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chapter eleven / Jasper

Jasper had a solid idea on two things: one, he hadn't gotten into any of the colleges he applied to and two, he was positive Andreas had told Henry about their discussion a couple of months ago.

To be fair, he didn't even want to attend college. It was just his mom had this creepy obsession with him attending some sort of Ivy League university while majoring in Law and then snagging some fancy job and ending up with a post-tax six figures income annually.

And it could've worked out for him, really, if he hadn't failed his intermediate business law class last year. He couldn't even remember his 27 amendments—the most basic requirement there is in regards to law. So he applied to the unrealistic colleges (MIT, Berkeley, Yale), that he knew he'd never get accepted into just to show his mom he at least tried. And he did, really, the applying process alone took literal months. How Charlotte even finished all of hers and got accepted into all of her top choices was beyond his level of basic understanding.

And with Henry, the reason why he had gotten so irritatingly clingy was because Andreas couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut. He wasn't sure when he told Henry their conversation exactly, but he was positive it was the day before Henry had practically ordered he'd stay over his house for the next couple of weeks, just to check up on him and 'rekindle their bond.'

It was an excuse—he figured—to just give him some time to figure out a way on how he was going to ask his friend on why he had asked Andreas, of all people, for a weapon; for what purpose?

And honestly, Jasper was relieved it was taking Henry this long to muster the courage to actually ask him, because he was still trying to figure out how he was going to explain it to him. He didn't have to, even if Henry had begged him to tell him why, he knew he didn't have to tell him if he truly didn't want to. But—there was no use in keeping the reason to himself. Henry'd find out eventually somehow, he's sure of it.

Speaking of, Jasper shouldn't have been surprised to see him laying face down on the couch as soon as he opened his door, the living room's quilt decorated comfortably on his lower half. Henry's bubblegum bottle was loose in his right hand's hold, but Jasper could see his fingers clenched almost protectively around it.

"Jasper," Henry welcomed him grimly once he fully stepped inside, shutting the door with a soft click. Jasper's eyes travelled slowly across his living room, noticing the half-eaten bowl of popcorn sitting precariously on the edge of the nightstand near the couch. The kitchen seemed a bit disoriented from his peripheral vision, a couple of popcorn packets were scattered carelessly across the dining table, small packets of sugar resting near them, empty bottles of crinkled water bottles were tossed sightlessly across the kitchen, so many Jasper began to worry if he even had any left.

His eyes travelled across Henry's stiff frame solemnly, an eyebrow raised. "Henry," Jasper drawled, "What.. the fuck?"

Henry waved him off dismissively. "I'll clean it up later. You want to know what happened today?" He muffled through some pillows, his free hand making exaggerated movements to solidify his words. "Fucking guess, dude. You'll never believe it."

Jasper sighed, scooping up the empty sugar packets and tossing them into the trash. "You had to leave early from class, right? For a Kid Danger mission—"

"Yeah, yeah. Now guess what happened to me," He still made no movements to alter his position so Jasper could hear him better.

"You.." Jasper gathered the popcorn packets, walking towards the pantry. "Found a new rival I hope? You previous ones have been pretty questionable, might I add. I mean, you need a real challenge—" He places the packets back inside their appropriate box, moving to collect the empty water bottles. "—I'm assuming you won though, right? You're still in one piece. Or are you? Your legs don't look as long as they usually do from this angle.."

"Fuck you, no, that's not it." Henry sighed impatiently, moving to sit up as he watched Jasper place the water bottles into a brown bag used for recycling purposes. "There was no bad guy. There was no one to protect from anything, dude. I mean, since when do we get false alarms like that? Never. I feel like I'm being fucked with, you know?" He slumped back into the pillow, raising a hand to dig into the popcorn bowl. He kept it there.

Jasper shuffled to pick up more empty bottles. "That's why you trashed my kitchen? You adolescent men disgust me."

"Take me seriously," It almost sounded like a whine, the way he muffled obnoxiously into the pillow. "I don't know what to fucking do, Jas. I mean, a false alarm, really? Ray and I haven't been going out and solving as much crime as we used to and I don't understand why. In fact, the crime rates have stayed consistent throughout our senior year so far; especially in the downtown locations. I just don't get it—"

"Henry," Jasper leaned against the kitchen counter, his fingers tapping against the marble countertops steadily. "Something like that was bound to happen sooner or later, you do know that, right?"

He finally shifted upright, though in only the smallest of movement. He faced Jasper whilst maintaining eye contact with the watch on his wrist. He frowned at it almost slightly. "Do you think that.. maybe we were just too late? I mean I had to take a bit longer because I had to leave from school but—maybe if Ray had left without waiting on me then we could've possibly seen if something really did happen. It just makes no sense—it's never happened before, Jas. Maybe I'm just starting to lack again.."

His ramblings proceeded, and suddenly Jasper realized he wasn't talking to him, but mostly to himself about his failures. Henry stared down at his watch more than he stared Jasper in the eye, his left leg bouncing nervously as he continued to double, triple, octuple check on his possible wrong doings when in reality, it truly could've been nothing.

Sure, the demands for them weren't as high as usual, but everyone knew why—Gevolli was back in town for good and their sites were set on him and his empire. He's always been a threat to both the good and the bad. He was somewhere stuck between—just far more devious and calculating than Jasper could even attempt to comprehend—he wasn't known for just nothing.

He realized, maybe Henry wasn't worried about the call. Maybe it was something else.

"Is this overthinking because you still haven't decided on if you were going to college or not?" Jasper asked, quite boldly, cocking his hip to rest against the counter as he crossed his arms. "I know you don't like to talk about it much but—"

He remained silent as Henry grumbled incoherences under his breath. It didn't take long before Jasper realized he was mimicking him. He ignored it for the most part; he knew Henry was going through a tough time right now, especially with the constant pull and tug of the different possibilities of his future. He knew Ray was going to sit down with him at some point this week and talk to him about his internal dilemma with going to his top choice college and staying in Swellview to continue being the title—the hero he's been for years now. Jasper couldn't even begin to understand the stress wracking through him day and night.

Either way, Gevolli and Andreas was still here—there was no way Henry was going to sleep peacefully at night knowing they were just a few blocks down, the intentions behind their calculated moves always remaining a mystery.

"I don't need any kind of reassurance," Henry huffed, his eyes preparing to roll into the back of his head. "In fact, I'm fine. The next call I get I'm catching whoever's trying to fuck with me."

"It might not even be the same person-"

The jarring, obnoxious familiar ringtone of his phone snapped Jasper's mouth shut, and he scrambled over to get it once it reached its fourth ring. "Hey, Char," Jasper greeted warmly, ignoring the way Henry recoiled back into his moping limp of a mess on his couch. "What's up?"

He heard her muffle a noise of acknowledgement before saying, "Busy?"

Jasper shrugged with one shoulder, "I'm at home. Probably heading out in a few hours, though." Jasper couldn't tell her his plans on going to the man cave later on tonight, not yet at least. Hopefully once they get there, Ray could talk some sense into Henry and get him to understand that not everything works out the way he wants them to all of the time.

"Hm," She made a noncommittal noise before shuffling was heard through the speaker. "I just left the school. Sidney and Oliver's project I was helping them with for months was scored decent enough for them to pass the class with flying colors. I just finished the Art Association's last meeting, so that's officially done for the remaining of the year and I don't really feel like studying for finals alone-"

Jasper panicked, sensing the direction she was headed. "Uh. Um, hm! Yeah I c-can't—" He twitched uncomfortably at his unintelligible reply. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in a room with Henry and Charlotte. Together. They were too stubborn for their own good—their still ongoing feud offering just enough tension to assure Jasper that no, he does not want to be caught in the middle of their adolescent drama. For the millionth time.

"Thought you were free?" Charlotte pushed, her tone light.

"Free, as in I plan on sulking in my bedroom playing overwatch-"

"You loaned your game to me, Jasper-"

"And maybe even hit up the gym for an hour or two-"

"You can't do a solid push-up to save your life-"

"And maybe even visit my dead grandmas grave. Things like that are very, very personal, you know."

He heard Charlotte sigh, a soft laugh coming from the speaker as he shuffled closer to the couch, nudging Henry's legs off for him to sit. "Just say you don't feel like hanging today, Jas. I don't mind."

"It's not that," Jasper said, because it wasn't. It was just the feeling—no, the idea of both of his best friends being alone with him didn't suit well with him, especially since the last time the three ended up alone together just a couple weeks ago, the constant bickering and directly indirect jabs were almost in every damn sentence they spoke. Sometimes, Jasper really did just want to study. (Shocking, yes, he knows).

"It's just.." He fidgeted. "Henry's here and.."

"Oh," All noise on her end stopped abruptly.

"Yeah."

There was temporary silence from the both of them, "I don't mind. After all, it's just studying." The suggestion sounded innocent enough, but, so did the rest of them.

"Henry's here," Jasper emphasized, "Sulking. On my couch, in no way whatsoever desiring to study."

"Well he can watch, can't he?"

Jasper groaned, "God, Char. You never give up."

"I want to hang out with you, is all. We haven't officially ever since he claimed your couch as his. I can't keep prolonging our study time just because Henry is being clingy." Charlotte said, a hint of annoyance on the tip of her tongue. Jasper decided to not comment on it.

Jasper stared at Henry's unamused expression. "Sure, whatever, come over."

"No," Henry sat up, the quilt falling into a limp pile on the floor. "No."

Jasper ignored him, "And bring a case of water bottles, please, I'm all out."

"Sure, sure. Bye." He heard the clicking sound and dropped his phone near his thigh, limp.

"So," Jasper sighed out. "Should I mentally prepare myself for you and Char's remarks or do you think I can rest easy for once?"

He watched Henry stare at him with slitted eyes before murmuring underneath his breath—most likely insults. "How about I go upstairs and you stay down here with Charlotte-"

"Stop being ridiculous-"

"'Stop being ridiculous,'"

"Henry-"

"'Henry-'"

"Look, I want you guys to make up." Jasper watched as Henry's eyes widened only slightly before he made any sort of eye contact, fidgeting uncomfortably on the couch as he adjusted the quilt. He opened his mouth to speak, and judging by his expression, it wasn't going to be anything optimistic. "I'm not asking you to try and be friends with her or anything like that, Henry. So don't worry. I just, I can't keep being in between you two. I should be able to freely talk to you both while we're all in the same room without feeling awkward or uncomfortable. Besides, we're growing up. And if you two don't make up now, you guys probably ever won't. Charlotte's leaving, Hen."

He watched him flinch, "Yes, Dr. Phil I know. I am very much aware of my lack in healthy, communicating relationships. I really, really don't need to be reminded of it."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Not the point, bird brain. As mad as I was-still am, about what happened between you guys, I know the last thing either of you want is to separate on awkward terms," He rubbed his clammy hands along his jeans, sighing softly. "Before we separate. I just-just one last regular hangout before life begins to move so fast we won't even realize we're graduating then heading off into our own individual paths."

"Inspiring."

"I swear to god, hen-"

"I'll try. For my sake and yours." Jasper eyed him skeptically, but he looked serious this time, peering up at him with a self-assured grin. Jasper begins to wonder when Henry got so good at faking his smiles; it was always something he could easily point out and still can, but this time he almost, almost believed him.

There's a firm knock on the door before the doorbell rings a solid five times consecutively, the sounds forcing them out of their internal thoughts. Jasper stands, a bit uneasy, and focuses his attention on Henry, eyeing him with as much intimidation he could muster, walking towards the door and opening it, before turning right back around and giving Charlotte a half-hearted greeting.

"It smells like self-deprecation and adolescent males in here." Is Charlotte's greeting, her book bag resting easily on her shoulder and a pair of car keys in her hand. Jasper couldn't help his raised eyebrow.

"Um, I'm the only one here with a license. Let alone a permit..."

Jasper notices the way Charlotte purposely avoids looking in his—Henry's—direction altogether, busying herself at the dining room table as she sorts out her belongings. "It's called skill, Jas. I know how to drive-"

"In what world-"

"It's just the process of getting a license is tedious. Who has that kind of time?"

"Every living, non-law breaking adult. You should take notes. Who's car is that anyway?"

Jasper watched as she perked up noticeably. "My mom's. She came home yesterday evening, she's been asking about you,"

Jasper scoffed. "Your mom thinks I'm a bad influence and believes my future job will be a hall monitor at some middle school in New Jersey. I doubt she asked anything good."

Charlotte shuffled. "Actually, she invited you over for dinner Friday night. And you too, Henry. She said it's her farewell to you both since she knows I'm leaving for college and, well, she's never home to begin with, so.."

The pause after her suggestion is long. Not necessarily awkward, per se, but Charlotte's mom was the type of person an average person could only tolerate for ten solid minutes before making up some lousy excuse of dismissal.

Jasper looked to Henry, watching his bulging eyes increase in size after the words registered in his brain. "Um," Jasper murmured tentatively.

Charlotte looked uneasy, her hands beginning to fidget anxiously as she studies the expressions on their faces, which seemed to concede their instinctive reactions. "You guys don't have to come if you don't want-"

"No, no, we'll be there. If.. your mom wants to see us again, I have no problem going."

Shockingly, the words coming from Henry, all soft and caring and very obviously catching onto her disappointment. Jasper says nothing, however, and just nods. It seems to be enough for Charlotte because she nods back, clearing her throat and forcing a smiling. "Okay," She says.

"Okay," Henry mumbled back, his eyes connected with the wall behind her.

The studying session isn't what bothered Jasper; in fact, it had went completely fine (except, except for Henry's much too excessive staring towards Charlotte direction and Charlotte's blatant attempts to stare anywhere but in his direction in return). They had gotten a lot done and Jasper even felt a little more confident about his calculus final that was coming up in a week.

It was just.. it was just when his mom walked in (yes, yes he does have parents), is when it got awkward. In fact, it had gotten so obviously uncomfortable that even Jasper himself felt the secondhand embarrassment.

It went a little like this:

His mom had walked in, purse and car keys in hand as she mindlessly sung a tune of a song Jasper couldn't recognize very well, her attention on the slight (albeit messy) disarray in the living room. "Jas?" She called, never taking her eyes off the living room. Her keys were in mid air, a slight tremble to her voice.

Immediately, Jasper shoot up, his attention fully on fixing the mess Henry had made. "Sorry," He called, stuttering a bit. "I didn't know you'd be home so soon-"

"It's fine, love, just.. I need the house like I had it, yeah? Make sure you clean it correctly."

Then she turned towards his friends, blonde eyebrows raised as her red stained lips curved into a smile that resembled Jasper's. "Henry, glad to see my second son back home," She laughed— a pretty little noise—then set her keys down. "And Charlotte, pleasure seeing you again, dear. How's the college decision making going? Jasper's dream choice is Berkeley, you know."

Charlotte nodded, her eyes dancing with mischief. "Really?"

"Char, I swear to fucking god-"

"Jasper!"

"Sorry, sorry,"

His mom disregarded his apology, and instead walked towards the dining table, her heels clicking and clacking softly as she waddled over with darting eyes watching Jasper tidy the living room. "Anyway," She smoothed her dress, satin gloves covering her dainty hands. "Yes, really. I'm quite proud of him, you know. All those years of rebellion and strings of early grays have to pay off somehow, right?" She laughed again, missing the way Jasper's frantic eyes bore into his friends.

"You better fucking play along," He mouthed to them both, an accusing finger directed at them as he folded the quilt diagonally, never square.

"Ah, yes," Henry replied, his voice a touch higher. "Ever the genius, almighty Jasper is."

"What if he went to community?" Charlotte asked abruptly, her voice calm.

"Community college is for the less fortunate, Charlotte dear. I will not tolerate any child of mine sinking so low to attend some.. poor excuse of an education. Besides, Jasper is confident he'll be accepted into Berkeley and perhaps even MIT. Yale is a stretch, however if luck lands in our favor, I wouldn't doubt he'd be accepted."

"Play along," He mouthed again, glaring at a gawking Charlotte.

"Right," Henry said, speaking for them both.

"He's confident he'll ace all of his finals," She cleared her throat, her eyes scanning the paperwork her son was reviewing just before she walked in with silent approval. "He's studying, too, I see. With Charlotte helping him out, I will never doubt his ability to do good," Then she paused, bright eyes staring down a fidgeting Henry. "And you, Henry dear? Where will you go?"

Jasper watched Henry's eyes land briefly on the wall, then Charlotte's gaze, then his mother before settling on the pencil in his hands. "Not sure yet." He admitted.

"Hm.." She didn't look convinced at all, in fact, she seemed to have known his destiny of his imminent future before he did. "Is that what you're telling yourself or is that what you truly believe? Don't lie to me, now. I think we all know the truth here."

The silence carried on for several seconds, Jasper watching his eyes dancing frantically across the room as his face began to turn red from embarrassment. "I-" He started, licking his lips shyly. "I don't know, I-"

His mother sat back in her seat, arms folded crisply. "Mm," She murmured faintly, not a hint of surprise in her tone. "I hear the community is still accepting applications, Henry dear. Maybe I'll speak with your mother about it sometime this week."

The silence felt impalpable, no one moving a muscle, as if shocked from hearing her words. Truth be told, Jasper was.

"You know," Charlotte cut through, her tone pleasant and light, respectful to her seniors as always. "Henry has always been one of the smartest people I've known. There may be a couple of questionable things he's done in his lifetime, and I can name a lot, but him applying for the colleges he plans on going to and getting into his top two choices is amazing."

"Um," Jasper said, an eyebrow perched. "I agree?"

His mother hummed distantly, her ruby lips curving into a mocking edge. "I've always admired friendship," She replied with instead, her tone settling into something warm and sweet. "Makes you forget the flaws of others. Luckily for me, however, I rarely have friends." She laughed.

Henry blinked. "But you've fallen in love,"

When she stares at him almost quizzically, Jasper watched him fumble with her fingers for a few seconds before elaborating. "Jasper's dad—you've, you married him for almost twenty years. Surely you had to have been blinded by his flaws too, right?"

She hums, a damn near whisper. "Sure," She said. "If you want to call it that. I'll be upstairs." Then she left, blonde curls twirling behind her as she dismissed herself.

And yeah, Jasper knows his mom is a bit egotistical, refuses to acknowledge any of Jasper's many flaws, hates anything in the house not like she had it, and absolutely hates her son not being the best at everything like Charlotte is. And yeah, when she finds out that he himself might be attending community college she might throw a fit, maybe even kick him out, but Jasper has known these things already; what he didn't expect was for her to attack Henry.

Henry, who had actually gotten accepted into
good colleges, and actually has choices.

And maybe it was just his mom trying to convince herself more than others that Jasper could actually get into such top schools, but either way, he knows deep down she knew the truth, she knows school was never much of a top priority for him.

Instead of addressing it, Henry moves on, going back to flicking the pages in his textbook as he fumbles with the pencil in his hand, his eyes reading over small fonted words with a squint. Because it's Jasper's mom they're talking about, and one thing Henry would never do is disrespect her.

"I'm sorry about that," Jasper decides to say, swallowing spit as he watches him wave a hand of dismissal. "Henry, no, I really am—"

"Dude," Henry's—laughing. "It's fine. Trust me, it's cool, really." Henry blinked, a lopsided grin playing on his face for several seconds before he's back to flipping pages, tapping his pencil thoughtfully against the table.

Jasper's never really been good at this kind of thing—providing comfort—but he tries. But it does get tiring sometimes; having to think of reassuring words to say and hopes no one misinterprets his words. It's stressful, to say the least, so when Charlotte steps up and does the job for him, he's relieved.

"Wherever you decide to go, I think you'll do great." She offered, tapping her pen against her notebook. Light scribblings on the edges of the paper tells Jasper she was never truly devoted to studying at the moment.

Henry blinked, pursed his lips, then blinked again, "I could say the same for you. You're amazing. Probably going to find the cure for hair loss and get paid millions. Everyone's going to love you."

"I could say the same for you," Charlotte complimented, looking shy. "Don't listen to anything negative anyone has to say, alright? You're smart and you've gotten the acceptance letters you dreamed of. Focus on that, Henry."

They continue their immeasurable topic filled with compliments and encouraging words and yes, maybe the mention of the words 'I've missed this' here and there, and Jasper watches with a mind full of relief. Just a couple hours ago, he was worried about them seeing each other again, thinking they'd chew each other's head off if they could, and now they looked fine; engaging in light conversation and finally, finally being able to look each other in the eye—even if it's just a couple of seconds.

He's thought about this: his plan on how he was going to make them kiss and makeup before graduation, but it seemed that maybe they didn't need his help—not too drastically, at least.

He hears Charlotte laughing at something—just a small chuckle, and Henry stares, starry eyed.

It's a mere simple thing; a small little step in the right direction for them all as a unit. It's enough, for now, for Jasper to view it as something worthy of being relieved about; last week it seemed they'd never circulate back into their familiar routine of being causal with their ongoing bickering, but now, these little engages are enough for him to not have to worry so much.

It's progress, and that's all he could ever ask for.