break it ... wouldn't have."
But it did.
"Wait, Leslie's dead? No, no she's not. She can't be. Kids can't just die like that." His tear-streaked eyes told her everything she needed to know. Realization washed across her face, hitting her like a ton of bricks. "Oh Jess, I am so sorry."
If I needed your apology, I would've asked.
"Do you mind if I go on your tire swing? I need to clear my mind."
"Of course."
Jess carefully exited the room, every step feeling as if he was walking in quicksand.
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Leslie-dead-no-can't-kid-alive-you-you-you. The words exploded in his head as if someone had lit fire to dynamite. Hell-love-Courtney-drowned-you-you-you. He wanted to run, to escape all of his problems, yet couldn't. He was mad but not mad enough to lose his head. Plus his momma would be pissed.
He sat down on the tire swing and let his head hit the chain, yet didn't feel the pain. He was numb. His heart was pounding in it's cage, demanding to be let out. And, deciding to give in, he started to cry yet again. It wasn't a common occurrence, just when he became too overwhelmed with grief. Like right now.
"Jess?" a male voice asked. "What's wrong?" It was his father, who was caring for the flowers near the greenhouse. He must've seen him. He had off of work today even though it was a Tuesday, which was rare in itself.
"Nothing," he said all too quickly, trying to wipe the tears from his wet eyes.
"Jess, don't lie to me, that's a sin. What's actually wrong?"
It was too hard to lie to him anyways, he might as well give in. What would be the harm in it anyway? It was his father, for goodness sake. If he couldn't share his struggles with him, he couldn't with anyone. "Courtney made me tell her about Les. And it just hurt reliving it," he said, his voice cracking. "I just haven't ever told anyone about it like that I guess."
His father sighed in desperation. "Jesse Oliver Aarons Junior, I did not raise you to be a wimp, do you understand me? Now I get it, your friend died, and I understand the pain that was caused. But Jess, it was a year ago. I'm not telling you to get over it, I'll never do that. But you need to live your own life. You think she'd want you to be walking around with your head down all day? Hell no, Jesse! I barely knew the girl but she wouldn't! Get off your ass, get back in that house, apologize to Courtney, and LIVE a bit!" And as soon as he said the final word, his father turned around and walked away, ending the conversation, albeit abruptly.
Although Jess had not matured just enough yet, he was quite certain to listen to his father. It was something that he learned during childhood that would stick with him forever. He quickly turned around, wiped his tear-streaked face with his sleeve, and headed for the house, and although Jess didn't see her, Courtney watched through the window intently.
He walked past the golden room. He walked up the stairs. He entered Courtney's room, no one else's.
"Jess," she started slowly, cautiously, as if he were a piece of glass that could break with a delicate touch. "Are you alright?"
He smiled, unverifying her suspicions. "Why wouldn't I be?" You're right, Dad. I'm hooked on a dead girl. I probably shouldn't be, right? So I won't be.
"Oh, uh, okay." She paused, contemplating. "Great! What do you wanna do?"
He looked at the alarm clock that was on her desk, including dozens of books. One of them, one of the only ones that he could tell was being used, was called, "A Life Rescued". He made a mental note to ask her about it later. The clock read 3:43. That conversation must've gone on longer than he had realized.
"It would take too long to get to the school from here. We could just help your family out around the house, if that's what you want. You know, like I said I was gonna do."
"Ooooor, we could just chill in here," she suggested.
"Bbbbut," he mimicked. "if your father finds me here, I'm dead." He wasn't certain about her father's strictness but did not want to test it when he had just met her. "And I don't know about you, but I value my life, thank you very much."
She let out a full-blown laugh, obviously taking delight in Jess's joke. He didn't think it was THAT funny but he decided to take the compliment instead of pointing it out. His childhood innocence would prove key once again.
"In here's comfy," she insisted, once again stressing the last word. Girls were too difficult to understand, it was like they had their own subjugated version of English.
"Courtney!" her mother said from outside the door. "Who are you talking to?"
"Quick!" she whispered. "Get behind my bed!" He quickly scurried behind her bed; he certainly did not want to be caught in her room. That would not be good for his reputation in the new family. And what if his mother found out?
"I'm on the phone!' she quickly yelled back. He looked around the room and found a landline. Goodness, how rich was she?
He heard footsteps outside her door while Courtney quickly scrambled to get her phone. Her mother opened the door just as Courtney sat back down on her bed. "Mom!" she exclaimed.
"On the phone with whom?" she asked sophistically. She sounded like a professor or a writer with that language.
"Jess, the neighbor," Courtney said, and although he couldn't see her face, Jess sensed a smile.
"Ooooh," she whispered, doing the same thing that Courtney had done. "I'll leave you two alone then." She quietly tiptoed out the door.
Courtney got up, closed the door, and locked it. "That was close," she said, putting the landline back delicately.
Jesse nodded his assent. He didn't like breaking the rules, but he did like bending them. "Mightily close. We should probably not do that again, you know." He also still didn't like being in a girl's room ALONE. It made him squirm when he thought about it, so he tried not to.
"Well, what should we do now? I'm out of ideas but there's still plenty of time in the day."
He contemplated for a moment. "You seem pretty smart. Can you maybe help me with my homework?" he asked boldly. He was always good at math when he was a child but put letters into the equation and he got very confused.
She laughed, once again whole-heartedly. Maybe that could be her signature thing, he thought to himself, trying not to chuckle aloud. "Sure, of course. Just bring it over here and I will."
"Oh really?" He was quite surprised as he hadn't had much homework help in the past year. It was only available for four days, after all. "Oh wow, okay, thank you!" he stuttered, as she was gazing at him intently. "Um, alright I'll get it," he quickly backed out the door, a little thrown off because of Courtney.
He didn't look at any of the rooms before leaving.
He sprinted back to his house. He was becoming overwhelmed and desperately needed it to stop. He had been trying to hide his emotions, yet why did it have to be so hard?
No. No, my father can't see me like this. He won't.
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"Hey, Jess was it?" He quickly nodded his assent. "Why are you back over here? Your mother left a while ago."
"Oh yeah, I know, it's just Courtney said she'd help me with my homework. Math gets confusing at times," he said with a smile.
"Oh, of course, I get it." Courtney's father said. Now that he was closer to Jess, he could see the round, wide spectacles that sat atop his long, bridged nose. He wasn't whether to define it as whimsical or disturbing.
Jess started to head towards Courtney's room, but her father grabbed his wrist, making Jess jump. "Jess, are you okay? I know it must be hard having new neighbors. It's tragic what happened to that little girl."
He paused for a minute, unsure of what to say next. He figured he was talking about Leslie, but why should he care? He just met him, for goodness sake. "Yes, I am okay, thank you." He tried to free his arm, but her father's grip was ironclad.
"Jess, I don't want that to happen to my daughter, do you understand me?" His eyes began to tear up, but not out of sadness. It was out of fright, as if he was afraid to touch Jess. Perhaps he would kill his daughter too. "That is my daughter and if anything happens to her, I can swear to you that it will not end well."
He was astonished. To have someone other than himself accuse him of killing Leslie was preposterous, nevertheless an old man such as himself! "How-how dare you!" He was fuming, not willing to let this go. It was a damned grown adult who accused him of this, this accident.
"Nothing," he said with a steel, unrelenting look on his face.
"Let go of me, you creep! How dare you accuse me of doing anything to harm Leslie! I loved that girl and you thought that I would ever hurt her? You're a ... poopyhead!" His sixth-grade vocabulary was not very colorful yet.
Jess yanked his arm back, making her father let go. He quickly backed up in order to not be grabbed again, although he couldn't see if her father had reached, and ran out the door.
That ginormous jerk! How dare he! He turned the corner and found the tire swing, yelling for Courtney in the process. He began to ascend the tree, books in hand, but he had never done this before, making it harder. His hand slipped off the birch multiple times before he finally reached Courtney's room, tapping on the window before he was entirely settled on the pane.
The window began to open so he assisted with it, climbing in before it was totally unlatched. And, surprising himself, Courtney included, he ran up to Courtney, who was still at the window sill, and hugged her. He didn't care that she didn't have an explanation, nor did he care that her door was slightly ajar, allowing possible viewers through. He needed a hug so he did it, and he immediately felt better. He only hugged Leslie a handful of times, which was a regret for him. He might as well hug Courtney, although she would never top Leslie's hugs.
Or friendship.
"Jess, what happened? You were barely gone?" She sounded amazed, yet exhilarated. He wondered why.
"Your f-," he started, yet stopped. As much as he wanted to tell her, he didn't want to create a drift between father and daughter, an irreplaceable relationship. He stalled.
"My what? Jess, my what?" she asked, still out of breath.
"Um-uh-um, your ... fantastic! Yeah that works!" He did not mean to say the last bit out loud, but it did not seem to faze her. Courtney's face was beaming. "Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for volunteering to help me with my homework, especially when you don't have any of it, you know." Man, he was a smooth liar. Smoother than Michael Jackson.
Her face turned a scarlet red, the result of blood rushing towards the area. "You know," she said, out of breath. He released her, hoping he didn't squeeze her too hard to make her like that. However, when she spoke again, she sounded the same way. "You should come over for homework help a lot more." She laughed, albeit quickly, still trying to catch her breath.
He smiled. He would need it, although he was not quite sure why she was so insistent about it. "Sure, I guess."
She smiled widely, perhaps another intrinsic characteristic, and they began to work.
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They worked for an hour and a half before calling it quits, only because Jess needed to head home. His mother would be expecting him shortly.
He descended Courtney's now infamous window, ran past the tire swing, ran past the rhododendron that separated their houses, and quickly ran through the front door, only stopping to take his shoes off.
"Hey Jess," Ellie had said, who was sitting down at the dinner table. "How was it?" she asked expectantly.
"It was good," he said, his books still in his hands. He really needed to drop them off soon as his pre-algebra book was quite thick. "Just did some work, you know," he said, holding his books up despite his screaming arms.
"Oh sweet," she said, smiling. He was not quite sure why. "Who was it with?" she asked despite already knowing the answer. Oh him and the neighbor's girls, she thought to herself while trying to not chuckle.
"The neighbor," he said quite confidently, throwing Ellie off for a second before recovering. "Have you met her yet? She's pretty."
Ellie was thrown off again, not expecting her younger brother's bold-headedness. "She's what now?" she asked accusingly.
"What? I said she's pretty smart?" he said innocently? She must have heard wrong, although it was quite hard to begin to fathom at first.
"Oh, sorry!" she quickly exclaimed, quite embarrassed although it was only her brother. "What did yo-" she was cut off by the sound of her brother's books clattering to the floor, his arms having given in from the never-ending pressure. His adolescent muscles were still not at their pinnacle yet.
"You can put those upstairs if you want," she said laughing, secretly glad the conversation had moved from her little blunder.
Jess quickly ran up the stairs, his face red. He was embarrassed as well for bringing up Courtney in front of his sister. How weird, talking to his sister like that! Sure they were close, but not girl trouble close!
"Jess! You're back! We didn't get to check what's wrong with Terabithia!" May Belle said, making Jess recall his promise.
"Oh May Belle, I'm sorry, I was caught up with schoolwork and Courtney. We can go tomorrow though, if you still want." She nodded vigorously. "Have you blacked out like last time again?" This time, she vigorously shook her head no. "Good, tell me if you do," he said, simultaneously pushing past her to get to his room.
Brenda was in hers, doing God knows what, yet seemed to be staring at a bright red, small circle on her arm. Maybe just a little cut, but knowing Brenda, she would have to make a fuss about it.
Yet Jess became pleasantly surprised when she didn't. Instead she opted for staring at a wall, which was weird in itself, and eventually laying down. He soon became self-conscious (for staring at his sister through her doorway) and left.
He plopped his things onto his bed with a soft plunk and meandered his way around it so he could lay down. It was almost 6 now and they would be eating soon but, at least for now, Jess had some rest time, which he decided to use by sleeping.
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Dinner was simply just that; dinner, nothing special, and soon Jess found himself in his room getting ready for bed. It was one of the best days of the past few months, and he certainly planned to tell a certain someone about it.
"Hey Les," he said, deciding to start his daily prayer for the night, which he had been doing for the past 361 days. "I guess I saved you today, huh?" He had almost forgotten about the dream he had; it seemed like weeks ago now. "I broke the rope for you and you didn't die. But then I blacked out like always.
"I guess there is no saving you. Not in this lifetime anyways. Maybe another. Hopefully you survived somewhere and doing good in heaven.
"I snuck into your old room, the one you used to sleep in, and found Courtney there. Oh man did I shock her badly." He felt an odd surge of energy and knew that somewhere, wherever she was, Leslie Burke was listening to him ramble. He felt proud of himself.
"We were going to go to Terabithia but Courtney found us so we couldn't. She's super fast, you know. Faster than me is a given." Thunder sounded outside, but he could not tell if Leslie was delighted or mad at what he had said.
"And then I told her about you. Everything, basically, from when I met you to when you died. It might not have been the smartest decision but if I ever want to be close to her, I guess I need a bond." There was a slight creak outside the door, yet he chose to ignore it.
"She helped me out with my homework but her father got pissed at me, said he didn't want his daughter to be like you. You know, dead, because apparently I just inspire death in everyone I'm near." He chuckled at his own joke and was certain Leslie would have done just the same.
He took a deep breath. "Man I still miss you Les. You were always my best friend. If I could just change it, I would." He sighed. "But I can't. You're dead, and I can't do anything about it, even if it was my fault. Oh well I guess.
"G'night Les. Love you."
And with that, Jesse Oliver Aaron's Jr. went to bed, but unbeknownst to him, his little sister spying outside the doorway.