High Above Me

Jesse Deacon Anderson, here! I'm a junior in high school headed on the track to become class valedictorian before heading to Yale and majoring in pharmacy. Feel free to ask for help with homework! I'll help as long as I'm not too busy with my comic collection.

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

“My Dads are exceptional chefs,” Ari told him simply. “I learned very early on how to make even the simplest things perfect,” she grinned at him. “You’re still too sweet, though.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“I’m not that sweet,” he argued, rolling his eyes playfully. “Have you met my brother? He’s the human embodiment of a handful of candy. The sweetest.” He took another bite of his sandwich and covered his mouth while he chewed. “So...what made you want to find your mom? I don’t really know the whole story there. If you don’t mind sharing, that is.”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

“I’m always happy when I’m with you,” Arielle told him with a nod, “And this is so far, the best date I’ve been on. Partially because I planned it, and also because you haven’t tried to stick your hand up my skirt before we even eat our lunch.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“I would never,” Jesse said, snorting. “Come on, let’s eat.” He picked up one of the paninis Arielle had made for the lunch and took a small bite. “Oh my god,” he moaned. “You’re incredible. How do you do this.”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

Ari nodded, “He must be crazy, leaving you,” she said quietly, taking his hand. “You’re not alone…I know that sounds…stupid, but…you’re not. I’m…I’m here,” she said, pressing her lips to his cheek before turning his head to look at her, “I’m right here.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

He huffed out a gentle sigh and offered a warmer, more sincere smile. “I didn’t mean to get all Debbie Downer on you, you know. This is supposed to be us being happy, right?” Shifting so he could lean back on his arms, head tilted towards the sun with his eyes closed, Jesse hummed. “And it’s a beautiful day,” he mumbled. “We gotta enjoy it.”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

“Anything that I don’t already know,” Ari said with a shrug. “I’m sure there’s a lot that I don’t know, since you’re…such a mysterious bad boy,” she joked, winking at him playfully. “I just…like to listen to you so…tell me anything. Make something up. Just…anything.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Jesse laughed. “Oh yeah, catch me behind the bleachers smoking a joint and burning books.” He hummed, thinking for a moment before speaking again. “So you know Blaine, but I have another broter. He’s 10 years older, and, I mean...This is sort of stupid, but me and Blaine really hate to talk about him? His name is Cooper...Cooper Anderson...He, um. He’s a big time star in the commercial world? Literally. He is in so many commercials. You probably know him.” Jesse paused for a moment to laugh, but it was little strained. “He sort of walked out on us when we needed him, me and Blaine. But, I mean, I don’t want to be a downer about it. I just need you to know I have a sort-of lame famous brother.”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

Arielle tilted her head and smiled gently at Jesse, “You know, everything you say is kind of beautiful. I don’t get how you do that,” she whispered. “But it works and I just…really like you,” she said before pressing her lips against Jesse’s, touching his cheek gently. “Now…do I get a story?” She asked.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“Mm,” Jesse hummed, his eyelashes fluttering as he sighed at Arielle’s  touch. “I like you, too,” he whispered, kissing her again, letting himself linger admittedly a little longer than he should have. When he pulled away he sighed happily. “What kind of story, hmm?”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

“Only you could make the word ‘equation’ seem sexy,” she said sincerely. “Hm, well, Rachel doesn’t even know this…neither do my Dads,” she started. “I’m not ashamed or anything, but…about a year ago I went and sought out my birth mother and I actually met her. She’s beautiful, her name is Shelby…and…meeting her was great, it really was. It’s just…I think that Rachel got all of the good parts of her and I got the scraps,” she paused, biting her bottom lip, “My resemblance to her physically is uncanny, but as far as everything else….I just…you know she’s been on Broadway?” She sighed.

“Rachel is so good, and wants things so bad; my sister actually has the drive to go and get what she wants, and that’s what our mother has, too…but I don’t. I don’t know what I’m doing, you know? I’m only really sure of two things; the fact that my Dads would die for me and Rachel if they had to, and…I’m sure that you care about me enough to want to listen to me rattle on about my shortcomings.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Immediately, Jesse’s face took on a concerned look, his eyebrows knitted together with a small frown taking over his face. “You don’t have to know what you’re doing,” he said. “I mean...I’m lucky because I do, or I think I do, but...but so many people don’t know what they’re doing. “ He rubbed her shoulder gently and offered a gentle smile. “And it doesn’t matter that you don’t know. You know why? Because despite what you think, despite what your mom is like and what Rachel is like, people believe in you. I believe in you, your dads believe in you--and that’s only the beginning.”

Taking a deep breath, Jesse leaned in, placing a tentative kiss on Arielle’s lips. “And we stick to you. We stick until you find your niche, that thing you can’t live without doing, and we’ll stick with you even after that.” Jesse brushed his thumb across her cheek. “How was that for a melodramatic monologue?” He asked, chuckling softly.

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

“I mean books as in text books. Calculus is not fun or sexy in the least!” She giggled, bumping his shoulder back. “Hmm…a story?” She took a sip of her lemonade and thought on it. “Like…what kind? Do I make something up or…?” Her cheeks flushed and she laughed lightly. “Prompt me, you are the tutor, after all.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“Tell me that when I’m whispering sweet equations in your ear during the heat of the moment,” he joked, but his cheeks still burnt as he said it. Jesse popped a few grapes in his mouth and hummed as he thought. “Tell me something about yourself. Something not a lot of people know. I wanna pick your brain, Berry.”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

“…Well,” she started, “Not much, I’ll be honest. It’s just…having fun together, but without books?” She laughed. “Just you, me, some delicious food…just enjoying each other. This is the first time we’ve been out together outside my house or school, did you know?”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Jesse stuck his tongue out. “Books can be fun!” He said, bumping his shoulder with  Arielle’s. “I guess I never really thought about it,” he continued, brushing a piece of hair out of Arielle’s face. “Tell me a story.”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

She shook her head, “Not corny – beautiful, actually,” she paused, “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before. You’re such a sweetheart,” Arielle played with his fingers and brought them to her lips for a gentle kiss before opening the basket, “I threw this together last night, I hope you like it.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Laughing when she kissed his fingers, Jesse looked at the content of the basket with amazement. “This is incredible. Better than ‘just threw together.’ I love it.” A comfortable silence fell over the two of them as they unpacked the contents of the basket, until Jesse finally broke it again. “So...what do people do on dates, exactly? What...is this different than what we do normally?”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

[natily1x1s-blog]

Ari’s face softened, “Your first ever?” She asked, her face flushing. “Well, I’m happy to have the honor of taking you out,” she said sincerely, getting out of the car and walking around it to meet him. She grabbed the picnic basket and took his hand with her free one, “I think I see a nice patch of grass right over there.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Jesse kissed Arielle’s forehead softly, pulling away with a bright smile as they began to walk to the patch of grass she had pointed out. “Unless you count the time I held hands with a girl sitting on top of the monkey bars in the sixth grade? This is the first. And it’s completely my pleasure, my honor, my everything that I get to share it with you.” As they sat down, Jesse crossed his legs and bit his lip again. “Was that too...I dunno. Corny? Was that corny?”

[natily1x1s-blog]

F2F 003 || THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

Earlier in the week, Arielle grabbed Jesse’s hand and demanded that he let her take him on a real date. His palms were sweaty and it made her want to giggle at the fact that she could have such a profound affect on the boy. He wasn’t exactly her boyfriend, but on the other hand, he was something. either. All Arielle knew was that he made her happy: happy and smarter.

Now, she pulled in to the park, a picnic basket full of goodies in the back seat. She’d stayed up the night before preparing their lunch of paninis, lemonade, grapes and some cookies. “Listen, I promise you’re gonna be glad that you let me do this, alright?” She said, grinning at Jesse.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Turning his head away from Arielle so that she wouldn’t see how hard he was blushing, Jesse bit his lip and smiled nervously. “You just can’t let me get awkward, okay?” He turned back to her and scrunched his nose. “If I get awkward, the night’ll be ruined. And I would hate to ruin my first date.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

F2F // First Cass and Fancy Free

[natily1x1s-blog]

Ari shook her head, “Don’t rush it,” she said. “Don’t run into something head on that you’re not really ready for,” she kissed the back of his hand casually, “We can just talk if you want?”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“Talking is good,” Jesse replied. He leaned against the headboard of Ari’s bed, taking her hand and playing with her fingers. He opened his mouth to say something, but as he did his phone began ringing, the chorus of Africa by Toto blaring loudly until he picked it up. It was his mother, asking where he was and when he’d be home for dinner. After assuring her that it would be soon, Jesse hung up the phone and looked back at Arielle. “Sorry, that was my mom,” he explained. “I kind of have to go home? Dinner is soon and she wants to talk about her big plans for me, or something, and I--” he stopped himself from babbling and took a breath. “Same time next week, I suppose? Unless,” he paused and ignored the feeling that his heart was going to jump out of his throat. “Unless you’d like to hang out before then? Maybe grab lunch or see a movie, or something?”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

F2F // First Cass and Fancy Free

[natily1x1s-blog]

Arielle tilted his head back up to look at her, “Same,” she said in response before pressing their lips together again gently. “I think your reasons for being here have changed dramatically in the last ten-or-so minutes, don’t you think?”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Experimentally, Jesse began peppering small, soft kisses over her cheeks, the corners of her mouth, and eventually dropping a few small kisses over the exposed skin of her neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he chided, feeling uncharacteristically bold. He kissed her again, long and slow, before puling away just as quickly. “I really have no idea what I’m doing,” he whispered, shaking his head and laughing quietly in spite of himself.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

F2F // First Cass and Fancy Free

[natily1x1s-blog]

Arielle laughed quietly into his neck, smiling against him. “I’m sure I will,” she said playfully. She could feel his skin get even warmer, she placed a gentle kiss to his jaw, pulling back to face him. She wasn’t sure what happened next; in most instances, clothes would be coming off right now, but again, Arielle knew that Jesse wasn’t like that, “Suddenly I cannot recall what Calculus even is.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Jesse laughed at that, his eyes crinkling in the corners and his nose scrunching. “We can fix that, if you want? It’s sort of what I’m here for.” He picked up the book again and opened it back up, but all of the word he read seemed like they were written in a different language. “Hah, I,” he tried, but even still his brain was fogged, only remembering Arielle’s soft lips on his. “Wow.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

F2F // First Cass and Fancy Free

[natily1x1s-blog]

Ari snorted, “I wanted to kiss you, so I did,” she said with a shrug. “I’m the type of girl who usually gets what she wants, it’s a gift,” she smirked at Jesse and wrapped her arms around him tighter, placing her face in the nape of his neck and hugging him; for being so wonderful, for making her feel safe, for liking her when she felt unlikable, well…for everything.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“Feel free to keep, um, wanting,” Jesse blurted, immediately making a quiet coughing noise and feeling himself turn pinker than he had ever imagined he could be. He kissed Arielle’s hair, humming happily to himself.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

F2F // First Cass and Fancy Free

[natily1x1s-blog]

“You think so?” Ari said quietly, giving him a charming half smile. Her notebook was forgotten on the floor and she was closer to Jesse than she’d been before. It felt so nice to be close to him, to feel how warm he was. She wondered if he was always this warm, if he always smelled this good.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

Jesse nodded. “Easily, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” It was the truth--though she was called “identical” to her siblings, there was no denying the fact that Arielle held something in her that was more beautiful than anything her sisters could ever harness. Joking, Jesse gave Arielle a cheeky smile, and said, “You know, this is one pretty proactive way to pay me for the tutoring.”

[jesse-deacon-blog]

F2F // First Cass and Fancy Free

[natily1x1s-blog]

Arielle pulled away briefly, “You’re not half bad at that, did ya know?” She told him softly. “This feels…so, so nice,” She noted with sincerity. She honestly couldn’t remember a time where she was kissing a guy and they didn’t try to stick their hands up her shirt, jumping the gun completely. Jesse wasn’t like that, though. Ari brushed his cheek with her thumb, then smiled into another kiss.

[jesse-deacon-blog]

“Yeah?” Jesse asked, mostly garbled against Arielle’s mouth. He laughed at the sound of his own voice and found himself pulling away, unable to stop the giggle from bubbling out of him. He opened his eyes placed his hand over Ari’s where it was resting on his cheek. “You’re beautiful,” he said honestly.