“My Jeep, will be fine.”
We fall silent; the only sound is the chatter and laugher of the kids on the playground. It’s not awkward like it usually is when it’s just the two of us, but the silence becomes deafening after a few moments. Thankfully the bell rings, interrupting whatever this was. “Have a good day, Ms. Turner,” Jesse says before turning around and exiting my classroom.
“You too, Mr. Thornton,” I reply, as my eyes watch him and his sexy ass walk away from me.
My students start entering the classroom and all thoughts of Jesse and his sexiness disappear and I focus on my kids.
Throughout the day, my eyes keep drifting to the flowers and I find myself smiling and not so irritated with Jesse. While the kids finish up their art project, I sit back and my mind once again drifts to Jesse. He really isn’t that much of an asshole when I put everything into perspective, he’s just a jackass, a sexy as sin jackass. From what I’ve seen since he took over as principal, he really did deserve it over me. Also I can’t be mad about losing at the fair. It’s just a baking competition, losing that ribbon wasn’t the end of the world. And the accident with Betty and Johnny, was just that, an accident. It’s not like he ran up my ass on purpose. No one wants to pay higher insurance rates. Maybe it’s time I put it all aside and start being nice to him, what’s the worst the could happen? After all, it's easier to love than it is to hate. Not love-love but like-love, I don't love Jesse Thornton…and I never will.
6
Jesse
A sort of truce has been called between Reese and me and over the last week, the dynamic between us has changed. She’s not as bitchy as she usually is and dare I say it, she’s actually nice to be around. My cell rings. Looking down, I see it’s the repair shop. Picking it up, I answer, “Hello, you got Jesse.”
“Jesse, it's Darryl at D&K Auto Repairs.”
“What can I do for you, Darryl?”
“Just calling to let you know your Jeep is ready.”
“That’s great. What about Betty?”
“Who’s Betty?” he questions.
“Reese’s Beetle,”
“Ohh, Betty Beetle,” he laughs. “Yeah, it's ready too. I’m about to call Reese next.”
“No bother,” I tell him, “she’s in class now so I’ll tell her at recess.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“See you later today.”
The bell for recess rings and I make my way to the teachers’ lounge, when I walk in my eyes immediately gravitate toward Reese. She looks really pretty today. She’s wearing a pale blue dress with buttons down the front and a white cardigan over the top. Walking over to her, she looks up and smiles at me, genuinely smiles. It stops me in my tracks because she’s never looked at me like that before.
“Reese, your car is ready,” I tell her as I pull out the seat next to her. She looks over to me and scrunches her eyes in confusion. “Darryl called to say mine was ready and I asked about Betty.”
“Dude, you called my car Betty,” she teases me, poking me in the arm.
“Whatever,” I scoff, “Did you want a lift or not?” My tone is harsher than I intended, causing her smile to deflate.
“It’s fine,” she snaps. “I can get Rusty to drop me off since he’s been my chauffeur for the last week.”
“It's no trouble. Really.” She stares at me. “I’m going there anyway.”
“Well, when you put it like that, a lift would be lovely.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
“You sent me flowers, Jesse, which you didn’t need to do.”
“It was my pleasure.” I smile and she returns it. Her smile lights up her face and I get the sudden urge to lean forward and kiss her. Thankfully, Rusty arrives and feeling to kiss her dissipates.
“Hey, guys,” he says, as he sits down across from us. His eyes dart between Reese and me, with a quizzical look on his face. “You two look cozy.”
That’s when I realize we’d leaned toward one another. Not only was I about to kiss her, but I’d also invaded her personal space. What the fuck is wrong with me? More to the point, she was reciprocating my actions.
We both pull away. “I was just telling Reese her car is ready.”
“You need a lift after school?” Rusty asks her, biting into his sandwich.
She shakes her head. “Jesse is going to get Johnny so I’ll grab a ride with him.”
“You sure?” he questions her, his reaction shocks me.
“Yep, I’m sure.”
She closes the lid on her lunchbox, “I have a few things to catch up on. I’ll see you after school, Jesse, and, Rusty, I’ll see you tomorrow night at BB's.”
Rusty salutes her and says, “Roger that.”
I watch her walk out of the teachers’ lounge. My eyes dropping to her ass as she walks away.
“What’s going on between you two?” Rusty says, my gaze turning to him.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Blind Freddy can see that the dynamic between you two has changed. For one, it looks like she no longer wants to smother you with a pillow and the biggest change of all, you eye fucking her as she walked away.”
“Was not.”
“If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have snapped at me just now.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m going to say this once and once only, don’t hurt her. She’s been through enough, she doesn’t need anyone else jerking her around.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, not sure what he’s getting at.
“You hurt her, and I’ll hurt you.”
“I get that, but why the warning? What don’t I know?”
“It’s not my place to say.”
“Rusty, you can’t warn me off like that and not say anything.”
He stares at me, contemplating whether to share or not. It feels like he’s not going to say anything and then he opens his mouth. “Her last boyfriend cheated on her and when it all came out, he took off. Leaving her with nothing but Betty, a huge debt, and a broken heart.”
“Shit, that’s rough.”
“Yeah, so don’t fuck with her.”
Before I can say anything else, he stands up and walks out, leaving me sitting here playing what he said over and over in my mind. No wonder she hates me, well, men. That guy is a total jackass, she’s better off without him. If she was mine, I’d never hurt her like that. I’d worship the ground she walked on and shower her with love and affection.
The bell rings, startling me. Looking around, I realize the lounge is empty and I’m alone, some principal I am. Standing up, I make my way back to my office. Taking the long way, as I walk past Reese’s classroom, she looks up and smiles at me.
Our relationship is changing, for the better, and Mom’s words about her being ‘the one’ pop into my mind. I never saw myself settling down but if anyone were to make me change my mind, it would be Reese Turner.