One Week (20 page)

I walk down the hall and before I can change my mind I knock on Jess’s door as loudly as I can. My heart skips as I hear him yell from behind the door.

“Fuck off,” he calls.

For a second I think I have my answer, and I half turn to go. But of course he can’t possibly know I’m here, and I’d like to think he’d be just a little more polite even if he did know. I pound the door again.

Jess yanks the door open. “Damn it, Brant, I told
you—” He breaks off, staring at me. We stand
awkwardly in the hall, neither of us knowing what to say, and then as a group of giggling girls appears around the corner, he ushers me inside and closes the door. His room is very small, and yet it feels like Jess is standing miles away.

“Who is Brant?” I don’t care, but I don’t know what else to say.

“He’s, uh…” Jess runs a hand through his hair, and
looks around his room. There are clothes and papers
and books strewn everywhere, and a pile of dirty dishes
in the sink. He starts to clean up, then gives up and sweeps a pile of papers off a chair and gestures for me
to sit down. I sit on the edge of the chair, clutching my bag. “He’s a friend, and he wants me to go bowling or something, and I have to work, but he’s been bugging
me.”

 “Well, if you have to work,” I say, standing up to go.

“No! No. It’s fine. Please, sit down.” Jess sits in the chair across from me, and we stare at each other.

“You look good,” he says.

“You mean now that I’m wearing clean clothes and I’ve showered in the past twenty-four hours and I’ve brushed my hair?” Jess looks like he hasn’t slept in a week, but I don’t say so.

“Uh, yeah,” he says.

“Thanks,” I answer.

This is not going how I planned. Not that I had a plan, exactly. But Jess was supposed to either be a complete asshole, or he was supposed to fall all over himself apologizing.

“Listen—” I say.

“Look, Bee—” Jess says at the same time. We both break off, then start again, and then Jess gestures for me to talk, though I’d really rather not. This is so awkward, and weird, and I have no idea what he’s thinking or if he’s just waiting for me to leave, and suddenly all I want is to be out of that room.

“I just came to see how you are,” I say. “I’m glad things worked out for you, with school and all. Looks like you’re doing pretty well, so, uh…” I stand up and start walking over to the door. “I guess I’ll see you around.” I have my hand on the doorknob when Jess grabs my shoulder and spins me around, pulling me into his arms and kissing me.

And it’s wonderful. I know that all my questions have been answered, and that we are everything to each other that I ever thought or hoped and none of the rest of it matters at all.

I push him away. “Well if that’s the way it is, you asshole, why didn’t you call me and tell me you were in LA?”

Jess tries to kiss me again, but when I shove him off
me again he sighs, exasperated. “Well, it’s not like you’re listed, Bee.”

“Oh, like there’s just no way you could possibly contact me,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “It’s not like you don’t have my father’s number or anything.”

“Right, because it made you so very happy the last
time I called him. Look, I begged my way back into UCLA so that I could be where you are. So can we
please…?”

“That’s crap,” I say. “Your coming back to UCLA has nothing to do with me.”

“It does too,” Jess protests. “I could have gone
anywhere. I could be at Harvard right now.”

I snort. “Right. Because Harvard would just jump at the chance to have a drug dealer on their roster.” I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows, smiling slightly. All right, I don’t
need
an apology, but I’m getting one just the same. After all, I’m the one who had the guts to come up here. Jess is the chicken-shit, so he owes me. I tap my foot, waiting.

Jess flops into the chair, giving up. “Fine. I came back here, I pleaded my way back in, but when it came down to it I was afraid you would have gone back to your life and wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me. Or maybe you would still be so pissed off that you wouldn’t let me come near you. And now you’ve shown up here and that makes you a better person than me and I’ll have to grovel for a really long time to make it up to you. Okay?”

I smile sweetly. “Okay.”

*  *  *

I forgot to call my father to let him know I wouldn’t be home, but he figured it out—he didn’t think I’d run off to Idaho or something, anyway. It turns out that Jess’s community service is to deliver various books, papers, etcetera all over campus—and UCLA is big. He’d been doing it all on a bike, which was why he looked so exhausted. My dad is teaching him to drive.

Jess and my father are both trying to talk me into applying to UCLA to major in Film. I’m thinking Stanford and American Studies. Maybe I’ll get Jess to take me on another trip around the country, only this time we’ll have money and a reason. Whatever I end up doing, I know that it’ll be something that I want to do, and I’m confident that I can figure that out for myself.

Most people grow up slowly, one milestone at a time over their eighteen years.

I did it in one week.

The Dirt
by Lori Culwell (Young Adult) The beauty, the nerd, the tomboy and the missing sister. The wealthiest family has the darkest of secrets, but then, nobody’s perfect! (coming fall 2011)

Billy Purgatory: I Am the Devil Bird
by Jesse James Freeman (Young Adult Fantasy) A sweet talkin’, bad ass skateboarder battles devil birds, time zombies and vampires while pursuing Anastasia, the girl of his dreams (and they aren’t
all
nightmares). Funny and compelling.

Moonlight and Oranges
by Elise Stephens (Young Adult) Love, fate, a secret dream journal, a psychic’s riddle, a downright scary mother of the beau. A timeless tale of youthful romance.

A Kingdoms Possession
by Nicole Persun (Young Adult Fantasy) A slave girl inhabited by a Goddess, loved by a Prince, hunted by a King. The beginning of an epic saga.

Cathedral of Dreams,
by Terry Persun (Science Fiction) A compelling tale of a dystopian future and personal heroism, pitting the outsiders against the mind control machine of New City.

… and many more!

www.booktrope.com