Forbidden

Whoever thought it was a good idea for birds to chirp at ass-o’clock in the morning was a complete and utter idiot in Jason DiMera’s eyes. It was barely 6 AM, and the birds that liked to sit outside Brandon's window were making an irritating racket, which successfully awoke the three dozing men.

Jason was the first to make any sort of motion, rubbing at his eyes and groaning in discontent. He sat up from his little cot of sorts and stretched his arms high above his head, enjoying the crackling sound of his bones that followed.

“Wake up, fuckers,” He voiced to the other motionless men.

“I’m up,” Brandon grumbled back, sitting up and looking down at the floor. Ben still didn’t move, and tugged his blanket up over his head in an effort to hide from the glare Jason was shooting him. “Benji, Jay’s going to pounce on you if you don’t get up.”

Ben countered with a distressing moan, thrashing about on the floor as though he were a child fighting with their parents on the morning of their first day of school. Brandon chuckled and stood up from the bed, reaching over to pull the blankets off his slightly younger twin.

“Hey,” Brandon said. “Where’d you get those pajama pants from?”

Ben smirked, eyes still closed. “I don’t know.”

“I’m so sure.”

He moved to his bureau to begin the process of getting changed, while Ben got up and left the room to do the same. Jason pulled out clothes he’d packed for the weekend stay. The twins’ house was pretty much his second home, but the hazel-eyed man knew he was most likely going to have to stop by his own home sometime soon. He’d left his mother alone the whole weekend, and didn’t bother to call. She hadn’t called either, but he was sure she’d need him to run errands for her; buying more alcohol, paying overdue bills, and things to that effect.

Upon dressing and readying themselves completely for the day, they headed downstairs and were met with an empty house, as per usual. The twins’ parents were up and out the door by 5:00 every morning, to a job that took up most of their lives and left little to no free time at all for their sons.

Brandon made coffee, and they each drank a cup to awaken themselves more. It was going to be a long day, and no one knew just what exactly would be waiting for them, so the best thing to do was prepare for anything and that was only possible if they were fully alert and aware of their surroundings.

“We’d better get going,” Jason said, looking at the time and seeing it was already 6:30. The other two nodded and downed the rest of their coffee, picked up their school bags, and readied to exit the house. Brandon grabbed his keys from the hook by the door and pulled it closed behind him as they walked out to the car. Jason, having had been picked up from his house Friday night, was without a car and therefore had to ride with Brandon and Ben. He’d made a reminder in his head to be dropped back off after school at his own house, lest something completely horrible happen to his mother in his absence.

The familiar rifts of Metallica filled the car once it was started, and they each moved their heads to the tune. Jason sighed happily and relaxed in the seat, as James Hetfield’s soothing voice calmed his nerves. He’d discovered long ago that music could solve any problem. All one had to do was make the effort to pop in a CD or turn on their iPod, and every issue faced became a thing of the past; at least, this was the case for Jason. He sometimes forgot about this little remedy, but made it a precedence to try and remember in the future.

They pulled off the Campbell’s street and onto the main road, which was as busy as it always was in the morning, and were immediately hit with traffic. Jason sighed and couldn’t help but think of Jessa. These cars were inevitably going to make the three men somewhat late, and he knew for a fact Jessa got there early every day. What if she got to school and was met with the wrath of her former friends, and Jason wasn’t there to help her? He couldn’t let that happen. Immediately, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through the contacts to Jessa's name. Texting wouldn’t nearly be fast enough at a time like this, so therefore, he hit the call button and listened as it began to ring.

“Hello,” her soft voice answered.

He smiled at the sound. “Hey, it’s Jason.”

“I know, I have caller ID,” she said with a chuckle. “What’s up?”

“Brandon, Ben, and I are stuck in traffic on Laramie. I don’t want you going to school and running into Scott without us there to help. Is there any way you can avoid them?”

“I could go right to homeroom. They don’t usually make the trek all the way over to my hallway just to see me when I skip out on chilling with them before school starts. It’s different now, I know since I’ve been ignoring them all weekend, but we can only hope that’s what they’ll do.”

“Yeah,” Jason said with a sigh. “I guess that’s all we really can do. Where are you now?”

“I’m actually about to pull into the school parking lot. I know better than to take Laramie in the morning, unlike some people.” She giggled at the end, and Jason couldn’t help but crack a grin.

“Oh, listen to you, being a smart-ass and whatnot,” He said with a snort. “I tried to get those ass hats awake but it’s become apparent that they both needed more beauty sleep.”

“Hey!” Brandon exclaimed from the front.

“I don’t know about Bran, but I always look good. I was just born that way,” Ben quarreled and eyed Jason with contempt. Brandon's head shot in Ben’s direction with something close to an offense.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He asked.

“Well, I was implying I’m the better-looking twin, but this is hardly the time to discuss it. I was just-- Dammit, Jason! Look what you caused!” Ben’s arm flew into the back seat and he slapped the bigger man on the thigh.

“Well, it sounds like you’ve got your hands full so I’ll let you go,” Jessa started again with amusement.

“All right,” Jason replied, reluctantly. “Just, please do what we talked about and avoid them at all costs until there’s absolutely no choice but to see them, okay?”

“I will trust me. When do you want to meet up?”

“We have lunch together, right? And I’m usually out before any of those douche bags are, so how about you just wait for me by the doors and that way we can all walk out together?”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you guys then because I’m about to head in.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

Jason waited until he heard the other line disconnect, before pressing the end button on his own phone. He felt a lot better knowing there was a plan in place, and also knowing there was a good chance Jessa would be safe until he could get to her. That was all he really cared about at the moment, was her happiness and safety. If Scott Moyer did anything to threaten her security, there was no doubt in Jason’s mind he would bring the utmost harm and misfortune to the man. He promised Jessa he’d protect her, and that was just what he’d do.



It seemed as though the day dragged on longer than normal, and Jason was the epitome of skittish. He could barely concentrate in his classes, which wasn’t too out of the ordinary considering he was on his way to repeating the twelfth grade for the second time. School just didn’t interest him. He’d thought about dropping out, but then cogitated that he would most likely never get a real job anywhere. Being a drug dealer wasn’t going to cut it in the real world, and a high school diploma was usually needed in order to obtain a good paying job. So, essentially, he was stuck in there until he smartened up and passed.

Sitting in his fourth period class, Jason tapped his pen against the paper in front of him. This was the second test in under a week Mrs. Maroney gave, and the woman was slowly becoming Jason’s most hated teacher ever. He acknowledged the fact that this was sort of a contradiction, as her class was one of the few he was actually passing. None of that mattered at the moment, though, as the stupid test was successfully making his stress level worse and he just wanted to crumple up the paper and throw it in Mrs. Maroney’s face. He didn’t, of course, but merely let his eyes trail over the words with distaste. He circled answers that looked familiar to him, and guessed on the others he didn’t feel like taking the time to think over.

By the time Jason was finished, it was five minutes before the bell would ring, and he packed up his things quickly and shoved them into his backpack. He planned on being the first out of the room, that way he could assure Jessa wouldn’t have to wait and risk running into the douche bags before he got there. That plan was quite literally squashed when Mrs. Maroney’s voice called to him, the very second before the bell sounded. Jason groaned to himself and sealed his lips into a straight line as he walked up to her desk.

“I don’t want to hold you from your lunch period, so I’ll make this fast,” she said, as she sifted through some papers on her desk and pulled a stray out in view. “Take a look at this.”

Jason took the paper from her and glanced at it briefly. It was the test he’d just taken, and it was marked with an A. He nodded with a forced smile. “Oh, cool.”

“It is. I’m very proud of you, Jason. You show a great amount of pride in the work you do in this classroom, but I’m told by some of my fellow teachers that your work is less than dignified in their classrooms. Why is that?”

Jason only shrugged and did his best to stand still, wishing and hoping she would just shut up and let him go. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t apply myself enough in other subjects. I’m not that smart.”

“Don’t say that. You’re a very smart young man. I just have a feeling you’re more interested in other aspects of life than you are school, and that won’t get you very far. There’s still time; you can still bring your grades up to at least passing if you just put in the effort to do so. I’d hate to see you back in my class another year when you have all the wisdom to move forward. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Jason nodded again and sighed. She had a point, of course, and for a moment he thought deeply about her words. He really did need to just pull it together. Another year at that school, most likely without Brandon and Ben, would be the death of him. He needed to do something, anything, to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Well, go on ahead to lunch. I’ll see you tomorrow and maybe we can discuss some of your options more thoroughly.”

“All right.” He smiled. “Thanks, Mrs. Maroney.”

Jason turned and walked to the door, exiting the classroom in a sort of daze. His steps were semi-slow, and for the time being, he completely forgot about Jessa. That is, until he heard distant shouting, and he let out a slight gasp. He picked up the pace and was soon met with a small crowd of students standing just outside of the lunch doors. He pushed through the hallway the best he could, earning shoves back from some and filthy words spat at him. He knew it; he could just feel that what he was about to run into would not be good.

Propelling himself out the doors, Jason could now distinctly make out Jessa’s voice. It sounded distressed, and anger welled up deep in his chest. The crowd of people broke off into a circle, where Jessa stood in the middle, and the lean form of one Scott Moyer stood directly in front of her.

He was shouting at her, louder than needed and it was obvious he wanted everyone’s attention. His arm was outstretched and gripping Jessa’s own, as she did her best to fight him off. Jason saw red; a burning, searing red, and he immediately charged forward.