Chapter Three

His Story, Her Life, Their Truth

Disclaimer!

I [unfortunately do not own Bridge to Terabithia or their respectable characters, although I would like to; they belong to Katherine Paterson and Walden media for movie descriptions.

I do own Jo, Taylor, Hunter and the storyline. Thanks.

Note:

The last one was really, really short, i know. But this is longer.

Taylor, Hunter and Jo all looked at Jess with intrigue. Jess started feebly. "Well, Leslie was my- Leslie Burke was- Okay. Leslie Burke was my best friend. She was my inspiration. You know all of those pictures of a girl with blonde hair in my old notebook? Well, that was Leslie." Jo looked at him with shock. "You mean... You mean that youkept pictures of a girl you went out with over twenty years ago!"

"No! I knew you'd take it the wrong way!" Jess roared. Taylor and Hunter looked at each other and made to leave the room.

"Oh no you don't!" Jess yelled. They looked terrified. Their father had never spoken to anyone like that.

'Jess. Calm down. You have a right to be angry, but don't take it out on them,' Leslie said imploringly, hating to see Jess yelling at his daughters the same way Jack Aarons, Jess' father yelled at him. 'Ok. You've got a point,' Jess thought, assuming that Leslie could hear it. 'That's better," Leslie said calmly, as if she knew what was going to happen anyway. "Ok. I'm sorry guys," Jess said quietly, "It's just... I've never really talked about it in a long time. Not even with my own parents. Leslie Burke was my best friend. Before she moved into the old Perkins Place, I had no friends. I was alone. Then, when Leslie came, I wasn't friendless.I had one friend, a record for me. The guys picked on me for hanging out with a girl, and called Leslie my girlfriend. She wasn't," Jess added, at the look on Jo's face, "she was somewhat of a mentor. She inspired me to draw. A hobby that I had hidden from everyone, except for May-Belle. She knew that I loved to draw. Leslie was the one person who could run faster than me." Jess smiled when Taylor and Hunter looked at him with mock outrage. "Seriously?" Taylor asked.

"Seriously." Jess was feeling better already. "But-" But at that moment, the big ball of fur jumped up and down, and Jess had to calm her. "The reason I don't want to name her Pt, is because for Leslie's eleventh birthday, I gave her a dog, and she called him Prince Terrian, PT for short."

"Why did she call him Prince Terrian? Why not just Terrian?" Jo asked, looking curious.

"Well, because he was a prince. He was the Prince of Terabithia," Jess said quickly. Hating himself for giving away the secret he thought to Leslie 'I'm sorry! But it's the only way to be able for them to understand!'

'It's all right Jess. I don't mind. It's the truth, it's my life. I live through you through Terabithia. If it wasn't for Terabithia,I dunno what I'd have done,' Leslie answered.

"What's Terabithia Dad?" Taylor and Hunter asked in unison.Jess wondered, What is Terabithia? What was Terabithia to me? A place? An old forest? A kingdom? A palace? No, he answered himself, Terabithia was love. It was created by love and friendship. Like a child. Like Taylor and Hunter. Like life.

"Well?"

"Terabithia was an old forest behind Leslie's and my house. We used to go there almost every day. Terabithia was love. It was created by the friendship and love that Leslie and I had for each other. We ruled over the Kingdom. Leslie took me from running in the cow's feild to a King sitting upon a throne, ruling justly over his subjects," he said, remembering what Leslie had said a long, long time ago. "I don't know how to decribe it.Those six months we had together were... Amazing."

"what happened?" Taylor asked, breaking the awkward silence, "Did she move away?"

"No," Jess said, "To get to Terabithia, you had to swing over on a rope that was tied on a branch. It had been there forever. Even before Grandpa Jack lived there. Well, one day, I was selfish enough to go with my Music teacher, miss Edmunds, to the museum instead of going to Terabithia to fufill my duties. Leslie tried to swing across and they found her..." Jess broke off, holding back sobs.

"Where did they find her Jess?" Jo asked sympathetically.

"They-Th-The-They found her d...de...de.dead... In the creek!" Jess finished, his voice shrill. He let out a huge sob. 'Jess! Jess! It's not like that! I...I... I didn't want to leave, but I'll see you again someday.' Jess gasped. There was Leslie sitting in front of him, waving, her usual perky self, looking as if twenty-three years had not passed. "Jess? What is it?" Jess thought about it. What-who was Leslie to him? Leslie was an angel. Leslie was-

"Leslie."

Note:

Yes! That is where I leave you. I know i meant to update two days ago, but, ahhh. What the Heck, It's here. Take it for what it is. I have been thinking about it, and I'm wondering if I should end it here, or keep writing. I think it's great with the way it ended, but I'm still not so sure. I'm stille caught up with EQAO, and all things a sixth grader with [absolutely NO social life does. Ok, I just might have a social life, but it interferes with my life of reading and writing. But I will hopefully write a fanfic for The Prophecy of the Stones, by Flavia Bujor.

ResidentBookworm.Breezy

(aka. LostTerabithian)

We Rule Terabithia, And Nothing Crushes Us!