Chapter 15

<Jasper Coven>

I sneak a glance at the clock behind me; it still reads 2:45, just like the last time I looked. It's Friday afternoon and I'm counting down the minutes until the bell finally rings and I'm free to leave high school behind for a couple of days. My lab partner is engrossed in whatever Mr. Roberts is lecturing about and Callie is inching closer and closer to the aisle, a vain attempt to get herself away from Jesse. I roll my eyes and let out a sigh as I go to check the clock again. My eyes are almost on the clock when I hear Mr. Roberts call my name.

"Jasper, can you tell me what I've been lecturing about?" He asks with his beady glare aimed right at me.

"I wasn't listening, sir." I mumble, my fists clenched under the desk.

"I can tell; maybe if you paid more attention to me than the clock, you'd know what was going to be on the next test."

And maybe if you didn't spend the entire class lecturing and reading off of PowerPoints than I'd listen...

He's about to continue his reign of terror when the bell rings and the shuffling of papers drown him out. I pick up my bag off of the floor and shove my notes sloppily into it as I walk towards the door. I feel someone grab my forearm as I try to make my way down the hallway. I know who it is before they even open their mouth.

"Hey, Jasper." Callie smiles brightly, while we get shoved down the hallway by other students that are eager to leave for the weekend.

"Hi, Callie." I say politely as she continues to hold onto my forearm, most likely so she won't get separated from me in the crowd of students.

"Are you up to anything this weekend?" She asks in a conversational tone, her eyes trained on my profile.

"The usual; keeping my dad from killing my mom and me." I mutter without a trace of humor in my voice.

In my peripheral vision, I see her open and close her mouth a few times as she tries to formulate a response. Our feet carry us to the deserted west lot where only my truck and a few convertibles are parked. I shake off her hand and grab my keys from where I stashed them in the front pocket of my backpack. The lights flash and the locks click as my truck opens. I drop my bag on the floor next to the passenger's seat and then turn around to find Callie exactly where I left her.

"If you're not too worried about your reputation, I'd be happy to give you a ride home." I say and cross my arms, giving her an expectant look.

A smile spreads across her pink lips as she nods enthusiastically. She walks quickly to the other side of my truck and gets inside like she's afraid I'll change my mind. I exhale deeply and fight off a small smile that's creeping onto my lips as I slide into the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition. I back out of the parking space and begin to drive down a back road that wraps around town before leading right to her neighborhood. It's the scenic route, free of town and people in general.

"Callie, I'm sorry about my comment from earlier." I say, trying to find some way to fill the silence that's ensued.

"Don't apologize; I met your dad and I'm sorry to say, I don't think that's very far off from the truth." Callie gives me a pitying look before going back to staring out the passenger's side window.

"Don't pity me; it is how it is and there isn't much I can do to change it."

Geez, way to bring the mood down yet again, Jasper.

"Can I ask you something?" Callie says, abruptly turning to face me.

"Yes," I reply, my voice dripping with hesitation.

"My church does this thing where they plant sunflowers at the retirement home a few miles away from town, you know, to make the peoples' days a little better. It's happening this weekend and I don't know if it's your thing, but I'd really like it if you came..." Her voice trails off, her gaze not meeting mine.

"I think it sounds like fun." I say and watch as her head snaps up in surprise.

"Really?" She asks, her eyes wide with shock.

"Yeah, what time should I be there?"

"Um, noon on Saturday."

"Great." I give her a small smile and pull into her driveway.

Somehow, I don't think I know what I've gotten myself into...

~~~~~

It's Saturday and I'm pulling into the dilapidated parking lot of the Riverview Retirement Home. It's a collection of red brick buildings with sad boxes of dying flowers hanging in the windows. A few people make their way down the sidewalk in front of the multi-purpose center, many of them attached to oxygen machines and barely clinging to life. I turn my truck off and hop down, my feet hitting the pavement with a thud.

"Hey, Jasper, over here." Callie calls and gestures for me to come to the sign-in booth.

I shove my hands deeply in my pocket and quickly walk towards her, so as not to draw any more attention to myself. Callie is smiling in her usual perky way, her blue eyes shielded by a pair of bright pink sunglasses. I give her a small half-smile and then turn towards the girl sitting behind the sign-in booth. The girl, whose nametag reads Jenna, looks up from her clipboard and tilts her head with a smile.

"Hey, thanks so much for coming to help out, Callie tells me your name's Jasper. Is that right?" Jenna says in a kind voice.

"Yeah," I reply and rub the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Well, here's a name tag and you can work with Callie on the west lot." Jenna explains as she hands me a sticker with my name written on it in neat, swirling script.

"I'm so glad you came." Callie whispers as she leads me towards our work area.

"Thanks for inviting me." I say with sincerity, causing Callie to smile sheepishly as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. "What should I get started with?"

"Some other people have gotten started, but I think they still need someone to cart dirt to the west lot. The dirt is over there." Callie points to a cleared area in the parking lot where some people are picking up bags of dirt.

"Got it," I nod and walk over to join the group.

I roll up my long sleeves and squat down, my arms wrapping around a bag of heavy dirt. Like I've done a million times on my dad's farm, I lift with my legs and make my way back over to Callie. She's kneeling down on the ground with some guy bending down to talk to her; she seems uncomfortable and that's when I realize that it's Jesse who's bothering her. I keep my lips sealed as I set the dirt down. I'm about to leave to go get more when Callie looks up and grabs my forearm as if she wants me to get her out of having to talk to Jesse. I sigh and rack my brain for some feasible excuse.

"Hey, could you come help me with the dirt? I don't know how much more we need..." My eyes lock with Callie's as she mouths the words 'thank you'.

"Yeah, totally." She says, standing up quicker than I think I've ever seen anyone.

She continues to hold onto my forearm until we're at the cleared area of the parking lot.

"Thanks for that," She sighs as I bend down to pick up another bag of dirt.

"Anytime, what do you think Jesse's doing at a church event?" I make a face and Callie laughs a little.

"I don't like to judge people; maybe he's just trying to do the lord's work." Callie shrugs, a smile spreading across her lips.

She's the first person to say something like that and mean it...

"You would be the first to think that."

"Everyone needs one person to look at them differently than the way other people do." She replies smoothly, her gaze meeting mine.

I guess that's exactly what you did for me.

We walk back together and find Jesse exactly where we left him. I drop the dirt at his feet and go searching for a pair of work gloves so I can help Callie plant the sunflowers. When I come back with a pair of work gloves I find Jesse standing a little too close to her with his lips a little too close to her ear. I roll my eyes and grab a shovel from the ground.

"Could ya please move?" I mutter sarcastically, interrupting Jesse's reign of discomfort.

Jesse narrows his eyes and turns towards me. Callie gives me a grateful look and leaves to go find some tools before Jesse decides to start talking to her again. I drop down and begin digging a hole in the dirt for the sunflower.

"What's your issue?" Jesse asks as he stoops down to be on my level.

I was about to ask you the same thing...

I remain silent and continue digging. I feel him shove my shoulder, but I just clench my fists and carry on.

It'd be out of my nature to retaliate...

"I'll tell you what your issue is then," Jesse chuckles and kneels down so it looks like he's trying to help me.

I would love to see you try.

"You can't keep your nose in your own damn business." He shoves my shoulder again, trying his hardest to get a reaction out of me.

I spend my whole life doing that, asshole.

"Why aren't you responding? Why are you just sitting there?"

"Why are you trying to get a reaction out of me?" I say through clenched teeth.

"There it is," He laughs and starts to stand up. "Stay away from Callie, trailer trash, you know she deserves someone better."

I'd rather be blue collar trailer trash than be choked by my own silver spoon...

"Someone like you?" I mumble low enough so he won't be able to hear me as he walks away.

Callie finally comes back when she sees Jesse walk away.

"What were you guys talking about?" She asks with fear as she drops down next to me.

"Nothing," I bite my lip as I finally dig deep enough to put the flower in. "Don't worry about it."

"It doesn't sound like nothing." Callie tilts her head and hands me a flower she'd already removed from its plastic pot.

"Well, it was." I snap and then instantly regret it as I watch her face sink.

"What did he say to you?" She presses as her blue eyes meet mine.

"I don't wanna talk about it." I shrug and begin to fill in around the flower.

"I'll be right back." Callie says absentmindedly as she stands up and walks over to where Jesse is standing.

I watch while she talks to him, anger staining her cheeks as he responds. She looks like she's about to slap him, her hands clenched against her side as the conversation wears on. I remain rooted to my spot as I watch her fume at Jesse.

"Just leave him alone." She exclaims, her hand finally slapping Jesse's arm, which leaves a huge red mark in its wake.

Callie stalks back over and drops down next to me.

"I don't think he'll be bothering you anymore."

"I would say not." I chuckle and rub the back of my neck. "Thanks for that, Callie."

"Anytime," Callie smiles and reaches for a shovel.

"Hey, can you hand me one of those flowers?" I ask, gesturing towards the tray of potted plants.

Callie nods and passes it to me, our fingertips brushing. Her hand's warm, her fingernails are painted a bright blue and she's left her fingertips on mine for a little longer than necessary. I let out a small breath and look into her eyes. She smiles a little and moves her hand as she goes back to work.