Shattered Ties(71)

“You could stay with me until your dad gets you a place to stay.”

“I can’t just give up my entire life!”

“Of course you can’t. I don’t know what I was thinking, asking you to come to the trailer park with me after living this kind of life.”

“It’s not even about that, and you know it.”

“It will always be about that. Even if we were together ten years from now, I’d never be able to provide this kind of life for you. Never,” I said as I realized it was the truth. I would never be able to take care of her the way she’d come to expect. She’d have to lose everything to be with me. “I’m so tired of this game we’re playing, Emma. I just...I can’t do it anymore.”

“What are you saying?” she whispered as tears filled her eyes. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing. We both knew that we came from different worlds when we started this, but we ignored it. Well, I can’t ignore it anymore.”

“Jesse, please...”

“I have to go.” I walked to her bedroom door. Getting out of here without her mom seeing me was going to be tricky.

“I drove you here. At least, let me take you home,” she pleaded.

I shook my head. I needed to be far away from her. “I’ll call Andy or something. I’ll see you later.”

“Will you?”

“Will I, what?”

“See me later?”

I opened my mouth to say yes, but I closed it. Will I? I had no idea at this point.

“Bye, Emma.”

I slipped silently into the hallway and crept to the stairs. I could hear her mom talking on her phone in her room when I passed it, and I begged the powers above to keep her on that phone until I could get out of the house. I moved silently as I walked down the stairs and to the front door. It creaked just a bit when I opened it, and I froze, but no one appeared at the top of the stairs to see what had caused the noise.

When I reached the end of the driveway, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d made it out without anyone catching me. I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Andy.

“Hello?”

“Andy, it’s Jesse. Can you come get me?” I asked.

“Sure, where are you?”

“I just left Emma’s.”

“Okay...I’ll be there in a few.”

“Good. And call the guys. I need to blow off some steam.”

“Fuck yeah! I’ll message them and tell them to meet us down at the beach.”

I disconnected the call and sat down on the curb to wait for Andy to show up.



I tipped back my beer to get the last few drops out of the bottle.

When Andy said he’d message the guys, what he had really meant was that he’d message half his school. Soon after we’d arrived at the beach, car after car had pulled in until the lot was full.

We were a good four hours into this party, and it showed no signs of slowing down. I’d already had too much to drink, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to forget about my stupid fight with Emma and relax for a while. Things were always so complicated with her, and quite frankly, I was sick of it. I just wanted a normal relationship where I could go anywhere with her and not worry about someone seeing us.

“Having fun?” Ally asked as she sat down beside me in the sand.

“Tons.”

“Please contain your enthusiasm,” she replied sarcastically.

“Sorry. I’m not in that great of a mood.”

“There’s a shocker. What’s wrong?”

“Emma.”

“Trouble in paradise? Did she get mad because you couldn’t afford a 10,000 dollar purse or something?”

I shot her a glare. “I don’t need your mouth tonight, Ally.”

“Okay, gesh. What’s wrong?”

“Everything. I won’t ever measure up to the standards that she’s used to.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Look at my life, and then look at hers. We’re from totally different worlds. I can’t give her that kind of life. I’m the flat-ass broke kid from the trailer park.”

“Who gives a shit if you can’t give her a mansion and a Ferrari? If she loves you, what you have to offer should be enough. I know you’ve realized by now that I don’t like her. She’s a stuck-up twat who thinks she’s better than me. But I don’t like seeing you unhappy. If you really care about her, you can’t let the obstacles get in your way.”

“Of course I love her. But will she love me when she’s living in a trailer park?”

“If that’s what she’s worried about, then she’s a bigger bitch than I thought.”

“It’s not her who’s worried about it. It’s me.” I stared at the fire in front of me that someone had started earlier.

Ally reached over and pushed my hair away from my face. “You’re an amazing guy, Jesse. You just need to realize how lucky she is to have you.” “Thanks, kid. I mean it.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m the same age as you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I grinned at her.

She threw her hands up in the air. “I’m tired of this moping shit. I’m going to go get a drink. You want another one?”