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Tainted Love
Jessie stared out at the pale gray sky without expression. A light drizzle fell from the storm clouds above her, soaking her long, rosy hair, making it stick to her back. The blue-gray sea, topped with white caps, was churning wildly below, spitting up flecks of seawater that chilled her bare arms. She shivered from the cold, her tears mixing with the rain. It’s not like anyone cares if I cry, thought Jessie. Tears…they’ll just be carried away like raindrops, and fall into the ocean. And nobody will know if I’ve been crying. They won’t care. A clap of thunder came unexpectedly, and Jessie ducked down instinctively, not bothering to choke back the sobs that came afterwards. It was just pointless, living. Hurt…then more hurt…then more. Even the good times that came so few and far between never turned out to be what they seemed. Just parts of the master plan to make her suffer. Like when Princess Day came last summer. She had just gotten a good-sized paycheck, and she wasn’t in terrible need of food at the moment. It seemed almost too perfect. She spent a little money on presents for the boss, and was contemplating on what to buy for herself when a Lickitung came along and ate EVERYTHING! Even the stuff that wasn’t food! She had been so angry that she attacked the Lickitung in her rage, and captured it. A new pokemon was good news, right? Even if she’d lost a little money from the ruined gifts, Lickitungs were fairly rare, they’d certainly fetch a nice price… And then…then came the memory that still knotted her stomach when it came to mind. A chance to win a set of pokemon princess dolls, the thing she had been deprived for so many years. The one thing she really wanted, more than anything. The one thing she wanted most, she couldn’t have. Snatched away from her by a carrot-topped little twerp who already had a set. But James had been there for her, hadn’t he? He’d prepared a surprise; dressed up like pokemon dolls to make Jessie feel better. James was- No, she reprimanded herself. No. Do NOT think about James, or you won’t be able to do this. Don’t think about James. Don’t think about James. Don’t think about James… But despite her efforts, she found herself thinking about James. James, with his emerald green eyes…his tall, masculine frame…his- NO. No more James. He doesn’t love you Jessie. He never did, and he never will. Just let go…let go… But she didn’t let go before. Not when James’s soft, smooth hand was wrapped around hers. Not when he pulled her into the balloon, a fiery look in his sparkling green eyes, when they pulled into an embrace…just alone together, flying over a mansion, outlined against the sunset… Jessie snapped out of the flashback and found she was holding on to a metal beam going up the side of the bridge. She looked at the beam, then at her hand, then at the icy water roaring below her, and began to cry. She rested her head on the cold metal beam, sobbing, but didn’t let go. If she let go of the beam, she’d let go of James. “Jessie!” Jessie’s head jerked up instantly. Barely visible through the driving rain was James. At that moment, her mind was flooded with emotions, swirling together all at once, making her dizzy… He doesn’t love you. Get over it. “No matter what we go through, we’ll go through it as a team!” He never did love you. “Whoever said beauty was fleeting must have been thinking of us.” He never will love you. “Best friends forever, right? Right, Jessica?” You don’t deserve him. Jessie turned to the blue-haired boy and scowled. “Go away. Go away now.” “But Jessie! I…” he trailed off. He doesn’t love you. “You what, James? You what?” she said bitterly. “You think I’m a bitch don’t you? You hate me, DON’T YOU?!” Jessie’s head was throbbing with heat despite the cold rain beating down on it. She had never felt this angry in her life. “No, Jessie! I don’t hate you! You can’t do this!” though his words were commanding, there was a definite note of pleading in his voice. “Please…” he sank to his knees. “Just come back. Come back to me, Jessie.” She thought she saw a tear roll down his cheek, but couldn’t be sure. Lies. All lies. He hates you. He always did. Jessie studied him. He was on his knees, his hands clasped as if in prayer, but his beautiful emerald eyes were open. They looked tired. Helpless. He stared up at her from his spot on the ground, begging her silently to come down. It happened in a split second. Jessie leaped from her spot on the tall bridge, and fell into the chilling water. She vaguely heard James shouting for her on the bridge above. It already seemed so far away now…This feels like flying, Jessie thought as she fell. Flying away from my life…away from James… There was a sharp pain as her body hit the water, then submerged. The crisp sea felt like knives pressing into her body from all sides. Breathe, she ordered her screaming lungs. Breathe…Her nose filled with water, and she felt it rushing into her lungs, whipping through her…it was over… “JESSIE!” shouted James as he ran to the edge of the bridge. He didn’t even slow down when he plunged over the side in a swan dive. He hit the water with a loud smack, and it knocked the wind out of him. Pain shot through his body. “JESSIE, WHERE ARE YOU?!” he screamed frantically over the dull roar of the water. The rapids tossed him brutally, pushing him under then flinging him up again, gasping for breath. “JESSIE!” A flash of lightning illuminated the now-black sky, and he thought he saw patch of red being pitched around by the waves. “JESSIE HANG ON!” he cried out as water filled his mouth. Paddling frantically, he reached the bit of red floating on the surface, and yanked it up, gasping from exhaustion. Jessie’s head appeared beneath the tangle of red hair, bobbing up and down with the current. Her eyes were closed. “Jessie, I swear I’ll save you,” he gulped as the rapids tossed him about. “Just hang on!” With strength he had never had before, James kicked for the shore, fighting the current and dragging Jessie behind. She weighed him down, pulling him towards the icy bottom that lay beneath the sea, but he fought. He fought with every single muscle in his body. A strong wave threw them both roughly on the beach. Wet and bedraggled, James clambered out of the tide, still heavy and waterlogged. He collapsed on the sandy shore and pressed his mouth to Jessie’s, clamping her nose shut so she could breathe. Come on, breathe, BREATHE! He thought desperately. He paused for a moment, waiting hopefully for the familiar return whoosh of air, but it didn’t come. Just as he was about to cry out for help, the most wonderful sound in the world came. Jessie coughed, spitting up blood, and James was immediately at her side. “Jessie…are you alright?” he shook her gently, pleading for an answer. Her eyes fluttered open. She opened her lips to speak, but no sound came out. James could see the pain on her face, could tell she had something to say…something important…. Her head drooped suddenly, and James reached over and caught it. Her eyelids were beginning to close…only a few seconds left… “Jessie, I love you!” he screamed as a boom of thunder echoed in the distance. For just a second, the pure, undiluted terror on Jessie’s face was visible to him, as she realized that he really meant it. Then her face relaxed, her eyes looked up pleadingly at him, and…she was still. His arms gave out, and she dropped to the shore with a thud. He shuddered slightly, and let out a howl of anguish that resounded deep in his soul. He felt a stinging, then his eyes blurred, and a warm wet trickle ran down his face as he knelt over the body of the love that he lost forever, who had died in vain, right in his arms. |
