“You don’t need to apologize,” I tell him despite appreciating the fact that he’s doing exactly that. “All you did was air a little secret and the students did the rest. Besides, it’s not like what I did was that bad, most of the senior class has done it themselves.”
“You weren’t outcasted because of your secret,” he explains. “You were outcast because I was the one who aired it. I made it known that you were the enemy and everyone followed suit. I made it that way and I’ve regretted taking you down like that ever since.”
“Don’t,” I say reaching out and squeezing his knee. “I deserved it. You were right. I was the one who put the idea in Josh’s head to go after Tora. I thought he would just scare her a bit. I had no idea he’d go to those lengths and if I had, I never would have done it. But my actions have consequences and I think I’ve come out a much stronger person. This was good for me, Jess. The road to get here just sucked is all.”
“You know I’m sorry, right?” he murmurs. “I was trying to prove some kind of point in protecting Tora, but she wasn’t the one who needed protecting.”
“I don’t need protecting, Jesse.”
“Yeah,” he laughs. “You do.”
“I think I used to,” I admit. “You know, back when things were really bad, right after it happened, but it forced me to change. I was forced to re-evaluate my choices and realized that I was heading down a dangerous path. I wasn’t a nice person and my priorities were all fucked up, but I see the bigger picture now and I think I had to go down that rough road to be able to come out a better person in the end.”
“I think you’re right,” he agrees with a proud smile.
I beam back at him. “I have friends now, like real, down to earth, true friends and I have nothing to thank except for your douchebaggery ways.”
“Anytime,” he laughs before a seriousness comes over him. “That’s um…not all I wanted to talk to you about,”
I narrow my eyes at the second most popular kid in school, wondering what he could possibly want to talk to me about. I mean, wanting to discuss our differences is one thing, but having two separate things on his agenda is simply unheard of when it comes to me and Jesse.
“Spit it out, Jess,” I say when he doesn’t come right out and say it.
“It’s about Jackson,” he warns.
My brows furrow. “Huh? What about him?”
“Don’t shoot me for this, but I heard you and him were getting a little close on Friday night.”
“What?” I sputter, staring at him in shock. “What the fuck are you talking about? I talked to him for all of three seconds while I was trying to leave Crystal’s party. He walked me to my car and then I took off.”
“Really?” Jesse questions as a devilish smirk pulls at his lips. “I heard you guys were fooling around. Well, to be honest, I actually heard a few different variations of that rumor.”
“Let me guess,” I groan. “I’m perceived as a whore around here so I’m assuming it’s something about screwing in the bushes and letting him do whatever he’d like to me?”
“The back of your car actually, but yeah, you get the gist.”
I roll my eyes as I shake my head. “That’s ridiculous. Have you seen the back of my car? I can barely fit in there myself let alone getting naked in there with a monster of a guy like Jackson.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, but you’re small so I figured maybe you’d learned a few tricks that you could share with the class. You know, give me a few pointers on working with minimal space. I don’t know about you, but I like to move around when I’m getting down, you know what I mean?”
I glare across at Jess. “Seriously?”
Jesse nudges my shoulder. “Chill out. I’m teasing. I know nothing went down. I’ve been keeping my eye on you and I know you’ve been keeping clean. You’re like a born again virgin, it’s been that long.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I scoff, rolling my eyes.
Jesse shrugs unapologetically. “Look, all I’m saying is be careful. I’ve got a soft spot for you now and I don’t want to see you get in trouble and that’s exactly what would happen with a guy like Jackson. You know, he’s been asking about you, right?”
“What?” I grunt, raising a brow in curiosity. “Why?”
“I don’t know, Elle,” he says, getting up when the bell rings. “Just be careful, okay?”
Jesse waits for me to acknowledge him before bounding down the stairs of the bleachers and disappearing behind them, leaving me wondering what the fuck that was all about.