All Around Drama (JD.)

[Jalen August]

There she was, lying on the ground, staring up at the cloudless sky. The day was beautiful really, but Jalen simply couldn't appreciate it due to the state she was in. There were too many things running through her mind. So much so that she had seemingly forgotten how to get properly dressed. Jalen never went out without at least a little bit of makeup. It would seem strange to anyone who knew her to find her eyes so light, her blonde lashes showing through.

Her eyes were also red from crying. Yes she had broken up with Cody, it was all her doing really. He was just being a sweetheart and wanting to be with her for the rest of her life. But she was seventeen for crying out loud, she wasn't ready to be someone's wife. A sigh escaped her lips as she tried to think of what went wrong in the otherwise perfect relationship. She was really blaming herself this time. It really was her fault.

The only thing she could think of doing, was scream, but that wouldn't help anything. Maybe she wasn't supposed to do anything about this. Maybe she was supposed to just sit through this punishment like a big girl. Maybe she should call Cody...

She took out her phone and glanced through the recent calls list. All from him. Her eyes teared up again and she put her phone back in her pocket. He hadn't tried calling her once. She really had smashed his heart into a million pieces.

Jalen whimpered a bit to herself, wondering if she had done the right thing. It would've been even worse to keep him, so yes, she had done the right thing. It didn't make it an easy thing to do.

[JD Paerson]

JD had almost forgotten his bet with Jalen and the steak dinner that had been promised him. After all the other things that had been going on, he'd completely forgotten to send her the email saying when they should meet up again. And when he did remember it, he thought that it wasn't right for her to have to deal with him when he was acting like such a jerk.

So when he was crossing the courtyard and saw Jalen lying on the grass, he was about to go by her in embarrassment. And then he noticed her eyes were red, and she was still crying a bit. He was not so callous that he could just go right by without even asking what was wrong.

"Hey Jay," he said, walking up slowly so as not to startle her. "Is everything okay?"

Well that was a dumb question, and he winced almost as soon as he said it. Clearly she wasn't okay, otherwise she wouldn't be crying. "I mean, um. Is there anything I can uh...help you with?"

He stood, looking down at her, wondering if he should offer to help her up or something. He had never been very good at comforting people who were upset.

[Jalen August]

It was JD’s lucky day to find Jalen in the state she was in. Not because she was going to offer stimulating conversation, but because she could care less about the prank pulled at the sex ed seminar. As far as she was concerned, the stupid thing had never happened. JD had disappeared and then a whole brigade of things happened and Jalen slipped out of the room after the last ‘hoorah’ of plastic sex toys showered down. It was actually pretty amusing, but she was too wrapped up in her own drama to ream JD out for something he already regretted doing.

”Hey Jay” It sounded like someone was calling out to her from a distance, but that was because the blonde was trying to push everything away from her. Unfortunately she couldn’t push people, or her emotions away, only sound. If only she knew that she was probably one of the first people JD had sought out even a pity conversation with. Her dark brown eyes looked over at JD, and her heart sunk even more. She looked back at the sky, numb. He was not the person she really wanted to see, or more specifically, she didn’t want him seeing her like this.

He was trying to be nice, Jalen could see that. “Hi JD,” her voice cracked. She couldn’t look at him. “I’m just being a cry baby,” she said, trying to laugh but it came out sounding painful. She sat up, more out of a courtesy to him, because if he hadn’t shown up, she wouldn’t have a reason to get up at all. At least it wasn’t LaDouche.

Jalen looked up at JD, and patted the ground next to her. “Pop a squat,” she said, rubbing her face with both her hands, and then dragging her fingers through her hair. She didn’t like craning her neck up to speak to him and if he really wanted to know what was going on, they might be here for a while. Did he even know she had been seeing anyone?

[JD Paerson]

She had definitely been crying. Had she been hurt? But that didn't make sense, because she wasn't bleeding or anything, nor did she look like she had come from the hospital. So maybe she'd gotten into a fight with someone. That was definitely possible. And JD would completely understand if she was upset and didn't want to talk.

She still sounded quite upset, too. He had no idea how to handle "upset." He'd tried before with previous girlfriends, but it had never gone well. And other than that, he just tried to avoid emotions. But he liked to think that Jalen was his friend, and a good friend was supposed to help you if you needed it, right?

He didn't respond at first, having no idea what to say. He sat down when she gestured to, sprawling out on the grass.

"So, uh," he said. Not exactly an auspicious start, but he charged on. "What's wrong? Is there anything I can help with?" Chances were no, but it couldn't hurt to ask. The good news was that she hadn't immediately told him to get lost, which meant that she likely wasn't upset about him or anything he had done. Who else was there in the school?

"If someone hurt you, I could, you know, go do something...about it. Like Z--LaDouche, or Kessler, or whatever. I don't know if they've been doing anything recently, but if it's a problem..." Then again, she had a boyfriend, right? He'd vaguely heard something through the grapevine about that. (It was something along the lines of, Hey JD, your blonde girl went and got herself another boyfriend. Whatsa matter, weren't you man enough for her?) "That is, if you want me to. I guess it might be better if, you know, someone closer helped out or something. I don't want to bother you."

Since when had he been so incredibly awkward around girls? Had he always been this way? Thinking back, he could remember a point when he had no problems flirting with girls. Though it was mostly corny pick-up lines back then, and most women had turned him away. He'd also never been talking to someone he knew as a person, just strangers. Somehow that had been easier.

[Jalen August]

Jalen was glad he at least sat down. The fact that JD was uncomfortable about the whole thing didn’t seem to bother the blonde in the least bit, mostly because she didn’t notice, but she was a pretty open person for the most part. Everyone had their secrets, but if she wanted to be alone, she would have stayed in her room and sulked. Truth of the matter was, she just wanted to breath and be out in the open for people to see. She just didn’t want to feel so alone during this whole thing.

“I don’t think so...” she said, although the offer had been sweet. Just how would someone go about resolving someone else’s break up? She didn’t really know where to start, but JD just kept on talking, which made the blonde smile a tiny bit. So that’s what it feels like to smile...

JD seemed to have a pretty good grip on who she hung out with. Was that something she should be worried about? “No no, they’re not the problem, surprisingly,” Jalen said, still, trying to joke around her heart’s shattered state. Humor was the only thing that seemed to comfort her, it was almost impossible to open up to anyone without it.

Jalen grinned, troubled laughter escaped her. It was almost maniacal. “You don’t bother me JD, not even a little bit,” she said, taking a deep breath, she drew her legs up, resting her chin on the softness of her grey sweatpants. “I don’t have a lot of close friends right now,” she said in a serious tone, which bothered her quite a bit. She was usually so laid back and happy go lucky. Things weren’t supposed to be this way.

Another sigh, and the blonde was rambling at top speed, one because she knew JD could keep up, and two, he wouldn’t directly ask her to tell him what was wrong, she would just have to come right out and say it.

“I broke up with my boyfriend about a week ago I’d say, I’m not totally sure anymore, the days just keep blending together what with me being cooped up in my room for so long. Anyways, I’m just feeling really bad about it. He’s older than me, done school and everything already, owns his own ranch for God’s sake and he loves me,” Jalen was using her hands, waving them around frantically as she spoke, “well, maybe not anymore since I broke his heart. I just, I didn’t know what to do when he pulled out this promise ring. I totally freaked out, and I left him...” Tears filled her eyes once more. There was a bit more to say, but it was left unsaid.

Wiping at her eyes, Jalen sniffed hard and tried to smile, but it was painful. “Sorry,” she said to JD, blinking away tears and trying to control her emotions. “Well, now I know you why I'm here I guess. Ta-da.”

[JD Paerson]

It actually was a bit surprising that Zac and Cole hadn't been bothering her. Especially since JD had come to the conclusion that they were some of those people who bothered most everyone at the school. He didn't base this merely off his own experience, but on the opinions of many other students and the existence of demeaning nicknames for certain individuals.

He didn't bother him, that was good. But was she implying that he was one of her close friends? Or saying that she didn't have any close friends, so she had to depend on him? And which of those was supposed to be a good thing? What did it even mean? His brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to puzzle through this, but he forced himself to relax again and nod. He'd come over here to help, not to try to figure out anything deeper.

With some slight admiration he watched her speak. Was that why everyone gave him weird looks when he went off on a subject and hardly paused for breath? Was the effect always that startling? He could only stare as he listened, though he was at least paying attention to everything that she was saying. Most of it, anyway. He vaguely lost interest around the word "love" but snapped back into focus with the phrase "promise ring." He'd had no idea that relationship had been so serious, though if it had been it at least explained why she was feeling so upset now.

"Don't apologize. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, unless you consider herbicide a crime. Grass doesn't like salt water." Joke. It was a good recourse. Get her to smile a little and maybe over the difficult part of this conversation, then he might be able to actually try something else.

"Hey, you're a great girl, so I guess I can see why, uh...what was his name again?" He floundered for a moment. Names had never been his strong point. "Anyway. I can see why he might have wanted to go further or whatever. But really, it's not your fault or anything. You just didn't have the same things in mind. I guess it's better you find out now rather than later, right?" He was so bad at this. Currently he was trying to remember if he'd ever watched a sappy chick flick which he could pilfer lines from, but nothing came to mind. The one thing he recalled was that you were supposed to give hugs in this sort of situation.

JD was not a fan of hugs. Or of personal affection in general. But if it would help Jalen feel better, he was willing to give it a go. "Um," he said, looking at her. "Do you want a hug, or something?"

And there was one last thing he could try, of course. Distraction. "So I guess if you've been cooped up inside all this past week you could really use some fresh air, huh? You up for a run? It might clear your head, and I know a track up into the mountains. It's only, uh..." And then, of course, he remembered that it was a little further without special abilities. "Only about an hour...or so. I think. To the track. It usually takes me about ten minutes, so I figure that's about right. Want to give it a go? It has a great view."

[Jalen August]

Jalen sighed, “I meant I’m sorry for dumping this on you,” she said, an apologetic look on face, although a hint of a smile was there from him trying to make light of the situation. “I’m just so stupid. Cody, he was perfect. Maybe too perfect...” her voice trailed off, not really sure where she was going with that thought or why she had shared it.

The blonde perked up a little bit. “I am?” She asked, wondering just what it was that guys saw in her that made her ‘great’. She could be really clingy, abrasive, and annoying, but she guessed that there must be some kind of quality worth sticking around for. Another sigh, “That’s what I keep telling myself...” Jalen said, wrapping her long arms around her legs. “I wasn’t ready for that, I don’t know if I ever will be with him. I mean, it’s not like I date just for fun or anything, but I didn’t see that coming... Oh, and as if things couldn’t get any worse, I’ve lost my iPod...” She thought it might be back at Cody’s place, but to go and get it now... That would be the epitome of awkward.

Jalen laughed, “Sure, it’s for my sake right?” She said with a smile, reaching over to give JD a seated hug. She could feel the hesitance coming from the boy, so she was glad they hadn’t hugged while standing. It was nice, a bit stiff but it got the job done. He smelled like a boy, and his arms were strong, almost like Co-

She pulled away from the hug, and wiped at her face again. “Let’s go, right now,” Jalen said, getting up and off the ground. She had the suspicion that JD wasn’t busy doing anything important, why else would he have taken the time to talk to her? And even if he was busy, she assumed he would drop whatever he was going to do next to spend time with her. That’s what she would do for a hurting friend anyways. She was going to add, ‘unless you don’t want to’, but that gave him room to leave her, something she didn’t want to have as an option.

“I could drive?” She offered, not sure if JD had his own car or anything, but with his powers, she couldn’t see why he would need one unless he was transporting something. Jay stood waiting for the speedster to get up, happy to do something with someone who care about her, who could take her mind off of Cody.

[JD Paerson]

Failed joke. JD could practically hear the ba-dum-tss of the drums. Right then, no more jokes for the time being.

"Yeah you're great. Beautiful and smart and funny and a wicked gamer and pretty..." He felt like he may have reused one of those as he went, but the argument was still the same. "I'm sure your iPod will turn up again," he said. It wasn't the main point of what was upsetting her, but he wasn't really able to address some of her other worries. It wasn't like they were extremely close or anything.

He hugged back with one arm across her shoulders, then let go once she started to pull away. And as she jumped up, he looked up at her for a moment. "All right, sure," he said as he stood. She seemed a little eager to be on her way, and he wondered if this really had been the best choice. But it was a too late to retract the offer now. Besides, if it would help...

"You have a car? That might work. But it's not exactly the best road. It's really kind of a dirt lane, especially the last bit up before the trail. But you could at least drive part of the way, and then it's not so far. And we should probably grab some water." He would've offered to carry her again, but he wasn't so sure that it would be the best option. It was just a little too far for him to be sure he could take the weight, and he sometimes had to watch his footing more carefully in order to avoid falling. If he was carrying someone chances were that much higher for them to both end up falling off a cliff somewhere.

"The trail is up that way," he said, pointing off toward the mountains. "And if we drive we can go up to a trailhead. It might take maybe ten minutes to the trailhead, then about an hour and a half walking up."

[Jalen August]

Jalen smiled, “Thank you,” she said, relisting the traits in her mind. They were all good things, and she would take the compliment happily. He was cheering her up more than he realized, which was probably a good thing, considering he was just being himself. “You’re not too shabby yourself,” she added, trying to take the spotlight off her. She didn’t want to list things off like he had, he would probably find it forced, so she left it at that, waiting for him to respond.

“Car, good company, water, check check and check,” she said, making a list of something more inanimate. If there was something Jalen had, it was time, and she was excited to spend it with JD. He was safe, and she was happy to have a friend by her side. “Okay, I’m gonna change too, I’ll be in the student parking lot, red Toyota Yaris.” She offered him a parting smile, her mind on the distraction ahead. JD wasn’t one for conversation, but the walk would be great. She couldn’t remember the last time she had pulled on her jogging shoes.

“I’ll see you in a bit!” Jalen said, rushing towards the school. She was sufficiently cheered up, even just having something to do other than mope around in her room was lifting her spirits. She seriously owed JD big time for this. And that’s when she remembered she still owed him a steak dinner.

(OOC: Continued in: Forgetting is Best)