He Doesn't Look A Thing Like Jesus; But He Talks Like A Gentleman

There were two things Jasyn was sure of. One, she still hated Chase Gaskarth. And two, she really needed to apologize to her brother. They hadn’t talked save for a “hi” or “bye” here and there, which only reinforced number one since it was practically Chase’s fault. Okay so Jasyn may have gone too far and pushed Jack’s buttons, but she only had his best interest at heart.

Jasyn went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table. Not usually one to be hungry early in the morning, she was just hoping to be able to talk to him. Her hopes flew out of the window once Jack bounded down the stairs in a hurry, claiming he had to meet up with one of the guys. He also said goodbye to their mother, completely ignoring Jasyn in the process. Sighing, she got out of her chair and went in the same direction. The only good thing that came out of the siblings’ argument had been all the exercise Jasyn was getting from having to walk to school every morning, too prideful to mooch a ride from anyone.

As she walked down the street, she wondered what people driving by would think. There she was, a teenage girl with a frown and a sack of flour dressed up in a blue baby onesie in her arms. She laughed to herself, remembering her partner’s demand for dressing it up. It seemed odd to her just how well she and Alex were doing on their health project. Mrs. Desmond had decided to adjust the rules a little. The pair now had to bring their “child” everywhere, which earned them along with everyone in the class a few laughs. She was brought back to reality when she felt water begin to splash on her face. Looking up at the sky Jasyn groaned before shoving Jameson into her bag and pulling her tiny hood over her head. Fan-freaking-tastic.

She quickened her pace just slightly, not wanting to fall on the now-slippery sidewalk. Hearing a car horn next to her, she turned.
“Get in,” the driver spoke. Jasyn looked at the girl confusedly. “Listen, we have a lab first period and if you miss it then my grade will suffer, not to mention Addison will make us both stay after school to make it up. Just think of it as me helping you helping me…or something.”
Jasyn, though wearily, got into the passenger seat. She was actually thankful, whether or not she felt the need to admit it aloud. After being in the car for five minutes, Jasyn finally said something.
“Good song choice.” Her favorite Blink-182 song.
Chase looked over at her slightly before responding. “Yeah, I love this CD. I bought it at the… concert.” The awkwardness had returned to the car.

“I don’t care that you’re seeing Tommy, if that’s what it even is. And I’m pretty sure my brother likes you, since he stopped talking to me a few days ago over something I said about you. Just…don’t get too serious about either before you actually make a decision, even though I think that Tommy is a bad choice for anyone. But I’m not saying I want you and Jack to get together either…I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. Thanks for the ride.”

Jasyn got out of the car as they had pulled to a stop in the school parking lot. She practically sprinted inside once the rain started to come down even harder. She looked back just in time to see her brother looked at her skeptically, no doubt wondering if she had attempted to convince Chase to stay away from him altogether. With a half smile and a nod to him, she started on her way to chemistry.

*****************

“Class, today we’ll be making magnesium oxide.” Jasyn tuned out the rest of what her chemistry teacher was saying. She and Case made their way to the lab stations and pulled out a Bunsen burner, a striker, two pairs of goggles, and awaited further instruction. Mr. Addison passed out the lab sheets and everyone got to work.
“I’ll get the magnesium ribbon, you get the scale and we’ll go from there.” Jasyn nodded and did as she was told.
Just a few minutes later, Jasyn found herself cutting up thirty little pieces of the shiny silver material. Chase had been glancing at her every few seconds, looking as if she needed to say something.
“You know, it’s impolite to stare.” Jasyn said as she started their Bunsen burner.
“Sorry.” The girls worked quickly, having their setup done first. Jasyn read the directions and saw that they had to wait for ten minutes for a reaction to take place. They both stood awkwardly, looking around the classroom.
“About what you said before,” Chase started. She spoke quietly so that no one would hear them. “I do have feelings for your brother. I actually care about him, though I’m sure you find that hard to believe. I just…I just don’t know if I’m ready to jump into anything with him. Not right now.”
“Just know one thing Gaskarth: You break his heart, I break your face. Kinda like you tried to do to me in gym.”
The girls shared a short laugh before getting back to their work.

*****************

Lunch was uneventful to begin with. Jasyn sat quietly because she had no one to talk to. All of her friends had made new friends and most of her acquaintances hadn’t really talked to her since she hadn’t been to a party in a while - that was after all the only thing she had in common with any of them. Her brother was nowhere to be found. Tommy, even though she wouldn’t want to speak with him anyway, was sitting across the cafeteria with Chase and Alex. Even Zack, her own cousin, was sitting over there chatting about music with Rian. Jasyn was almost completely alone. Her only company was the sack of flour that she was taking notes about.

Jasyn had finished the health homework, which meant one thing: she now had nothing to do, and fifteen minutes to do it. Sighing, she picked up her makeshift child and walked over to the vending machine. Might as well waste time doing something. She put in her dollar bill and pressed two buttons. Nothing happened. She once again pushed the buttons, but still the machine did nothing. Jasyn hit the change return multiple times before a voice startled her.

“We have got to stop meeting like this.” Her body whipped around and she was face to face with Alex Gaskarth.
“The stupid shit ate my money.” She kicked the machine once.
“Hey! No cursing! There’s a child present!” Jasyn rolled her eyes as Alex took the flour from her.
“You are way too into this project.”
“Well then! Maybe I should take little Jameson with me since his mother obviously doesn’t love him anymore!” Alex began to pet the sack of flour, conjuring a laugh from Jasyn.
“Please, be my guest!” Jasyn looked over at his table for a second. “Your future cousin-in-law doesn’t seem at all happy that you’re talking to me.” Alex looked over and glared back at Tommy Scott, who had been staring at them since Alex walked away from the table.
“I really hate that guy. You’re lucky you got rid of him when you had the chance.”
“You can say that again.” Jasyn said after turning her attention away from her ex-boyfriend.
“Okay. You’re lucky you got rid of him when you had the chance.” Alex restated with a smirk.
“Smart ass.”
“Oh please, you know you love my ass.” The boy turned his body and began to shake his rear. Jasyn’s eyes widened considerably as everyone in the cafeteria stared at them in curiosity. She once again looked across the cafeteria, Tommy was rolling his eyes and Chase was attempting to stifle laughter.
“Mr. Gaskarth, if you would, please stop dancing like a deranged lunatic.” A lunch monitor advised. Alex’s little jig came to an abrupt end as he saluted her.
Luckily for Jasyn, the bell rang and she left the cafeteria to go to health. Alex wasn’t far behind.

*****************

Class seemed to be going by slow as the students were subject to watch ‘The Miracle Of Life’. Mrs. Desmond, bless her old heart, thought that it was fitting since they were pretending to be parents themselves. What she didn’t expect was the constant giggles coming from most of the males in the class. Teenagers were not nearly as mature as people thought they could be. So the teacher decided to fast forward to the ending - the actual birth.

“Everyone, please discuss with your partner what you learned from this video. Keep in mind that it may prove to be a useful factor in your final presentation.”
Jasyn turned in her seat to see Alex staring bug eyed in the direction of the now vacant television screen.
“Uh, are you okay?” He just sat and stared.
“Hell-oooooo? You‘ve seriously never seen that before? I had to watch it back in sixth grade…” Alex looked to her.
“I’m never having children. That was disturbing. And I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for a good two days at least.” He shook his head and buried his face in his hands.
“Oh come on. It couldn’t possibly have been that traumatizing. It’s not like you’re the one that would have to squeeze a baby out anyway.” They sat in silence for a couple of minutes as Jasyn scribbled down notes about the ‘wonderful experience of bringing a life into this world’, or so it said on her sheet.
“So…how’s life?” It was a poor excuse for a conversation starter, but Jasyn saw no point in listening to the people chatting around her.
“Shitty: Practice is annoying, Chase is distracted, I had to see a child pushed out of a vagina, and homework is even more annoying than practice. Other than that everything is peachy keen. Well, almost everything. How’s yours?”
“Ah well, you know how it is. School sucks, my brother and I aren’t on speaking terms, and - I’m sorry, this is just too weird. Us getting along is starting to freak me out. Hell, I’m even slightly getting along with your damn cousin!” Alex laughed and agreed. “It’s hard to hate you both like I’m apparently supposed to when I have no reason to.” Jasyn groaned and ran a hand through her hair.
“I have to admit, you’ve been okay recently. It’s weird though, the first day of school I wanted nothing more than to get away from you. Now I don’t even remember why.”

They locked eyes and smiled, albeit briefly, and it just felt natural for the both of them. Unfortunately, Mrs. Desmond chose that exact moment to come up and place a hand on each of their shoulders.
“I’m glad to see you two finally getting along.” She walked away without another word, not knowing she had just ruined a ‘moment’ as most would call it.
Jasyn decided that her desk was particularly interesting and Alex found the ceiling quite fascinating. What the hell was that? What was I thinking? I have to be possessed or something, maybe less dramatic and more realistic but that little interaction was not normal. Jasyn thought, confused. They each played awkwardly with their hair until the bell signaled the end of class two minutes later. Jasyn was the first to bolt out of the classroom and, just like earlier that day, Alex wasn’t far behind.