Impossible

Jesse sat in the passenger’s seat of Nate’s pickup truck as they pulled up to the curb outside of the condo him and his mother had dropped Baz and Elizabeth off at an hour ago.

Putting the truck in park, Nate turned to his friend. “Should I honk, or?”

“Uh, no. I’ll go get them,” Jesse answered, opening the rusty door. When he reached the faded blue door of the condo, Jesse raised his fist to knock, but the door creaked open before his knuckles made contact.

“Come in,” Thomas Harvey moved aside for the younger boy to enter. Closing the door behind him, Thomas looked Jesse square in the eye. “It’s been a little while, huh?” Jesse nodded. He never knew what to say around the middle-aged six-foot-three man; suffice to say he was intimidated. “The kids say you’ve been doing really well out here,” Mr. Harvey tried to make small talk as they waited.

“Uh, Y-yeah. I’ve been lucky so far.”

Done attempting idle conversation, Mr. Harvey squared his shoulders, looking Jesse dead on. “I’m holding you responsible for them tonight,” he said surely.

Jesse nodded, his eyes wide. A moment later, Elizabeth rounded the corner. Sensing the tension, she turned to her father. “Daddy? Are you trying to scare Jesse?” she asked knowingly.

“Now, why would I want to do that?” She gave him a look that said she knew better. Nodding, Mr. Harvey walked into the other room, leaving Jesse and Elizabeth alone in the living room.

“Hey,” he greeted awkwardly. “He still doesn’t like me, huh?”

“You know how he is,” Elizabeth answered with a wave of her hand, not wanting to admit that her father simply disliked Jesse.

Jesse’s eyes trailed over Elizabeth’s body quickly, noticing the small and large changes in her. Her long legs were showcased without much cover from her short jean shorts, a tiny amount of skin showed through the gap between her bottoms and the top she wore, her leather jacket doing nothing but hide her arms. His eyes stalled momentarily on her chest.

Had she always had those boobs? He thought before his eyes snapped to hers.

“Am I interrupting something?” Baz teased as he slung his arm over Elizabeth’s shoulder.

“N-no. Why don’t we get going?”

Jesse held the truck door open for Elizabeth to hop in, offering his hand for support. She slid in next to Nate who smiled at her, so close that their thighs were touching to allow room for the other two boys.

Jesse scooted in next, Baz right behind him. When the door closed, Nate put one hand on the steering wheel and looked at Elizabeth quickly. He reached across her lap, his hand brushing her knee as he shifted the truck from park to drive. “Sorry,” whispered.

Elizabeth smiled, turning her head to the side to hide her blush, but instead showed it off to Jesse and her brother. Jesse scowled slightly, not liking Nate’s effect on his Bee, and Baz just shook his head, well aware of his sister’s power over his best friend.

Baz knew Jesse had feelings for Elizabeth, feelings stronger than friendship. But he also knew Jesse would never admit to those feelings, even if he was aware he had them.

**

Nate parked his truck along the side of the road like many people had done before him. He offered Elizabeth his hand once he had set his feet firmly on the sandy ground and helped her gently make the jump from his high cab.

Jesse and Baz rounded the front of the truck, meeting Nate and Elizabeth as they walked down to the beach. Nate seemed to know a lot of people—though Elizabeth had expected that, he was a local after all—as did Jesse. People waved and hollered their greetings.

Nate smiled and talked to a few as Jesse just nodded his acknowledgement, not wanting to stray from his friends’ sides. “I’ll get us some drinks,” Nate offered before taking off in the opposite direction.

“So this is what a West Coast party looks like,” Elizabeth mused. “We definitely don’t have parties like these back home.”

“And what would you know of the parties back home?” Jesse asked. “Your dad would never let you go to those parties.”

“What Daddy doesn’t know, doesn’t hurt him.” She smirked as she shrugged out of her leather jacket, throwing it over her arm.

“What the Hell kind of shirt is that?” Jesse asked, stopping Elizabeth by gripping her elbow.

“The cloth kind,” she said, one eyebrow cocking in confusion.

“Very funny. Put your jacket back on.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” she answered incredulously.

“Fine.” Jesse tore his own sweatshirt off before throwing it over Elizabeth’s shoulders. “There.”

“You’re an ass, you know that.”

Jesse smiled, detecting her teasing tone. “At least you’re not flashing the entire beach.”

“It’s exactly that, Jesse. A beach. Half the girls here are just in bikinis. I’m far more clothed than them,” she huffed, though she made no move to take Jesse’s sweatshirt off, instead she slipped her arms through the holes, enjoying the feeling of the soft fabric.

The three friends found a large rock that they claimed as their own, climbing to sit atop it. Soon, Nate found them, hands full. “Someone wanna help me with these?” he asked as he held them in the air.

Baz reached down to take two of the beers, freeing one of Nate’s hands so he could join them on the large rock. Baz handed one beer to Jesse, saving the other for himself. Nate sat next to Elizabeth and handed her the second of two beers still left in his hand. “Here ya go.”

“Uh, no. She doesn’t get one,” Jesse said, reaching to take the glass bottle from Elizabeth’s hand.

“Oh, really. Why’s that?” she asked in amusement, holding the bottle just out of his reach.

“’Cause your dad would kill me.”

“My dad wouldn’t kill you,” she reasoned.

“Yeah, he would.”

“Not if I asked him not to,” she said sweetly.

“Besides, have you even had a beer before?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

She began counting on her fingers. “Carly Anderson’s party last Christmas, Mike Newburgh’s party after homecoming, Jenna Dunn’s—”

“Okay, okay. I get it,” Jesse interrupted, shaking his head. He reluctantly let go of the bottle and watched as Elizabeth brought it to her lips. He gulped visibly, taking a long swig himself in order to shake his thoughts.

Elizabeth seemed to have grown up without him. She was a different person, yet exactly the same. He couldn’t be mad that he had missed out, that she had experienced some things without him, because that was his own fault. But, damn, was he upset that he couldn’t have experienced those things with her.