Jesse
No. Oh no please no. That's her? No fair. That's not fair, Bryce. She's too damn gorgeous for dibs.
Look at her! No wonder Bryce finally cracked and joined the rest of us looking for 'the one.'
I watch as he brings her up into the light. I purposefully back away for fear the raw emotion on my face will get seen. How is it that she's escaped my notice? Was she living under a rock? She must really be new.
She's a little put off by the small crowd we make. She's incredibly uncomfortable. Shy even. He said her name was Erin.
I continue to watch as Bernadette walks over and pesters Bryce. He has to go take care of something. I have a moment!
"Hhiiiii," I say in a slightly silly manner, trying to break the ice.
We talk a little and introduce ourselves, shaking hands. Her hand feels so soft and tiny in mine, and I don't want to let it go. Definitely not fair.
I have to quickly let it go, however, when I see Bryce walking back over. "I guess you've met my best friend, Jesse," he says in a warning voice.
He looks at me like he's wondering what the hell I'm doing. I look back at him with a 'you're crazy if you think she qualifies for dibs' look.
I keep up appearances as I say, "Well, it looked like you were busy, so I thought I'd introduce myself." I am so mad at my best friend, but I work very hard at hiding it. It wouldn't do to have this inevitable argument right in front of Erin. The three of us get quiet. Bryce wordlessly tells me to back off, and I don't want to. I guess she picked up on our anger because she walks away from us.
"What the fuck, man?" Bryce immediately mumbles. We keep our voices low.
"I could say the same thing! You can't call dibs. Dibs are void with someone like that," I say.
"I can and did, back off!"
Bryce and I know each other pretty well, so I don't even bother with the 'I was just talking to her' crap. He knew what I was building to.
"I don't know if I can do that." I look over at her as Lynne sits down in front of her. Then I get an idea. "Does she even consider this a date? I mean, have you asked her out officially?" The look on his face tells me no.
He grits his teeth a little as he answers, "I tried to, but she looked like she wasn't going to come so I took it down a notch."
"So what you're saying is no." I watch as she laughs about something.
"What I'm saying is I don't know," he growls.
I look at Bryce now. He's had it rough with that Ashley leaving him. I was the one to pull him out of his slump and get him to date at least short term. Now he's found someone, and he's acting different. What kind of friend would I be if I stole her from him? Girl ain't worth a friend, but if she's not thinking they're dating, all bets are off.
"You'd probably better go find out," I tell him. " 'Cause if she doesn't think so then no dibs."
He glares at me, but we have a long established set of rules. I say she should fall in the 'no dibs' category we save for models and the like. It makes for a little fun competition those times. Yeah, it's shallow really, but those are the rules.
He walks over and talks to her a little before they pass me, heading for the overflow seating. I'm going to give him tonight.
Not too much time passes, and I see her drive away on her scooter. That's that then.
I'd probably better steer clear of Bryce for the rest of the night. He can't be too happy right now, and I don't think I'm the one he needs to talk to. After a few minutes, Lynne walks down the back stairs towards him. I decide to ask Ginger to dance. That girl is crazy, but good crazy.
wow Jesse really???? You know what your friend has been through yet you still would even consider making a play for a girl he obviously has some serious thoughts about? RUDE!!!! and not very friend like.
ReplyDeleteNow things are different, how will he react when he sees they are giving it a go?
It IS rude of him. He's gotten so used to Bryce only going for tourists, and those 'rules' they have are for tourists.... which Erin is obviously NOT. Jesse continually mixes the two in his mind which is why he frequently gets heartsick. Hopefully, he can bounce back when he sees that Erin and Bryce are giving it a go.
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting!
I smell trouble on the wind with this. If it comes to be a competition, Jesse can certainly place all kinds of doubt seeds in Erin's mind. Her thoughts about Bryce in the earlier parts can definitely see him as doing the 'tourist mode dating' with her, if Jesse decides to pursue things, or gets weird. I hope he really is a true friend to Bryce and leaves things alone. Who knows, maybe Bryce and Erin won't work out? heh,,, yeah, right ^_^ after a bumpy road I bet they will
ReplyDeleteJesse isn't happy Bryce snatched her out from under him, and this definitely puts a strain on their friendship... one that might last longer than a week. (something they used to laugh over afterwards) Jesse does have it in his power to plant seeds of doubt. 'gets weird' lol. Sigh. You know me so well. Or, at least you think you do. >:) (lol)
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting!
~ I like this little insight into,what was going down,between Jesse & Bryce & behind Erin's back!
ReplyDelete~ At least she left them to it,but I do hope Jesse leaves it be,once he finds out that she went looking for Bryce!
~ Thank you! I loved it!(",)
~Thanks, I thought it would be neat to show everyone what was going on in my head between the two of them to help understand Jesse.
Delete~ That was smart of Erin to walk away right then. She didn't need to hear that conversation. Jesse is impetuous and doesn't think before he does stuff (same thing I know, I just wanted to emphasize my point). Hopefully he'll realize Erin and Bryce are 'together' together before he does anything stupid.
~Thank YOU, glad you loved it! ( `)>
Well no wonder Bryce rushed in like a fool that night! Dang Jess, back of a minnit, will ya!
ReplyDeleteExactly. Jesse put the pressure on him. He, in turn, put the pressure on Erin. Erin runs off. 'Friendly competition'? Sometimes not so much, and this girl is local too... not something theyve previously dealt with (ach! preposition!).
DeleteI see why Bryce was rushing things to show Erin how he felt about her! He knew that Jesse was ready to move in on her. I didn't get the impression that she thought very much of Mufasah though!
ReplyDeleteYes, imo, this bonus came a little late, but there it sits. I debated including it, but I decided to to explain WHY Bryce pushed so hard at the party.
DeleteRight. She thought Mufasa was a bit pushy as well. :)
I love how you're introducing us to different characters, by letting them each speak for themselves. It makes things so much more interesting!
ReplyDeleteBut whoah, Jesse, what the hell!! He says himself he's the one who helped Bryce when whatsherface left him but would go after her anyway?? Seeing how infatuated Bryce is with Erin? Not cool, Bro!
I love how you love that... because it gets on some people's nerves. It's just the way I write. <:)
DeleteYeah, not cool, Jesse.
He does have a point though: This isn't the first time something like this has happened. They have the same taste and have competed frequently. They still manage to remain friends, mostly due to Jesse's easygoing nature (that isn't showing up right now).
Not just Bryce's need, but the manly need to stake a claim forcing things along there, eh? Lol. Just to play devil's advocate, shouldn't the rules be different for residents and tourists as well? I mean, competition for pretty tourists is necessary. But resident means there can be long term consequences that turn things sour, making life unpleasant and ruining friendships. Though it's a moot point now, I really hope Jesse can accept that dibs works here.
ReplyDeleteI like this chapter because it gave everyone a little more insight into what was pushing Bryce to act the way he did, and he subconsciously did stuff for another reason that most readers still don't know.
DeleteYes, they should! This just hasn't been a problem before now. They never considered this when "writing" the rules. (And now that I've seen the show, this makes me think of Barney on How I Met Your Mother) I laughed my ass off when I did see it and all the 'bro code' stuff he did.
I wish I'd never called this a bonus. I guess I did because it backtracks and parallels, but it's a very important chapter.