It was funny -- not really though -- how a single night could have such different highs and lows. Jasper had been kind of terrified to go to the dance, and then once he’d gotten there and Jules had responded to him like she had ... it was a huge upswing. The party had been fun, and then Jules and Ruby had gotten into it ... downswing. Jules was too drunk to be very receptive to being calmed down and placated, pissed and difficult and cold-shouldering him for reasons he didn’t get. It was annoying, but he knew he would stay the night anyway. She’d danced with him in front of pretty much the whole school, they were out as a Thing now, he wasn’t going to bail on her now.
He was, however, going to smoke a cigarette. Jasper made his way outside through the crowd of partiers, more stoned than drunk himself, and found a spot on the patio to stand that wasn’t too wild. He took a smoke out and tucked it between his lips, looking up once he’d lit it to let his gaze scan around for anybody he knew worth talking to.
Jen had come outside to get away from overly emotional - one way or another - drunk people while she waited for Hunter to be ready to leave. She had a feeling it would take a while but she was going to be patient tonight because he needed this and she wasn't oblivious enough not to notice that. The patio was nice anyway and she'd found a spot on the railing that was kind of perfect to sit on, her back against one of the columns, feet up on top of the railing. Her balance had always been good, probably in part thanks to her ballet training, and sitting like that made her feel a bit like a cat.
She watched Jasper come out and light up a cigarette and smirked a little to herself. Yes she knew Jasper, though they'd never talked. It was kind of hard not to know some of the more colorful characters at school the way people gossiped, even to her.
"This town might be too small to keep two girlfriends," she said softly when she noticed him noticing her. She'd seen the commotion inside, Jules Cooper vs. Ruby... Something. Two hot girls fighting over a hot guy. It really wasn't her scene and she hoped it never would be.
Jasper didn’t really know the girl who started talking to him. Chamberlain High was small enough that he knew her name was Jen and she was one of the sheriff's kids, but that was it. Which made him wonder why the hell she thought he wanted her to weigh in on anything. He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Yeah? Good thing I only have one,” he countered, irritation in his tone. “And none of that shit really had anything to do with me.” He took a deep drag from his cigarette. Ruby and Jules obviously had History, and he knew that was probably the real cause of all that. Because girls held grudges for forever.
He was naive or in denial if he thought it had nothing to do with him but it wasn't Jen's place to tell him he was being dumb. She shrugged a little and smirked despite herself because she knew better. Everyone did. There had been some major jealousy weirdness going on and maybe it went deeper than some high school romance montage but it was drama that involved Jasper all the same. She could see why, he was a very hot guy but in many ways she found herself above all that nonsense. "Jules, right?" she asked. She hadn't been at the dance but, again, gossip. Gossip everywhere.