Jason tilted his head curiously. He understood to some extent worrying what people thought about him. His high school experience had been as one of the jocks. He’d never had to worry about people saying shit to him because he was able to give as good as he got and honestly as long as they raved about his sporting prowess he didn’t care. His friends certainly didn’t, and neither has his girlfriend. But… but after his powers manifested he sort of understood that fear. He’d heard his mom and dad talking to the doctor, he’d heard the whispers. None of his friends had come to see him while he was recovering.
It had taken ages for him to bounce back to himself. But then he’d never been that person to begin with.
“But why?” He asked, genuinely wanting to understand. He knew, sometimes, that challenging preconception helped. He hoped this was one of those occasions. “I mean, somewhere like this place? Why does what anyone thinks matter to you? And so what if someone says something to you like you shoulda done something- they coulda done something too."