The Jesus Kid

You can't tell no one, you hear me?

The harsh whisper rushes through my ears, snaking their way through the grooves in my brain until I can feel them settle into the soft tissue. "You have to promise."

I can't remember if I nodded or said yes, but Alesana Jones must have sensed my assent because suddenly, she's up and gone and I am alone.

A moment passes before I realize that the afternoon has cooled into night and my sweater was not as warm as it had once been. My voice comes out in a hoarse half scream, "Alesana!"

Silence. Then again.

"Alesana!"

I wait a beat. I always waited a beat. Always always for Alesana. But there was nothing. We were waiting for my brother to get off work, so we could catch a ride home. I had not expected Alesana Jones to accept my offer of a lift home, but she had, and now, she was gone.

You can't tell no one, you hear me?

I didn't even know what it was that I couldn't tell. Alesana had told me so many secrets that my head was swimming with them.

Suddenly, there is a hand on my shoulder and a playful giggle. The hair on the nape of my neck stand on end. "Gotcha!" Alesana breathes next to my ear. I can feel the warmth of her breath kiss my cheek and my mind blanks. A slow warmth spreads on my cheeks and there is a familiar twinge at that spot right beneath the last button of my jeans.

"I got you some, too," she says. A packet of doritos is shoved into my hand and I can hear her pop gum between her teeth. "Where did you go?" I hissed, "And what did you mean by that?"

Alesana caught my eye, smiled, and pulled a stray hair out of my eye lash, "You worry too much, Lockett."

I blink, smile and think that maybe, maybe I do.