Chapter 7: Chapter 6

Jason wasn’t used to being noticed in public places. To be fair though, most of the looks aimed in his direction were directed at the tall silver haired beauty that walked beside him. The typical pattern he watched countless strangers cycle through was; notice Jessica, stare slacked jawed as she passed by, snap out of their stupor and glance questioningly at the unassuming boy walking next to her.

People probably think I’m super rich or something. Jason sighed.

He knew he certainly didn’t have the physical appearance of a hunk who could land such a fine beauty as a girlfriend.

That is what we look like, isn’t it? Jason grimaced. Like an awkward high school couple.

Jessica seemed immune to the eyes of strangers around them. Her attention was focused solely on Jason. From the time they left school together until they reached the cafe Jason had in mind, she bombarded him with questions about his life since she left. Jason wasn’t sure if Jessica was aware of the incident in middle school after she moved, but her questions all fell outside of that period of time. Which Jason was extremely grateful for. He wasn’t sure how discussing that topic would go for either party.

They arrived at the small cafe. It was fairly busy at this time of day so they had to wait a few minutes before they were shown to a narrow table for two. Jessica continued to ask Jason questions and listen with rapt attention while he answered. To Jason, this felt… nice. It almost felt like it was a normal outing with a cute girl from school. Jessica didn’t try anything or put Jason into a situation where he was uncomfortable. If he blocked out the incidents that happened earlier today with Courtney, Jason could easily believe this was his childhood friend who was simply interested in catching up.

Though, from another perspective, it was clear from the way she looked at him, the slight blush in her cheeks, and the nervous way she sipped her drink that she had serious feelings for him. Jason’s crush that he buried years ago and moved on from, stirred in its grave.

“So that’s about everything on my end.” Jason gazed down and lightly swirled his half finished drink in his hands. “Just a lot of moving around, different schools, and a few vacations with my aunt.”

“You didn’t mention your… condition.” Jess noted.

“Condition?!” Jason’s momentary panic subsided as he realized what she meant. “Right. My skin condition.”

He cleared his voice as he tried to recover from his momentary blunder. “I guess I’ve just learned to live with it now so I don’t really think about it too much.”

“Does it…” She gingerly reached a hand across the table and rested her fingers lightly on Jason’s gloved right hand. “Does it hurt much?”

Jason’s heartbeat quickened. “N-no. Not if I’m careful.”

Jess smiled gently and lifted her hand up to Jason’s face. He knew he should stop her, brush the gesture aside gently and make up some excuse as to why it was a bad idea, but in a moment of weakness Jason sat still and allowed her to softly brush the side of his face.

“I’m happy that you don’t have to cover up everything.” Jess spoke quietly. “I’d miss seeing your smile.”

Jason’s cheeks burned furiously and he felt the lonely isolation in his heart crack open. A truth surfaced in Jason’s mind. One he had tried to lock away before and lied to himself in an effort to pretend it didn’t exist. A truth that explained why he still had feelings for Jess, and why he had allowed himself to daydream about dating Ashlyn Connel even though he knew it was nearly impossible to have a healthy relationship given his condition. He wanted to feel loved.

His parents died when Jason was only three years old. His aunt provided him everything she could, and he never doubted she loved him, but the lonely environment he grew up in led Jason to develop a strong need to fill that hole in his childhood. The cruel twist of fate, whose irony was not lost on Jason, was his ‘ability’ gave him exactly what he wanted. In a sick way, Jason blamed himself for the insanity he’d caused on others. He’d do whatever he could to find the source of this curse, but a part of him believed it was simply the universe granting his unspoken wish.

It would be really easy to accept this. Jason thought as Jessica’s hand continued to stroke the side of his face tenderly. But I can’t. I won’t let others get hurt because of my pathetic childish wants.

Jason reached up and gently grabbed Jessica’s hand. A flash of worry entered her eyes. He saw her lip tremble slightly as she waited for Jason’s reaction. Jason brought her hand down to the table but continued to hold it in his own. Jessica’s own face blushed deeply and her gaze dropped down to her own lap. She squeezed his hand back lightly as they held onto each other.

He liked Jess. There was no use denying it. She was still the quirky, athletic, beautiful girl he fell for years ago. But he needed to be sure her feelings were her own. Jason wasn’t the type of person to take advantage of her like this, not until he knew how she really felt. Jason gave Jessica a small smile and let go, his hands returning to his glass just to have somewhere else to put them. Jessica’s face fell slightly and she returned her hand to her own glass as well. Not wanting her to feel guilty, Jason launched into a new conversation.

“So.” He coughed. “Fencing.”

Jessica laughed, clearly relieved to have something else to talk about. “Yeah. Fencing. I don’t know. It just seemed like… an elegant way to face off against someone, you know?”

It was Jason’s turn to ask all of the questions. He questioned her about everything and listened to her responses with just as much attentiveness she had shown to him earlier. They continued this way for a while, right up until the cafe’s front door opened and a pair of police officers walked in. Jason’s chair was positioned in a way where he could easily see the traffic in and out of the small business’ only entryway. Nothing really had caught his eye up until this point, and he wouldn’t have thought much about cops stopping by for a quick coffee, but these officers were carefully inspecting the occupants of the cafe with far too much intensity.

Jessica was still telling a story about a tournament she had recently won but Jason had stopped listening. One of the officers approached a member of the serving staff and brought out a sheet of paper. Jason couldn’t hear the officer’s question but when he turned the sheet around to show the server Jason’s mouth fell open. It was a school photo of Jessica.

“Hey!” Jessica waved a hand in front of Jason and began to pout. “Why aren’t you paying attention to me anymore?”

Jessica turned to follow Jason’s gaze just as the server turned and pointed to their table. Jason saw the officer make eye contact with Jessica and nudge his partner. The officer’s right hand dropped down to his belt as he strode over to the table.

“Are you Jessica Hanson?” He asked her directly.

Jessica’s eyes widened and she glanced between the pair.

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“What is this about?” Jessica asked.

The officer ignored her question.

“I’m going to have to ask you to come with us down to the station, young lady.” He stated firmly and pointed towards the door. “We just need to ask you a few questions. That’s all.”

Jason glanced out the window just in time to see another cop car pull up to the corner. Another pair of officers exited the vehicle and approached the cafe. The fear and panic dropped from Jess’ face. Now she just looked annoyed.

“Fine.” She snapped and stood up. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I’m sorry Jason.” She called back with a sour face. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jason watched, stunned, as the childhood friend he had just been sharing a tender moment with was escorted away by four officers. Jason remained in his chair long after the police cars pulled away. Eventually, he got up, walked to the train station, and began the short trip home from his stop. He was so numb from the unexpected turn of events that he nearly tripped over a small package sitting on his front step.

Shaking his head to regain at least some of his composure, Jason stooped down and picked up the package. There was no shipping label like he expected. Instead, a single half sheet of paper was attached to the side.

“This belonged to your father.”

Jason flipped the page over but there was nothing else on the otherwise blank page. Jason’s mind flashed back to the note Courtney received. That one had been handwritten for sure, but this one almost certainly came from a printer.

Is it the same sender? Jason gently shook the box but didn’t hear anything inside.

Peeling off the top piece of tape, Jason risked a look inside. A scratched piece of hardware was nestled inside a thick layer of padding.

A hard drive? Jason looked up and down his street but no one was in sight.

Far too much had happened today. Jason wasn’t ready for a new set of questions to be added to the pile.

Then again… He plucked the old clunky hard drive from its container. Maybe this has some answers.

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Kirsten stood in her small kitchen and hummed to herself as she selected an assortment of spices from a cupboard. A few grocery bags littered the kitchen table but they were mostly empty at this point. Kirsten just had to finish preparing the fish she bought for Jason and set her alarm so she could cook it early tomorrow morning. Just the thought of him relying on her sent shivers of bliss through Kirsten’s small frame.

Her phone beeped, shifting her attention for a moment to the device’s location on the counter. Kirsten bumped the screen with her elbow to avoid smudging the display with her seasoned fingers.

Oh good. Kirsten laughed quietly to herself. It looks like my experiment was successful.

The notification was a custom one she had written earlier today. The police force had decent cyber security, one that would probably thwart most hackers attempting to gain access to even the smallest of their systems. Kirsten found it quite lacking. Though she had never done something so illegal in her lifetime, Kirsten spent her time after school worming her way inside of the police network and leaving herself backdoors and administrative access anywhere she felt necessary. Kirsten was eager to test her newfound authority and what better test then to take an annoying pest away from the love of her life. The exact circumstances that led Jason to entering a cafe with the brainless transfer student was lost on Kirsten, but she knew she had to do something to rescue him.

The notification was from one of her many eyes left in the police network. Jessica Hanson had just been brought in for questioning regarding a crime she had no part in. The suspicion wouldn’t hold. Kirsten knew the police would question Jessica, realize they had the wrong person, and let her go with an apology.

That’s okay. Kirsten smiled. A successful test is more than enough for now.

She wiped her hands off and unlocked her phone fully. There was a faint outline on her screen exactly over the next app she opened up simply from how often she accessed it. A plain GPS map of the city opened up and a single dot appeared on the screen.

He’s back home. Kirsten thought, relieved. I’ll have to go return that tonight.

It made her sad to think about, but she knew that Jason needed his sweatpants back for school. It had been a stupid decision to take those from his room, but his scent was so strong after using them that day Kirsten had lost herself in the moment. Her only consolation was the knowledge that she would end up stealing something else from his laundry basket and take it home with her.

It wasn’t her fault. Kirsten simply wasn’t able to sleep anymore unless she could smell Jason next to her. That was just how in love she was. Kirsten hoped that someday soon it wouldn’t just be a pair of sweatpants she could cuddle up with at night.