The Me I Thought I Was

The one where Jaxon SEES

I’d just dropped my nephew off with my sister up the street at the ice cream shop, glad to have been able to decompress in their company after an unpleasant chat with my mother early this morning. Making my way back to my truck I’m fumbling for my keys in my pocket when I start hearing some raised voices nearby, one of which is instantly familiar.

Being the nosey person I am, I forget my keys and meander towards the voices. They are coming from beyond a little alleyway ahead between two storefronts, I walk up slowly, and quietly. I don’t want to get involved in anyone’s business if I don’t need to. Reaching the end of the alleyway the voices are louder now, and I press myself up against the wall and peer around the corner to get a good look.

Immediately, I pick out Jasmine. I haven’t seen her since our little moment down by the river. We’ve been texting every day though. She had apparently sweet talked her way into being able to stay back at her house so long as she was checked in on. And I have to say I don’t like that this is the situation I find her in now. She’s got her back to a fence behind her, and there’s two girls facing her, a lanky dark haired boy standing slightly off to the side of them all. I can’t see the girls faces as they’re backs are turned to me, but their voices are shrill and mocking.

I hear Jas pipe up, defending herself? “b***h I did not look at your slimy ass boyfriend, in fact if I’d wanted him in any way I’d have corrupted him a long time ago, get over yourself.” I hear her say, smiling wickedly at the fake red head standing closest to her, her arms crossed over her chest. “Or are you all bent out of shape because you think he has a thing for me?” She asks, feigning innocence as she puts a hand over her mouth to portray her nonexistent shock.

I chuckle under my breath, not able to help myself. She’s so f*****g sassy it’s amazing.

The red head and her dark haired friend let out nearly identical peels of laughter and the red head speaks, “As if, no one in this town would ever get down and dirty with a Dawson. Isn’t that right, baby?” The girls sneers and looks to the scrawny kid again.

The boy laughs, “That’s right, didn’t you hear? She was born with herpes.” He says and continues laughing, harder now, and the girls have joined in.

Oh hell no. I’ve had about enough of this bullshit and I go to start rounding the corner to send these idiots running for the hills, but I don’t even get a chance to move.

Jas is mock laughing, taking short slow steps towards the boy, one foot after the other. She stops right in front of him, still pretending to laugh at his moronic “joke”, and in a flash her fist comes up and slams into his Adams apple, knocking him back and to the ground, sputtering for air the whole way.

The two girls rush to the boys side, kneeling in the dirt next to him and cooing at him like he’s a toddler who just fell off the swings.

Jasmine just stands there smiling, sticking her hands in her jean jacket pockets, her stance radiates attitude and I love it. “You might wanna get checked for herpes now. Bye-bye ladies.” She blows a kiss to them as she starts to saunter away. “Oh, by the way Kelly-Anne sweetie, how’re those collarbones treating you?” She inquires, but rather than stick around for an answer she just bursts out laughing and hauls ass around the opposite side of the building that I’m hidden behind.

I bolt back the way I’d come to catch her back on the street, and we nearly run headlong into each other as we round the corners. She gaps when she sees me, a hand over her heart as she glares at me.

“Will you stop doing that? Jesus Christ, my heart.” She breathes a chuckle. “You’ll be the death of me, Sullivan.” She sticks a tongue out at me.

I laugh, briefly. Looking her over I notice her bruises are finally almost healed, slow but sure, and I see no new bruises, I relax a little – her folks must not have been released yet, thank god, I’d hoped they wouldn’t be out until I could get her out of there. “I don’t know, it seems like you’re pretty equipped to handle yourself shortstop.” I praise, gesturing with my chin over my shoulder in the direction of the alley.

She smiles wickedly, “Ah, saw that did you? Yeah Kelly-Anne and her little labradoodles there just need a reality check every so often.” She shrugs, as if making a point that using violence is an inevitable course of action. Judge me if you want, dear readers, but I am a football player and that s**t is hot.

I laugh, “They seem like the type that the realm of reality sort of skips over for sure. I have to ask though, her collarbones?” I raise my eyebrows at her curiously.

My curiosity is met with another burst of laughter from her, and she looks at me oddly, seeming as if she’s remembering something. Just then, the trio of hooligans emerge from the mouth of the alley, glaring daggers at Jas from across the street. She winks and blows a kiss at them again, waving like they’re all the best of friends. “Hey Dylan! Call me!” She sing-yells at the guy, who quickly wraps an arm around the redheads shoulders and drags her away with him, their little lacky following close behind.

“Well aren’t you just full of sarcasm today.” I note, chuckling.

“Just today?” She teases, “And to answer your question, do you recall the ‘murder fantasy’ you interrupted when we first met?”

I pretend to ponder, sarcastically putting a fist to my chin as though I’m thinking hard about it, of course I remember meeting her – I remember every moment of it. “When I caught you planning your bosses murder?” I ask, laughing.

“Yeah I wasn’t planning his murder, he’s the least of my worries. I was remembering getting interrupted while attempting Kelly-Anne’s, you know, another time she decided she was going to try me, you’d think she’d learn.” She states sarcastically, “I hauled her up and slammed her against the school wall and apparently snapped both her collarbones…” She pauses because her laughing has built up throughout the time she was talking and is now coming out without hesitation. “Best…day…ever. I’d go through the aftermath all over again to relive that.” She’s still chuckling.

This woman is a straight up savage. I think, Why does that turn me on so much?! I can’t help but laugh with her, hers is a musical and wholesome one that cannot go unreciprocated.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” I blurt out, surprising myself a little.

Rather than answering me, she smiles her best Joker style smile while doing some kind of evil Mr. Burns from The Simpsons motions with her hands, “I have a way better idea. Can I show you something?”

I ask, a little worriedly, “Should I be concerned? Because I gotta say that evil thing you’ve got going right now is taking me back to your murder fantasy face.” I admit, chuckling at her.

She starts up laughing too, “Don’t worry, I’m too small to hide your body alone.” She winks at me.

That one gets me and I’m laughing hard now, full on from the gut laughing, and it’s contagious it seems because she’s laughing right along with me. “Well, that makes me feel so much better, lead the way.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” She agrees, skipping ahead of me.

*

JASMINE’S POV

We’ve been walking for about a half hour, it’s starting to get darker outside, and football star is starting to whine. “You know, if you’d told me we were going to wander for hours on end I’d have suggested driving!” He calls from about fifty paces behind me and I laugh mockingly at him.

“You’re going to tell me that a freaking football player can’t keep up stride with little old me?” I snicker.

He flips me off sarcastically and laughs, “This freaking football player ran laps for an hour this morning and went to practice and drilled his nephew for his game and is now being slave-driven to god knows where with Beautiful Blonde Mr. Burns over here.”

I laugh heartly at his Simpsons reference. “I’m hearing a lot of whining there Sullivan, what would your dear little nephew think?” I gasp facetiously, covering my mouth with my hand in mock horror. He doesn’t even have time to respond because we have arrived.

Just outside of this piss hole of a town, there’s a semi-untouched little cove where the creek meets the mouth of the river, just off the beaten path. Right off the side of the highway there is a trail that you wouldn’t see unless you were really looking, nestled into the thick line of trees and foliage, I dip down off the road and call to Jaxon. “You can relax you big baby, we’re here!” I laugh, waiting for him to catch up.

He hops down off the road and plops down in the grass, panting dramatically. “Well this was lovely, when’s the next trip out to a side of the highway please can we?!” He laughs.

“God sarcasm really is your first language isn’t it?” I inquire, laughing with him. “Perfect, mine too. Though right now I’m not being sarcastic when I say no no no, get your butt up, where we’re going is in there.” I tell him, pointing at the trail behind me.

He looks a little incredulous. “In there?” He repeats, glowering at the treeline behind us.

“Yep.” I nod, “Now, up!” I demand.

He groans loudly and sighs, ever the drama king. “Fine,” He agrees, getting up and smiling at me. “But know this, if I go missing out here…” He pauses for effect, “No one would probably ever know, so now’s the time to have your way with me.” He winks and dips out of the way of my swinging fist, just avoiding the shoulder punch he was about to get.

I break out laughing as he skips off and disappears into the trees and underbrush laughing like an imp the whole way.

JAXON’S POV

Letting a girl lead me into the woods, in the dark, alright we’ve really lost it. I think as I bob and weave through tree branches and thorny bushes. At least the view from back here is stellar. I admit as my mind is momentarily stunted by the view of her impeccable ass. “You know, this reminds me of sailors being led to their deaths by sirens.”

She laughs her beautiful laugh, “Simmer down Odysseus, if I’d been planning to kill you I’d be more creative about it.” She turns around to stick her tongue out at me.

“I believe that, though more creative than the Odessey, that’s a tall order.” I note, loving that she even has any idea what I’m talking about. Most of the women I know don’t put a lot of stock into literature in general, then again most of the women I know would rather marry some poor sucker and have him pay for her to be a trophy wife – disgusting.

*

She's humming again, one of my absolute favorite sounds these days. Different than any other time I've heard it though, she throws some actual lyrics out there and I hear her singing voice... She goes back to merely humming almost immediately, I don't think she'd realized that she'd sung at all.

I look up at her face, my head is in her lap as we are sprawled out in this honestly pretty damn sweet little cove she’s found, nice little waterfall sounds in the background, epic.

She notices me staring, "What?" She asks, confused by my fixation.

"Can you sing that again? Your voice is beautiful." I smile my sweetest smile.

She raises her eyebrows incredulously, "For real?" She snorts.

"Please?" I beg, putting my puppy-eyes in full effect.

She looks uncertain, and maybe a little scared. "Okay..." She agrees hesitantly, "I've literally never sang in front of anyone before so keep any judgements to yourself or you’ll get slapped!" She points a finger down at me sternly.

I laugh, "My lips are sealed." I gesture locking my lips and throwing away the key.

She squares her shoulders and, still looking very unsure, begins singing. "A drop in the ocean, a change in the weather, I was praying that you and me might end up together. It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert, but I'm holding you closer than most, ‘cause you are my heaven." Her perfectly angelic voice surrounds me as she goes, and I'm in complete awe of her - even more so than usual in this moment.

She continues, "I don't wanna waste the weekend, if you don't love me, pretend. A few more hours, then it's time to go. As my train rolls down the east coast, I wonder how you keep warm. Too late to cry, to broken to move on. Still I can't let you be, most nights I hardly sleep. Don't take what you don't need, from me." She tapers off and goes quiet, a blush in her cheeks.

I have never been more enamored by a woman in my life... she is absolutely everything.