Jason Leahy (ego_eris) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-06-02 09:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, jason, jason x jules, jules |
Who: Jason and Jules
When: Evening, Wednesday, October 25th
Where: Their House
Status: Complete
Track practice had ended at the right time for Jason to get home, make a couple sandwiches for himself, and hole up to do homework without having to see any of his family. There was plenty of space in the house, but he didn’t like to spend too much of it outside of what areas he had come to claim as his own, which mostly amounted to his bedroom and part of the deck. Usually, he tended to go with the former, as he did this evening. His parents still seemed to be out--which was where he preferred them really--and Jules either was as well, or in her own room FaceTiming her latest boyfriend or planning her next party or whatever. He wasn’t going to question the relative silence for however long it would last.
Which, of course, was never as long as he would have liked. His parents must have returned home, since he heard their voices carrying up the stairs, heated in some argument. Again. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, pulling his headphones out of the top drawer of his desk where he kept them. He set them down, not putting them on quite yet, since if Jules was home there was the likely chance she’d come barging in. It wasn’t like he wanted her to, but it was something he had come to account for, so he tried to focus on the calculus problem he had been solving.
Jules was in her room when Jason returned home, but she didn't leave to greet him, because... who cared? She was too busy trying to figure out what was going on in her brain, and in town and with... so many things. Jasper's sister was still missing, and she had met one of the guys in her creepy dreams and she was fucking exhausted from being too scared to go to sleep and instead tossing and turning all night. She hated that she had no one to talk to about it - no one that wasn't a grown ass man, anyway. Nothing against Carson, who had been super nice and cool, but Jules needed a real friend, and it was jarring and depressing to realize that while she had dozens of friends, she didn't trust any of them to listen to her and not immediately spread her crazy all over the school. Her gut instinct was to call Jasper, but he had enough to worry about with his sister being gone.
She hadn't even realized her mom and Edward had come home until she heard the muffled voices downstairs. Which meant they were arguing, because the only time they got so loud that Jules could hear them in her bedroom was when they were fighting, or having sex, and she was honestly kind of happy it was a fight right now. She didn't know what it was about, and she didn't even care, as long as Edward didn't try to play 'concerned stepdad' by popping his head into her room later to ask how she was doing. Sometimes she thought he was just hoping to catch her in some state of undress.
Jules sighed and rolled over in bed, grabbing a pillow to cover her head when she heard the sound of shattering glass downstairs. Oh good, her mother was already throwing things. That escalated quickly. Annoyed, she tossed the pillow back to the bed and sat up. She had a couple options. Leave and drive somewhere - which meant having to go downstairs and potentially get caught in the crossfire - or go bug Jason and hope he could distract her. His room was close, at least.
She left her room quietly, hearing the angry, heated voices downstairs much more clearly as she padded down the hallway to her stepbrother's room. There was the usual accusations of overreacting and Jules was pretty sure her mom's favorite phrase was You're an asshole, Ed because she said it all the damn time. Jules forgot to knock as she pushed open Jason's door and found him at his desk. Without waiting for him to speak, Jules slipped inside and shut the door before wandering over to flop down on his bed. "I'm bored," she announced, as if that was the only reason she was there. They both knew better. "What are you doing?"
Jason grimaced as the fight got louder and set his pencil down, concentration interrupted. He was used to it by now and it would predictably continue to get worse before it was over, especially once his parents moved on to the making up part. Or maybe they wouldn’t this time and finally call the terrible idea that was their marriage quits. He’d be stuck with just his dad again, but that could basically function like being stuck with no one, save for the rare occasions when his dad needed something, even if that something were to pretend to be a father. Jason tried to be as unhelpful as possible in those times, since he had never figured out if they were born out of guilt and if they were, he had no desire to help ameliorate that as his dad hadn’t earned it and Jason didn’t believe in easy outs.
Rubbing his hands over his face, he sighed as Jules entered his room unannounced. “You could at least pretend to respect my privacy and knock,” he grumbled. Which he knew wouldn’t happen. In retaliation, he gave her a detailed answer that he knew she would care nothing about. “I’m finding all the vertical and horizontal asymptotes on the graph of this function,” he said, holding up his notebook to show her, “as part of this thing called homework. Which you might have heard of. Don’t you have minions who exist to entertain you?” Though he expected that, like himself, that Jules wouldn’t bother calling anyone else while their parents were fighting, since there was no telling how loud they might get.
Jules rolled her eyes, figuring if Jason had actually wanted privacy, he would have locked his door. She simply assumed leaving the door unlocked meant she was welcome, even if the door was shut. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jules listened to his explanation of homework with a bored look, mostly to make the inner turmoil she had been feeling, because she didn't think she wanted to start crying in front of her brother. He might think it was about him and feel smug or something. "My homework is finished," Jules retorted, thankful that none of it had consisted of asymptotes or whatever the hell they were, otherwise she would have still been at it, or calling Mak Richberg for help, which would have been super humiliating. She shrugged off the poke at her friends. It wasn't the first time he'd called them minions, and she doubted it would be the last. At least she had friends, which was something she tended to throw back in his face. But Jules wasn't in the mood. Not yet, anyway. "And you know, you could wait, like, five minutes before shifting into jerk mode. Does your homework make you that cranky?"
Did Jason’s door have a lock? Yes. Did he ever lock it to keep Jules out? Not that often. He knew it was an option available to him and when he was mad at her he would implement it until that feeling passed. He didn’t necessarily want to like. Openly encourage her to barge in all the time. But he also disliked being by himself when their parents fought more than he liked to admit. Their emotional outbursts made him uncomfortable since they were so pointless and frequent, to seemingly no end beyond making him question why anyone ever bothered having relationships at all, which tended to manifest as jerk mode becoming his default. That wasn’t Jules’ fault, though. He glanced over at her, since she wasn’t as snarky back at him as he half-expected. He didn’t know why. “It’s not the homework that makes me cranky, it’s the being interrupted.” Which happened before Jules entered and they both knew that, so Jason didn’t feel like he needed to point that out. Something else crashed downstairs, as though to underscore that. “Do you want to watch a movie?”
Jules had a feeling if they watched a movie she would fall asleep, and then she might end up having another dream, or sleepwalking, and the very last thing she needed was to start doing freaky stuff like that in front of Jason. There were a lot of things she didn't want to do in front of him. She didn't take offense to Jason being annoyed with the interruptions. She understood it and felt the same way most of the time. These kind of nights sucked, when she wasn't comfortable leaving her bedroom to venture out into other parts of the house because she didn't want to find herself in between a fight between her mom and stepdad. It felt like a prison sometimes, and while Jules knew she could just get in her car and drive, she didn't always know where to go. Her mom tended to put her in a sour mood, her stepdad even more so, and Jules rarely felt like being around people when that happened.
Still, she considered his offer before sighing and shaking her head. "I don't think I'd be able to concentrate on a movie." Jules touched her tongue to her top lip for a moment as she studied Jason, one blonde brow arching. "I got some weed last week if you want to smoke it with me." She had no idea if Jason had ever gotten high before - he certainly never had with her - but she was in an odd mood tonight. The worst he could say was no, and that was okay too, but it was at least an option for killing time before their parents either made up or one of them stormed out of the house.
A movie was at least the sort of entertainment that could be absorbing without requiring too much thought. His attention span was usually easily focused, but there were nights, like this one, where he could feel that it had scattered too much to go back to doing his work. Which was fine, since that problem set was all he had left and he’d have time enough to finish it in the morning. Though at Jules’ counterproposal, he raised an eyebrow at her in return. He had gotten high a couple times before, the first time accidentally and the second time on purpose, but never before with Jules. It wasn't the sort of the thing he went out of his way to seek. He'd been around her drunk before and she could get on his nerves when she was; high could be different, though.
Maybe she didn't expect him to agree? There was no real indication of that, but Jason tended to be somewhat disagreeable. That sort of thought usually pushed him forward and the night was already shot, so. “Yeah. Why not? I don't think this night's going to have a lot else to offer,” he said. It'd be a good experiment to see if it made the time it took for their parents to get on with it go faster. “Your room?” He almost never spent time in there, but. The night already took a turn.
She was surprised when Jason agreed to it, because she fully expected him to scoff or wrinkle his nose at her or something. And because he'd managed to throw her a bit, Jules felt a smile curve at her lips as she stood from his bed. "My room," she agreed with a nod. She had two larger windows that opened inward, so it would be easier to get rid of the smell. And maybe getting high would make her feel better. She wished it were Jasper there with her, but she wasn't sure even weed would help him at this point. She hated that she didn't know what would, other than finding his sister.
Jules led Jason from his room and down the hall. The screaming had stopped downstairs but she could still hear low, tense voices, which meant her mom had probably shifted from batshit crazy to scary, low key crazy. At least for the moment. Jules predicted a couple more wine glasses would break before the night was over. Maybe over Edward’s head. "I wonder what your dad did to piss her off," Jules said conversationally as she opened her bedroom door and headed directly for her dresser, where she kept her stash under some panties. She knew damn well her mom was just as problematic as her stepdad, but there was some weird sense of loyalty she had for her mom, and honestly, she disliked Edward enough to blame him for most of their fights.
For the most part, Jason didn’t care whether or not he was predictable, but there were occasions where he liked to be contrary, even if that was just acting counter to expectation rather than starting an argument. With Jules especially he kind of liked throwing her off on occasion and maybe that would also help distract them both. If getting high together went horribly, he’d at least know for the future to avoid it, so doing so now was productive either way.
Following Jules down the hall, Jason shrugged as he moved into her room, closing the door quietly before he answered. “Existed? That’s offensive enough,” he said, equally conversationally. Any fragmented loyalty that remained for his father wasn’t ever enough to bother defending him and was buried under layers of unprocessed resentment that Jason still felt anything about him at all. With his stepmother, they usually had shared indifference unless it was a “special occasion,” which was the worst. So neither option was particularly great. He dropped into the chair by Jules’ desk while she retrieved her stash. “Or your mom might just be having a crazy day.”
Jules wasn't feeling particularly humorous today but she barked out a laugh once she found the tiny baggie with the joint Jasper had given her. "When is my mom not having a crazy day?" So much for familial loyalty. Whatever. She walked over to open the windows by her desk, not minding the cool breeze too much. Tugging open the drawer, she found a lighter and moved to sit down on the carpet by her bed so she could lean back against it. Maybe this was all she really needed. To get high and talk about stupid, insignificant things, like life was normal. Even though it so was not normal. At all. Not bothering to talk again until she had the joint out and lit, Jules stretched her legs out in front of her and took a deep pull from the weed before leaning forward to hand it to Jason. "I don't know if I hate it more when they're fighting, or being sickeningly sweet to each other. Both seem unnatural, like they're aliens from another planet trying to fit in here."
Jason cracked a grin when Jules laughed. Sometimes she could get a little defensive on her mom’s behalf, which Jason usually just rolled his eyes at and laid off, since family was always a weird fucked up area. “Probably on as many days as my dad’s not a total dick,” he said with a shrug, content with the silence as Jules got situated and lit the joint. He took it from her when offered, not taking as deep a draw on it the first time since he didn’t want to start coughing and he hadn’t done this often enough to have the complete hang of it. “Sweet is worse, since they’re always painfully overcompensating,” he said at once. He took another shorter pull on the joint then handed it back to Jules, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees. Digging at their parents together was familiar ground. “I still don’t get why they stay together. It’s not like this is the first relationship for either of them and it’d be total bullshit if they tried to claim it’s for our sake.” At least, Jason gathered that was why some other people’s parents stayed together. He knew his dad at least had never done anything for the sake of it being in Jason’s best interest--if it ever worked out that way, it was always coincidental.
Oh yes, bitching about their parents was a favorite pastime of theirs. It was somehow a bit nicer than bitching at each other, anyway. "Maybe they love each other," Jules suggested with a snort that clearly indicated she didn't exactly believe that. Or maybe the sex was just that good, but ew, she didn't want to think about that. Although great sex was the only reason she and Jasper kept seeing each other over the summer, so... whatever. It probably wasn't the right kind of basis for a marriage."I don't know what goes on their heads," she muttered before taking another pull from the joint and holding it in the back of her throat for a moment. "But I think they get off on fighting with each other. So maybe it's the drama keeping them together. High school for adults." Jules exhaled and smirked at Jason as she offered the weed back to him. "But you don't want them to get divorced. You'd miss me too much."
The idea that their parents stayed together for love was absurd and Jason didn’t bother holding his laughter. He was reasonably certain his father didn’t love anyone except himself. Maybe he just liked having someone around he could be an asshole to on a regular basis, who continued to stick with him for whatever reason. It was something Jason doubted--hoped--he would never really understand. He couldn’t imagine understanding it, anyway. “I mean, they must, right?” he said distastefully. “Or they love being miserable, which I guess suggests some level of masochism.” Speculating on his father’s motives tended to underscore for Jason how he wanted to be as little like his father as possible. He already tried to avoid the drama, he couldn’t imagine wanting it to continue into adulthood. Rolling his eyes, he took joint back from Jules. “At least if they get divorced I’ll go back to basically living alone and it’ll be a lot quieter,” he said, taking a slow pull on the weed again. Being alone was better than the whole mess of dealing with his parents, right? He tended to tell himself it was, though in reality it had been kind of lonely. “I guess it doesn’t matter at this point, since I’ll be gone for college soon anyway.” Though that was still almost a year away. Which was closer than ever, but still too far. “You’re gonna throw the biggest party of all time when they get divorced, right?” he asked, offering the weed back to Jules.
Jules shrugged and took the weed back, though she didn't take another pull from it just yet. She was feeling lazy and floaty now. And probably more emotional than she wanted, which could have been a combination of lack of sleep and the pot. Maybe smoking hadn't been the best idea. Licking her lips, she swallowed and watched the moon in the sky outside of her window. "Any excuse to throw a party, right?" she muttered. "But, you know, I'll be gone for college too, so... maybe I'll celebrate in my dorm room, unless it happens earlier." It wasn't like Jason was the only one getting out of Point Pleasant. Maybe she wasn't an academic stud, but she did well enough to get into a decent school somewhere outside of Maine. Right? Jules nearly made a snarky retort about who was going to pay for Jason's tuition if their parents got divorced, but then she realized he probably had a ton of scholarships, so money didn't matter much. "You're going to be one of those guys who leaves for school and like, has a boring, but probably successful enough career and stuff, but then you're going to end up back here for whatever reason. I bet you anything."
Jason leaned back in Jules’ chair, looking at her thoughtfully before following her gaze to look out the window. The breeze coming in was kind of nice in a way that Jason usually didn’t care about when he wasn’t outside running in it, but appreciated now. “There are only so many holidays in the year. Dorm room’s probably a better place for it than here, if you’ve decided where you might want to go,” Jason said, one eyebrow raised. She wasn’t looking at him, but it was apparent in his tone. Maybe. He’d been told smiling worked that way. He didn’t doubt that Jules could get into a school if she put her mind to it, but the last impression he had was that she still preferred putting her mind towards boys (or maybe it was boy, singular, now) and school dances. Granted, most applications still weren’t due for another few months, but he was someone who had started writing practice admissions essays since he was a sophomore. He couldn’t keep from scoffing at the idea of coming back to Point Pleasant. “And please. What reason could I possibly have for coming back here? I’d rather drive into the ocean first,” he said. Part of him felt irritated, but only a little, which was a combination of the weed and also how he noted she hadn’t snapped back at him as much as she normally might earlier. “Once you’re out, do you really think you’re going to come back here?”
"Yeah, probably," Jules said. The answer was simple and said with a small sense of resignation. Even if she went to college in a different state, it sort of felt inevitable that she would come back here. When or why, she didn't know. As fucked as it could be sometimes, Point Pleasant was home. She took a thoughtful drag off of the joint as her gaze ticked back to Jason. Studying him for a moment, she then leaned over to offer the weed back to him. "I don't know what school I'm going to yet. I guess I have to see who accepts me first, right? And then decide." Yes, Jules had noted that Jason hadn't scoffed when she mentioned going to college. He hadn't made a joke about community college, or unaccredited online classes. She appreciated it, because Jason had lived with her long enough to know that poking at her intelligence was one of her biggest irritants. He knew how to get under her skin, so she was thankful that he hadn't gone that route tonight. "And who knows why you'll come back. I don't have a fucking clue. I just know it'll happen. This whole... town is just... weird and... weird. But I mean, it's still home. You have friends here, and like, family and stuff. You can't just drive away and never look back."
There was a strangeness to the town that Jason didn’t quite understand and largely did his best to ignore. One of the guys on the track team talked about it all the time and sometimes Jason would try to poke holes in his theories, but that was about it. He liked to think he didn’t feel any particular draw back there, though a small part of him worried that he would. “Most of my friends want to leave, too,” Jason pointed out, thinking through it aloud. Whether or not they all would was debatable. “My grandparents are in York and you’re planning to leave, at least for college, and even if you do end up back here, you can come visit me for some stupid holiday like Thanksgiving or whatever.” It was strange to think of spending time with Jules somewhere outside of Point Pleasant that wasn’t being dragged on a poorly thought out family vacation. But it was impossible to think of not seeing her ever again, apparently. He took the weed back from her, taking a thoughtful draw on it. There was definitely a time when Jason had thought the dumb blonde stereotype might fit Jules, but that had long passed, as she proved him wrong not too long into knowing her. “Have you at least decided which ones you want to apply to, then?” he asked, exhaling, then offered the joint back to her. It was the sort of thing most families probably discussed together as a whole, but. They weren’t most families. He was pretty sure his father at least knew it was their senior year.
Jules snorted softly, watching Jason as he spoke. She couldn't imagine he really wanted to see her outside of Point Pleasant, and obligatory family get togethers during the holidays - if he even came home then. Their parents might be divorced by then for all she knew. It was just weird to think of Jason as her brother, as he'd been for so many years, and then... he not be that to her anymore. Despite how often he drove her nuts and they fought, he was still more of family to her than Edward was. "University of Maine," she said, which was her number one choice but probably a bit more difficult to get into, given her ACT score. "Thomas College and Wesleyan University in Connecticut. What about you? Like, Harvard, Yale and Cornell?" There was a hint of derisiveness in her tone, but she didn't really mean it. It just seemed instinctual to poke fun at Jason for being smart, which was pretty lame of her, but she had been doing it for so long it felt wrong not to do it now.
Jason could spout off things he didn’t mean, but in this case he meant what he said about seeing Jules even after they had gone their separate ways. Preferably not in Point Pleasant. As annoying as she could be, it was hard to imagine her not being his sister even in the event of their parents’ probably inevitable divorce. He rolled his eyes a little, though he could understand why she might suggest those places for him. Jules poking fun of that aspect of him annoyed him mildly, but didn’t often get to him beyond that. He was fairly confident in that part of himself, since he knew he had been taking academics and college over seriously from the start--it was what he had always viewed as his way out. “CalTech, UCLA, the University of Chicago, and UNC Chapel Hill,” he said. He was going to apply to the University of Maine as a backup, but he didn’t want to mention that. “CalTech’s probably a long shot, even if I get in,” he admitted. The other places had merit rather than need based scholarships, for which he would definitely not qualify, given their parents. He’d been applying to as many outside scholarships as he could, since the idea of asking his parents for money was something he wanted to avoid, beyond what he’d already been given either directly or indirectly on birthdays and Christmas.
Jules made a face, the weed apparently not strong enough to mask her emotions. "Those schools are pretty far away," she complained, not really realizing that her tone on a mild whiny quality. She almost pointed out that it would be really expensive for him to travel home, but it seemed like Jason had the thought that once he left town he wouldn't be coming back. "But I guess that's the point. But whatever, you know, you should try to enjoy senior year as much as you can, while you can. I get studying and all that, but like, you never do anything fun. You need to get a girlfriend, or friends and try to do something enjoyable. Otherwise you're like, studying and boring and then you go to college where you'll end up doing the same thing."
Jason was in the good, vaguely detached but introspective part of being high. “You’d probably like LA. Or Chicago or wherever. They’re all good places to visit.” From what he could tell, Jules had fewer reservations about accepting money or presents from her mother than Jason did from his father, so her visiting him seemed like a more viable option than the opposite. He could be wrong about that. “Studying is enjoyable. At least for the subjects I like,” he said, a little defensively. “I have enough fun. Just because I hate parties and don’t waste spend my free time trying to hookup with random girls doesn’t mean I’m friendless and miserable.” It did mean he was without a girlfriend. “Dating’s always seemed like it’d be pointless since it’s not like I can imagine a high school relationship lasting outside of high school in most cases.” Not to mention it was something that in general filled him with apprehension. “Is doing the same thing as what you’re doing now going to be what you do in college? Focusing on guys and parties and popularity contests?”
She probably would like those places. They were places Jules wanted to visit, among others. She probably didn't need an excuse to go, like visiting Jason, but it didn't hurt. Taking another short pull from the joint, Jules watched Jason as he defended the lack of entertainment in his life... or rather, tried to convince her, and himself, that he did have fun. A surge of her own defensiveness cut through the rather mellow feeling the pot had induced and Jules narrowed her eyes at him as she exhaled the smoke. Ugh, even high Jason knew how to get under her skin. And yes, everything he said hit close to home, and she supposed that was the point of it.
"Okay, for one, not dating in high school because the odds of it lasting past high school is slim is really stupid. You're missing out on like, finding a connection with someone and getting to experience that just because it might not last? You could find someone in college and that might not last. So like, why even bother at all? And secondly, that's not all I focus on. There's only one guy, and parties are usually all there is to do around here. And I don't need to focus on popularity contests because I'm already fucking popular and I don't need to compete with anyone." Her tone had grown angrier with every word, because she hated it when he made her sound so shallow and one dimensional. Maybe those things had been super important to her before, but that wasn't all she had going on in her life anymore. Not that he knew that.
Jules had a point and Jason hated that she did. His reasoning was an excuse more than anything. He didn't want to take the chance of opening himself up to be hurt by someone and most of the time, he didn't even really feel that much at a loss about it at the end of the day. There were people he cared about, who he would help or be there for in a heartbeat, but friendship always felt easier. Safer. He knew dating or sleeping around wasn't a big deal for most guys his age, but after watching his father cycle through women until marrying Jules' mom for whatever reason, he had built it up in his head that it should mean something or it was all just pointless. There was a lot of ground in between those two points, but Jason didn't know how to get there and so he just... put it off and didn’t try.
Most of the time when he started to get defensive, it was easier to fire back rather than confront any of his own shit. But at the same time, he wasn't really in the mood to fight with Jules, even as he heard her getting angrier. Maybe the weed was getting more to him than her, or maybe it was the reminder that she was just with the one guy and who it was. He didn't really care about Jasper one way or the other most of the time, though they tended to rub each other the wrong way for whatever reason, but Jules did and Jasper's sister was missing and it wasn't like Jason was heartless. "Look, I know that's not all there is to you, but you also need to realize just because dating and connecting with someone like that is important to you and easy for you to do, it doesn't mean it's the same for me," he said, sinking back against Jules' desk chair and tipping his head to look up at the ceiling instead of at her. "Maybe it'll be the same in college, or after. Maybe it won't. It's just not something that feels important to deal with right now."
"It's not easy for me to do," Jules muttered. Jason's lack of snarky retorts, or maybe the weed had something to do with it too, had diffused her temper rather quickly and it left her feeling rather pouty and petulant. "It just drives me crazy when you make me sound so shallow. And I get that maybe you have a hard time connecting with people, but like, I don't know, do you even try? Girls think you're cute, you know. You just never seem interested in anything but getting out of here." And maybe that was the ultimate goal for Jason, which was fine. But she didn't want to feel stupid for enjoying her senior year every way that she possibly could. Excluding mirror shenanigans and creepy dream monsters. Jules leaned forward to offer Jason the joint, in case he wanted another hit. "I think maybe you're going to regret not living a little now, like when you're older and nailed down to a job and a family."
Maybe easy had been an overstatement: easier would have been more accurate, though it was still an assumption on Jason’s part. Jules just seemed to have the whole finding guys to date thing down. He tilted his head just enough to look at her now that her mood dropped back down from angry and sighed. “I know, and I haven’t actually thought you were shallow in years, I just don’t get why my studying all the time seems like a bad thing to you, or at least a thing that needs to be countered with dating.” He leaned forward and took the weed back from her instead, not pulling on it quite yet. “I never wanted to move to Point Pleasant in the first place, so I made getting out of here my goal to work toward.” He gave her a rueful smile. “And when I’m about to turn fifty and bemoaning how I wasted being seventeen, you can tell me ‘I told you so’ all you want,” he said, putting the joint to his lips to take a pull on it. “It’s not like you enjoy having me at your parties anyway.”
"I never said studying was a bad thing," Jules corrected, leaning her head back against her bed. "I think studying all the time and not having any real fun is a bad thing. Fun doesn't even mean just dating." Although to her, that was definitely the most fun. And no, she usually didn't have any trouble getting guys to go out with her. It was harder to actually find someone she had a real connection with. She was realizing that it had never happened before. Not before Jasper anyway. Her lips smirking softly, Jules studied Jason under heavy lidded eyes. "I love saying I told you so," she murmured. "But you know, I hardly ever see you at my parties, so... if you're there and like, having fun and not being a dick to people, then yeah, I enjoy having you there. It's when you're all snooty and jerky that I wish you'd stay locked in your room."
Slouching down in Jules’ chair, Jason shrugged, exhaling. “Some of your friends can be assholes,” he said. Parties weren’t much of his thing, since his drunk classmates could be obnoxious. While drunk, he could also be obnoxious. It wasn’t the best combination. He was sometimes stuck with the parties were unavoidable when Jules threw them at home and he didn’t always want to be confined to his room when the bigger issue, their parents, were out of consideration. He had kind of figured Jules didn’t care whether or not he was there regardless, when she had her people there. “I don’t hate studying all the time as much as you would and it’s all toward a purpose, so I never feel like it’s a bad thing. It’d be worse if what I’ve been planning and working toward didn’t pan out.” The possibility was one he didn’t like to entertain. “Plus, I do stuff to relax. I read. Play video games. Run,” he said, though those were still all things he could do alone. One more hit, then he offered the joint back to Jules if she wanted it. “It’s not like there’s a ton of stuff to do around here.”
He wasn't wrong. Some of her friends could be assholes. But Jason could be an asshole too, so wasn't that supposed to even it out somehow? Jules took the last of the joint and finished it off, saying nothing as she let the smoke linger in the back of her throat for a moment or two. She was definitely feeling more mellow now, less irritated by the conversation. "There's nothing to do around here," she agreed after releasing the smoke and waving it toward the open window, like that would help dispel the smell. "That's why we have parties and hook up with people." It was a hell of a lot more fun than video games and running. Jules shook her head. "You know, do whatever you want. But... I just think things are a lot more fun when you have someone to do them with." She giggled a tiny bit in her throat. "A lot more fun." Yes, there was innuendo there, which was probably funnier to her now than it would have been a half an hour ago.
Though Jason wasn’t deeply self-aware, he knew he could be a jerk--sometimes on purpose, sometimes accidentally. He was typically apologetic for the latter, but for the former he usually felt justified in it. Which tended to make things worse rather than better, but it was hard to care overmuch about this realization just then. The cool air coming in through the open window felt nicer then, sweeter somehow. It was definitely the weed. He snorted as Jules giggled, shaking his head slightly. “Yes, you’ve made your opinion on that abundantly clear,” he said, though there was more amusement in his tone than usual. “And if your main ‘things’ are drinking and fucking, I guess I can see why you’re insistent on involving someone else. But I don’t think me hitting on hot girls because you think I need a girlfriend would go particularly well.”
Jules couldn't help it as the giggles rose in volume and quantity. Hearing Jason say 'fucking' was hysterical to her for some reason. "Those aren't my main things. Well, not the drinking part. The fucking part is definitely better with someone else. Or at least someone else who knows what they're doing. They don't always, so there are like, occasions where being alone for that is much more fun. And, Jason, you don't need to hit on hot girls to get a girlfriend. You could just, like, talk to a girl, and then if you like each other, then you can get a girlfriend. I think you do need a girlfriend, but that's just me." She shrugged, but was still smiling, amused at the mental image of Jason hitting on anyone. "I'd try to hook you up with one my friends, but you'd probably be mean to them and then they'd hate me."
Jason quirked an eyebrow, smiling a little as Jules continued to giggle more, letting her kind of ramble on. He was listening, since there was something weirdly nice about it in the moment. Though he was kind of nonplussed that his dating life was the angle of investment Jules had decided to take, he let her go on about it. Was he likely to take her advice? Probably not most of it, but still. He might consider it, which was further than they could get sometimes. “What do you consider your ‘main’ things?” he asked, accompanied with finger quotes. “And I’ve talked to girls. It’s not like I’m incapable of doing that. But I usually just end up being friendly with them, which I’m cool with, since that tends to be… easier.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Jules trying to hook him up with one of her friends, though it was from amusement more than anything else. He just couldn’t imagine it. “Depending on the friend, yeah. Probably.”
"Main things to do with other people? Definitely sex," Jules said, snickering softly. "But getting high and drinking... you don't have to have to be with other people to do that, though it's kind of sad if you do it alone. I don't know. What are we even talking about right now?" She wasn't sure how they got on this topic, or what they were supposed to be talking about. Girls? Dating? Jules stretched her legs out, wanting to get up and flop down on her bed, but she was feeling too lazy. "I never pegged you as the kind of guy to take the easy road," she said. "If you find a girl you like, then it's worth it if it's difficult. Believe me, I know." With a guy, anyway. Not a girl, but Jules figured Jason would know that. A tiny twinge of guilt seemed to sneak into her hazy brain and she wondered if she should really be laughing and enjoying a conversation with her brother when her boyfriend was so miserable. It didn't seem fair. But a part of her needed it, she found. Between Jasper and her sleepwalking and dreams... everything felt too heavy lately.
Jason rolled his eyes. “We’re talking about my dating life, or lack thereof, since for some reason you decided it was worth commenting upon,” he said, since even while high he could still mostly track the conversation and at all times tended to supply the answer if he had it. Considering that he could only be somewhat comfortable slouching in the chair and also not wanting to fall out of it unintentionally, he slid out of it to sit cross-legged on the floor. “I don’t take the easy road. I just don’t think I’ve found a girl I’ve liked yet.” Or maybe he just kept himself too guarded against that. He frowned since she probably had a point about the easy road. “Has it been difficult with the guys you’ve dated?” he asked. Normally he wouldn’t, but since they were on the topic anyway and maybe it’d at least recenter it off of him.
Jules snickered softly and watched Jason slip off her chair onto the floor. This was so weird, but... not. It was either here, or in his room or outside. She couldn't hear her mom and stepdad yelling anymore, so Jules had to assume they were talking sensibly, or fucking. She was betting it the was latter. And she so didn't want to think about closely that paralleled the beginning of her relationship with Jasper, even though technically that hadn't really been a relationship. "Then I guess if you haven't found a girl you liked, you'll be waiting for college, because it's not like there's an abundance of newbies in this town," Jules said. She began to twirl some of her blonde hair around her finger idly, looking thoughtful. "But no, not many guys have been very difficult. I mean, Jasper, but... like I said, it's worth it. And like, I'm difficult too, which I'm sure you. Sebastian was difficult, but only because he didn't really like me when I thought he did. That was a different kind of difficult. And Jasper's just... not like any other guy I've dated. Sometimes it's weird to even think we are dating." Jules trailed off because it felt kind of strange talking to Jason about this kind of stuff, even high. "Anyway, it's not a bad thing. Just different."
Jason glanced at Jules when she snickered, lips quirking into a smile. This all was kind of bizarre, but not terrible or anything. He had largely put their parents out of mind, which was the goal really in times like this, even if this was one of the more bizarre twists the evening could have taken for them. He listened as Jules mused aloud, somewhat paying attention since he had asked. Whoever Jules dated wasn’t much of a concern to him on a daily basis, since as little interest as he invested in his own dating life, he put even less effort into keeping track of other people’s. Unable to keep from smirking when she mentioned that she was difficult, too, Jason said with evident sarcasm, though it lacked any kind of bite, “You? Difficult? I never noticed.” Stretching his legs out in front of him, alongside but with space from Jules’, he rested his palms on the ground, leaning back a little. “See, it seems shitty to date someone if you don’t really like them. Or if you aren’t sure you like them, or whatever.” He didn’t remember how long Sebastian and Jules had dates. Some number of months? Jason had largely tried to ignore Sebastian’s existence, since while he was a football player, he was also too nice; Jason never figured out how to interact with that. “What’s weird about dating Jasper? Just that he’s not from your usual social circle?” Though Jason tried to stay ignorant of high school social hierarchy, it was sort of impossible to not know anything about it.
Jules would have stuck her tongue out at him, but she knew she could be difficult. Though Jules preferred to call it strong willed. Jason could be difficult too! At least with her. She didn't really know what to say about Sebastian. She could defend him, but she didn't want to accidentally give away that he was gay. It still kind of stung that he had dated her when he was questioning his sexuality or just trying to hide it, but it was what it was and it felt like years away in the past. She could talk about Jasper though, since there was nothing to hide there anymore. "He's just not like the other boys," Jules said with a shrug. "And he's totally not my type. Or wasn't. And yeah, I guess not being a part of my social circle made it weird. Makes it weird? It's not a bad thing. It's just different. It'd be like you dating... Victoria Chapman," Jules said with a grin. "Definitely weird, right?"
Jason knew he could be a real pain in the ass, sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose. So, it wasn’t like he had a lot of room to stand on, but it didn’t negate Jules being difficult too, in his mind. When she didn’t defend Sebastian, Jason let it slide out of mind since there wasn’t much reason to focus on it. He continued to listen to her, only following along with some level of understanding, but even he had to laugh at her example. Because the very idea of him dating Victoria Chapman was laughable. “Yeah, definitely weird. Though hopefully it’s less likely to end up with someone in a body bag than how me dating Chapman would go,” he said. That was an exaggeration, but there was a lot of mutual dislike, based off of what interactions they had. “You seem happy about Jasper though.”
Jules smiled, because he had a point. And yes, the idea of Jason dating Victoria was most definitely laughable. Victoria would eat him alive. And Jules didn't think Jason had that kind of patience anyway. Still, she shrugged and moved to lay down on the floor, feeling lazy and mellow and tired now. "I am," she admitted, resting her head against her stretched out arm. "I mean, not right now, since his sister is missing and... I don't know what that means or how things'll change. There's nothing I can do so he's miserable and I feel totally useless." And she had told him she loved him, which had ended up kicking her in the ass. Not that it was as important as Amelia, but everything felt kind of up in the air and depressing. "He gave me the weed though. It was pretty good, huh?"
As Jules lay back, Jason looked out the window as best he could from his current position. His mind felt a bit jumbled together, in a good way, but he continued listening to her. “Yeah, the whole missing sister part is terrible.” He didn’t really have any good suggestions on how Jules could offer support, not that she wanted his advice necessarily. But he defaulted to trying to find a solution, though with people that part of everything was more complicated since there wasn't always a correct answer and he hated that. “The weed was good. You probably just have to be patient and help him cope however he copes. It’s not like it’s a thing you can fix unless you have a way to develop magic powers finding people, or whatever.” The last wasn’t a real thing, as far as Jason knew. People went missing in Point Pleasant often enough that it seemed like it would be useful if it were.
"If anyone had those powers, this would be a better place to live," Jules said. She wasn't very good at patience, but there was nothing she could do about Jasper's sister, and it wasn't like she could rush him through the coping process. She was there for him if he wanted her to be. She wanted to be there even if he didn't want her to be, but Jules didn't think she could just show up at his door and demand he talk to her. Jules eyed Jason for a moment. "You're pretty chill when you're high, by the way. It's weird."
Jason regarded Jules in return, eyebrow quirked. He shrugged, since the effects of the weed were still with him, leaving a lethargy that settled into his limbs and his thoughts, though his mind felt clearer than usual. It was kind of weird and not especially productive, but he had already written off the night. “Yeah, that’ll be over once it’s out of my system. You’re also less keyed up than earlier,” he pointed out. “So are our parents? Maybe. I haven’t noticed anything new breaking.” Probably he should get off of her floor before he wanted to fall asleep and maybe the coast was clear by now.
Jules shrugged, feeling too mellow to get all bothered or annoyed at being called 'keyed up'. Especially since she had been. "I think they're making up now," Jules said with a wrinkle of her nose. "I can never decide if that's better or worse than them screaming at each other." As long as she didn't have to hear it, she didn't care. Jules groaned as she pushed herself up from the floor. It was definitely not as comfortable as her bed. "Well, they're quiet now, so it's fine if you want to go back to your room and finish doing whatever it was you were doing. If you can study stoned, anyway."
Jason was unable to keep from making a face. “Ugh. Yeah. You’re probably right.” It kind of grossed him out and was embarrassing to think about their parents’ brand of ‘making up’, so he decidedly didn’t think about it. As Jules sat up, he got to his feet somewhat gracelessly and offered her his hand. “Probably I’ll listen to music until I fall asleep. I can finish my homework in the morning,” he said, the latter more to himself than Jules since he didn’t think she cared, really.
Grateful for the help, Jules took Jason's hand and got to her feet. She didn't really care when he finished his homework, or if he finished it at all. Jules had wanted company and distraction from her mom and stepdad, and Jason was always the go-to target, even when he was busy. Once she was on her feet, Jules released his hand and moved to crawl up onto her bed. At least her phone was within reach now. "Sounds like a plan," Jules said, grabbing her phone and flopping back against her pillows. "Shut my door on your way out though?"
Jason got Jules up, but left it to her to maneuver into his bed, already heading toward her door. Needing to pass time while their parents fought had passed, so things would likely go back to the other status quo for them: either ignoring each other’s existence or arguing, which was what Jason was accustomed to. He gave her a vague wave of either acknowledgment or dismissal, but closed her door behind him all the same, still taking care to be quiet out of habit as he went back to his room and flopped down on his own bed.