Impossible

“What do you want to see next?” Jesse asked as he walked down the busy L.A. sidewalk.

“Hmm,” Elizabeth hummed from her perch on Jesse’s back, her arms dangling loosely over his shoulders. Jesse hitched his arms under her knees, holding the small girl in place. “How ‘bout you take us to a super cool, super exclusive restaurant,” she mused, a smile brightening up her features.

Jesse laughed. “As if I’m anywhere near cool enough to get you in, right?”

“Okay, fine. I’ll settle for any little old place, as long as it has super amazing food.”

“Deal.”

Jesse led his friends to a quant bistro in the heart of downtown, a place he had frequented often in the year he had lived in California. Setting Elizabeth on her feet, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a booth in the back, Baz following on their heels.

Looking over the menu, Elizabeth noticed the unusual silence between the three friends. Peeking over the top of the one page menu, she studied her brother and friend.

Jesse’s eyes were focus on a spot somewhere above her head, his eyes glazed over, as he seemed deep in thought. Turning to her right, she caught Baz watching her.

What? She mouthed.

He shook his head, a half-hearted smile evident. Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as she contemplated the reasons behind both buys’ curious behavior.

“Welcome to Honey Bee’s. My name’s Shay, can I start you off with something to drink?” a petite blonde asked, standing in front of the booth. She smiled, discreetly stealing a glance in Jesse’s direction. Though, not discreet enough that Elizabeth didn’t notice, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach.

“Can I get a Coke?” Baz asked nicely.

“Water will be fine for me, thanks,” Elizabeth smiled, albeit not sincerely.

The waitress nodded, facing Jesse expectantly. He seemed to be in a different world though, not registering the fact that the cute blonde waitress—a girl he had flirted with on more than one occasion, and even taken on one impromptu date—was waiting for his drink order. Baz kicked Jesse’s shin roughly, gaining his friend’s attention.

With a glare across the table, Jesse stammered as he looked over to the waitress. “Uh—I’ll just have a—a Coke, please?”

“Sure thing,” Shay chirped. “I’ll be right back with those.” She turned on her heel, throwing a glance over her right shoulder, a small smile on her lips.

After sitting in silence for a moment, Jesse cocked an eyebrow at Baz. “Dude, what’s with all the staring?”

“Oh, nothing,” Baz said offhandedly, making an inconspicuous motion with his eyes—the equivalent of nodding one’s head in a certain direction, asking them to look without being obvious. Baz’s eyes strayed to Elizabeth who seemed to be studying her nails as her hands sat in her lap, Jesse oblivious to the action as he shook his head.

When Shay returned to the table, drinks in hand, the three friends had yet to start a conversation. After setting the glasses on the table, along with straws, Shay glanced first at Jesse, then over Elizabeth and Baz quickly. “Are ya’ll ready to order?” she asked, her slight southern accent slipping into her speech.

Baz nodded when no one else spoke up. “Yeah, I’ll just have a cheeseburger, extra fries.”

Shay wrote the order on her notepad before looking up at Elizabeth. “I’ll have the same, but can I get bacon on the burger?”

“Sure thing,” Shay answered as she wrote down the second order. Turning expectantly to Jesse, she watched, as his eyes were once again fixated on the wall on the opposite side of the booth. Under the table, Baz nudged Jesse’s shin with his foot again, possibly a little harder than necessary.

“Dude. Would you stop doing that?” Jesse exclaimed, rubbing his shin absentmindedly.

“Sure. When you stop zoning out,” Baz replied. “Now, I believe the lady is waiting for your order.

“Oh. Right. Well,” Jesse sputtered, picking the menu up and then setting it down again. He looked up at Shay with a hint of a smile. “I’ll have the same as Bee,” he said, nodding across the table.

Shay’s easy smile faltered slightly, but she hid it well as she wrote something on her pad of paper. “I’ll go put these in.” She turned away, walking to a computer at the counter.

“What was that about?” Elizabeth cocked her head as she watched her brother, wondering what he was talking about.

“What was what?” Jesse asked.

Baz motioned behind him, in the direction Shay had gone. “That.” Jesse looked where his friend pointed, shrugging his shoulders as a response. “Wait, is she?” he asked vaguely. Jesse nodded discreetly, wishing Baz would drop the subject.

“Is she what?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes shifting between Jesse’s and her brother’s.

“Just a girl that Jesse mentioned going out with once,” Baz answered reluctantly, not wanting to see his sister’s eyes fall.

“You went out with her?” Elizabeth questioned Jesse, desperately trying to keep her face straight.

He offered a small smile as he nodded. “We went on one date,” he clarified.

“Oh. Well, she’s pretty,” she commented, not wanting Jesse to see her mood dim in the slightest. Truth was, Elizabeth was stealing glances at the waitress, comparing small things as she came to the conclusion that she was much prettier than herself.

**

“So,” Baz interrupted the silence that had engulfed the trio as they sat on the beach later that night.

“I’m gonna go for a swim,” Elizabeth stated, shedding her top as she stood. She didn’t want to sit around in an awkward silence as she had all afternoon. As she walked to the shoreline slowly, wondering why Jesse had been so quiet all day, Baz punched his best friend in the arm.

“Dude, what’s with all the abuse today?” Jesse exclaimed, finally pulled out of his thoughts for a moment.

“What’s with you?” Baz questioned instead of answering his friend.

Jesse shrugged his shoulders, mumbling under his breath. Baz just watched, waiting for him to tell-all. After a few beats, Jesse let out a breath, his eyes trained on the object of his affection.

“Bee and I kissed,” he confessed. When Baz didn’t respond—in any way, good or bad—Jesse turned. “Did you hear me?” Baz nodded, his gaze shifting from his friend and the shore in the distance. “Well aren’t you going to say anything? Hit me? You have no problem hitting me for no reason, but when I actually do something to deserve it, you let me down,” Jesse rambled.

“What do you want me to say?” Baz asked rhetorically.

“Maybe I’m wrong, but usually brother’s are supposed to be pissed when their friend hooks up with their little sister. I mean I’d be pissed if you kissed Leah.”

Baz shook his head, an ironic smile on his lips. “Well, Leah’s what, twelve? I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” When Jesse didn’t respond, Baz sighed. “What did Bee say?” he asked finally.

Jesse looked down at the sand between his bent knees. “She hasn’t. I don’t even know if she remembers,” he confided. “I mean she was kind of drunk last night.”

Baz nodded, understanding. “Well, until she has something to say about it,” he started. “Then we have nothing to talk about.”

“What do you mean we have nothing to talk about?” Jesse asked, his voice raising. “I fucking like your sister and you say we have nothing to talk about?”

“Well, there’s no news there, so, no.”

“No news?” Jesse paused, his eyes finding Elizabeth easily and unconsciously as she made her way back up the shore, her hair dripping from her quick dip in the ocean. “You knew I liked her?” he asked with disbelief.

Baz just smiled, choosing not to answer. Not that he would have had the chance as Elizabeth jogged the last few steps to their sides, wringing her hair with her hands. “What are you guys talking about?”