reply.
All the while, my dad just kept going on and on about the convention and those stupid tickets. “It was pure luck I ran into Randall at the Parcel Office yesterday. He was about to let those passes go to waste! How stupid would that have been?”
“Why couldn’t he go again?” I asked.
“Some family issue. Regardless, his loss is my gain.” Dad puffed his chest out with pride.
“Classy, Dad. Really classy.”
Dad joined my stressed out mother in the car. She didn’t want to go any more than I wanted them to.
I watched my father turn on the car’s ignition and do his pre-drive ritual. Adjusting the mirrors, he shot me a quick look. “Well, we’ll see you when we get home. Try not to burn down the store.”
“I’ll do my best,” I sighed. I took a step back onto the porch and waved as my parents drove off. “I’ll try my best not to burn anything else down.”
Lord knows my friendship with Jesse already seemed as if it were up in flames.
Chapter 13
Begrudgingly, I parked in the private lot behind the store and unbuckled my seatbelt. “This day is going to suck.”
Before I could even make it out of the car, a loud bang sounded and the vehicle began to shake. Fearing I was under attack, I began to scream at the top of my lungs. My heart pounding, I looked outside my window and saw Jesse laughing hysterically. His gloved palms were flat against the driver’s side window, fogging the glass. Furious, I opened the car door and stepped outside. The snow crunched under my boots and I couldn’t help but imagine it’d be the same sound as me breaking off one of Jesse’s fingers.
“What’s the big idea?” I shoved him back angrily. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Ah, I saw you sulking in there and thought I’d lighten things up. So what’s the deal? Why so glum, chum?” He stepped aside, allowing me room to walk past him.
Without giving him a second glance I replied, “Honestly, I really didn’t want to see you today.” I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell my words had affected him. Good. After that bullshit he fed me the day before, I was ready to have the ball back in my court.
“Aw, c’mon, Rocky. It was always fun and games with us. Are you really that mad because I believe you’re not the two-dimensional creature you’re trying to make everyone else believe you are?”
I paused, caught completely off guard. It was exactly how I described Ethan and I couldn’t believe Jesse would think I’d want to emulate that in any way, shape, or form. Was I really that flat myself? Maybe that’s why Ethan liked me so much.
“How would you describe someone who was two dimensional?” I unlocked the door and pushed it open, hearing the familiar chime of the bell.
Jesse bit his lip and squinted his eyes. “Someone who is too damn predictable.”
“Predictability isn’t a good thing? I mean, doesn’t everyone like consistency?”
“That’s like always ordering vanilla, but never dabbling and trying Rocky Road or caramel. Sure you’re guaranteed to have a satisfactory outcome, but it’s nothing extraordinary.”
Nothing extraordinary. Huh.
“I think you’re giving me way too much credit, Jess.” I walked over to my regular spot by the cash wrap and threw my purse into the small cubby underneath. As I peeled off my bubble jacket, I was vaguely aware how close Jesse was standing behind me. If I moved a few inches back, I would have tickled his nostrils with the faux fur of my hood.
Jesse stayed planted beside me with a perplexed look on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Like I said, that night was a fluke. I’m hardly 3D.”
“And like I said, sometimes the subconscious has a funny way of revealing one’s true self.”
I turned to him and smirked. “You never said that.”
“In so many words I did,” he argued.
“Okay, you just went from after school special to New Age nut in a span of two days.”
His
All the while, my dad just kept going on and on about the convention and those stupid tickets. “It was pure luck I ran into Randall at the Parcel Office yesterday. He was about to let those passes go to waste! How stupid would that have been?”
“Why couldn’t he go again?” I asked.
“Some family issue. Regardless, his loss is my gain.” Dad puffed his chest out with pride.
“Classy, Dad. Really classy.”
Dad joined my stressed out mother in the car. She didn’t want to go any more than I wanted them to.
I watched my father turn on the car’s ignition and do his pre-drive ritual. Adjusting the mirrors, he shot me a quick look. “Well, we’ll see you when we get home. Try not to burn down the store.”
“I’ll do my best,” I sighed. I took a step back onto the porch and waved as my parents drove off. “I’ll try my best not to burn anything else down.”
Lord knows my friendship with Jesse already seemed as if it were up in flames.
Chapter 13
Begrudgingly, I parked in the private lot behind the store and unbuckled my seatbelt. “This day is going to suck.”
Before I could even make it out of the car, a loud bang sounded and the vehicle began to shake. Fearing I was under attack, I began to scream at the top of my lungs. My heart pounding, I looked outside my window and saw Jesse laughing hysterically. His gloved palms were flat against the driver’s side window, fogging the glass. Furious, I opened the car door and stepped outside. The snow crunched under my boots and I couldn’t help but imagine it’d be the same sound as me breaking off one of Jesse’s fingers.
“What’s the big idea?” I shoved him back angrily. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Ah, I saw you sulking in there and thought I’d lighten things up. So what’s the deal? Why so glum, chum?” He stepped aside, allowing me room to walk past him.
Without giving him a second glance I replied, “Honestly, I really didn’t want to see you today.” I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell my words had affected him. Good. After that bullshit he fed me the day before, I was ready to have the ball back in my court.
“Aw, c’mon, Rocky. It was always fun and games with us. Are you really that mad because I believe you’re not the two-dimensional creature you’re trying to make everyone else believe you are?”
I paused, caught completely off guard. It was exactly how I described Ethan and I couldn’t believe Jesse would think I’d want to emulate that in any way, shape, or form. Was I really that flat myself? Maybe that’s why Ethan liked me so much.
“How would you describe someone who was two dimensional?” I unlocked the door and pushed it open, hearing the familiar chime of the bell.
Jesse bit his lip and squinted his eyes. “Someone who is too damn predictable.”
“Predictability isn’t a good thing? I mean, doesn’t everyone like consistency?”
“That’s like always ordering vanilla, but never dabbling and trying Rocky Road or caramel. Sure you’re guaranteed to have a satisfactory outcome, but it’s nothing extraordinary.”
Nothing extraordinary. Huh.
“I think you’re giving me way too much credit, Jess.” I walked over to my regular spot by the cash wrap and threw my purse into the small cubby underneath. As I peeled off my bubble jacket, I was vaguely aware how close Jesse was standing behind me. If I moved a few inches back, I would have tickled his nostrils with the faux fur of my hood.
Jesse stayed planted beside me with a perplexed look on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Like I said, that night was a fluke. I’m hardly 3D.”
“And like I said, sometimes the subconscious has a funny way of revealing one’s true self.”
I turned to him and smirked. “You never said that.”
“In so many words I did,” he argued.
“Okay, you just went from after school special to New Age nut in a span of two days.”
His
Similar Books
