Seven- Jasper

Chapter 7

Jasper

searching, crying

the second story

lost and is still

love left

life goes downhill

Excerpt from “A Mournful Song” by Sophie Lynch

I know I'm a jerk, I know after I go out with girls, they are pretty much broken. I know it's wrong, and I know I've never loved a single one of them, no matter how many times I told them that.

But being rejected, laughed at even, killed me.

Do I love her? Or am I just surprised at being told “no”? Well I've never felt like this, my chest hurts, inside. Is that my heart? It feels like it's trying to burst out of my rib cage. What does that mean? The sunset has suddenly changed to a beautiful masterpiece. I sit on a hill behind my house, just enjoying the feel of the ground beneath me, sturdy, dependable, unlike my heart.

Why couldn't she have just humored me?! Instead of laughing in my face?! Ugh! I pound the ground next to me with my fist and when I lift it, a boulder grows there. Whoa. Where did that come from? I rub my eyes, maybe I'm seeing things? On the other side of me, I hit the ground with my fist and when I pull it up, another boulder erupts from the ground from some secret place underground. Oh my god, what the hell does this mean? I'm just gonna ignore it and go to bed... it's a dream, and to wake up, I have to go to sleep, and maybe Ray rejecting me was a dream too, I can do that over again... I push myself up from the ground and walk into the house. I don't care that it's only 7:30, I fall into my bed and fall asleep.

I open my eyes and roll over to look at my clock. Noon. I don't know how I manage to sleep so much, nineteen and a half hours seems impossible, but I've slept through an entire day before. Plus. I push myself into a sitting position, waiting for the dizziness of lying down for too long to pass. And I stand up. Before I look out the window to check if the boulders were real, I walk into the bathroom. I'm still wearing yesterday's clothes, so I take my morning pee and strip down and turn on the shower. Stepping in, I almost slip on the slick white floor but regain my balance. My mom's stupid conditioner makes the bathroom really slippery. The scar above my eyebrow is actually from hitting my head when I fell when I was eight. Not from getting into a fist fight with a guy who had a knife, like I tell everyone.

I know it's horrible to be hunting after another girl, especially her best friend, days after she was found dead, and don't get me wrong, I liked Missy, I miss her. But not because I loved her. Oh hell no, I did not love her. No one did, and that just makes her death even more sad. But I do miss her.

My thoughts drift to Ray and her naturally golden blonde hair. It seemed to me like she had the sun inside her, and that it shined out of her hair and her brown eyes that seem to emanate warmth. She's always so happy, so free, it mystifies me that she doesn't worry about anything, and everything just comes to her. And if she does worry about things, she knows how to handle it. I think of her a lot nowadays, since the storm, and I thought of her before then too, I was even thinking of Ray when Missy and I were making-out before the tornado killed her. I rinse the two-in-one shampoo from my hair and step out of the warmth of the shower into the frigid air-conditioning of my house. I wrap the towel around my waist and walk into my room. Rummaging through my drawers, I find an old pair of shorts and a brown Hollister t-shirt and throw them on. Then I change my mind, take off the shirt and the short and put on my swim shorts and leave the shirt off. I might as well get a new girlfriend if Ray really did reject me.

The dream! I'd completely forgotten! Before I walk out the door I look outside my window, expecting to see the smooth ground of my backyard. I start at the sky, noting the differences of midday from the array of colors from last night's spectacular sunset, it's cloudless today and it even looks hot outside. Then I look at the forest. It's about 50 yards away from my house, tall and ominous and dark. The pine and other trees dapple the ground in shade on my yard, providing a nice cool, shaded area. The yard is smooth and green and perfectly watered, then as the hill starts to go down towards the house I notice it's not smooth any longer. Instead, blemishing it, I see two large boulders standing side by side with just enough room for a person in the middle.

Huh. What do you know, it wasn't a dream.

Well now I can't go to the beach, I have to experiment with this! This is really strange. Should I tell someone? Can I tell Ray? Will she think I'm a freak? But I can't figure this out on my own! I whip out my phone and start texting her.

Hey, so I need 2 tell u something and u have 2 not freak out, k? I send.

Um, ok, what's the problemo? She replies.

So, I kind of, possibly... can maybe make boulders come out of the ground...

Seriously? You too?

Wait, what?

I glow!

This is too weird. I tell her to come over and she replies saying that she's bringing a friend who can explain a lot better than she could. I put the normal clothes back on and sit on my bed, my mind racing. I try to think of what this could mean, if it's a coincidence. Crap! What if Ray is actually bringing someone to take me away to a mental hospital? I now get up and pace the floor, worried of the outcome of this, and outside the two boulders taunt me. I hear the door open downstairs after a few minutes.

“Hello? Jaz?” Ray calls.

“Hey, I'll be right down!” I answer. I look quickly in the mirror to check if I look okay. I start heading down the stairs, running my fingers through my hair to make sure it looks right for Ray. They sit me down and the girl named Briar-Rose explains everything.

Author's Note

reviews please!

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. I will come back in a few days and finish the outstanding story. You have create a good situation with many possibilities for the story. Thank You for sharing the outstanding tale.
Coyote

[Sylvana]

"Seriously? You too?
Wait, what?
I glow!"

I glow... haha... I wonder what Jasper thought of that reply. xD

[Abbie]

so good! i love this book so much! next chapter please!