Read The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson for Free Online

orange T-shirt with surfer-style graphics on the front. His brown hair has been styled back off his face and his long legs are stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles.
    ‘You still working at that clothes shop?’ he asks. How did he know that? Oh, that’s right. He came in once with Isla. Great.
    ‘Yep,’ I reply shortly, taking the cigarette Em has just offered me. ‘Cheers,’ I tell her, borrowing her matches and obstinately lighting up. I know that I shouldn’t, that it’ll be one more way to let Stu down, but I’m feeling angsty and it’ll help take the edge off.
    Tom turns back to his mates. My heart is in my mouth. Why do I have to fancy him so much?
    Someone has brought portable speakers and Natalie plugs in her iPod. ‘Giving Into It’ by Johnny Jefferson comes on.
    ‘This is a bit old school, isn’t it, Nat?’ Chris says.
    ‘I like it,’ she replies defensively.
    ‘You know Johnny Jefferson used to live around here,’ says Em, blowing smoke out of her heavily lined lips. ‘But he’s moved back to LA now.’
    ‘Really?’ Natalie asks with a frown. ‘I thought he lived up the hill near George Harrison’s old house.’
    ‘He did,’ Em tells her. ‘He and his family left only recently.’
    ‘What are you, some crazy Johnny Jefferson stalker?’ Dougie teases her. ‘Bit old, isn’t he?’
    ‘I still would ,’ she says flippantly. ‘Anyway, he’s only thirty-six,’ she adds and we all laugh because she knows his exact age. She goes a bit red. ‘OK, so yes, I do know pretty much everything there is to know about him,’ she confesses.
    ‘Are you the reason he fled the country?’ Tom asks cheekily.
    ‘I should have been his reason for staying,’ she replies melodramatically, flicking her long hair off her face.
    We all laugh and Tom catches my eye and raises his eyebrows at me. Maybe he does like me . . . I just wish I knew where things stood with him and Isla.
    Later, much later, we stumble on to the train as a group and make our way back to Maidenhead. I’ve had such a good laugh tonight, but I know I’m going to pay for it the minute I get home, and the thought is sobering.
    Tom appears over the seat in front of me, looping his tanned arms around the back of his seat. ‘Are you in for it with your stepdad?’ he asks, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners. I can’t see his mouth behind the seat, but I think he’s smiling.
    ‘Probably,’ I reply, trying not to break eye contact as the train starts to slow down on its approach to the station.
    ‘Are you going to catch a cab?’ Natalie diverts my attention.
    ‘Nah, I’ll walk,’ I say, brushing her off.
    ‘I’ll walk with you,’ Tom says.
    My stomach is jittery as we say our goodbyes to the others and walk beside the ring road away from the station.
    ‘I really want to see Two Things ,’ he says, glancing across at the Odeon cinema complex on the opposite side of the road.
    ‘Me too!’ I exclaim. ‘I love Joseph Strike.’ He’s well hot – one of my favourite actors.
    ‘Well, I kind of want to see it for all the explosions and stuff, not Joseph Strike, but maybe we should go,’ he says casually, and the swarm of butterflies that have been unfurling in my stomach start to go berserk.
    ‘Sure,’ I reply as nonchalantly as I can. Does he mean we’ll go on a date or just as friends with a bunch of others? It is killing me to not ask about Isla. But it would be so embarrassing if he tells me they’re back together. He’ll think I thought he was asking me out when he clearly wasn’t.
    Neither of us says anything for a while. I walk with my arms crossed over my chest to keep myself warm because I’m only wearing a lightweight yellow summer dress. I didn’t bring the denim jacket I usually wear with this outfit because I wasn’t expecting to be going out tonight.
    ‘Where do you live?’ I ask him to break the silence.
    He jerks his head over his left shoulder. ‘Near the Pond House