Two Outta Three (Two Outta Three #1) (2 page)

Chapter 2

“What are you doing here? You can get expelled, you know.” I watched the familiar figure climb the bleachers towards me. His big combat boots caused the metal seats to shake, clunking all the way up. I pulled my knees up to my chest in anticipation, allowing the long red skirt of my satin dress to bunch up around my calves.

“You look nice.” His voice always sent butterflies to my stomach. It took a lot of time and practice to mask the effect he had on me, but at times like that night I knew I couldn’t hide it as well as I hoped.

“Jesse, I’m serious! You shouldn’t be here!”

“What are they going to do? Kick me out of the dance I was already kicked out of?” A metallic clang sounded as he plopped down next me. He reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked to be a flask.

I rolled my eyes and groaned in frustration. “Really? Drinking on campus? I take it back; you don’t want to get expelled. You want to be arrested!”

“Oh come off it, Miss Goodie Two Shoes. Live a little! It’s Homecoming.”

“Don’t remind me!” I scratched at my uncomfortable updo, wincing as my fingernail hit what had to be one of a hundred bobby pins covering my head.

Jesse leaned his elbows back on the seat behind us and took a gulp of fresh air. The full moon shined down, illuminating his dark hair, which hung messily around his temples. He turned his dark eyes towards me. “So, why aren’t you in there partying it up with Stephanie?”

I snorted. “Are you kidding me? You think I’d interrupt the love fest between her and Daniel? It’d be like trying to wrestle fresh meat away from a hyena.”

Jesse threw his head back and laughed. He shoved the flask in my direction. “Here, drink this. I think you need it more than me.”

I pushed the metal flask back in his direction. “No thanks. Unlike you, some of us would rather graduate high school with a clean record.”

His bright smile quickly vanished. He turned away from me, unscrewing the tiny lid and taking a swig of some foul smelling liquid.

Worried that I’d offended him somehow, I asked, “Jesse? Are you okay?”

“Never better, why?”

I frowned. “We’ve been friends since freshman year. I think I know when something’s bothering you.”

Ignoring me, he reached out and pinched me on the cheek. “Look at you, all made up. You look really good tonight you know.”

“Just tonight? Gee, thanks,” I joked. Though I attempted to keep a calm demeanor, inside I was whooping and hollering for joy. It was never easy crushing on one of your best friends and worrying about breaking that sacred bond that goes along with friendship. Yet hearing him say such sweet things about me only added fuel to the flames.

“You know what I mean.” He paused and took another swig of his liquor. “So, Cinderella, why are you out here all alone? A pity you spent all that money on that ridiculous hairdo only share to it with the goal posts.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed, elbowing him in the ribs. “It is not ridiculous. I’ll have you know I had my stylist copy Amanda Seyfried’s red carpet look!”

“First of all, I don’t know who that is, and second of all, you look better when your hair is just down and wavy.”

“Oh…” My voice trailed off, not knowing how else to respond. My pulse raced and I worried that Jesse could hear the sound of my beating heart. I attempted to steer the conversation in another direction. “Anyway, I’m only out here because my date bailed on me.”

“Who is this sucker so I can beat him up?”

“Ha, ha!” I hugged my knees to my chest and rolled my eyes. “We had a pact, Jesse Tyler! And you broke it.”

His lips curled into a sad smile. “Not my fault the principal told me I couldn’t go to the dance.”

“Actually, it is,” I replied, chuckling.

“How so?”

“If he didn’t catch you skipping homeroom for the sixth time this month maybe you would have been allowed to go.”

“So it was his fault!” Jesse’s thunderous laugh echoed across the dewy football field.

“I’m not following.”

“If he didn’t catch me, I wouldn’t have had to stand you up.”

“Jesse, sometimes being a bad boy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

My friend leaned over and pushed a loose curl behind my ear. “But sometimes, being the good girl can.”

***

“Rocky! Rocky!” My sister snapped her fingers in front of my face.

“Oh! Sorry, were you here long?”

“Not as long as you’ve been,” she replied in a huff. “Seriously, I feel kind of sorry for Ethan. After dinner you basically ignored him before using that lame ass ‘my stomach hurts’ excuse.”

“My stomach did hurt!” I insisted.

“You look plenty fine to me.” She pursed her lips and gave me the onceover. “All I know is that you might as well have put on a giant boot and kicked him out the door.”

“Well, I was hurt.” Just not in the way I made Ethan think.

Emily peered over my shoulder and gazed at
the
photo in my hand. In a time before the term ‘selfie’ had found its way into the English dictionary, Jesse and I had taken one together during our Senior Homecoming Dance—or rather on the field outside of the dance.

“Is that what you were looking for all this time?” Emily asked quietly. She reached into the box and pulled out a stack of photos from the top. She flipped through the photos of Stephanie, Jesse, and I, tsking and clucking all the while.

I threw my head back in exasperation. “What is your deal? Don’t you have anywhere else to be?”

“You know, for having two best friends, you really favored one of them,” she commented, clearly not planning to leave any time soon.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I sighed and rubbed my tired eyes. Holidays were already exhausting enough as it was, but even more so when two bombs had been dropped on you.

Emily held up a photo and flicked it with her fingernail. “Well, Stephanie was your gal pal. The best friend you called to shop, watch movies with, and gossip.”

“So?”

“Jesse was the ‘best friend,’” she said, using air quotations, “that you hung out with just because you had a massive crush on him.”

My mouth dropped open and my cheeks instantly reddened. “I did not!”

“Uh, yeah, you did. It was obvious to everyone but you.” She threw the wad of paper back into the box and placed her hand on my shoulder. “So, how does it feel to know the one that got away is coming back?”

“It doesn’t feel like anything because in order to have someone ‘get away,’ you’d have to have had them first.”

“Ah, so you admit you did have feelings for him.” She wagged her eyebrows up and down.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re my sister. There’s no denying shit like this with you. You’re bound to find out anyway.”

“True,” she agreed with a nod of her head. “So, are you excited?”

“I’m…nervous,” I squeaked.

“Nervous? Why? I would have thought you’d be thrilled to get to work with him every single day.”

“I haven’t spoken to him since my first year at college. After second semester, he basically fell off the face of the earth.” I ran my hands through my dark waves and sighed. “I don’t know. I think it’s going to be weird.”

“Well, people do grow apart. You were off doing your art school thing while he was off busing tables in God knows where.”

“Charleston.”

“Charleston?”

I nodded. “His dad lived there. After he was expelled, his mom kicked him out.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Emily scratched her eyebrow and frowned. “Why is he coming back here, anyway?”

“Who knows?”

***

“You have got to be kidding me!” Stephanie squeaked. “The infamous Jesse Tyler is coming back into town?”

“Dead serious.” I paused and took a sip of wine from my glass, wincing slightly at the slight bitterness of the grape juice. I peered at my best friend, watching the gears tick away in her head.

“How do you think he’s doing? He wouldn’t come here unless there was a dire need to. He hadn’t visited in years!”

“Tell me about it. I’ve been here the whole time, same as you.”

Stephanie shrugged and topped off her wine glass. “Do you ever regret not moving away like your sister did?”

“No. My parents needed help at the store, and just because Emily ditched them, doesn’t mean I would. Besides, what would I do with a Fine Arts degree?” I replied quickly. I’d answered this same question so many times before that my response seemed all too well rehearsed.

Stephanie’s slim shoulders bounced up and down. “I don’t know, maybe making art?”

“Ha! And how do you expect me to pay my bills?”

“What bills? You’re twenty-three and live with your parents! Seriously, you need to cut the umbilical cord and move out of the house eventually.”

“I’m saving up,” I replied truthfully.

“For what?” she scoffed.

“My own house. I’m not planning on moving out of North Carolina any time soon. Might as well start digging my own roots before it’s too late.” I took another sip and flinched. Deciding that red wine really wasn’t my thing, I placed it on the table beside me and sighed. “How about you? Any plans on moving out of here?”

Stephanie leaned back on her couch and stared at the ceiling. She absently smoothed out her long brown hair, blinking her hazel eyes slowly. “No. I mean, maybe one day I will, but for now I have a pretty decent job and a decent-sized apartment. For the time being, I’m good.”

“Well, tell me if that day ever comes. I want to talk you out of moving.”

She giggled. “Not anytime soon, I promise.”

We sat in silence for a little while longer, our minds veering off in different directions. As I further catapulted myself into old memories, Stephanie’s melodic voice interrupted my thoughts.

“How do you think it’s going to be?”

“Excuse me?”

“Seeing him again? I mean, truthfully I’m a bit excited to see him again, but to me he was only a friend. A good friend at that. He wasn’t…”

“He wasn’t to you what he was to me,” I offered.

She nodded her head and shrugged. “Basically.”

I took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I guess only time will tell. It’s not like he ever looked at me in that way anyway.”

Stephanie licked some wine off her lips and shrugged. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

I snorted, blowing air from between my lips. “Right.”

She winked. “I know all and see all.”

Chapter 3

Rossi’s Novelties was anything but a Novelty. Our long standing family business was well known in town and infamous for our silly commercials, which feature my dad in a clown suit telling everyone to “Go to Rossi!” We sold overstock items at low costs. We carried everything, and I mean everything! Wetsuits? We had it! Books? Got it! Bathroom supplies? Yup!

Though business did pretty well throughout the year, we made a killing around the holidays. I mean, in what other store can you buy a quesadilla maker for fifteen bucks? It was White Elephant central!

“Rocky, you okay taking the cash wrap today?” Dad came in, pushing a box of what appeared to be fuzzy area rugs. He wiped his sweaty brow and grunted as he kicked it along the cracked cement floor.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Should be interesting ringing up all the day after Christmas, ‘I didn’t know so-and-so was giving me a present and now I have to buy one!’ gifts,” I teased.

“That’s my girl.” He straightened himself and brushed out his thick moustache. A bit pudgy in the middle, my dad looked like the real life version of Mario. All he was missing was a red shirt and overalls to complete the look. Placing his hands on his hips he looked around his store with pride. Originally opened up by my grandfather in the late sixties, the store had expanded by tenfold. A family business to the core, it employed more than half of my extended cousins, and by the way things were going it also looked like I was the next in line to inherit it, specifically because Emily lived about three states away and did not want anything to do with it.

With a slight nod of his head, he peered at me with interest. “Are you ready to train your friend today?”

I looked up, blinking nervously. “He’s not my friend.”

“Oh? That’s a surprise, given you practically cried yourself to bed every night when we forbade you from spending time with him.

“I did not!”

“Mmhmm,” he replied in disbelief. “A good looking guy with a bad rep—can’t fault your parents for trying to shelter you.”

It was odd to hear him refer to Jesse as
good looking.
Rolling my eyes, a barrage of comebacks flew out of my mouth. “First of all, it wasn’t entirely his fault we got caught, and second, how’d you even hire him in the first place? I didn’t even know he was in town! After that bombshell you dropped the other night—”

“Bombshell? That was your mother who invited Ethan, not me!”

I pursed my lips. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Ignoring me, Dad licked at his finger and began wiping away at a smudge on the back of the cash register. “Jesse came back into town to take care of his mother.”

“Oh? What’s wrong with Mrs. Tyler? I haven’t heard much about her since he left.”

Dad looked down sadly. “Yeah, she turned into some kinda hermit. Pretty sad, really. Anyway, all that smoking got to her, if you know what I mean. Having no other family around besides Jesse, well…”

“Yeah, I think I can figure it out.” My lips turned down into a frown. Poor Jesse. He never had the best relationship with his mother. I couldn’t imagine what he must have been going through. Straightening my lips, I reminded myself that Jesse had all but fallen off the face of the earth years ago. I couldn’t care about him without really
caring
about him.

The old-fashioned bells my dad refused to take off the front doors rung as the glass door opened. Seeing as we weren’t due to open for another thirty minutes, I could only guess who had walked into the door. My beating heart certainly knew.

“Mr. Rossi?” The familiar voice was like a melody. It reminded me of an old favorite song that you hadn’t heard in years, but were still able to recite line by line with ease. Despite the years of silence, I still knew that voice so well.

“Over here, Jesse.”

My palms instantly moistened. Taking a deep breath, I wiped them against my faded jeans, unsure of what to do with myself. Trying to appear calm, I leaned my forearm against the counter and shifted my weight so my hip was sticking out. Realizing how stupid I looked, I straightened myself and crossed my arms over my chest.

“What the hell am I doing? Am I drill sergeant?” I shook my head, reminding myself he was just an old friend. Granted, a best friend I used to love, but still. Finally relaxing into a somewhat decent pose, I looked up in time to see him round the corner towards us.

He instantly took my breath away.

It had been five years since I had last seen him. Having always been the conspiracy theory type, he never even owned an online profile and believe me, I looked! For the last five years I had relied solely on my memory whenever I thought about him. In my mind, the name Jesse conjured up images of a handsome boy—tall, skinny, with a flop of messy dark hair. The man standing in front of me was not the Jesse I recalled. He was much, much better.

This new Jesse looked to be a few inches taller with a body that had certainly bulked up since senior year. His once messy long hair was now shorter, but still chaotic in that bedhead sort of way. His jawline, which lost its baby fat, had chiseled considerably and was now covered with a five o’clock shadow. The sheen of facial hair accented his high cheekbones perfectly, as well as made the little cleft in his chin a bit more pronounced.

Good God was he handsome.

“Ahh!” In all my ogling I hadn’t noticed my elbow slipping off the cash wrap until it was too late. I stumbled to the side, keeping my head down as I straightened myself. Shit. Great “first” impression.

“Rocky?” Jesse eyed me up and down as if he didn’t recognize me. Though I admit I look a bit different from the retainer mouthed, gangly teenager he last saw, I don’t think I changed that much.

“H-hey…erm…Jesse. Hi!” I winced, grabbing at my throat as my voice cracked. If things weren’t awkward before, they sure were now.

Jesse paused for a second, as if waiting for me to step away from the cash wrap. Unfortunately for both of us, I was rendered catatonic and could not move a muscle. Realizing I wasn’t going to make the first move, Jesse pushed open the small, swinging door and came up to me for a hug.

“Err, as touching as this reunion is, until you’re trained to handle the money, no one steps through that door. Hear me?” My father’s voice interrupted.

The old Jesse would have scowled and thought of a good comeback. This Jesse merely nodded and backed away apologetically.

Dad nodded back in approval. Tapping his beer belly, he explained, “So today you’ll work on stocking with me while Rocky mans the cash wrap. I was originally going to have her train you, but…” His eyes shot over to me with a slight shake of his head. “Anyway, it shouldn’t be too busy for the first few hours, but come lunch we should get a crowd. That’s when second shift comes in and overlaps with the first.”

“Yes, sir,” Jesse replied good-naturedly.

It was odd seeing him so…so…respectful. I blinked in surprise and eyed him some more. It looked like Jesse…sort of. He sounded like him too. Why did he seem so different?

My dad nodded, obviously won over by this pod person. “Seeing as you two haven’t spoken in a while, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up around lunch.”

Jesse’s dark eyes flew in my direction, but he didn’t say a word. Desperate to chip away at the awkwardness, I replied in a chirpy tone, “Sounds good, Dad. Nice seeing you again, Jesse.”

He blinked as if waking up from a dream. “Nice seeing you too.”

***

“And then he just said, ‘Nice seeing you too’ and hadn’t spoken to me since!”

Stephanie sat on the floor across from me, digging into what was now known as my “Time Capsule.” I had lugged it all the way to her apartment, hoping she could shed some light on my current debacle. Like two CSI detectives, we sifted through the contents in an attempt to piece together where Jesse and I had gone wrong. Stephanie had even gone as far as placing the contents into piles around her, a telltale sign of her OCD nature.

“He didn’t even try to see you during lunch break?” She licked her thumb and flipped through an old yearbook.

“Nope! Even after my dad gave him an open invitation to hang out with me.”

Stephanie looked up at me and smiled. In a sing song voice she teased, “So it’s okay if your dad invites someone, just not your mom?”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and reached for the pile of photos in front of her. I flashed through the pictures, pausing on one of the three of us at a bowling alley. Stephanie and I had been wearing ostentatiously colored clothing, while Jesse remained his reserved self in all black. Even his rental shoes were black! “We were like the three musketeers back then. What the hell happened?”

“You mean
two
musketeers.”

“What are you even talking about?”

Stephanie straightened her legs and leaned forward, pointing her finger accusingly at me. “You two were like butt buddies! I always felt like the third wheel around you guys.”

“Not possible,” I argued. “We were the three amigos. We did everything together.”

“Psh, yeah right.” Her wide eyes glistened with amusement. “First of all, you both had your little inside jokes that I could never understand.”

“But—”

“And you two were always trying to drag me on all your fascinating adventures that I had no interest in.”

“That’s not true!”

“Hiking?”

“You hike!”

She shook her head so quickly that her ponytail came loose. “Sketching?”

“Okay, you know that one’s not fair.”

“The only thing I liked doing with you two was going to the library to look at old books, and even then you both were into weird ones.”

“Not our fault we weren’t into smut like you were,” I shot back with a wink.

Stephanie snorted and shook her head. “Whatever. It’s okay. I came to terms with it.”

“With what?”

“That he and I were two of your best friends, but that didn’t make him and I best friends. That’s just the way it’s supposed to be, though.”

“How so?” I leaned back against the couch cushion, reveling in the way my head sunk into the velvety softness. A headache was quickly forming and I couldn’t tell if it was caused by our trip down memory lane or the rude awakening from being rejected by someone I had always held so dear to me.

“Soul mates are supposed to be best friends. Where do you think the term ‘married my best friend’ came from, anyway?”

“He is not my soul mate.” Though I said the words out loud, my heart pinched in disappointment. A part of me always hoped we were, but now I wasn’t so sure.

I’d always imagined a big reunion with him. Me running into his arms and Jesse squeezing me tight, as if to erase all the years we were apart. But that was just a fantasy. He had never and will never think of me more than “Just Rocky,” as evidenced by our awkward dance from earlier.

Stephanie continued to flip through the dog-eared yearbook aimlessly. She paused at a certain page and broke into an evil grin.

“Uh, oh. I know that look. What are you thinking?” I asked suspiciously.

“Just that you shouldn’t be the only one revisiting your past.” She wagged her eyebrows up and down.

“What do you mean?”

With a giggle she held up the book and pointed her finger at Daniel McCartney’s school photo.

“You have got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed, eyeing the photo of the tow headed boy.

She shrugged. “What? I’m young and single. Why not?”

“Because he was a jerk, that’s why! Isn’t that why you dumped him after homecoming?”

“Ah, we were dumb kids back then. I was just an unreasonable jealous bitch who had convinced herself that once in a relationship, guys went blind to other females.”

I let out a puff of air from my nose. “Okay, keep telling yourself that.”

With a wide smile on her face, Stephanie pushed herself from the floor to grab her laptop. Once she sat back down, she eagerly logged in, typing away manically against the hot pink keyboard.

“You seriously aren’t looking him up, are you?” My voice was stern, but with a hint of amusement. In all honesty, I thought it was a bit funny.

“Do you think he has a profile page?”

I shook my head and let out a laugh. “Oh man, I created a monster.”