The College Years
by Katie

PART 5

As the semester went on, the days grew longer, and Sarah grew tired of seeing Jessie fully mesmerized by Katie. She loved Jessie just as much as Katie did, perhaps more. But one day, Sarah noticed something very different.

Sarah was just sitting inside her apartment, checking some last minute paperwork and such, when she started to hear two girls argue. At first she really didn't pay any attention to it, because people argue very loudly all the time, especially in this complex, plus she was pretty tired so she wanted to finish so she could relax in a nice bubble bath, listening to the smooth voices of Vanessa Carlton, Norah Jones, and Avril Lavigne. But after maybe ten minutes, Sarah started to realize something.

"OMG," Sarah slowly began to think, "I've heard those voices before, but WHO are they?" As Sarah continued to rack her brain, trying to match the voices with faces, she finally knew exactly who they were.

"…JESSIE!" Sarah's face lit up like a light bulb had just gone off in her head.

Slowly but steadily, Sarah made her way to her door, only by the time she opened it, a figure was standing there, with their arm raised, about to knock, with sad streams of tears running down her pale cheeks. Jessie.

Before Sarah could even say a word, Jessie started to speak.

"Sarah, I didn't know where else to go." Jessie could barely get that sentence out, she was sobbing so badly now. She couldn't help it. Jessie was very emotional and she had never gotten in a fight with Katie, well, at least not one that they couldn't compromise over a few kisses.

"…It's ok Jessie. I'm here for you, come inside and tell me what happened." Sarah really didn't know what to do, she had no idea what was wrong, and things between them seemed fine during their last class. But then, something inside Sarah's brain clicked.

"OH NO!" Sarah thought to herself. "What have I done?!?" Now Sarah couldn't help but get a little watery as well. When Jessie asked what was wrong, she didn't answer. She just came up with something stupid, but good enough for Jessie to drop the subject.

"Oh, it's nothing. It just makes me sad to see one of my usually happy students in despair or pain." Well, it was the truth, but not in this case.

Once Sarah let Jessie inside, Jess sat down on the couch and Sarah soon joined her. Sarah began to ask, "Jessie, what's wrong? Is there something I could do to help?" Jessie soon brushed her off, not meaning to and said, "I don't think I can talk about it right now, it hurts too much. I never thought Katie would do this to me. I mean, you fall in love with someone, like completely in love with someone, and you think you know them, but they always find some way to surprise you, but not in a good way, you know?"

Sarah did know and understand. Her fiancée Lucy had done the same thing to her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm here for you, just tell me what I can do." Sarah was very sympathetic, but also, Sarah would do anything for Jessie.

"Thank you so much, I didn't mean to bother you, I just didn't know where else to go," Jessie sniffed as she responded.

As Sarah got up and went to the small kitchen to find a box of tissues, she added, "Oh it's no problem Jessie. Seriously, you'd never bother me, I know I'm your professor and all, but don't ever hesitate to come over, call, or anything. I'm here for my students, especially the ones that show a bright future and possess an eager mind who's willing to get her hands dirty." By the time she finished talking, Sarah sat back down, rather close to Jessie and handed her the box of tissues, hoping it would help.

"That is so sweet Sarah. Thank you so much, for everything. I just need to be comforted right now I guess, as self centered that may seem."

"Whatever you need Jessie. Is there anything I can get/do for you?"

"Could I possibly bother you for a glass of water? All of this crying and then the yelling, my throat is killing me. And I can't believe I let myself go through all this, I have my music theory final in like three days and my voice has to be fully running by then."

"Sure. I'll be right back."

Sarah stood up and went over to the kitchen. She reached up into the cabinet, got a glass and filled it with water. She then brought it back to the couch, sat down and then began to hand it back to Jessie when something amazing happened, or at least it was amazing to Sarah.

Jessie was different when Sarah came back from getting the glass of water, Sarah couldn't really put her finger on it, but something had changed. Jessie seemed very calm now, almost too calm. Sarah just kind of got that notion out of her head, because maybe Jess had just decided that Katie wasn't worth the tears and heartache.

"Here's the water that you wanted. Sorry it's not bottled or anything. I'm so sorry, whatever Katie might have done…" Before Sarah could finish, Jessie began to talk.

"Shh… I don't want to talk about Katie right now. I could never forgive her after everything she's done to me. She lied to me. I knew something like this would happen, I just thought Katie would be stronger. I just, want to start over."

Sarah thought Jessie was finished talking, so she began to extend her arm out handing Jessie the glass of water. Jessie reached the water, that's for sure. She strategically placed her hand slightly over Sarah's. When Sarah felt Jessie's soft and delicate hand on top of hers, her heartbeat quickly went up. Sarah jumped slightly, not knowing what was going on.

She kept thinking to herself, "Ok Sarah, we need to stay calm. She probably doesn't want me anyways. Just relax, everything will turn out for the best. Don't put your heart on the line again Sarah!"

While Jessie was thinking to herself, "Jessie, what are you doing? She's your teacher. There's no way she wants you as much as you've secretly wanted her. Make sure that before you go through with this, Katie is really out of the picture. Why am I even questioning myself?? Katie lied to me! Sarah's different. She wouldn't do that to me."

Jessie took the glass of water and took a few swallows. Sarah just sat there, staring at her hand, with the biggest grin ever. "I'm NEVER washing this hand again!" She thought to herself.

Jessie knew when she saw Sarah admiring the hand that touched hers, that she wasn't alone in her feelings. Jessie decided to boldly take the next move.

Meanwhile, back in Jessie and Katie's apartment…

Katie just sat there on their bed, sobbing, her head buried deep in her hands. She couldn't believe what just happened. She never got to explain what really happened. Jessie told her that she was leaving, for good, and that she couldn't follow, to try to stop her. Katie thought to herself, "How could I have let this happen? I shouldn't have lied to her. What am I going to do now? Jessie completed me. All of those years of confusion, frustration, pain, angst, and everything, that all went away as soon as Jessie came into my life. We both worked so hard to make this work, and I thought we were going to. I was going to ask her to marry me for Christ sakes! She was going to be the last girl I ever fell for. Liz was a mistake. I never meant to sleep with her. I was drunk, Jessie and I were in a small fight, I didn't want to. I was just too drunk to stop it all from happening. Damn, I've lost her now for good. What the hell am I going to do now?" Then Katie raised her head slightly, it was still in her hands, but not as much now and she yelled out loud, "What the hell am I going to do now?" She couldn't fight the tears and the anger any longer. She had to get out of here. This apartment, this college, she couldn't bare it anymore. It all reminded her of Jessie. And even though she had broken Jessie's heart, Jessie had also broken Katie's heart, by leaving. Katie devastatingly went to the closet, reached out her duffle bag, filled it with all of her clothes and whatever belongings she could manage to fit, got her bag and headed for the door. But before she could leave for good, she dropped her bags on the floor and went for a piece of paper and a pen; she was going to write to Jessie for the last and final time. Searching frantically around she finally stumbled upon one of Jessie's tablets and a fountain pen. She took them over to the small coffee table that stood right under the phone by the door and began to write.

"Jessie,

I'm sorry for not telling you, I was wrong. If you ever want to hear my explanation, you know where I'll be. I hope you're happy now. You were the only one for me, I swear. Liz meant nothing to me; it wasn't supposed to happen. You have to believe me. If you don't want to believe me, then it's your loss. I know I broke your heart, but you also broke mine. I don't know what else to say except for I'm sorry and that I love you.

-Kathryn Singer"

Katie fought the tears back while she was writing the note, but she accidentally let a few droplets drop onto the note. Without further hesitation, she picked up her bags, and headed out the door.

Back at Sarah's apartment…

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sarah questioned Jessie as Jessie began to lean closer into Sarah.

"Yes, I am." And without any thought, Jessie closed her eyes and leaned in and kissed Sarah on her lips. When Jessie started to open her eyes and slowly move back, to see Sarah's reaction, she was completely blown away by the reaction. Sarah still had her eyes closed, she hadn't move an inch since Jessie kissed her. Sarah's cheeks began to fill with color and Jessie could tell there was something there, something special.

Sarah slowly started to open her eyes and softly asked, "Where are you going?"

"No where. There isn't any other place I'd rather be right now then right here with you." Jessie couldn't really believe what she was saying. How could her love for Katie go down the drain so quickly? And then for her to confess her secret infatuation with Sarah, so soon, it was beyond Jessie, but she didn't care.

"Jessie…I…" Sarah was about to say something she never thought she'd say.

"What is it Sarah?" Jessie asked while taking Sarah hand and holding it between her hands.

"Jessie, I can't stop denying something I've had inside of me for quite some time now. Jessie, I love you. I know you might think that it's wrong for me, a professor to fall for one of her students, but I can't help it. Ever since I saw you in class, your presence, your knowledge, and your beauty…captivated me."

"Sarah, thank you for telling me that. Ever since that first day of school, I've kept a secret. That secret was…you. Something about you just stuck with me. It wasn't until I learned what Katie had done that I realized my true feelings for you. I love you too."

And with that, Jessie pulled Sarah into a passionate kiss.

TBC?
I wasn't planning on continuing this story, for a few reasons. One of the reasons being, that by the time you all have read this, you probably want to hurt me for splitting Katie and Jessie up, but no one's ever really done that before. If a lot of you, and I mean A LOT of you wanted me to continue this story, I might be able to change some things around and eventually get Jessie and Katie back together. If not, it was a good experience for me, and I hope it was for you, the reader as well.