WHO: Jon and Ethan WHEN: January 14, after school's let out. WHERE: Crows Landing High School WHAT: Jon informs Ethan of Chase's death and Jenny's disappearance. WARNING: There will was supposed to be fighting, but we pitted the nice guys together, it just didn't happen. So no warnings. :(
It was safe to say that his best friend thought he was off his rocker. His reactions to recent events were to calm. Fair enough.
He'd spent Sunday morning in church, hoping that it would take his mind off of things. But the sermon, on family, had hit a nerve. He'd spent the majority of sacrament meeting seated on the pew, head bowed and hands folded. If he looked like he was praying everything would be alright. No one would ask what was bothering him. Hell, he didn't even know if anyone had heard about Chase or Jenny yet. But it'd only be a matter of time, and that's what bothered him.
Afterwards, he'd sent Ethan a text asking if he'd heard from Jenny. He hadn't. And upon answering Marcus' question later, should have set off alarm bells. Yeah, he wasn't reacting to this properly. He'd kept his outside demeanor as neutral as possible. He didn't want worry. Couldn't handle pity from those around him. And he didn't want to answer questions anymore.
Then Monday came, bright and earlier than he'd wanted. He'd droned through the day distracted by history long since past. It was a lot easier to discuss things like the Holocaust. That shouldn't have been the case. How could genocide of an entire race be better than finding his girlfriend's dead son? Maybe he should talk to the school psychiatrist? Did he really need a shrink?
Maybe it was the irrationally stubborn idea that he was reacting just fine that deterred him from the psychiatrist's office. Maybe it was the fact that he usually turned to his own hobbies to deal with his emotions. But rather than taking the left to head to the administrative offices, he made a right toward the gymnasium from his classroom. He'd run a few laps around the gym, and then if he still felt like talking was a good idea, he'd see if the resident head doctor happened to be in his office.