Blackbeltgirlie wrote:Blackbeltgirlie wrote:Jason's day was going fine until the dog peed on his bed, his sister spilled fruit juice down his white shirt, and on top of it all, it started to downpour. He seriously doubted going to this 'Rainforest' now. No one knew where they were going, except the teachers and parents. What happened if the kids got separated for the adults for some reason?
Jason pulled his jacket's sleeve over his hands again, the cold a bigger threat then the rain that fell. He was waiting for the stupid bus to come pick him and his sister up. The later was shivering beside him, blue backpack strapped across one shoulder like she was trying to be cool. He wanted to laugh, she looked like she was trying, but not very well. The bag had horses galloping across it, and her jeans were bedazzled around the edges. Even her belt had little sequins. She was only 12, why was she worrying about being cool?
He blew air roughly from his nose in a snort, rolling his eyes while he did. Beth wasn't the smartest girl, even he could see what she couldn't. If she just opened her eyes, she would have to see the reality. There is always friends around her who thought she was cool, and all she did was blow them off like they were nothing.
Enough of that Jason. Let her live her own life, Jason shifted in his soaked tennis shoes, waiting for the rain to clear a bit. If the bus were to roll by now, he highly doubted they would even see it the rain and fog were so thick.
“Jason, I'm cold.” Beth complained, shifting beside him so her arm was touching his. He casually bumped her with his shoulder, causing her to giggle.
“What can I do about it? Put your jacket on, silly.” Jason smiled slightly, glad that his sister was coming after all. She'd be the youngest one going, and yet the one who knew him the best. They had gone through a lot, even going through their dads death and their moms remarriage. Though his friends knew a little of what was going on, they didn't know everything. Not even Shane, who he was very close with. Jason just didn't trust that many people with his life secrets.
“But my jackets cold!” She stomped her foot, sending freezing water onto Jason's jeans. He winced slightly when the water soaked through and the now cold jeans clung to his ankles. They felt almost like skinny jeans, and he hated those things.
“Can I wear yours?” Her voice was pleading, and he was tempted to give her his black NorthFace jacket, instead he glowered at her, green eyes full of amusement and false anger. Jason kept the face up until she squirmed and glanced away, blue eyes full of confusment.
“Fine, nevermind. Oh, Jason! Look! The bus!” Bethany tugged at his hand, pointing with her other to where red headlights showed through the foggy day.
He squinted to be sure he was seeing right, then grinned. She was right, the bus was chugging ever so slowly towards them. Thank God! Jason slid his hand from his sisters and pushed his duffel bag straps more over his shoulder, not liking the way it was digging into his skin.
Glad that his friends, as well as Bethany would be on this 'fieldtrip', Jason tried hard not to think on the fact he almost hadn't been allowed to go. That pig of his step-dad was just so mean and aggressive. If it hadn't been for his little sister, not even 13 yet, who had threatened to call Child Services. Was it weird that the man never hurt her? He had never even so much as laid a hand on the girl, but seemed to take all his anger out on his step-son, Jason.
The agrument with their mother earlier that week had almost stopped him from leaving her along.
'You should go, get away from your father.' She'd said, eyes clouded and keeping back tears as she gripped his shoulder.
'What about you? Don't try to pretend I don't know anything about your scars. You have just as much as me, if not more.' Jason had tried to argue, bringing up the abusivness to get her to let him stay.
'This isn't about me Jason, you of all people should know that by know. Go, have some fun. Don't worry about your lil' old mom. I love you sweety, have a good time for me.' Her eyes were full of tears, some spilling over her eyelids, down her cheeks. Sliding past traces of make-up, over years of pain, just rolling till they stopped with a splat onto her son's navy shirt.
'Mom, I-I don't want to have a good time K-Knowing you're here. Y-You could you stay with a friend, r-right? What about M-Mrs. Emmery? S-She'll let you stay-'Jason was trying to control the emotion in his own voice at that moment, wanting nothing more then to never let his mother leave his sight, or his arms. The later was wrapped loosely around her back, in a hug. It caused him to stutter with his words, not able to get them all out before she moved.
She pulled out of his grasp, eyes somehow dry. They were still clouded and threatened to spill over again, but she didn't let them. She was strong, holding herself together for her son.
With a graceful movement Jason did not know his mother could muster, she slapped him with the back of her hand, eyes now lit with anger. 'Jason Smith,' -Even she knew not to call him by her husbands last name- 'You will go, and you had better like it. Don't you worry about me, Understood?'
His right cheek stung from where her wedding ring had cut into his skin just below his cheek bone. 'Yes, mother.' It sounded too formal coming out of his mouth, yet he couldn't find any other words, still slightly shocked that she had slapped him. Maybe he deserved, maybe not.
Jason metally shook the memory from his head, trying to get a grasp on reality again. The bus was coming, faster now.
Stepping onto the bus' rubber steps, Jason instantly looked over the rows, trying to locate his friends. There, at the very back the bus, where his two friends. It was common for them to sit in the back, but not for Shawn to look so down. His whole stance told Jason that the guy was having a terrible day. See, Shawn was normally the good guy, yet popular. He had the clothes, the looks, and the personality, so it took a lot for him to look this bad.
Hanging on his regular lean frame was a clingy white shirt that showed pretty much every muscle, rib, everything on his stomach.
Jason visibly shuttered, the guy looked good, but it was disgusting. He pulled himself up the last few stairs and hugging his duffel to him, intent on getting over to his friends without a disruption from a fellow classmate. Finally, he dropped into the chair next to Logan, his friend with wild, curly hair, and smiled slightly. It was just a tug in the corner of his mouth, but he knew what it meant. Jason was nervous about this trip.
The three had been friends for years, so they knew things about each other no one else did. Like, for example, how Jason knew that Shawn came from an abusive home, just like him, but the kid didn't want anyone to know, and that he didn't care anymore. He'd been taken away by the state and placed in his real, blood-father. And, on that matter, how Logan knew that Jason and Shawn were both afraid of houses in the trees, and that without their support, he'd be scared too.
Jason leaned forward, elbows on his knees so he could look over at Shawn. Soft, dishwater blond hair hung flat, and over his eyes, which just the iris of the blue eyes showing through the hair. He needed a decent hair-cut, big time.
"So, whats new in the land of Jass?" Logan teased, running a hand through the hair that wasn't caught up in his red bandanna. It was a running joke, when they first met, he'd thought Jason had said his name was 'Jass', because his nose had been pretty stuffy that day.
"Nothing really, debating on whether or not I really want to go on this field-trip or not." He shrugged, and the movement made Shawn's bright blue eyes dart over to him for a second before flicking away.
"Aw, that's dull. How long do you think it'll take to get to the Island?" Logan asked, adjusting the sleeves of his jacket till they covered most of his hands. He hated the feeling of cloth rubbing against his wrist, so he always had to constantly adjust things to make them fit right.
"Well, we have a plane ride in about half an hour, guess it'll take us pretty long." Jason rolled his eyes, sometimes the guy could be kind of stupid. Scratch that, really stupid.
"Hmm, I guess that's right." His friend sighed, and looked out the window on Jason's side of the bus.
He himself decided to see what it was like outside, and sighed. the sight that met his eyes was just short of amazing. Rain was pouring down on the glass, and trees were bending heavily under the weight of the wind and rain. It looked almost like a tornado was going to hit soon.
"Do you think it'll storm the whole way to the airport?" Logan asked him as he turned to look forward again. His eyes showed the fear, he was afraid of thunder, and storms. Whatever had happened before they met, it must have been bad if he was still scared of storms.
Jason shook his head, there was no way it could storm for two whole hours, that would take them a good 30 more minutes to get there. "I doubt it, it'll let up before long, just watch."
So the two settled down, gazing out the window every so often while listening to the howl of the wind, the shuffling of neighbors in the seats in front of them, and the soft snore of people who had already fallen asleep. And Shawn never made a sound.
Thought I'd bump this up, I'll get working on the next part later this week.
