8. Coraline
8
Coraline
Age 17
Jesse and I are sitting in our favorite booth at the Scottsdale diner with Charlie and Gemma. My sister tagged along with us after school because our grandparents had some business at the church that they had to take care of.
My grandfather is the pastor at the church we attend, Grace Haven. Jesse’s family used to go there too, but his mom and dad recently left and started going to a different church.
Gemma is being extremely quiet, as per usual. Whenever she’s around Charlie, she suddenly forgets how to interact. She claims it’s because she can’t stand him, but I think it’s because she has a crush on him.
“Have you guys made any plans for this coming weekend?” Charlie asks, breaking the silence. “We could all go fishing at Camp Willowbrooke.”
“Count me in.” Jesse says, giving Charlie a fist bump.
Gemma looks up from her french fries and just stares at Charlie. I roll my eyes and visibly cringe. I love her but she can be so embarrassing.
“If my grandparents are cool with it, you can count me in too,” I reply.
Jesse reaches over and puts his arm around me. I lay my head down on his shoulder and he presses a kiss to my forehead. I love it when he does that. It makes me feel like I'm the most important thing in this world to him.
“Get a room, lovebirds,” Charlie jokes.
“Charlie, I heard you started seeing a girl from Silver Oak Ridge,” Jesse retorts, raising an eyebrow. "What's her name again?"
Charlie turns five different shades of red and my sister goes into a coughing fit. Silver Oak is our rivalry school—anytime we play against them in sports, it’s always a big deal. Dating a Silver Oak Ridge Tiger? That's just asking for trouble.
“Yeah, but we’re just talking. We’re not together or anything.” Charlie shrugs, trying to downplay the situation.
“Whatever you say, Charlie.” Jesse smirks and gives him a knowing look.
Later that weekend, I’m sitting on my grandparents' porch waiting on Jesse and Charlie to pick me up. I was right when I guessed that Gemma didn't want to tag along.
There’s a spot not too far away from the campgrounds' entrance where we usually try to fish at. Jesse and Charlie swear it’s the only place where a certain breed of fish lives, and it’s just become a part of our fishing routine.
Jesse's red truck pulls into the driveway and I get butterflies as soon as I see him. I don’t know if they’ll ever go away. He’s been my best friend for years, but there's just something about him.
I glance down at my outfit—black running shorts, a cheerleading t-shirt, my favorite hat, and tennis shoes. I learned my lesson to never wear flip-flops fishing again because the last time I did, I got poison ivy in between each of my toes. Talk about a nightmare.
I grab my bag and start walking towards him.
When I reach the truck door handle, I notice that Charlie isn’t with Jesse yet. Maybe we’re picking him up next?
I settle into the middle seat of the truck so I can be as close to Jesse as possible.The familiar scent of the worn seats and Jesse's cologne floods my senses. My stomach dips. As much as I try to act like he doesn't affect me, I can't help the way my body reacts whenever I'm with him.
Jesse looks over at me with that easy smile of his, the kind that makes my heart flutter around in my chest. “Good morning, Cora.” He leans in and gently presses his lips against mine. It’s a slow and soft kiss that’s full of tenderness and love.
When our lips part I swear I can still feel him. I look up at him like he’s my entire world because at this moment, he is.“Good morning, sweetheart,” I say with a bright smile.
He licks his lips and breaks eye contact first. “I brought you some of your favorite things.”
He reaches into the back seat and pulls out two drinks and a white bag with the words 'cream filled donuts' written on it in black ink. I blink at the bag, caught off guard by how well he remembers the little things about me—like the fact that I hate custard filled donuts and prefer cream filled.
“You remembered!” I squeal and take the donuts from him and set our drinks in the cup holders. “There’s only two drinks here, is Charlie bringing his own?”
“Charlie had something come up and he couldn’t come anymore, so it’s just you and me.” He takes my hand in his and backs out of the driveway.
My grandparents live about fifteen minutes away from Camp Willowbrooke, so we have some time to listen to music and eat our donuts. Jesse’s truck is an older model and doesn’t have bluetooth or an aux cord, but it does have a radio and CD player.
I press the play button on the CD player to see what he’s been listening to. Bluegrass music from an old gospel band starts to pour out of the speakers and I shake my head and laugh. That’s my Jesse, he's such a papaw.
We listen to two or three songs before he stops the music. “Cora, can you reach into the glove compartment and get out the purple CD cover?”
“Sure thing,” I reply as I give him a skeptical side eye.
I open the glove compartment and pull out the CD case. My breath catches in my throat—It has 'Coraline’s playlist' written on it with a red sharpie.
“Jesse, what is this?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. My heart is racing at the speed of a humming bird again.
“I know you get tired of listening to my old school music. So, I made a playlist of your favorite songs so that when we ride together you can listen to your favorite music too.”
My mouth drops open and I stare at the CD in awe. That is, without a doubt, the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me.
“What’s wrong? Do you not like it?” He starts to nervously ramble as we stop at a red light. “I didn’t know if it was too cheesy or not—”
I grab his face with my hands and plant a single kiss on his lips.
“That is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you.”
I kiss him again and we start to get lost in the kiss. It’s more desperate and hungry this time—entirely different from the soft kiss he gave me earlier.
I thread my fingers through his hair and he groans, continuing to kiss me back.
A car horn honks from behind us and I jump at the noise and start to laugh—until I notice that the car that honked was his mother, Keri.
My smile fades and my stomach drops. I break away from Jesse and scoot over to the passenger side seat. Trying to put some space between us.
“Crap," Jesse mutters under his breath as he wipes his mouth.
The light turns green and he turns down the backroad to Camp Willowbrooke. His mom starts to follow us.
“Did you tell her where we were going?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Yes, but I didn’t get a chance to tell her that Charlie wasn’t coming with us anymore.”
Her car starts to creep up too close to the truck. She starts honking, urging us to pull over. The donuts that I was savoring earlier now make my stomach church.
“What is she doing?” I ask as I hold onto the handle above the passenger side door, or the 'oh crap handle' as my grandpa calls it.
Jesse glances at me, apologetically. “I don’t know, but I think I've got to pull over. I’m so sorry Cora.” He puts his blinker on and pulls over to the side of the road.
The air around us that was once full of happiness and excitement, now feels tense.
Before I can even reply, Keri’s car screeches to a halt behind us. Her tires screeching against the pavement. She slams her car door shut and the moment she gets out of the car I see it—the wild, crazy look in her eyes. My stomach twists even more.
Jesse unbuckles his seat belt and steps out of the truck, leaving me behind, frozen in place. I don't have the bravery to face whatever is about to happen next. I grip the seat and watch them from the rearview mirror.
I can’t tell exactly what’s being said, but I’ve never seen her face that red before. Her veins are standing out in her neck and her arms flail around in anger.
Jesse doesn't speak. He just stands there, on the side of the road, with his head down and his hands in his pockets.
This definitely was not how I pictured today going. I think I can count this date as over.