Promise Me This

by Sarah Ashley Jones

  “I have a proposition for you, Charlie.”

  I snapped my head up in his direction. I didn’t have the slightest idea what was on his mind. “What’s that, Jhett?”

  His eyes met mine again, and the look he gave me made my heart stop beating. I expected them to be dancing, playing the same flirty games he started after I threw my fit earlier. Instead, his eyes were daring me to take a chance at life.

  “Stay a little longer. If it’s one thing Cameron didn’t stop talking about, it was how he wished that you came out here with him. Do you know he actually had plans to keep you out here this summer and show you what you were missing? Well you still have the chance to find out. I can help,” He pleaded with me. A stranger I didn’t even know for two hours was fighting for me to stay in California. My mind swirled with so many thoughts; I couldn’t even begin to sort them all out.

  “Let me get this straight. You want me to move out here for the summer so you can act out Cameron’s last wish? That’s just crazy talk, Jhett! I’ve known you for what - sixty-seven minutes - and you just want me to board this crazy train? Did you think that using my dead twin brother was going to make me jump in the sack with you? Is that what this is? A ploy to get me to sleep with you? Because if that was your plan, Jhett, you are a total asshole.” My pulsed raced beneath my skin.

  “It’s not like that. Cameron was like family. He had a great heart and he became like a brother to me. I’m not asking you to do this for me. I’m only trying to tell you what your brother wanted. He wanted you to figure out the person you really were, away from that town of yours - that’s what he told me. We made some promises to each other that I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to keep. Are you really going to make me break a promise to your brother?”

  I gave him a hard look, staring directly into those deep eyes, and tried to search out an ounce of truth in his words. My heart knew my brother, and it sounded just like him. My mind told me to run…run from this stranger and this strange place. Don’t stay a second longer. Go back home.

  When I didn’t respond, Jhett turned his back on me and began to walk back to our shoes on the boardwalk. “Guess Cameron was wrong when he said you were always secretly seeking an adventure. We can walk the rest of the way to the apartment.” He never turned around to face me as he spoke into the wind.

  Images of Cameron and I when we were little flew through my mind. We got lost in the woods when we were six, and I was terrified. He kept telling me that I should put my hat on backwards, because then it would turn into an explorer’s hat and explorers always knew the way home. We picked apples when we were eight, and I tried to climb the highest tree but I was too scared. He lied and told our parents I did anyway, just so they would be proud of me. We were thirteen and I was too scared to jump off the cliff into the lake. He told me to trust him, that it was an adventure. And we jumped off together; Cam held my hand until we reached the surface of the water, because he was always the one to take care of me.

  I thought about the question Jhett asked me. It felt like I was jumping off the same cliff, but instead of breaking through the water, I was drowning.

  “Fine. I’ll stay.” My eyes lingered on the waves that kissed the sand for a few more moments, my mind trying to process what I agreed to. I wasn’t ready to face Jhett just yet.

  Eventually, the chilling wind sweeping off the water was more than I could take. Turning away from the ocean, I began the trip back to our shoes while the cold sand squished between my toes. The walk back was even harder than before, but I managed to somewhat-gracefully make it to the boardwalk where Jhett had already begun to slip his shoes back on. He made a point to avoid my eyes, which filled my thoughts with worry.

  I became so absorbed in finding the shoes that I tossed without thinking that I didn’t notice Jhett was walking away, back down the boardwalk. I slipped the last part of my shoe around my heel and sprinted after him; terrified he was going to leave me to walk home alone. “Hey. Earth to Jhett! Did you hear me? I said I’d stay.” I caught up to him and waved my hands around in his face.

  “Loud and clear,” he answered sarcastically, glancing sideways to meet my gaze.

  His eyes were dark and intense with hurt and anger; making me uncomfortable. I couldn’t stand to see him like that. I decided that my feet were the safest place to look. I focused on each step forward instead of searching out the reasons behind Jhett’s sad eyes. The fact that he went from hot to cold on the emotions meter so quickly made me really nervous.

  “Are you just going to leave your bike back there?” I asked. It was my desperate attempt to ease the suffocating tension. “I mean, what if some bum comes in off the street and steals it? How are you going to save all the girls who run out of that bar, then? I’m not a betting gal, but I’d say that I’m not the first girl to make a quick exit.”

  “I’m sure the bike will be fine. I do have a car, remember. But don’t flatter yourself, you hardly needed saving. Some good sense knocked into you, maybe, but definitely not saving.” Softness came creeping back into his voice as he spoke, which only minimally calmed my nerves.

  “You really know how to flatter a girl,” I said coldly. I recognized the bright buildings around me; the two story apartments, which looked more like beach bungalows, lined the streets next to the beach. “Well, I guess you weren’t lying when you said you knew how to make it back.” I slowed down once we reached the bottom of the stairs to Cameron’s apartment.

  I mentally prepared myself for an awkward goodbye. This was always the part where things got weird fast in movies, and I wasn’t the type to put up with any funny business. Spinning around on my heels, I turned to face Jhett. “So, um, this is me. Thanks for making sure I made it. Are you positive you don’t need a ride back to your bike? Or to your place? I can call you a cab or something.”

  He chuckled and reached up to smooth the sides of his hair back against his head, his hand lingering at the nape of his neck. “I think I can handle it. Have a good summer, Charlie.” He gave me one last sullen smile before he began to walk back in the direction we had come from.

  My mouth fell open in shock. “That’s it? Have a good summer? Really? After all that talk about hopes and dreams? I honestly expected a little more than that.” I called after him before my mind could even process what I said out loud. I had to remember to work on not spouting out everything that just popped into my head.

  He stopped walking and glanced over his shoulder. I could see the smirk that was becoming all too familiar start to form on his lips. “Are you really going to question everything I do?” When I didn’t answer, he rotated himself to face me again. “Yes - have a good summer. You won’t be seeing me again. That is, unless you want to?”

  His last statement came out as a question I was not ready to answer. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Goodnight, Jhett.” I bit my lip, swaying a little as I spoke. I gave him no time to answer before I ran up the stairs. I slammed the door shut behind me and reality hit me hard. What the hell just happened?

  Trying to wrap my head around what exactly happened two nights ago was not an easy task. Each time I ran the night through my mind, the more come up. I knew what I needed to do. Fixing myself a cup of hot tea, I made my way out on the deck that overlooked the parking lot and busy streets. There was no furniture, so I settled for throwing a blanket down on the concrete slab. I relaxed against the stucco wall and stretched my legs out in front of me as I tried one last time to dissect the whole Jhett situation.

  It was mid-afternoon by the time I hunkered down to call Hannah. I was done trying to figure this out on my own. I needed my best friend.

  “WHAT IN GOD’S GREEN EARTH WERE YOU THINKING, CHARLIE?” Hannah’s thick southern accent that matched mine screeched into my ear, as I finished explaining the details of The Pointe, Jhett, and his proposition for me.

  “What was I SUPPOSED to do? Between your pep talk about trying new things and Jhett’s speech about Cameron…I don�
��t know. It was a moment of weakness.” I tried to convince her that it all made sense, but it was me who really needed the convincing.

  “That’s your excuse, Charlie? A moment of weakness? Maybe if this weakness wasn’t tall, dark and handsome and also happened to be covered in tattoos,” she scoffed. Honestly, I expected her to be all over this idea. She was the free spirit, after all, and I was just trying to follow in her footsteps.

  “It wasn’t like that. Nothing even happened on the walk home. Don’t you think if it were like that, he would have tried to pull something? He didn’t even give me a hug. Not even a handshake.” For some weird reason I felt compelled to defend Jhett’s honor, even though I barely knew him.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before. I’m all for you doing this, Charlie, I really am. You know I think you deserve a good adventure, and if it gets you out of this hell hole we call home, even for a little bit, I can’t tell you no. But how are you going to make this work?” she asked. She was genuinely concerned. I couldn’t blame her.

  “Before I flew out here, mom told me that Cameron paid his rent in chunks. That gives me a while to figure out how to come up with the rent after that. I can try to find a job, or I may even look at colleges while I’m here. I hear SDSU is really nice…” I trailed off into fantasy land when something on the sidewalk caught my eye. “Hey, Hannah. I have to go.” I hit end, cutting her off mid-conversation, and deposited my phone into the pocket of my hoodie. Squinting to get a closer look, I stood up and bent over the deck railing.

  Right there in front of me, rounding the corner of the stacked apartments that I could now call home, rolled a baby pink beach cruiser being pushed down the sidewalk by none other than Tattoos himself. My blood boiled with the realization of what a stupid idea it was to agree to his proposal.

  I raced through the sliding glass door into the apartment and out the front door. I hurried down the steps, each one causing my blood pressure to rise even higher. It was a good thing I looked up when I reached the platform at the bottom of the steps. If I hadn’t, I would’ve endured round two of falling on my face in front of Jhett.

  My bare feet hit the sidewalk just as he made it to the front of my building. He paused when he saw me, and put the kickstand into place on the bike.

  “What the hell is that?” I flung my hands in his direction, but I already knew the answer. The bike was mine. He got me a bike I couldn’t even ride.

  “Well, I know pink isn’t exactly my color, but you don’t have to be so rude about it.” A smile crept up the side of his mouth. Clearly, he enjoyed my misery.

  I wasn’t in the mood for his snarky attitude. “Look, I know I agreed to stay, but I’m pretty sure you said that I wouldn’t have to see you again if I didn’t want to. So please, explain to me why you’re here in front of my apartment with this ridiculous bike?” The words came out like fire on my tongue.

  “Correction, you told me to ‘wait and see’. Well, I waited, and now - as you can see - I’m here. How did you think you were going to manage getting around town without some mode of transportation? I’m just helping a friend out.” He spoke to me as he carried the bike up the stairs with little effort. Leaning it against the railing, he waltzed right through the front door as if he lived there.

  “Hey! Where are you going? That was not an invitation to stay, you know.” Running up the stairs behind him, I went into panic mode over Jhett being in the apartment. It was one thing to walk next to him, but it was another thing entirely to be alone in the same room with him.

  I reached the doorway and grabbed onto the frame with one hand as I swung inside the living room. Jhett’s back was turned to me as he stood in front of the fridge. I walked slowly to him, my heart beating loudly in my chest, as he held one of the last pieces I owned of Cameron in his hands.

  “You look like a little boy.” He looked up at me, laughter lightly caressing his words.

  “I do not. I’m wearing a dress. Not that it concerns you any,” I said, snatching the picture out of his hand and placing it back up on the fridge where it belonged. My eyes found his when I turned around to face him. “I think you should go.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I got you a gift, and you haven’t even said thank you. That’s no way to treat your new friend.” He found his way to the couch, flopped down and laced his hands behind his head as he made himself at home.

  A flush crept into my cheeks at the mention of us being friends. I began to make a numbered list with my hands. “Okay, first - we’re not friends. I just met you. And second - thanks for the gift and all, but if you don’t remember, I can’t ride it.”

  “Okay first - I’m the only friend you’ve got in this town.” He mocked me, right down to the hand motions. “And second - you’ll learn, since you’ll have the right motivation. Think of the bike as my ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ gift.” As he finished his sentence, he stood up and made his way towards me, closing the gap across the room between us.

  “Welcome to the neighborhood? What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, matching his forward steps with backward ones of my own, until I ran out of room to move. My back collided with the living room wall. There was no place else for me to go as I tried to melt into the white walls; my last attempt to avoid getting any closer to the most irritating guy I’d ever met.

  Jhett was now mere inches from me, saying nothing to answer my question. Instead, his eyes answered with a predatory stare that made my mind scream. Squeezing my eyes shut, I braced myself for whatever plans he had up his sleeve.

  “Meet your new neighbor,” he whispered next to my ear. My hand was enveloped in his and he shook it like we were meeting for the first time. My eyes popped open at his sudden, intimate body contact. Just as quickly as he came in close to me, he moved away and opened the door to leave.

  I didn’t move as my mind tried to comprehend what he just said to me. “You’re joking, right?” I asked him, and peeled myself off of the wall to follow him out the door. He bounded down the stairs with ease and was halfway to the sidewalk before he turned to look back up at me.

  “Guess you’ll have to find out. You do have a phone, don’t you? You’re not Amish or anything like that, right?” His eyebrows wrinkled as if he was concerned that the latter part of his question might actually be true.

  “Yes, I have a phone and no, I’m not Amish,” I countered, crossing my arms and leaning over the railing at the top of the stairs.

  “Think fast, then!” Jhett shouted, leaving me no time to figure out what he meant. My eyes focused on the sleek black phone that he sent catapulting through the air, headed straight for my face. There was no way I was coordinated enough to catch it, even if I tried. I cradled my hands in front of me and prayed for the best. Thankfully, the phone dropped right into my grasp. I stared at it with disbelief.

  “Put your number in there and keep your phone handy around, let’s say five o’clock? I’ve got plans for us. Now toss it back down,” he said, holding out his hands the same as I did before.

  I quickly punched in my number and hit ‘save’. I didn’t get a creepy vibe from him - bipolar maybe - but not creepy. I figured having him around couldn’t hurt too much. Looking once more to make sure he was ready, I closed my eyes and flung my hand back behind my head, ready to launch Jhett’s phone down the stairs. My silent countdown was interrupted by the sound of feet barreling up the stairs.

  “On second thought, maybe I’ll just take it from here.” He hovered close to me, easily reaching my hand that was still in the ready-to-pitch position, and slipped his phone out from between my fingers.

  Jhett’s woodsy smell was picked up by the wind; the same smell I remembered from the other night. It piqued my curiosity as to how someone who lived so close to the beach could smell so much like the outdoors back home. It was strangely familiar and drew me in. “Good idea,” I said, attempting to pop the tension bubble that had formed around us.

  “Yeah, well, you look like you throw like
a girl,” he said, winking at me, and then he once again boyishly ran down the stairs. He made it to the front corner of my apartment building before he turned around again. “Don’t forget: Five o’clock. And if I were you, I’d start practicing your biking skills ASAP, because you don’t want to make me come and get you. That wouldn’t end well for either of us.”

  He was out of sight before I could speak. Before heading back inside, I took one more look at the pink bike that stared at me. One way or another, he was going to be the death of me.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon failing miserably at learning to ride my bike. There was just no easy way to keep my balance and pedal at the same time, and I had the scuffed knees and elbows to prove it. After humiliating myself in front of countless strangers, I gave up. I was just going to have to walk everywhere. Screw the bike.

  Sitting down on the couch, I flung my legs up and over the armrest furthest from me. Taking a deep breath, I let my body relax into the welcoming softness of the couch. I had a few hours to kill before Jhett’s mysterious text was supposed to come through. I closed my eyes, but my thoughts lingered on him. He was everything that I was told to stay away from. He was hot and cold with his emotions, he had tattoos, and an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty oozed from his pores. He refused to give me any straightforward answers about Cameron. I determined that would be my goal for the night: To get answers one way or another.

  My mind flooded with memories of Cameron, and I felt myself slip into the blackness of sleep.

  My phone vibrated on the counter that separated the kitchen and living room, startling me awake. I sleepily dragged myself to my phone, frantically checking the time. Five o’clock on the dot, and there was already a text from Jhett.

  Good evening, Charlie. Your first task is to get your ass on that bike and go out your apartment to the corner of the street. Go down to the next light and wait for further instructions.