“Hey Elliott,” Jesse said, totally disregarding Jules. “What do you think? Huh?” He asked pointing to the new tattoo on his neck.
“What’s up Jesse?” I said, throwing a subtle nod toward Jules.
“Hey Julia”, he said sweetly, eyeing her strangely.
She ignored him and enthusiastically greeted him like she did with everyone, sweet and sunnily.
Jesse was icy cold to Jules but had recently ceased being outright mean to her. I didn’t quite get Jesse. I was starting to believe something was seriously wrong with him. His behavior was so erratic.
“So?” He asked again.
“Oh, I wondered why you had a bandage on your neck during the game. Is that why you skipped school today?”
“Hell yeah it is! Don’t say anything to my mom, though, she doesn’t know.”
“How the heck are you gonna’ keep something like that away from your mom dude?” I asked in disbelief. “Wear turtlenecks?”
The entire table laughed.
“No,” he said disdainfully. “I’ll break it to her eventually man, just not right now. I’m not doing so hot in my classes and I don’t want to give her extra fuel. Know what I’m sayin’?”
It pissed him off that I called him out like that. Not even a buttoned up shirt with a tie could cover the thing it was so graphic and it practically reached his chin but I’m betting that Jesse wasn’t on the fast track to becoming a CPA so it didn’t bother me if it didn’t bother him, to each their own.
“I do,” I said trying not to appear judgmental.
Jesse was always really sensitive about the things that made him look badly and he didn’t respond well when you ‘put his neck on the chopping block’, as he’d say, so I learned to just keep my mouth shut, most of the time.
“So Julia,” Jesse said, turning toward Jules. He kept an eye on me but eventually turned his focus on Jules.
I almost fell over in my chair. I couldn’t believe he was talking to her and by his own volition.
“Yes, Jesse?” She asked, wide eyed.
He leaned in to Jules, causing her to lean back a bit uncomfortably, and rested his forearm on the back of her chair. I threw him the dirtiest look but he ignored me.
“I was thinking, since you and my boy here seem to be such a sure thing, that you and I should get to know one another better.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, maybe I could take you to a movie sometime and we can shoot the shit.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. I did not like where this was going. “I’d be coming too right?”
“Nope,” Jesse said, never breaking his gaze on Jules.
I opened my mouth to object but Jules silenced me with a smile.
“Uh, no, it’s okay Elliott. Jesse, I think that’s a wonderful idea. I think you and I started out on the wrong foot.”
“Over my dead body,” I said.
“That can be arranged,” he smiled.
“Come on Jesse. You can’t take my girl out. Isn’t that like a rule or something?”
“What? You don’t trust me?” He asked, doe eyed.
“Nope.”
Jesse laughed darkly toward the tile on the floor before raising his head to speak.
“It’s okay, Elliott. I would never do anything to Jules.” He smoothly mumbled something into a cough but I didn’t catch it.
“Well, that may be true,” I said, skeptical, “but I’m not comfortable with it.”
Jules laughed roughly. The table got eerily quiet as Jesse and I stared each other down.
I’m not sure what had gotten into Jesse lately. I was starting to seriously wonder about his current state of mental health. For the past few weeks, I’d catch him staring at Jules but not in such a way that made me think he wanted her, at least not in the way most teenage boys wanted her. No, he looked at her with possessiveness and always a strange, dark look.
“Cappelli, you rock my world dude!” Greg suddenly said to the table, probably trying to break the unexpected tension that emanated from Jesse.
The conversation took off at a hundred miles per hour, none of us remembering the outcome of the game until that moment. Everyone told the same story in their own words mentioning things they noticed or didn’t notice, all agreeing, except an eerily quiet Jesse, that Jules was hilarious.
On our way home, Jules sat with her forehead against her window. We were both pretty tired and didn’t talk for a minute or two. I could tell that Jules had something on her mind from the pinch in her forehead, so I asked for her thoughts.
“What are you thinkin’ about babe?”
“About Jesse,” she said sadly.
“What about him?” I shifted in annoyance. He was the last thing I wanted her thinking about. I was hoping she’d let the movie idea go.
“For a long time I thought Jesse felt that I would steal his time with you from him, but after all the effort I’ve made to make sure he was always included, he still always acts so coldly towards me. That’s why I was sort of surprised he made such an effort to want to get to know me. No, I was flabbergasted.”
“I know what you mean. Jules,” I paused, “I don’t particularly like the way he gets to know girls and I don’t have a good feeling about his movie invite. God, he was acting so weird tonight.”
“Yeah, he is sort of strange, but I think that I should do it anyway.”
“I don’t think so Jules! Do you have any sense of self preservation? It’s one thing to hang out with him with me but I’ve not been able to get a grasp on him lately. He’s changing.”
“Elliott, you said yourself that I should get to know him better.”
“Yeah, around me!” I repeated.