One
“Kiss me, Jesse,” she said. He looked down at her and felt her breath mix with his. He slipped his hands onto her waist, and she had put her arms around his neck. He leaned down, and before she knew what was happening, her lips were linked with his. They embraced each other’s company as the world faded away.
Chapter One
“Hey, girlies!” Pepper Ronaldson giggled, as she ran up, and hugged Aly Nicholson and Brooke Daniels.
“How was your summer?” Brooke asked.
“Absolutely fab! I got highlights!” Pepper squealed, as she showed them her hair.
“Looks so good!” Aly said, genuinely. Being the hype-girl was something Aly was amazing at.
“Aw, thanks! How was your summer?” She asked her friends.
“Amazing! We visited Myrtle beach, and it was gorgeous,” Brooke said.
“Yeah, I saw the pics you posted on Instagram! It looked so pretty,” Pepper said bitterly. Aly looked at Brooke as if to say we should’ve invited her. Just then, they were interrupted by the sound of laughter in the hallway. It was then followed by Jesse Fulk walking into the classroom.
“Hey,” he said with a grin, as he walked up to them.
“We haven’t heard from you since that pool party you threw at the start of summer,” Pepper said remorsefully. She was certainly one to hold a grudge.
“I’ve been busy,” he said with an apologetic smile. He glanced at Brooke and winked. She gleamed, and Aly nudged her side with an elbow. He heard Zach García’s voice and ran over to say hi to him. Aly started giggling.
Zach and Jesse had been friends for years. Zach was obsessed with his image, and Jesse didn’t care enough. That trait encouraged Jesse to come out on top. Jesse had always hoped that he would eventually rub off on Zach, and Zach hoped he could rub off on Jesse.
“Jesse’s so cute,” Aly whispered.
“If you think so, maybe you should go out with him,” Brooke retorted.
“But he’s into you,”
“Shut it,” Brooke laughed. Pepper glared at them, mad that she wasn’t in the conversation.
“Pepper, sorry,” Brooke said.
Pepper had known everyone in the group separately. She found pride in being the one to bring the group together Freshman Year. She did elementary school gymnastics with Aly and went to church with Brooke. Zach and Pepper had been friends since they were in diapers since their moms were friends. Zach introduced Jesse and Pepper. Ebony’s older sister was friends with Pepper’s. They were all Sophomores now, and part of the popular crowd, but they knew that they had to stick together.
Ebony walked in soon after that and folded her arms once she saw them, while she walked over.
“Aly, Brooke, Pepper,” she said as she looked at each of them.
“Ebony,” Pepper said spitefully.
“I see you haven't stopped eating, yet. Maybe you should rethink that,” Ebony said as she looked Brooke up and down.
“Shut up,” Aly said defensively.
“Those freakouts get better over summer?” Ebony giggled at Aly.
“Leave her alone,“ Brooke said, trying not to start any drama.
“That dad ever come back?” Ebony asked Pepper. Ebony’s eyes were maniacal, almost sociopathic. She enjoyed seeing them squirm. She liked how Brooke folded her arms to cover her stomach every time she saw her. She enjoyed the way Brooke ground her teeth when she caught Ebony’s glance.
“I’m warning you, Ebony,” Pepper said as she walked right up to her, and glared her down.
“I’m not scared of you,” Ebony said.
“You should be,” she said. Aly and Brooke pulled them away from each other and Brooke shot a panicked look at Jesse.
Jesse walked over with Zach and smiled at Ebony, to warn her to stop talking.
”Did you know you don't actually need a parachute to go skydiving?” Jesse said, changing the subject. They all looked curiously at him.
“Yeah, you do,” Zach said, obviously distracted. He glanced towards a Freshman cheerleader in the hallway and winked at her.
”You only need a parachute if you plan on going twice, ” he said with a hey, isn't that a funny joke tone.
They all started laughing.
Soon after that, the class started and the day went pretty smoothly. No one had many classes together and lunch took forever to finally come around. Everyone grabbed a table and got food.
“I’ll be right back,” Zach mumbled as he smiled at a different freshman cheerleader. Jesse rolled his eyes and looked back towards the group.
“I like your hair, Pepper,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you for noticing!” She exclaimed.
“Aly, Brooke, how did your beach trip go?” Jesse asked.
“It was so fun. Brooke got pulled under by a riptide,” Aly giggled.
“Sounds like a blast,” he laughed as his eyes lingered on Brooke for just a second too long.
“Yup, it was really fun almost dying,” Brooke said.
“I’m glad to be back at school, I missed you guys,” he laughed. They kept chit-chatting but after a few minutes Aly and Brooke headed out to the bathroom.
“I’m getting bored,” Brooke said.
“What do you mean?” Aly asked.
“We’ve been friends for a year and all we do is flirt,”
“If you really like him, Brooke,” Aly said softly. “Then, you’ve gotta go get him,”
“But he’s the coolest person in- not just our grade- maybe the whole school. What do I do,”
“Only you know what you want,”
“I’m not as hot as you, or Pepper, or Ebony, or any of the cheerleaders,”
“You know Jesse, the last thing he thinks about is looks. You’re way nicer than any of us, and you’re funny. You’re just the best,” Aly said.
“Aww, thanks,” Brooke responded. They planned ways to tell him how she felt, but nothing seemed good enough to actually say to him.
“Her name’s Marissa LaClaire, and she’s way too hot to be single,” Zach said as he sat back down.
“Is she actually single, though,” Jesse said with another eye roll.
“No, that’s what I just said. Learn to listen, Jesse. But we’re going out on Friday,”
Pepper glared at him, Ebony laughed, Brooke ignored him, and Aly picked at her nails under the table.
Things were calm for a good two weeks until talk of homecoming started going around the school.
Ebony seemed to be getting more bitter by the day. No one knew why. No one even noticed. It’s like that social experiment, where you wear a shirt that’s a slightly different shade of one color every day. If you transition to a different color over time, no one realizes you switched colors. Everyone assumes you’re just wearing the same shirt. Everyone just assumed she had always been evil. That wasn’t the whole story, though. Ebony had so many layers, that not a single person had ever seen them all. She was a moldy onion at heart.
Ebony was battling the Hell that happened to be her mind. She hated what she wanted, but craved it.
“Why are you home so late?!” Mark Zarzar yelled as Ebony walked through the door.
“I was getting coffee after school with my friends,” Ebony explained. She quickly glanced at the empty vodka bottle on their dining room table.
“No call, no text! Did you use my money, too?!” Mark screamed. Ebony felt her face get red and she forced back tears. She looked in the direction of her and her sister’s room. She saw Gina standing, hiding behind a wall, with her head peeking out.
“No, I got a job last week, remember?” Ebony said, hopefully.
“Excuse after excuse! Go in your room and don’t come out until you learn to stop being a little bitch!” He yelled. She nodded but didn’t move. She knew the drill. He slapped her across the face, but she barely even fidgeted. She cringed and walked over to her room silently.
“Thanks a lot, Gina,” Ebony said angrily as she shut her door and started taking out her earrings.
“I couldn’t go out there! He hit me right before you got home,”
“We need to start hiding the alcohol,” Ebony laughed.
“You know that he’d just get mad and think we drank it all,” Gina grinned.
“I think Dad should get involved,”
“He has no excuse for not getting involved. It’s not fair, if he planned on hating us so much, he never should have had us,”
“Facts,” Gina giggled.
While others prayed for Ebony to get out of their lives, Ebony prayed to escape her own.
A month into school, there were posters. There were announcements over the loudspeaker. Even the teachers were talking about Homecoming.
“Hey, Brooke,” Jesse said as they passed each other in the hallway.
“Hey, Jess,” she responded with a blush.
“I’m having a party at my pool this Saturday. I’d love it if you could spread the word, and go of course,” he said.
“Totally,” she said as she brushed her hand against his arm.
“Okay, thanks,” he said, also with a blush, before he walked away. She couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. Saturday rolled around soon. Brooke, Aly, Pepper, and Ebony decided they were getting ready for it together. Ebony wore a striped push-up bikini bra with red, barely-there, bottoms. She added hoop earrings. Ebony wore a full face of makeup accompanied by fake eyelashes and clear lip gloss.
“How are you going to wear all that in the pool?” Pepper asked.
“I’m just going to tan and show off my body to Jesse,” Ebony giggled. Aly and Brooke exchanged annoyed looks.
“Why are you even into him?” Aly asked.
“I just don’t want anyone else getting the title as his girlfriend. Imagine the attention they’d get,” Ebony joked. She'd been prepared for this question. Brooke glared at her.
Brooke was wearing a simple light blue bikini top. It showed off enough, but not too much, and normal bottoms.
Pepper was wearing a black ruffled top and high waisted lavender bottoms.
Aly was wearing a sports bra styled yellow top and matching bottoms that were a sort of v shape. The fabric rested just above her hips.
Brooke, Aly, and Pepper all had their hair in ponytails. They were only wearing waterproof mascara.
They left and got to Jesse’s house early. He welcomed them in and they helped him set up a snack and drink table. It wasn’t long before Brooke and Jesse were joking around alone in the kitchen.
“I’m glad you could come,” he said.
“I’m glad you invited me,” she said with a smile.
“I hope we find more time to spend alone,” he said as his eyes got stuck on hers.
“I’d love it if we did,” Brooke said as she walked a step closer, only a few inches shorter than him. He looked down at her and smiled. She smiled back. He put his hand on her cheek, and leaned in-
