14 years later.

 

Jason Simmons desperately flung clothing from his laundry hamper, cursing under his breath as he frantically searched for his new school issued gym sweatpants. Like a fool, he had worn them the day before and now they were nowhere to be found. They should have been on top of his laundry pile but the overturned hamper and pile of searched clothes proved otherwise. He glanced into the floor length mirror next to the door into his room to confirm to himself that he wasn’t wearing the cursed things. 

His five foot, eleven inch tall self was all that gazed back at him. He was wearing his long sleeve white button up school mandated shirt, featureless grey slacks, dark socks that would match his plain dark shoes downstairs, and short brown hair that still managed to look a mess even after he combed it. Jason sighed at his reflection. This was not the start he wanted for his third and final year of high school.

“Jason!” An older female voice shouted from downstairs. “You’ll be late, get a move on!”

“Coming!” Jason called back as he rifled through his school bag one last time only to come up empty handed.

With an exasperated groan, Jason stuffed his school supplies back into the pack and hastily zipped it close. He took the stairs two at a time and nearly slipped on the tiled floor that marked the start of the kitchen.

“Easy now.” His aunt scolded as Jason’s hands flew out to steady himself against the wall.

Jason straightened up sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Leaning against the kitchen counters stood Jason’s parental guardian Shannon McCloy. Fourteen years ago, Jason’s father disappeared. A few months later, his mother and her boyfriend at the time died in a car crash. At three years old, Jason was taken in by his mother’s sister, Shannon, and had lived with her ever since. Though in her early forties, Shannon had maintained her youthful beauty. Even Jason had to admit that she looked good in her dark purple business suit, slacks, and loose collared shirt. Her dark black hair was pulled up into a professional bun as she sipped the remainder of her morning coffee. Her highly intelligent green eyes gave Jason a slow once over before she spoke again.

“What’s got you so coiled up this morning? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve been to that school.” She asked with a single raised eyebrow.

Jason shook his head. “I wouldn’t call transferring in during the last few months of last year much experience. I didn’t have much chance to establish myself.”

“You already made a friend though.” Shannon pointed out.

“Hayden transferred in a few weeks before I did. We literally only started sitting together because all of the other tables were full with firmly established cliques, clubs, and friend groups.” Jason smiled at the memory and shook his head. “We really only bonded cause neither of us had any other options.”

“I think you’ve grown more dramatic.” Shannon laughed as she set her mug down in the sink. “I suppose that’s only to be expected for someone in the last year of high school.”

Jason turned around and walked towards the front door. Shannon followed a moment after.

“You’re not going to eat anything before you go?” She asked as Jason slipped on his school shoes.

Jason shook his head. “I’m already behind. I was trying to find my new sweatpants. Did you happen to pick them up somewhere?”

His aunt shook her head. “I thought you had them yesterday?”

“So did I.” Jason sighed as he stood up. “But for the life of me I can’t find them.”

Shannon frowned. “Do you even need them today? Will they hold gym on the first day of school?”

Jason shrugged. “Probably not. I just wanted to be prepared.”

Shoes now securely on his feet, Jason reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of white gloves. He didn’t miss the way his aunt’s mouth pursed into a thin line as she watched him slip them over his hands.

“Don’t.” Jason warned as he made sure there was enough overlap on his wrists so no skin was visible. “We’ve been over this. Even if you don’t agree, this helps me relax out there.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Shannon turned away slightly to hide her frown. “I just don’t like having to keep lying to the school. I’ll still get calls from concerned teachers or staff about your ‘skin condition’.”

Jason’s eyes fell to the floor. It hurt him to ask his aunt to lie for him, but the alternative was a risk he really didn’t want to take. A painful silence fell between the pair as both of them held back a familiar argument. If they started up they would be there for half the day, which neither party could afford.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Shannon’s eyes widened and she dashed back towards the kitchen. “Don’t leave just yet.”

Jason paused with his hand on the door and waited. It only took a few moments for his aunt to speed walk back into the room and hand him a simple black card.

“What’s this?” Jason asked as he flipped the bank card over in his hand.

“For your meals over the next few weeks.” His aunt responded with a grimace. “I got sucked into a last minute trip overseas. I won’t be able to pack any lunches for you until I get back.”

“When do you leave?”

At this point, Jason was used to his sudo mother being absent for extended periods of time. She was the CFO of an extremely successful marketing firm and had to make frequent trips in and out of the nation. Jason had grown to be extremely self sufficient and while he always missed her during these times it certainly wasn’t anything to get upset over.

“My flight leaves at four this afternoon. I’ll let you know when I land.” She leaned over and gave Jason a tender kiss on his cheek. “Call me if anything comes up. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Jason gave her a quick hug before opening the front door.

“I’m tracking that card. Don’t go buying anything you don’t need or I’ll know!” Jason heard his aunt shout as the door shut behind him.

Jason let out an endearing chuckle as he began to jog towards the train station. Winding through the thick morning crowds, Jason did his best to avoid physical contact with anyone around. Which always proved to be the toughest part of any day. After an exhausting trip to the station, Jason took his familiar position near the back of the train where he had a bit more room to stand. The doors began to beep, warning the occupants of the trains imminent departure. A shout of panic turned Jason’s head back towards the closing entrance just in time to see a blond haired boy his age slip into the car.

“Not even close.” Hayden smirked as the train lurched into motion.

Jason chuckled and leaned against the center bar in the car. His best and only friend he made since his transfer was the six foot athletic fool in front of him. Hayden caught his breath before giving Jason a quick fist bump hello.

“That didn’t get better over the summer break?” Hayden nodded towards Jason’s gloves.

Jason laughed and felt his eyebrows lift in disbelief. “We hung out all the time over the summer dude. You seriously think a chronic condition would just disappear in the few days since I last saw you?”

Hayden shrugged. “I mean, your aunt is rich isn’t she? I guess I just thought you would have been given treatment or something by now.”

“Maybe someday.” Jason said dismissively and pointedly looked out the window.

“Well.” Hayden cleared his throat awkwardly. “Even still. I don’t think this look hurts your chances at getting a girlfriend.”

“What?” Jason scoffed. “Is that all you’re going to school for?”

“Well duh. Come on dude. That’s what high school is all about. Meeting a fine young woman and sharing in a passionate relationship.” Hayden’s eyes lost focus as he began to daydream.

Jason shook his head. “Funny. And here I was thinking we were learning something over there.”

Hayden returned to earth and snorted in disbelief. “Really? There’s no one you’re interested in at school? There’s got to be one babe there that’s caught your attention.”

Jason opened his mouth to give a snarky response but stopped when he felt something. Like a pair of high powered lasers blazing into the side of his head, Jason could feel an intense gaze fixate itself on him. Jason whipped his head towards the front of the train to discover the culprit, but the sensation was gone the moment he moved.

“What’s with you?’ Hayden asked, concerned as he also gazed down the crowded train car.

“Nothing.” Jason coughed and tried to mask his unease. “To answer your question, no. There’s no one right now.”

Hayden still looked confused but he shrugged at Jason’s response. Jason’s eyes were drawn once again to try and spot the person who had stared at him. There were a lot of young women on the train, most with matching school uniforms. Jason waited for one of them to glance his way but none of them did. Most were chatting with friends while the others were scrolling through their phones, killing time until the train arrived at their school’s stop. Jason felt his heart pounding at an uncomfortably fast rate. It had been several years since he felt it, but the intensity of that gaze brought many painful and frightening memories to the forefront of Jason’s mind.

“So,” Jason knew he needed a distraction to prevent himself from panicking. “Are you going to get a next gen console?”

Jason didn’t really care if his friend did or not, Jason was a PC gamer through and through but he knew the question would get Hayden talking.

“Are you kidding?” Hayden ran his right hand through his blond hair with a pained expression. “Scalpers are making it nearly impossible right now. Unless my old man wins the lottery there’s no way I can afford what they’re going for these days!”

Just as Jason had hoped, Hayden launched into a long winded rant about the evil’s of console scalping and how he had signed a petition to bring them to justice. It was the perfect conversation to calm Jason’s troubled psyche. By the time the train arrived at the stop closest to their high school, Jason had put the incident behind him. The feeling never returned so he was willing to chalk it up to his own paranoia. Sadly, Jason had to admit it wouldn’t be the first time he imagined a threat from his past coming to haunt him.

A vast majority of students crowding the train flooded the exits as they all walked the short distance to the school. Jason continued to shoot the breeze with Hayden as they ascended the short hill that led to the school’s front gate. Though most of the student body were still strangers to him, Jason immediately recognized the golden hair that cascaded down to the shoulders of a girl ahead of them. Jason had lied to Hayden. If he were being honest, there was absolutely someone he was interested in.

Ashlyn Connel. Though she was only five foot five, she towered over the rest of the student body. No one walked with the same grace, beauty, and confidence as the number one student in the school. Her shoulder length blond hair was brushed to perfection. The short sleeve white button up shirt was pulled tight across her well curvy bust that seemed to be in direct opposition to her slender frame. Though given the option of wearing slacks like the boys wear, Ashlyn always elected to wear a school approved grey skirt that stopped just above her knees. As intelligent as she was beautiful, Ashlyn pulled the gaze of everyone around her as she entered the opened front gates. There was plenty of jealousy to go around, mostly from the female students, but Jason fell amongst the rest of the student body that simply watched her in awe.

Something slipped from Ashlyn’s pocket, a pen that clattered to the concrete bellow. Jason took a step forward, intent on picking it up for her, but stopped when Ashlyn paused to retrieve it. For a brief second, Ashlyn’s light blue eyes lifted from the ground and met Jason’s own. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, giving Jason a small but friendly smile before she straightened and returned her pen to her skirt pocket. Jason felt blood rush to his face and his brain lost the ability to function for several seconds.

“Hmmm…”

Jason turned but jumped back in alarm when he found Hayden’s face inches away from his own.

“Ha!” Hayden jabbed a finger in Jason’s face. “You dirty liar! You’re totally into Ashlyn Connel!”

Jason punched Hayden’s shoulder hard enough to throw him off balance.

“Would you shut up!” Jason hissed. “Don’t go yelling nonsense for everyone to hear.”

He covertly glanced at the crowd around them but no one seemed to pay them any mind.

“All right, all right, I won’t say anything.” Hayden mimed zipping his lips close only to immediately open them again. “Though I will mention that you’ll have to fight most of the boys in the school if you even try to approach her. I hear she gets confession letters almost daily. Best of luck breaking through that minefield of broken dreams.”

“I wasn’t… planning on it anyway.” Jason said sheepishly.

While he couldn’t help but dream about even having a chance to date Ashlyn Connel, Jason knew it wasn’t feasible. Especially if he took other factors into mind. With that sobering thought, Jason pushed the fantasy from his mind and decided to focus back on the task at hand. With renewed determination, Jason pulled Hayden forward with his gloved hand and entered the school to begin his last year before graduation.

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Thirty meters behind the embarrassed young man, a short girl with long, dark hair that obscured her face adjusted the small earpiece in her left ear. Her head hung down and only occasionally lifted up to gaze longfully at the back of Jason’s head. The girl continued to internally scold herself for nearly giving herself away on the train. She had trained to blend in perfectly in crowded environments and never draw attention to herself but Hayden’s question to Jason had caught her completely off guard.

She didn’t even fully realize how scared she was of Jason liking another girl until Hayden asked his best friend directly. The moment of panic had nearly given her away as Jason had felt her burning gaze on his perfect face. Although it was a stupid mistake, the dark haired girl couldn’t help but feel a surge of giddiness at even the thought of something of hers touching him directly. Even now, as she walked into this cesspool of human depravity called high school, a smile played at the edge of her lips.

Over her earpiece, the girl continued to listen to Jason’s best friend tease him about liking Ashlyn. The young woman was careful to maintain thirty meters behind to stay just within the minimum radius of the listening device she had planted inside Jason’s phone case a few months ago. The initial relief the girl had received on the train when Jason said there was no one he liked at school began to evaporate the more that Hayden teased. She had listened to Jason’s voice for a long time. That perfect voice of his had distinct and wonderful patterns that the young woman had spent countless hours listening to and understanding. She knew him better than anyone, even more than that dumb jock best friend of his or that selfish aunt that was never around. The girl smiled at the thought.

Her moment of pride was ruined by the realization that Jason had indeed been lying on the train. The dark haired girl’s insides twisted as she listened to Jason weakly protest. It should have been clear to the girl earlier but her heart had insisted that it wasn’t true. Jason’s love was being stolen out from under her.

The girl dug her untrimmed nails into her hands, completely ignorant to the pain she was inflicting on her own palms.

It’s not right! She screamed in her own mind. That blond brainiac doesn’t know the first thing about my Jason.

She ducked her head even lower to avoid letting anyone else see her mouth twist into a fierce snarl.

I have to do something. No, I will do something about this. She vowed to herself. Jason loves me. I just know it. We’re connected by fate.

She began to laugh. A haunting wild laughter that isn’t seen outside of mental asylums. A few people around her turned in alarm at the sudden change in attitude of the quiet girl they hadn’t paid much mind to before. The dark haired girl continued to giggle, even after she entered the school’s front door. Excitement flooded her veins as she watched the love of her life ascend the stairs to his first class.

Ah. She felt her knees weaken just by looking at him. Just wait a bit longer Jason. I’ll show you that no one else could possibly love you more than I do.