Page 5 of I Hear You

"Dude, what if I was a customer?"

"You're not. What's going on?"

Jesse has been my best friend since third grade when he moved here from Virginia. One day, halfway through the year, he showed up in Ms. Beverley’s class. There was an empty desk next to me, so that’s where the teacher had him sit. He was shy, and I wasn’t. As soon as he sat down, I practically shouted.

“Hi, I’m Henderson, but my friends call me Henry!”

There was a hole in one of his shoes, and the jeans he wore were dirty and tattered. It was cold enough outside to snow, and he didn’t have a jacket. When it was time for recess, I left my jacket inside so he wouldn’t be the only one without one. A few other kids and I played kickball, and I invited him to join us. He joined us but didn’t crack jokes or horse around with the rest of us. Back then, he was painfully shy. Sometimes I miss that shyness because it’s definitely gone now.

When he didn’t show up with a jacket for the rest of that week, I brought an extra one from home on Monday. Mom dropped me at school early so I could place it on his chair. That way, the other kids would think maybe he’d left it there over the weekend. She said this way it wouldn’t draw attention to him or embarrass him. Third-grade me didn’t understand how he’d be embarrassed, but I did as she said. Mom says I’ve always been sensitive and cared about making sure other people felt seen, loved, and included.

When he arrived at school, he didn’t say anything, but he put the jacket on before heading out to recess. We've been best friends ever since, but we still haven’t talked about the jacket.

Turns out Jesse moved here to live with his grandma because his mom was sick, but his grandma wasn’t exactly the best guardian. We were much older when I learned when he said his mom was sick, he meant she was struggling with mental illness and not accepting treatment. Things eventually got so bad at his mom’s house child services stepped in and placed him with his grandma. However, they failed to ensure his grandma was capable of giving him everything he needed.

My mom, our friend's parents, and his girlfriend Taylor's parents all supported Jesse in any way they could over the years. He never complained about living with his grandma or the hand he was dealt. Even if her house did smell because she had something like ten cats who all pissed anywhere they wanted. Let’s just say sleepovers were never at Jesse’s growing up.

His grandma passed away a few years ago. We thought he would have to move away again. Jesse knew he had an aunt he’d met only once somewhere in Illinois. Thankfully, our friend Emmett’s parents worked some magic, aka threw around some money and became his guardians.

Emmett, our other best friend, can come off as a bit of a dick when you first meet him. Especially being the son of one of the richest men in town. Really, he’s a big teddy bear but ask a girl he’s hooked up with and you’ll get a different answer. He got even softer when his parents had his little sister, Emily. She’s eight now and Emmett spoils her more than their parents do. No one is looking forward to when she’s old enough to date. Emmett will definitely go full big brother mode on any punk kid who dares look at her.

“Are you breaking your fingers texting Taylor?” I ask.

“Yeah. She’s moving into her dorm today. She wants to celebrate tonight before classes start on Monday. You down?”

“Definitely. Just let me know the plan and I’ll pick you guys up.”

“You gonna invite the pretty brunette?” he asks, his attention still mostly on his phone

“Madison?”

“Oh, Maaaaaadison is it?” he sings “Yeah, her.”

Jesse doesn’t have the same gut-punch reaction to her name the way I did. Jesse doesn’t know a thing about my Mads. No one does. I thought about telling Taylor, but I didn’t want to ask her to keep it from Jesse. It’s not that I’m embarrassed, I’m not. It’s just my relationship with Mads is special and has an almost magical quality to it because it only exists in my email inbox. Bringing it out into my real life, telling my friends… I was so afraid it would be tainted somehow by the harsh realities of life. Somehow, I still managed to let my real life ruin the life I had with Mads.

“No way man. The last thing I need right now is to get mixed up with someone new before they even start hearing the rumors. I’m out of here. My shift just finished, and I gotta beat Mom home and do the dishes.”

“Later,” he says with a half-assed wave, still not looking up from his phone.

Shaking my head at him, even though he doesn’t see me, I back away from the window, heading to my truck in the employee parking lot. I don’t work at the bus station with Jesse. I work across the street at the local sports store. All the employees of the shops around here get to use the bus station's employee parking lot since none of them have their own. Mr. Grissom, the owner of Grissom’s Sports, was one of the few people in town who’d even entertained the idea of hiring me when I started looking for a job at the beginning of the year. No one else wanted the attention of hiring the troublemaker.

Mr. Grissom didn’t care though, but Mr. Grissom is an asshole and doesn’t care about much. He especially doesn't care about the town gossip. When the rumors died down and more of the real story came out, I probably could have found a better job, but decided to stay loyal to the sports store. It’s easy work and the hours and pay are decent, plus Mr. Grissom works with my school and football schedule.

As I go to pull out of the parking lot, I see Madison sitting on the rock wall under a tree with her suitcase clenched between her legs. Against my better judgment, I make a snap decision to pull over in front of her and honk.

She looks up curiously and pulls her headphones off her ears, staring at me.

“Are you waiting for the bus?” I ask, leaning over the bench seat to shout at her through the open window.

“Yeah.” She nods, yelling back, “The one headed for campus is supposed to be here soon.”

“Do you want a ride? It’s really no problem, I’ll pass the school on my way home. If the bus schedule says the next bus is supposed to be here in half an hour, don’t expect it for at least an hour. There’s only one local bus here and the bus driver, Shannon, talks a LOT at every stop. Plus, I know she doesn’t look like it, but my truck has excellent air conditioning.”

Okay, dude, you’re rambling and sound a little creepy. You’re coming off as way too eager to get her in your car. Dial it back just a little and remember… you don’t want any new relationships and this girl is not a replacement for Mads.

But somehow, with that last bit about the air conditioning, I’ve got her attention. She bites her bottom lip and looks like she’s trying to decide if I’m an ax murderer or not. Holy hell, why did she have to do that? Does she even know how incredibly sexy she looks when she has her lip tucked into her mouth like that? After a few more seconds, she stands and starts dragging her suitcase toward my car. I jump out and walk around my truck to help her put it in the back. She hesitates before handing the luggage over to me, a nervous look on her face.

“I promise not to let anyone steal it from my truck,” I say.

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