Jesse

A Chapter by Danielle:)

Ashleigh Coats and Benjamin Jackson welcomed Jesse Benjamin Jackson into the world on the twenty fourth of November, 1991. The same day that Freddie Mercury lost his battle with AIDS and Eric Carr died of heart cancer. It was the year Nirvana owned the charts and three people were crushed to death at an AC/DC concert.

What a year to be born.

Ben worked many jobs and always seemed to get fired for being a smart-a*s or doing something stupid. He had worked at three different supermarkets, a couple of bars and at loading docks all in one year. Ashleigh has worked at the same bar since she was eighteen. They weren’t the richest people in the neighbourhood, but they could have been worse off.

Ben was in a band called Mirror Image; they were well known locally but had always wanted to hit the big time. The band did the odd gig here and there but didn’t earn much money from them. They were determined to go real big and be famous; the band had wanted to do nothing but that since Mirror Image was formed, when they were fifteen. They didn’t want to be glamorous partying Paris Hilton famous, they wanted to be inspirational, life changing, Kurt Cobain famous.

Their dream didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Two years after Jesse was born Ashleigh fell pregnant with identical twins; Peyton and Tennille. Life was a little tougher with the girls around now. Money was tighter and Ben had to get another job so he could put food on the table. But they still managed to make it through every night with a home made meal on the table.

After many gruelling months Ben and his band got a gig at a local pub and there were meant to be a few A&R guys there. By the end of the night Mirror Image were offered a record deal. The band made their first record and within months it was released. It became a world wide hit and before you knew it, Ben, Ashleigh and the kids had moved to L.A. Ben and Ashleigh married and soon after came a baby boy named Jayke.

Jesse was four by now and had started Kindergarten. This is where he met his best friend, someone he would always have to be there for him. Someone who would always help him and be his friend no matter what he did or who he hung out with. This boy is called Joseph, Joey for short. Joey’s dad was also in a band which helped Jesse feel like one of the other kids at school.

JoeyandJesse. It was never Joey and Jesse. It was always JoeyandJesse. They developed a friendship wise beyond their years- it’s not often you see a friendship like the one they had. They went to the same Elementary School and were just about to start at the same Junior High school. Jesse’s life had been perfect until he reached the age of thirteen. He knew that he had a better life than other kids and he kept that in mind, but something changed when Jesse hit Junior High School.

He discovered his sexuality; gay. He discovered something; love. He discovered the meaning of best friend; Joey. He discovered something mischievous; sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

Now imagine a boy.

Give him black hair and eyes as green as the grass in spring. Give him a pair of black skinny jeans and a white band shirt and compliment them with a hot pink belt and a hot pink lip ring. Make his shoes black converse and just for the extra wow factor make the laces rainbow.

His smile. The cutest thing you have ever seen with dimples and a cheeky grin. Pale skin and a perfectly shaped nose should defiantly be included.

Do you see him?

Looks innocent, right?

Don’t judge a book by its front cover.

Jesse had changed from that innocent boy who walked through the front gates on the first day of junior high. His motto from now on:

Sex, drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll.

On the first day of school Jesse noticed the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. Let’s just call him The Beautiful Boy. Of course it was a cliché first meeting. You walk past each other in the hallways and one of you just happens to drop your books from looking into the others eyes so deeply and hello. The slight “accidental” touch of his hand against yours as you both reach for the same book is like ecstasy. The way he smells, the way his tongue pokes out a little as if he’s thinking just a little too hard. The way he looks away blushing when you thank him. Most important of all; the way he walks away.

But that was all a dream to Jesse. It never actually happened. He just watched (more like lovingly gazed) at The Beautiful Boy whenever he got the chance to.

It was recess and Jesse made his way down to the school cafeteria. While he was waiting in line with Joey, he notice the tall, olive skinned, long haired boy standing behind him. The boy had shoulder length hair the colour of caramel and his eyes were bright green, like grass. He was wearing a Bouncing Souls t-shirt, extremely tight black jeans and worn out converse all-stars.

“Have I got something on my face?”

Jesse quickly blinked and realized that he had been staring directly at The Beautiful Boys face.

“Huh? No…..why?”

“You were staring at me.”

Jesse did not know what to say. The most beautiful creature in the world was looking at him. So, he said the first thing that came to his head.

“I like the Bouncing Souls.”

And as they say, the rest was history.