Bumpy Road

Chapter 12

Kathy's POV:

My eyes were wide, and it took me approximately three seconds to realise Jesse is kissing me and a further eight seconds to realise that I'm not kissing him back.

I didn't respond to the kiss. I didn't do anything. I just sat there stunned as if I'd just been struck by lightning.

All I could think was, "Why is my bully kissing me?"

I heard someone's ringtone.

Jesse's eyes opened, and I felt him separate his lips from mine. I looked at him while he stared into my eyes for a second before he reached his hand into his swimming shorts and retrieved his phone. He answered the call and held the phone to his ear.

While Jesse spoke on the phone, I tried to calm my fluttering heart down.

Jesse ended the call and looked down at me and said, "Um, Zack said he finished his boat ride. They are at the car waiting for us."

I nodded my head slowly. Jesse shifted off of me and stood up and held out a hand for me to take. I took it, and he pulled me up. We dusted most of the sand off of us, and I looked at Jesse, but he looked away from my gaze and ran a hand through his hair and said, "We should get going."

I nodded in response, and we walked back to the car.

As I walked back to the car with Jesse at my side, I tried to understand what happened a few minutes ago.

My ex-bully kissed me. My new friend kissed me. Jesse kissed me. No big deal.

Very big deal!

Maybe it's a dream. A weird dream. I'd rather this be a dream than reality.

I closed my eyes, and I pinched my upper arm to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. I know it's dumb to pinch yourself to see if you're dreaming or not, but I'm desperate here.

I opened my eyes expecting to be in my bed, but I was at the beach, walking to the car with Jesse.

Jesse kissed me.

We arrived at the parking lot, and I saw Zack and Cleo leaning on the car, talking to each other.

Cleo smiled at me when she saw us and asked, "Hey! How was the jet ski?"

I shook my head slightly, coming out of my thoughts. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Cleo raised an eyebrow. "I said, how was the jet ski?"

"Oh, yeah, it was fun," I said and gave Cleo a forced smile.

Cleo looked at me suspiciously.

"What do you have all over yourself?" Zack asked Jesse.

"Sand."

"Why do you have sand on you?"

"Because we're at the beach."

Zack sensed Jesse's sarcasm. "Don't sass me," he joked, but Jesse only shrugged in response.

Zack raised an eyebrow at his best friend's strange behaviour. "Okay... let's head back to the hotel. It's getting late."

Cleo and I sat in the back seat together while Zack and Jesse sat in front. Zack turned on the engine, and we drove back to the hotel.

I stared out the window, trying to figure out the kiss.

"What happened?" Cleo said.

I sighed. I didn't want to talk right now.

"Nothing."

"Then, why are you so quiet?"

"I'm tired."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay."

Cleo didn't say anything else, and I appreciated that.

I thought long and hard about possible reasons for that kiss, and all I could think of it was a mistake.

I mean, there's no way Jesse kissed me because he likes me... Or maybe....

I looked at Jesse and thought of the things that he's done to indicate that he likes me.

He kissed me.

But a kiss doesn't always mean that. It could mean he likes me or that it was a mistake. I believe it was a mistake. I can't believe that Jesse can have romantic feelings for me.

Zack parked the car outside of the hotel, and I was the first one to leave the car. I went ahead and went inside of the hotel by myself. I pressed the button for the elevator and waited for the doors to open. I walked into the empty elevator and pressed the button to go up to my floor. The doors were about to close when I saw a hand stop them from closing.

The doors fully opened again, and I looked at the person who'd stopped them from closing.

It was Jesse. His messy brown hair had bits of sand in it, and his hazel eyes looked at me with an unsure look. He entered the elevator and stood next to me.

I forgot I have to share a room with him tonight.

We were both silent the whole way up. I tried not to look at him, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He had his hands in his pockets, and he kept his gaze on the ground.

Why did he kiss me?

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped out first before Jesse followed. We walked over to our room, and I took the keys out from my pocket and opened the door. I walked in and heard the door close. I turned around and faced Jesse. He stood by the door, and I looked at him with worry.

There was silence between us. I saw his lips were slightly parted as if he were about to say something but was at a loss for words.

Jesse looked at me silently and sighed. "I guess you're wondering what that was about back at the beach."

I nodded.

It was silent again. I waited for Jesse to explain why he'd decided to put his lips on mine, but all he did was open his mouth as though he was going to say something but decided against it.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity, even though it was a minute at most.

"It didn't mean anything." Jesse finally said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "It was just, um..."

"The heat of the moment."

Jesse looked at me in surprise. "Yeah, that's it! The heat of the moment!"

I had my arms behind my back and said with my eyebrows raised, "It's not going to happen again, right?"

Jesse laughed nervously. "Right."

I smiled at him and said, "Well, I'm going to take a shower." I looked down at myself, then back at Jesse. "I'm covered in sand."

"Okay."

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me before I let myself collapse against the door. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.

"It was just the heat of the moment," I tried to convince myself.