I was tired and in a boost of daringness I leaned against him. He wrapped his muscular arms around me. Suddenly I was wide awake. I felt safe and comfortable with his arms around me; it felt great. All the chatter around me faded away.
“Em,” I heard someone call from far away.
“Emily!” The person called again. I forced myself back to the real word.
“Yeah?”
“Finally! I had to call you three times!”
“Sorry, I’m tired, I’m about to fall asleep!” I knew this wasn’t the real reason why I hadn’t responded and I was sure Lilli knew this too.
“Can you come with me to get some water?” Lilli asked.
“Sure.” I answered reluctantly. I didn’t feel like getting up but otherwise it might have seemed too obvious to Jesse how much I enjoyed him holding me. Jesse let me go and I stuck out my hand to Lilli to let her help me up. Together we walked towards the door.
“Thanks for coming with me.” Lilli said.
“Sure, why not?” I asked, rather surprised.
“Well, I saw how much you enjoyed Jesse holding you.” Lilli answered. “But I’m really freaked out of Todd and needed a body guard to come with me.” I burst out laughing. “I can imagine why. Did he really hold your hand the whole time he talked to you?”
“Yes!” Lilli said, with a sour expression on her face. “I mean what’s his problem? Can’t he just stay away from me? Haven’t I made it clear to him that I am NOT interested?”
“I think his love for you is just too strong to stay away from you.” I said sardonically.
“Oh no, there he is!” Lilli said annoyed. I looked up and saw Todd coming our way. I searched for a place we could hide but couldn’t find any. So instead I started talking loudly.
“So Lilli, how is it being together with Sam? He is so hot! Did he ask you to get together or did you ask him?” Lilli immediately understood what I was doing and answered. “Oh, it’s great! He is so sweet. He asked me when we were walking on the beach. It was really romantic.” By this time Todd had walked by and when he was out of hearing range we burst out laughing.
“Did you see his expression? He looked so disappointed!” I giggled.
“Well, he has a crush on enough other girls so he’ll just devote more attention to them.” Lilli said carelessly.
“Lilli, mom called, we have to go.” I suddenly heard Jesse say. My heart started beating faster the moment I heard his voice. Lilli and I both turned around but when I saw he was looking at me I quickly looked away. I was glad it was dark because I was probably blushing. Two of Jesse’s friends were with him.
“Ok. Is the driver at the gate?” Lilli asked.
“Yes.” Jesse answered. The five of us walked towards the gate.
“I feel like going swimming!” Lilli said out of the blue. “Do you?” She asked me.
“Sure, if you promise to wake me up if I fall asleep in the pool.”
“Nah, I’m going to let you drown. Then I’d have some peace and quiet.” Lilli teased.
“Hey!” I punched her playfully. “Don’t be mean! I’ve had enough meanness from Chris for one day.”
“You should be used to it by now, he’s always mean to you.” Lilli said.
“Oh well, I’m mean to him too. It’s fun teasing him. And he doesn’t mean any of it.. I hope.” I added. We had arrived at the front of the school and the car was waiting to pick us up. We stepped in the car and I asked Lilli what movies we were going to watch tonight.
“We’re using the flat screen.” Lilli announced as a result to my question.
“No you’re not, two more of my friends are coming over so we’re using the flat screen.” Jesse told her.
“I don’t care, we’re using it.” Lilli said stubbornly.
“It depends on the movie you guys are watching.” I pitched in. I actually just wanted to be with Jesse, I couldn’t care less what movie we were watching.
“Em! Don’t give in so easily!” Lilli commanded me playfully. “Well, what movie are you watching?” She asked her brother.
“Rush Hour 2.” Jesse answered. This was Lilli’s favorite movie I suddenly realized. Had he purposely answered this because he wanted us to come watch the movie with them? I hoped so but wasn’t sure. It might just have been coincidence.
“Ok, we’re watching!” Lilli said enthusiastically. “But we’re first going swimming.”
“You really feel like going swimming don’t you?” I asked Lilli.
“Yes, don’t you?” She asked me back.
“At least I’ll wake up when I go swimming.” I avoided the question. All I actually wanted was to be near Jesse but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“You know, swimming doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.” Luke, one of Jesse’s friends said suddenly.
“Copy cats.” Lilli teased him. I couldn’t believe how well thing were turning out. If everything happened as planned this evening, I would be able to spend the whole evening with Jesse.

Jesse stood at the edge of the pool. I couldn’t help myself and pushed him in. Everyone burst out laughing.
“I’m sorry, it was too tempting!” I told him when he got up from the water.
“I’ll get you back for that!” He threatened.

We got out of the pool and walked towards the changing room. Suddenly I was pushed in the pool. I screamed softly but from years of experience I grabbed on to the person who pushed me and the person fell in the pool with me. When I oriented myself I noticed it was Jesse who had pushed me in the pool. We were both laughing. I looked at him triumphantly.
“That’s the second time you get pushed in by a girl!” One of Jesse’s friends teased him. Jesse put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me under water. I wasn’t scared under water so when I felt that he was holding me down, I didn’t panic. To my surprise I felt his hand run over my cheek. I didn’t have very long to wonder if it was done intentionally because by now I was running out of breath. Apparently he noticed because he let me go. I gasped for breath when I got out of the water. He chuckled.
“You two lovebirds can do your little thing; we’re going to change.” Luke announced.
“I was just getting back at her!”Jesse told Luke. But in the meantime he poked me teasingly underwater. I swam to the edge and got out of the pool. He copied me and we walked towards the changing rooms. I was happy that the boys and girls changing rooms were a few meters apart, this way I could talk to Lilli without any of the guys hearing.
“What happened underwater?” Lilli was curious.
“I’m not sure.” I was confused.
“Don’t lie.” Lilli was prying information out of me.
“Fine, fine, he might have purposefully touched my cheek underwater but I’m not sure.” I confided in her.
“Of course it was purposefully, otherwise he wouldn’t have pushed you underwater.” Lilli told me.
“Maybe.” I kept it at that. I desperately wanted to believe her but what if it had been an accident? I decided to shrug it off and just get changed.
We got changed and walked towards the palace. Obviously we had taken longer than the boys. We first went to Lilli’s room to dump our stuff.
“Lil, can I borrow some perfume?” I asked her.
“Sure,” she answered.
“I think I might be getting a crush on Luke.” Lilli announced.
“Really? Luke? Well, he is really hot. And nice. And funny.” But my thoughts weren’t with Luke right now.
“Shall we go?” Lilli asked.
“Ok.”
We walked the few meters to the T.V. room. Jesse’s friends were already sprawled all over the room while Jesse was turning on the movie. I sat on the couch and Lilli decided on a spot close to Luke. When the movie was playing Jesse turned off the lights and then sat down on the couch next to me. I decided that it wasn’t coincidence anymore. The movie was funny, in fact, it was hilarious but I couldn’t concentrate on it at all. My thoughts were with Jesse. He was hot, and cute, and funny and sweet and every girl in the school wanted him. Not just in school. Every girl in town, maybe even in the country. I suddenly felt Jesse’s arm around my shoulder. There was no doubt left, he had to like me. I put my head on his shoulder and together we watched the movie. At a certain moment I looked up at him. I saw he was looking at me as well. He leaned towards me.

I woke up because the sun was shining on my face. Abruptly I sat up in bed. My heart was still beating fast. I looked around me and then realized it had all been a dream. To my surprise, a wave of disappointment swept over me. But the way Jesse’s touch had felt, the way he had looked at me, the fun we’d had… I wished he was actually like that in real life. But what if he was? What if I just didn’t know the part of him that was funny and romantic? I desperately wanted to see Jesse, maybe he had changed. I needed to make sure. I looked over at Lilli who was still fast asleep and got out of bed. I then got dressed. In the meantime I was trying to convince myself not to get a crush on Jesse. But that dream had confused me. I slowly opened the door, taking care not to make a lot of noise, and slipped out of the room. I walked to the veranda which looked over the palace’s gardens. Behind the gardens was the forest. Lilli’s dog was lying lazily on the veranda and I walked over to her. I sat next to her and pet her while I looked out over the gardens. I realized it was much too early for Jesse to be awake. But I was wrong because I suddenly heard footsteps. I turned my head and saw Jesse standing there. He was wearing boxers and no shirt. Momentarily I couldn’t breathe. But when he started talking, I knew nothing had changed. Actually, I was happy nothing had changed because I was used to things being this way. The first things he said weren’t exactly very mean, it was just the way he said it. He asked me why I was awake so early.
“The sun shone through the window and woke me up.” I replied, biting away a nasty comment.
“Hmm.” Was the only thing he said, in a rather grim tone. Even though I was sure now that the dream had not been real, and that it had nothing to do with real life whatsoever, I couldn’t help myself and looked at his arms. His strong, muscular arms which had held me in my dream. What was my problem? I suddenly asked myself. This was Jesse I was thinking about! The same Jesse who never had a nice word to say, couldn’t care less what happened to me and annoyed me every time I saw him! I officially declared myself weird.
The next few days were absolutely normal. I told nobody about my dream because it was just a bit too embarrassing. Even though Lilli was my best friend, she was also Jesse’s sister.
Lilli was waiting for the bus to go on camp, she had taken geography while I had taken history and the geography students were going to climb a mountain.
“Em, can’t you just come with me or something? Just sneak in the bus. It’ll be so boring without you!” Lilli tried convincing me to come.
I laughed. “Lil, I can’t come. And I don’t actually feel like climbing that mountain, so have fun with all the bugs and stuff,” I couldn’t help but add. It didn’t make Lilli feel any better.
“Are you allowed to take your phone?” I asked her.
“No, but I’m just going to. I mean why would I not? And it’s not like they’d notice.” Lilli answered.
“Good idea. Text me how things are going.”
In the meantime the bus had arrived. Lilli and I said goodbye to each other and then she was off. I didn’t feel like going to school that day, everything was so boring without Lilli. I made it through the school day and walked home. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching movies. Suddenly my phone rang. It was after dinner and I wondered who would call me.
“Emily?” I heard a familiar voice.
“Yeah?” I answered, not trusting the person on the other side of the line.
“Hi, it’s Jesse. I really need your help. Could you please come to the palace?”
“What do you need my help for?” I asked.
“I can’t explain that right now but please come. And don’t tell anyone.” He sounded so pleading that I had to trust him. “If you’re anything like the person in my dream, you’ll come.” I heard him mutter. I was astonished. Had he dreamt about me? Was it anything like the dream I’d dreamt about him? I decided that I was coming and told him so.
Without much difficulty I snuck out of my house. It was actually really easy because my parents had already gone to bed. I just needed to open a window and I was out. Just in case I left a note on my bed, saying where I was going. I got on my bike and rode towards the palace. Jesse was waiting for me outside. He led me around to the back entrance and I parked my bike there. Then he explained.
“You know Mia right?” Without waiting for an answer he continued. “She just told me that she is pregnant.” Jesse took a few steps away from me. He raked his hand through his hair and looked towards the forest. “I just don’t know what to do, I can’t handle this kind of stuff.” He looked desperate. He turned around and looked at me.
“Can you talk to her or something? She’s really upset.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll try.” I didn’t really know what I was supposed to say to a 17 year old girl who had just found out she was pregnant. Jesse and I walked towards the forest. I knew that a little further up the path there was a little cottage. I suspected that Mia was there. I was right.
“Mia?” Jesse called softly. “Emily is here.”
“What?” Mia looked up. She looked outraged. “You promised you would not tell anyone!” She screamed at Jesse. Jesse took a few steps inside and wanted to calm Mia down. “You stay away from me!” Mia shrieked. “And you,” Mia’s eyes were full of hatred as she pointed at me. “Don’t you dare tell anybody or I’ll personally make your life miserable, you wretched person.” I was stunned. I had not expected this at all. Jesse looked at me. His expression was a mixture of apologetic and hopeless. I smiled at him reassuringly and stepped into the cottage. By now Mia was sitting in a corner, sobbing her heart out. Or at least that’s what it sounded like. Jesse stepped out of the cottage, I could see that he really had no idea what to do. I walked over to Mia and put my arms around her. At first it seemed like she was going to push me away but then she let me hug her.
“Hey, it’s going to be ok.” I reassured her. “But please, whatever you do, don’t abort the baby.” I begged.
“Of course I’m not going to abort the baby, who do you think I am?” Mia looked offended.
“Thank goodness you feel that way.” I said and gave her a squeeze. “Are you cold?”
Mia nodded and sniffed. I searched through my pockets and to my surprise, I found a tissue. I handed it to her and she blew her nose. I then took off my jacket and put it around her shoulders. I hadn’t noticed that Jesse was standing in the door opening observing us.
“Are you hungry?” I asked Mia. She shook her head. I ignored her answer and turned around to Jesse. “Do you have any food?”
“Yeah, sure, there’s some in the fridge.” Jesse walked over to the fridge. After he had left the porch I noticed it had started raining. Jesse opened a packet of chips and a packet of MnM’s and emptied them in a bowl.
“Come on, let’s sit on a chair near the fire place.” We got three chairs and set them near the fire. Jesse put a table in the middle and placed the two bowls on top. I must admit, I ate more than either one of them. Mia was staring at the fire, as if she were in a trance. Jesse looked awkward.
“Mia, how did it happen?” I asked her gently. I had no idea if she wanted to talk about it or not but I couldn’t bear the silence any longer. It took a while for Mia to answer. Then, in a tone as if she still didn’t believe it, she said: “I was raped.” Then she burst out in tears. I had no idea what to say. Instead I walked over to Mia and hugged her. I think the hug showed more than words could ever say.
“Mia, you know we’ll always be there for you.” I told her, referring to Jesse and me. Jesse got up from his chair and hugged Mia as well.
“Thanks, you’re both so nice to me.” Mia said softly. I couldn’t handle it anymore and left the room. I walked outside. It was still raining but I couldn’t care less. Tears were streaming down my face. I heard footsteps behind me and when I turned around I saw it was Jesse. I didn’t care that he could see my tears.
“Are you ok?” He asked me gently.
“How can people do that? How can people be so mean?” I screamed into the rain. Jesse understood me, he understood what I was thinking and why I was angry. He walked over to me and put his arms around me.
“I know.” He hushed me. “I know, I don’t understand it either.” This was exactly what I needed, someone strong to be able to lean against. I put my arms around him as well, rested my chin on his shoulder and felt my anger flow away from me. We stood there for a while, in the rain, each lost in our own thoughts. Apparently we both realized at the same time who we were hugging because we let go of each other and then stood there rather awkwardly.
“I think I better go home.” I said to Jesse. “My parents don’t even know I left the house.”
“Em, Mia needs you right now.” Jesse said. “You can’t leave. There’s enough space in the cottage for you to stay. You’ll have to sleep on the rug though.” I considered it for a moment. I had left a note so at least my parents would know where I was.
“You know Jesse, sooner or later people will find out about Mia.” I said.
“It can’t remain a secret forever.” Jesse responded. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
He held the cottage door open for me and I went inside. Mia was still sitting in the same spot.
“Come on, let’s get some sleep.” I helped her up and brought her to the bedroom. There was only one bedroom, and only one bed in the cottage. But I didn’t mind sleeping on the rug in front of the fireplace. It seemed comfortable. I helped Mia in to bed and tucked her in. Then I checked in the cupboard for two other blankets. Luckily I found them. I then walked back into the living room. Jesse was sitting in front of the fire place with his arms around his knees. Without a word I handed him the blanket.
“Thanks.” He looked up at me. “Come sit.” I sat down next to him and put the blanket around myself. The rain was beating hard against the window. It was cozy in the cottage and as I stared into the flames, my thoughts went back to the dream. By now I was considering the fact that the dream might actually have reflected Jesse’s character. I suddenly realized how tired I was. It was already 12:30 and I had to go to school tomorrow. I lay down in front of the fire and Jesse lay next to me. I was completely comfortable.

I woke up late, was disoriented and sore from sleeping on the floor all night. I sat up, stretched and looked around for Jesse or Mia. I found a note on the table. We’re at the palace

. Jesse’s parents had found out. Well, they were bound to find out sooner or later. I went to the bathroom, realized that I couldn’t brush my teeth or comb my hair and decided to walk towards the palace. Jesse, Mia and Jesse’s parents were all sitting at the table eating breakfast.
“Finally,” Mia said cheerfully. I smiled sleepily.
“Come sit down and have some breakfast.” Jesse’s mother invited me.
“My parents are probably wondering where I am.”
“We’ve already contacted them, they said you don’t have to go to school today.” I sighed with relief and sat down at the table. I was too embarrassed to look at Jesse, I mean, we had been sworn enemies ever since I met Lilli and yesterday that had all changed. I wasn’t actually sure if it had all changed but now I knew that there was a part of Jesse that was caring and gentle. And knowing this about him confused me.


“Why did you have to do that?” I was furious. “What is your problem? Now everyone in there thinks I am a complete freak and it’s all your fault!”
“Emily!” He called after me. “Em!”
“Just leave me alone!” He caught up to me and walked next to me.
“No, I won’t leave you alone.” Jesse said. He then stood in front of me so that I could no longer keep on walking. I noticed how unbelievably good he looked in the suit he was wearing, with the moon shining on his face. It annoyed me that I noticed this. Jesse then said something that I had had not seen coming: “Because I love you.”
I stared at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded. I had no idea what to say. I didn’t know if he meant it or not, I didn’t know anything.
“It’s true,” Jesse said, “from the moment I had that dream I’ve been wondering if I like you or not but that night in the cottage I was sure. I have completely fallen in love with you.”
“What dream?” Was the only thing I managed to say.
“Around two weeks ago, I dreamt that we were at the disco at school. You leaned your head on my shoulder and I put my arms around you. Then Lilli came and-“
“Asked if I wanted to come with her to get some water.” I finished his sentence. He stared at me, completely surprised. “How do you know?”
I ignored the question and continued talking: “And then we went for a midnight swim and I pushed you in the water.”
“That’s exactly what happened.” Jesse said. “But how do you know?” He repeated the question.
“I had the same dream.” I whispered.
“Which part did you wake up?” He asked.
“We were sitting on the couch, watching the movie and..” I was too embarrassed to finish my sentence.
“And I was about to do this.” Jesse said as he leaned closer. When his lips touched mine, I knew for sure that the person from the dream existed.
I could barely breath when he pulled away. But I really needed the answer to a question.
“Jesse?” I asked him.
“Yes?” He looked at me, his bright blue eyes making it very clear that he was head over heels in love with me.
“What happened underwater in the pool?”
Jesse chuckled. “That was done on purpose. I couldn’t help myself.” I laughed. Jesse pulled me closer and put his arms around my waist. I put my arms around his neck and he lifted me up. He twirled me around and around until we were both so dizzy that we collapsed on the soft sand, laughing.

“Look who we have here. If it isn’t Emily.” I rolled my eyes as the girls walked into the bathroom.
“Oh no, it isn’t the Emily who has never had a boyfriend, is it?” One of the other girls commented. I nearly burst out laughing; if only they knew. But I had promised Jesse not to tell anyone and personally I thought it was a better idea as well.

“Mia, are you still single? I bet you’re never going to get married. Especially not now that everyone has found out you’re pregnant

.” I heard one of the girls say. I was furious when I heard this. Mia looked as if she was about to cry.
“Mia, don’t mind them.” I said as I walked up to her. “They’re just being mean.”
The three girls started laughing. “Yeah, Emily would feel sorry for her, she’s never had a boyfriend either.”
“For your information, there are plenty of guys who have crush on Mia.” I defended her.
“As if you know anything about that. You don’t even know what having a boyfriend is like.” I searched the crowd who had gathered to listen to what we were saying. Jesse was there. I caught his eye and he nodded. I raised my eyebrows to silently ask him if he was sure. He nodded again. Then I answered the three girls.
“Actually, I do know what having a boyfriend is like.”
The girls started laughing again. “Yeah right. I bet it was someone like Todd.”
“No, it was not Todd.” I said slowly. “And I am still in a relationship with the person.”
“Well, then who was it?”Nina (one of the three girls) put her hands on her hips and looked at me slyly.
“It’s Jesse.” Was the only thing I said.
The three girls burst out laughing again. “Yeah, in your dreams!” Nina exclaimed. “Jesse would never be interested in you.” I searched for Jesse in the crowd and our eyes met. I smiled at him and answered: “That’s what I thought too.” The three girls followed my gaze and stared at Jesse. He stepped out of the crowd and walked over to me. He then put his arms around me from behind and I looked at the girls triumphantly. They had absolutely no idea what to say.
“You could be faking it. Prove that you’re together.”
“We have nothing to prove.” Jesse said as he looked at Nina with an annoyed expression on his face.
“I bet you’re not together.” One of the other three girls pitched in. “Unless you prove it, we will not believe you.” Jesse was tempted to tell them that he didn’t care if they believed him or not but instead he said: “How would we prove it?”
“Kiss.” Nina said. Something about Jesse showed me that he had secretly hoped this. I thought it was maybe because it was forbidden to display affection at school and this would give us the perfect excuse to break that rule. I was quite thrilled about it as well. I looked around if there were teachers in the crowd and didn’t know if I was happy or not when I spotted one. And it turned out that teacher was the principal. To my surprise, he nodded. Jesse and I looked at each other and I could see a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
“Do you want to prove it to them?” He asked, with an edge of sarcasm to his voice.
I could barely stop myself from laughing.
“I wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to kiss you.” I said. He leaned forwards and kissed me long. He made it absolutely evident that we were not just friends. Everyone around us started cheering and clapping and the girls walked off in a huff.
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” I asked Jesse once the crowd had parted a bit.
“Of course not. It taught those girls a lesson. And we couldn’t keep our relationship a secret forever.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” I grinned.
Mia was standing next to us. It looked as if she felt rather awkward.
“Em, when you said that plenty of guys have a crush on me, did you mean that?” I smiled. “I wasn’t actually supposed to tell anyone, especially not the person they have a crush on. But necessity knows no law.” One of the guys had stayed within hearing range the whole time.
“Sorry Tyler.” I said softly.
“That’s ok, because now I finally have the courage to ask Mia out.”

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Publication Date: 12-16-2010

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