"And I told you all my dreams and fears
And you looked at me and your eyes filled with tears
And you said those three words I'd been waiting for
You became a part of me, yeah."
-You're Mine by Lea Michele

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie's Dramatic Plan

(The night before Literature Day)

When I'm in darkness and solitude
I need him for he's my king;
When I'm visualizing and imagining
I wish of him to be entirely mine;
When he's hurt and needs my hand
I wipe his tears to prove my cares;
When he's afraid and dismaying fears
I embrace him to show I'm real
And I love him more than anybody else.

I sighed after I finished writing another poem in the notebook that was full of my written poems. I'd styled it with glitter and different lively colors.

They say that love happens because it's part of nature's untamed forces. It's as free as freedom and as unstoppable as time.

And I agree with that statement.

I sighed once again, then stared at Jesse's face on the painting that he'd given to me as a gift last year.

I, Leslie Sophia Burke, had been in love with my best friend, Jesse Oliver Aarons Jr., ever since the first time I saw him at Lark Creek Elementary School five years ago. It'd been love at first sight for me. Maybe you don't believe me because I was just ten years old at the time. But I was really sure with what I'd felt then, and even more so now. I mean, seriously, who wouldn't fall for an almost-perfect guy like him?

Scratch that. Who wouldn't fall for a perfect guy like him?

I even knew that Jesse had been at Pizzalicious last Sunday after I'd seen his gray New Balance running shoes when Nigel had told me the toilet was occupied. I'd given those shoes to Jesse for his fourteenth birthday, even though he'd initially refused to accept them because they were so expensive. Bah. I'd insisted he should take them because he really needed a new pair, since his former shoes were already worn-out looking from running and doing his daily chores. Since I'd bought those shoes, I'd memorized every detail of them, so I was sure they belonged to my king.

Jesse had been hiding inside the stall! I'm sure as he'd been about to get out of the restroom, he'd seen Nigel and me heading to it. That's why he'd been there. There hadn't been any other options available. I wished the lady who'd come out of the restroom as we had entered (if she ever did use the toilet before Jess) had taken longer in there so that we'd have been surprised to see him with panicked eyes while standing in the middle of the restroom.

But where was the fun in that? That's why I'd acted like I didn't know he'd been there at Pizzalicious, and why I hadn't confronted him after I'd woken up that wonderful early morning with him, which I wanted to do again. Sleeping beside my king, I mean.

So either Jesse had spied on me because he loved me and was jealous of Nigel, or, as my best friend, had just been concerned that I was with another guy and was simply looking out for me. But if he'd been "just concerned" about me, why had he lied to me in the first place?

Yeah, I really liked to believe the former.

The song "Every Breath You Take" by The Police suddenly popped into my mind, and I couldn't help giggling to myself.

To really—and finally—knew what my king felt toward me, I'd decided to do something drastic: act that I like Nigel Groban and tell Jesse I'm falling for him to find out what his reaction would be.

I'd innocently used Nigel for my plan without him knowing. It'd been easy, because I had a feeling he had a crush on me. I mean, he'd been giving me the signs. I'd recognized them, unlike what my dense best friend had been giving me: no signs.

Don't get me wrong—Nigel was handsome, nice, and a funny guy, but he was just not my type. Let him have Bradfield...she was pretty enough, I suppose. Then I could have Jesse all to myself.

Selfish, much? No. Tee-hee.

I'm sorry, Nigel, but you're a great friend to have.

After reciting my practiced line to Jess, would he tell me the truth? Would he confess his secret feelings to me? No—my king had reacted like it was nothing. He'd even encouraged me to confess my feelings to Nigel! I'd only said I was falling for him, not that I was in love with him. But Jesse had thought I loved Nigel because of what I'd said. Gosh, couldn't my king read between the lines?

Apparently not, because of his thick skull.

I'd been deeply hurt, but hadn't showed it to him, of course.

With that, I'd believed he only loved me as a best friend and was in love with Bradfield. I'd cringed inwardly at the thought. I'd immediately wanted to take back what I'd said—to tell him that I was just joking, but he'd cut me off.

Wait a sec. He cut me off? I'd thought desperately.

Hey, I knew what that meant: He was jealous!

Unlike Jesse, I wasn't dense. I was sure even Conrad knew my romantic feelings for my best friend. Heck, I was sure everyone in Lark Creek knew my feelings for Jess, except for Nigel and Jess himself.

My first belief had been suddenly renewed that Jesse indeed had romantic feelings for me, and I'd played along with his actions. Someone had to be an optimist there.

I wanted Jesse to confess his feelings first. Guys should be the ones to do that, right? Jess was a brave king and needed to break his own shell. I'd just been giving him, er, an encouragement, I guess.

I wanted to know when and how Jesse would confess his feelings to me. That's also why I'd told him he was a great actor, you know, when we'd been chilling at the far side of the school. I'd followed him that time, actually, which was pretty obvious.

Since we'd been best friends for five years now, I could tell whenever he was lying to me, like when he'd told me he couldn't come with me to the pizza house because he needed to water the plants in his family's greenhouse; and his lie when we'd been lying down in his bed (lie...lying...get it?) before my falling-for-Nigel line; and the one at the library with Conrad. Lying is also considered acting...sort of. So maybe he'd thought I was referring to his role as Princess Aurora that time.

I was sure Jesse also knew when I was lying. But whenever I used my grand acting skills, he wouldn't even notice. I trusted him he'd tell me the truth sooner or later, and I had a strong feeling that "sooner or later" would be after "my plan." And, of course, I'd admit my lies to him, too.

Earlier during Lance's birthday party, though, my doubts had come back when I'd seen Jesse and Bradfield hugging each other. I'd been shocked, hurt, and jealous at the same time, because I'd seen my king hugging another girl. I'd thought Jesse loved Sarah Bradfield and not me. Had I been only assuming that I was the person he cared for the most all this time?

But I knew I shouldn't give up; that wasn't my thing. I'd deduced Bradfield confessed her love to Jess that night, but he'd told her he loved someone else—who I believed was moi—which made Bradfield cry. (Who wouldn't cry if you confessed your feelings to the guy you love, but got rejected?)

Of course, Jess being Jess, had hugged her to comfort her, which had also given me comfort, if my deduction was indeed correct.

Still, I couldn't help but feel major jealousness whenever I saw Bradfield and Jesse talking to each other. I knew I shouldn't be selfish—he had the right to be friends with other people. It was for his own good, anyway. But when it came to Bradfield, my heart tightened. Call me paranoid, but when you know that person also loves the one you love, you can't help feeling that way.

I'd been very jealous when Jesse had told me he was going to my rival's house to draw the Dawn Treader as a gift for Bradfield's younger brother. Naturally, it'd been her idea. I hadn't had the heart to say, "No! Don't go!" to him. That'd be me being selfish. At least he'd told me about it. And besides, the Witch's younger brother was innocent. But I was sure Bradfield had only been using him as an excuse so that she could lure Jesse over to their house and, er, would do some things to him. That had made me to be more alert.

Much more alert.

"Can you come with me?" Jess had asked suddenly that time, making my eyes widen in surprise. My king was asking me to come with him?

Take that, Bradfield! I'd thought while doing a victory dance in my mind.

"I forget the other parts of the ship," he'd continued. "It's been years since I last read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and we didn't watch the movie of it, since you know they changed most of the parts from the book, which we both hate. Can you be my guide, Les? You know every single detail of what the Dawn Treader looks like."

"Of course I'll come with you, Jess," I'd instantly replied while grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, yes! I can't wait to see the witch's—er, I mean, Bradfield's reaction when she finds out about this!"

Jesse had looked nervous, and I'd suddenly wanted to hug him to ease his nervousness. "I-I'm sure she'll understand after I explain the situation to her," he'd told me.

Ha-ha. Right, I'd thought sarcastically.

When we'd been in the witch's bedroom chamber, I'd been drinking the orange juice she'd given us—after making sure she hadn't put any illegal drug or poison in it—when Lance had interrupted the moment. Not that I blamed him, of course. He was innocent and oblivious to the invisible storm brewing inside her sister's room. Worse, there had been no novels inside Bradfield's room. That's why it was so dull-looking, even with all the purple colors.

Yuck!

Lance in the room while Jess was drawing: not good. Being the nice person that I was, I'd let myself be the distraction for Lance, even though I hadn't liked the idea of leaving Jesse alone with my rival. But, alas, bookworms needed to bond with each other when they had the chance.

Lance and I had had a great time in his lively room. There had been lots of books on his shelf, just like in my room, and he even had a movie poster of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I envied him so much because of that. (Mental note: get one for myself.)

After many minutes of exchanging facts and book recommendations (he'd even shared an embarrassing moment of his sister with me, which had made me start absolutely loving that child), I suddenly had had a bright idea. I'd excused myself from Lance, gone to his room's balcony, fished my iPhone from my pocket, and called Diana.

"Hey, Leslie!" Diana had greeted in a cheerful voice after a few rings. "Excited for your costume already?"

I'd smiled, even though she couldn't see me. "Hey, Diana! Well, duh! You better hurry it up or else!"

Diana had laughed. "Jeez. Go easy on the costume team, Prince Phillip," she'd answered. "We're still working on the queen's costume."

I'd giggled. "Say, how's the witch's costume?"

"Actually, we haven't worked on it yet. Why?"

"Ah. Are you going to follow Maleficent's costume, you know, from the Disney movie, or do you have your own style?" I'd innocently asked.

"We intend to follow her costume from the movie, but I guess adding our own style isn't also a bad idea," Diana had lamented. "Do you have ideas for it, Les? I'm sure you have—with your extravagant fashion sense and all. You should've been part of the costume team in the first place, you know."

I'd smirked smugly. Good. "Thanks for the compliment, Diana," I'd replied, "but for the witch's costume, I have zero ideas. Sorry. Hey, why don't you ask Bradfield? Since she's the witch, I believe she has tons of ideas up her sleeves for her soon-to-be costume."

"You're right! Thanks, Leslie!" Diana had exclaimed happily. "I'll call Sarah now. Oh, wait, maybe she's busy at the moment."

The smirk had still been plastered on my face. "Just try calling her, Diana. I'm sure Bradfield's not busy enough for her costume to become perfect. Oh, and take your time talking to her, all right?"

"I'll get on it. Bye, Leslie!"

"Bye, Diana!" I'd said, then hung up. I'd known Bradfield had been excited for her costume, so I'd hoped they'd talk for hours.

And they'd had talked for hours, according to Jess after I'd asked him about it. But Bradfield had still gotten a little of her way: She'd kissed Jess on his right cheek, which had made me furious. At least Jesse had been honest about that, too. But they hadn't gotten to have much alone time with each other, thanks to my brilliant idea. And luckily, Bradfield had only kissed him on the cheek and not on the—God forbid—lips, or else I would've had already made my "50 Ways on How to Make Sarah Bradfield the Witch Suffer" list.

When I'd asked him if I missed something special, he'd said "no," because I hadn't seen his final drawing of the Dawn Treader yet. Truthfully, that wasn't what I meant, but my king had been so innocent and sweet and adorable that I'd found myself laughing because of his answer.

His drawing of the ship had been, of course, beyond words. It'd really been alive, with the help of the vibrant colors.

Don't forget the time he'd caressed my hand when we'd been at the hill; he'd made me blush furiously by his sweetness, and butterflies had been fluttering in my stomach while I'd been resting my head on his shoulder.

That was plenty of evidence that Jesse didn't love Bradfield. I now knew where to kiss my Princess Aurora for tomorrow's Literature Day. If he still wouldn't get a clue and man up after the kiss, then I didn't care anymore that I'd get hurt emotionally (and physically, maybe) if my king only loved me as a best friend. I'd be the one to make the first move. I couldn't contain my feelings any longer. After unearthing the secrets of the mansion, it was also time to unearth Jesse's secret.

In a dramatic way.

I'd confess my romantic feelings to my king, Jesse Aarons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you guys enjoyed reading Unearthing Secrets! And thanks so much also to phillyboy10 for being a great editor. The latter half of the story was edited by him. :DD

Have a great day/night, everyone! Mwahugsss!