The house was quiet as I closed the door behind me. I had to admit that the peace was kind of nice. I knew as soon as my mom came home, there would be never-ending chatter about her meetings, and I just didn’t have it in me to listen tonight.
I walked up to my room and threw my bag on the bed. I didn’t have any homework tonight since I’d finished it at school, so I fell down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.
Today had been interesting to say the least. Jesse had come out of nowhere and completely thrown me off balance. I needed to pull myself together. I didn’t get nervous over boys. They got nervous over me—with the exception of Todd, but every girl in the school got nervous when he was around.
I should be focusing on Todd, not Jesse. Todd was safe. Todd was someone who my mother wouldn’t commit murder over if she found out we were together. He was who I was supposed to be with. Or, at least, I should be with someone like him, not a guy like Jesse. He was too poor, too common.
So, why am I staring up at my ceiling, thinking about him? I wondered. I needed to get a grip and control my hormones. That was all this was. Jesse was attractive, and I couldn’t help but notice that. I was a hormonal almost eighteen-year-old. There was no other excuse for it. I couldn’t be crushing on the poor boy, no matter how attractive he was.
I groaned as my phone started ringing. I pulled it from my pocket to see that it was Lucy calling. “Hello?”
“I saw you leaving school with the new guy. Start talking.”
“There’s nothing to say. His car broke down, so I gave him a ride to work. That was it.”
“You didn’t bang him in the back of your car?” she asked, sounding disappointed.
“No, I didn’t bang him. Sorry to disappoint,” I said sarcastically.
“A girl can hope. What happened when you drove him to work?”
“Nothing. We talked, and I dropped him off.”
“You’re seriously crushing my dreams right now. I was picturing him naked.”
“We were both fully clothed.” Unfortunately.
“Well, that just sucks. Maybe next time...” she hinted.
“I’m not interested in him like that.”
“Are you a lesbian?”
My mouth dropped open. “What? No!”
“Then, you’re interested in him. I’m pretty sure every girl at our school is interested in him. Everywhere I went today, all I heard was people talking about the new kid.”
“There are other new kids though, so maybe it wasn’t all about him,” I said.
“I saw the other new kids. Trust me, they were talking about Jesse.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. But I have to say that he didn’t even glance at anyone all day, except for you. I think he has a thing for you, too. You could totally snag him if you wanted to.”
“I don’t want to snag him,” I lied. “I want Todd. Did you see him talking to me today?”
“Todd is nice, but he’s no Jesse, and yes, I saw. He’s definitely into you, too.”
“I hope so. Todd is just what I need.”
“I don’t care who you need. It’s who you want that matters. So, do you want Todd or Jesse?” Lucy asked.
“I want Todd,” I answered automatically.
Even I knew it was a lie, but I couldn’t help it. There was no way that I could get involved with Jesse. My mother would make my life a living hell.
“Whatever. I’m going to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Later.” I ended the call and threw my phone onto the nightstand.
I definitely want Todd...maybe.
That lesbian option was starting to look pretty good.
When I pulled into the parking lot the next morning, Jesse was under the hood of his car with some guy I’d never seen before. I parked a couple of spaces down from them and got out. Jesse was oblivious to my presence as he tinkered with the engine.
“I’m telling you, it’s the starter. The engine is fine,” the unknown guy said.
“It can’t be the starter,” Jesse argued.
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t afford a fucking starter right now. I just cut back on hours at the shop for school.”
My heart went out to him. He was trying so hard, trying to work as much as possible and go to school, and he couldn’t even afford a part for his car.
“Listen to me. I know cars, and you don’t. It’s the starter. Talk to Rick.
Maybe he can pay you early or something.”
“I’m not asking him to do that for me. I’ll figure something out,” Jesse snapped.
I cleared my throat to let them know that I was standing behind them. Jesse tensed before glancing over his shoulder. He seemed to relax when he noticed me.
“Hey, Emma.”
“Hey. Did you figure out what’s wrong with your car?” I asked.
“It’s the starter,” the unknown guy said.
“Oh, is that easy to fix?” I asked, sounding like a total girl. I knew nothing about cars, except for how to put gas in one.
“It is if we can get the part. They’re expensive though.”