Jesse is running laps again. He told his parents he was seeing Skye after school, and his dad is working from home today, meaning Jesse can’t show up at four o’clock. Also, he did tell Skye he had training. So he hasn’t lied.
No, he totally lied. And now he’s running as fast as he can, pain shooting down his calves as he pushes harder, waiting for that moment when he’s so exhausted he can’t think anymore.
That moment isn’t coming nearly fast enough.
“Hey! Jesse!”
He looks over to see Chris Landry by the stands.
Jesse turns his attention forward and hunkers down, pushing to his limit. When he comes around the curve, his gaze is focused straight ahead.
Sorry, Chris, don’t see you there. Otherwise, I’d stop.
Chris moves onto the track… where Jesse cannot possibly miss him. Then he puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles. When Jesse looks, though, Chris only motions that he’ll be waiting in the stands until Jesse is done.
Jesse curses under his breath.
He knows what Chris is here to talk about, and Jesse does not want to have this conversation. He likes Chris. One of Jesse’s earliest memories of Skye is in fourth grade. A few older kids picked Chris as their target of the year. Jesse noticed but – and this makes him a little sick to his stomach – he didn’t pay much attention. In fact, if pressed, he might admit he was just glad the kids hadn’t targeted him. He never had problems with that, but he was always braced for it, feeling as if it was only a matter of time before others picked up on whatever made Jamil hate him so much.
They were all in the cafeteria when one of the guys knocked Chris’s tray, sending his lunch to the floor. Skye picked up Chris’s milk carton… then reached over and took the burger from the bully’s tray, gave it to Chris and said, “Accidents happen.” Everyone laughed, and the bullies might have glared at her, but they didn’t say a word.
Jesse was ashamed. He knew what Chris must feel like, yet it had never occurred to him to step in. After that, while he never could stand up to the bullies the way Skye would have, he did what he could, subtly, sitting with Chris on trips or making sure he wasn’t the last one picked for groups and teams.
Jesse didn’t see Chris much after they went to different high schools. It wasn’t until Jesse came to RivCol that he realized how much had changed for Chris. He was on the student council. Yearbook committee. Volleyball team. While he didn’t hang out with the most popular clique, he had his crowd, kids like him, heavily involved in school activities. Well-liked kids, popular in the truest sense of the word. And he had girls. Chris Landry had no problem with girls.
Jesse was happy for him. A little envious? Sure. But that was Jesse’s problem, not Chris’s. It was good to see Chris doing well. He deserved it.
And then…
Well, then came that moment, standing at Skye’s locker when Chris came by to pick her up for lunch.
Which had nothing to do with Jesse canceling out on her.
Very little to do with him canceling out.
Jesse pulls over on the next lap. He walks to the bench, takes his water bottle and drinks deeply.
“I think I’m going to stay upwind,” Chris says as he strolls over. “That is a serious workout. I saw you from class – I guess you got a spare last period, huh?”
Jesse shrugs.
Chris peers around and checks his watch. “When’s your trainer coming by?”
“Hmm?”
“Skye said you had a session with your trainer after school, but maybe she misinterpreted, and you just meant you had to practice.”
He says it casually enough that Jesse must be imagining the soft jab in his tone. A guilty conscience hearing what’s not actually there.
“Skye told you?” Jesse says.
“I was there when you texted. I could tell she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the message. I asked if everything was okay, and she said you had to cancel your plans.”
Here it comes. The reason Chris is here. To tell Jesse he’s stepping on Chris’s turf. To politely let him know what’s what.
Jesse chugs more water.
“It’s good to see you guys hanging out,” Chris says. “I know there was some tension when Skye first came back. I’m glad you’ve moved past it.”
But…
Chris sits on the bench. “I remember when you guys got together in middle school. Well, not ‘got together,’ but you know what I mean.”
Jesse grunts. Strips his shirt and towels off the rivulets of sweat.
“I had a crush on Skye,” Chris says. “I think a lot of us did. She was that kind of girl. Not the most popular. Not the prettiest. But the most… interesting, you know? Like we couldn’t take our eyes off her.”
Jesse keeps toweling dry, says nothing.
“But when you and her started hanging out, I wasn’t jealous. I was happy. In that weird way, like when you watch a movie and you want two characters to get together. Seems silly now, but it was middle school. I wanted you guys to get together.”
Jesse reapplies his deodorant and pulls on a fresh shirt.
“You were good for Skye,” Chris continues.
Jesse notes the past tense in that sentence.
“You were a good guy. She deserved someone like you.”
Also past tense. All of it.
“So I’m sure I’m wrong about this, but I need to say it. Just in case.”
Jesse tenses. Here it comes.
“When you bailed on her today, I really hope the timing was coincidental.”
Jesse looks at him. “What?”
“You saw me and Skye at her locker, and we were going for lunch, and then you canceled your plans with her. It could look like you got pissed, seeing her hanging with me. Which I’m sure is not the case. But you should know how it could look. To her.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Nope, not at all.
“Good,” Chris says. “But in case there’s any question, it really was just lunch, and I’m not trying to make it more. Skye doesn’t need more. She made that clear from the start.”
Jesse raises his brows.
Chris chuckles. “It’s Skye. She’s not going to beat around the bush. She heard I have a rep with girls. She wanted to be totally clear that lunch is lunch, and that’s all. It is. She’s having a tough time, and I wouldn’t take advantage of that. I want to help. Like she helped me.”
Chris makes a face. “Which makes it sound like charity work. I enjoy hanging out with her – as a friend. Anything else would be wrong, under the circumstances. She doesn’t need that. Well, not from me. You and Skye are different. You have history.”
Chris lifts his hands. “Which is not me pushing you guys together. I’m just saying she could use old friends. Me, you, whomever. While I’m sure you didn’t bail on her because of me, I figured I should take a page from Skye’s book and be blunt about it, so there are no misunderstandings.”
Jesse can see why Chris is so good on the student council. He knows exactly why Jesse canceled, and he’s giving him an easy out. Which only makes Jesse feel like an even bigger jerk.
“I was going to reschedule,” Jesse says. Which is the truth.
“I figured you would. But if you’re done practicing, you might still be able to catch up with her.”