Chapter 17
Jesse
Two months have passed since Ella dropped the bomb about her engagement and the fact that they were living together.
I don’t love the thought of her having gone to bed with another guy.
I want to be the one waking up and doing life with her, hopefully in the near future, but I’m trying to stay positive and move forward.
She’s not with him anymore, she’s with me, so I think I win.
Things have felt great between us. She’s been able to relax more, be herself without feeling the need to keep secrets from me.
We had a fun and peaceful Christmas and New Year’s together.
I got her a TV for her living room since she still didn’t have one.
Her gift to me was practically a whole new wardrobe, insisting it was time to retire the shirts I’ve had since high school.
I told her she was the only one who’d notice and it didn’t really matter, but she still insisted.
Sitting in church together this morning, Ella is snuggled against me, my arm draped over her shoulder, and we’re sharing my Bible. My siblings are all to my left, followed by my mom and dad.
Ella leans in, whispering, “Is that Mr. Downer?”
I follow her eyes to the balding man a few pews in front of us. That is him, one of our old high school teachers.
Nodding, I lean in to tell her it is him and I’ve never seen him here before.
After the closing song, Ella grabs my hand and pulls me up the aisle to say hello to him.
“Tell me you remember us,” Ella says with a smile plastered across her face.
He studies us, like it isn’t registering quite yet. He looks to me, as if maybe he just can’t pinpoint my name.
Ella interjects with another hint. “You caught us sneaking out of class early before the bell rang just to kiss a few times.”
Not expecting her to say that, he laughs and I also have to laugh away the awkwardness I feel. I shoot her a look that says, “I can’t believe you just said that,” but she shrugs it off like it’s not a big deal.
“Jesse Jennings?” Mr. Downer says to me, like he’s so proud of himself for remembering, and then he looks to Ella. “Ella Hayes. Now I got it.”
“Yes!”
“How could I even forget.” He shakes his head, stifling another laugh. “You two were inseparable. Good grief.”
Ella and I both laugh. We really were. I think back to those days, especially senior year. We’d been together since Sophomore year, but man, I was whipped for her since day one. My buddies gave me hell for it, but I never cared. Still don’t.
Ten years ago
I wait by the cafeteria doors. I snuck out of first period early; Ella’s doing the same. Her blonde hair comes around the corner, and she smiles back at me. My heart beats faster when I see she’s wearing a dress. She usually only wears them on Fridays, but today’s Wednesday.
“Hot damn.” I whistle and watch her blush.
She hurries over and gives me a hug around my neck before I whisk us away down the hall.
There’s a classroom at the end of this hallway but there’s no one in it until the afternoon. It’s mainly for study halls. I’ve also served a few detentions in there already.
We quickly slip through the doorway and move across the room to where we can’t be seen if someone peeked through the glass on the door. Leaving the lights off, we can still see with the sunlight coming through the windows.
“Come here, you.” I grab Ella and bring her closer to me. “You broke your tradition. A dress on a Wednesday?”
“I know. It was a surprise.”
“I like it. You gonna wear it to my game tonight?”
She nods and wraps her arms around my torso, tightening my jersey. Pressing a kiss to her lips, I sink into her. Her hands glide up my back and find my hair. I love when she does that.
“Are you still going out with your friends after the football game Friday night?” she asks.
“Not if you don’t want me to.”
“Can I come?”
“They said guys only, sorry.”
“But they like me.”
“I know. I think it’s just so no other girlfriends get invited.”
“Right,” she mumbles, disappointed.
“I don’t have to go. You wanna do something instead?”
“Kinda.” Her tone is playful. She runs her fingers over my bicep. Her green eyes settle on mine.
I laugh to myself, leaning in again to kiss her. “I’ll cancel with the guys.”
She smiles and gives me a mysterious look, following it up with one of her playful giggles. She’s trouble but I love it.
Our kiss starts slow, but the way she leans into me, the way her fingers curl in my hair, has me wanting more. As always. My heart pounds against my rib cage as I slide my hands all over her.
The bell sounds through the speaker, indicating the class is over. Both of us know we have plenty of time to get to our next class right around the corner. We don’t let up even for a second.
I tilt my head, deepening the kiss, letting myself get lost in her. She trails her lips off mine and leaves soft kisses all the way down my neck. It makes me dizzy in the best possible way.
My fingers brush against her jaw, my thumb tracing the curve of her cheek, and I direct our mouths back to one another. She sighs against my lips, her hands gripping my hair harder, and just like that, I’m completely gone. I could kiss her forever, anywhere, even in this empty classroom.
“Who’s in here?” a male voice calls out, sending a chill through my body. We break apart just as the lights turn on. Ella drops down to the floor in an attempt to hide.
I turn to see the man, knowing I recognize his voice. It’s our home room and math teacher, Mr. Downer.
I interject. “Just us. We’re … we’re looking for something.”
“Yeah, for what?” Mr. Downer sets his hands on his hips.
“This.” Ella jumps up, holding a pencil she clearly just found on the floor. It looks like it’s been through a war—taped back together, stapled, and barely hanging on.
“Good, you found it.” I hold out my hand, ready to claim it, because a pencil like that? Yeah, it’s definitely not hers.
“You might’ve found it faster had you turned the lights on,” Downer says.
“Yeah. I don’t know. I just, I knew where it was,” I say and follow Ella toward the door. Trying to steady my heart rate, I think he knows exactly what we were doing but wants to hear all our lame excuses first.
“You think I’m stupid, Jennings?”
“No, sir,” I insist. Ella doesn’t say anything. She just looks down at the floor.
“Right, because a lost pencil is always a two-person job. Bonus points for making out while you’re at it?”
I can’t help but laugh. Ella’s cheeks turn bright red, as expected.
He steps closer to me, keeping a straight face, and says, “I catch you two playing hide-and-seek again, I might have to let Coach Green know that one of his star players is more interested in playing tonsil hockey than football.”
“Wouldn’t want that, sir.”
“I didn’t think so.”
He looks to Ella. “Fix your hair, sweetheart, and son, for the love of all that is holy, you better get that lip stick off your neck.”
Ella looks to my neck and starts giggling. Mr. Downer shakes his head and leaves with a huff.
“He didn’t seem that mad, did he?” she asks, fixing her hair.
“I don’t think so, but get the lipstick off me, please,” I plead, stepping closer to her.