Even as he ran through the halls, he was sweating.

Jason knew he failed that test. All the answers are C, really? He was lucky it was multiple choice. The halls were empty, the class still had five minutes left. He rubbed the tiredness from his eyes.

His car was up front; he was lucky he could afford the money to buy a spot at all. Or a car. He checked his second hand watch, it's time seeming to tick faster than normal.

"I'm late. I'm late. I'm late." He chanted as if admitting it would turn back the clock. He opened the door to his car, and the sudden alarm startled him. "Goddamn it." He grabbed the keys pounding the alarm button.

He sighed.

The bell rang in the school building letting a swarm of people out. Jason barely recognized three of them. He threw his book bag into his passenger side seat. Then he jerkily inserted his keys switching the ignition.

Nothing happened.

Jason froze. "What?" He asked himself. He tried again. And again. His car wasn't starting. It wasn't even flickering. Nothing. "NoNoNoNoNo....the alarm just went off,  come on!" Jason cursed. His watch flashed 2:40, he was officially screwed for work.

He got out of his car cursing. He didn't care what the others thought. They probably didn't have to worry about dinner tonight, or the rent due this week.

Jason kicked the wheel of his car. Not enough to do any damage but enough to release his frustration.

Eight an hour. All week. All month. Dinner for this weekend. Double shifts on Sunday at the Big-N-Mart. Maybe a loan from the Bank? The late rent notification was still crumpled in his jacket pocket he could feel it as he slumped against his broken car. He had two weeks to get the money. Otherwise he and his mother were out on the street.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Jason wiped away his frustrated tears. Behind his car stood a neatly dressed girl. She wrote a black skirt with knee high purple socks and black converse. Her shirt was purple with the letters SPQR, from her trip to Rome last semester. She looked at him with a blank face her eyes calculating and her hair neatly braided.

Jason shook his head. "Last night."

"How long?"

"Really Reyna?" Jason asked, "Is it necessary to interrogate me?"

Reyna have him another unamused look. Then she sighed, "Come on, I'll give you a ride." She said finally. She readjusted her purse on her shoulder and twirled around. Her car was a couple rows away, Jason was desperate enough to actually take her offer.

He reached in and grabbed his bag from his car and locked his vehicle. Then Jason ran after the girl.

"Reyna-" Jason watched his friend's chocolate braid disappear behind a truck and he charged after her. He looked down and checked his watch.

Right as he did he crashed right into a girl...for the second time in ten minutes.

Jason sucked in a breath. She was gorgeous. Her hair was choppy like she cut it herself, and still looked better than any professional hairstylist. She wore no make up, but her eyes sparkled. She bit her lip.

"Uh, sorry." She mumbled.

"Jason, are you coming?" Reyna popped back around the car, "because I'm leaving."

"Yeah," Jason finally tore his eyes away from the girl. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you. Bye."

He ran after Reyna, before the girl could reply. He wanted to slap himself. No girls, not even one that far out of his league. He was too busy to have a relationship. But he snuck one last glance back at her beautiful dreamy face, that was reading a crumpled note.

Then he was in Reyna car, a small, four door, Volkswagen Golf. She started up her car, pursuing her lips. It was silent. Reyna peeled out of the student parking lot turning towards the diner where Jason worked. Jason could feel a drop of nervous sweat skidding down his neck. Ten minutes late...

"You suck." Reyna said suddenly.

"What?" Jason frowned

"You don't even remember, do you?" Reyna snapped, her eyes flashed from the road to glare at him.

"Reyna, what are you taking about?"

"Wednesday night, 7:00, Pizza Parade." She snapped, "ring any bells?"

Jason blinked. Wednesday night, he worked Wednesday night. In a flash it hit him. And pure horror took over. "Oh my god, Reyna!" Jason shouted, "I'm so so sorry! I'm such an idiot, Dakota called out last minute. No one else would cover!"

"I sat in that stupid booth, Grace." Reyna hissed angrily. "I sat there in that stupid loud obnoxious place for two hours. Two hours! I kept telling myself, oh Jason will be here. He's probably already on his way. There's no way he'd blow me off for work AGAIN. You're an ass, Grace."

Jason bit his tongue. But his hands were curled into white knuckled fists. He closed his eyes to stop the tears, his throat burned. She didn't know how much he wanted to be there. How much he wanted to blow off work to sit with her. Just to chill and have one normal conversation, without worrying about money problems.

"Reyna, please-" Jason asked.

"You need to take a day off." She glared him.

"REYNA! I can't!" Jason yelled, "you know perfectly well why-"

"Get out of my car. I never want to see you again." Jason hadn't realized they were there until Reyna stopped. She flicked a brown strand of hair out of her eyes. She hissed at him. Jason realized he had no choice but to listen to her. He gave her one last pleading look, which she ignored, and opened the door. After he got out, Reyna rolled down the window, wearing a pair of orchid shades that Jason wasn't sure where she got them.

"And Grace," She said void of emotion, "four hours is not enough sleep."

Then she pulled away and was gone in the sea of cars. Jason wanted to stop and cry right there. Reyna was his only friend. The only person he told about his...problems. And now he was alone again.

Yeah alone and fifteen minutes late for work.

"Someone help me." He muttered to himself, and he ran into the diner.

The dinner was full, as it always was after school let out. It was the place to be, whether you were cool, or nerdy, or outcast. He ran through the glass doors where he almost ran into a waitress carrying drinks.

Katie Gardner glared at him, but it was replaced by a smile as she set down the drinks for a couple too busy making out to notice she was there. Then she grabbed Jason's wrist and dragged him into the back.

"Where have you been?" Katie asked as he the his bag in a lump in his supplies cubby. She tossed him his uniformed apron and picked a pencil out of a cup on a table nearby. "Gwen took off two minutes early and it's just been Dakota and Me working this crazy shift!"

"Car broke down." Jason replied gruffly.

"Yeah sure-Are you okay?" Katie cocked her head.

Jason fake smiled. "Yeah," he lied, "perfectly fine."

That was it. Katie didn't push. She gave him a look he couldn't read and hurried out the doors to take a takes order. Jason wondered how much longer he could keep it up before he collapsed. Then he followed her out.

Two minutes later his feet were already hurting. Ten minutes and his feet were on fire. He didn't get off work until six hours later.

And then his boss, an annoying greedy man by the name of Krios, called him over for his pay.

"Here's your pay." The towering figure said.

Jason looked down at the cash in his hands. "Sorry, sir, there must be a mistake." Jason said as he recounted the bills. "I worked all week. This is only four days worth." His feet burned wanting him to sit but he refused

Krios looked at him with distaste. "You were fifteen minutes late, Grace. I took the money out."

"I worked all week. All seven days. You promised eight dollars an hour. I worked every day last month!" Jason argued.

"That's all your getting kid. Now scram, before I fire you."

"You can't do this! I earned that money!" I need that money. Jason thought.

"Too bad." With that Krios walked away.

Katie looked at him with a dash of sympathy as she finished scrubbing the counter. Jason took a slow and painful gulp of air. He needed that money.

Then he turned and walked out the doors. And he walked home in the dark, his feet burning, knowing he failed his test, lost his one good friend, and got underpaid and couldn't do a thing about it. He could feel his frustration bubbling up. He could feel the burning behind his eyes where he wanted to cry.

His hands searched his pockets for the late rent notification and came back empty handed. He moaned. Thunder echoed in the city. And Jason could feel his own tears starting to fall. His book bag weighed enough to crush an elephant, his knees feel like jelly. A car rumbled down the ride beside him.

And for a second one clear thought broke through everything.

Jump.

And he almost did. Right in front of the car. He almost ended his life right that second. He would've given anything just to sit down for a moment and have a normal conversation with his friends.

Jason thought of Reyna. Her last look of pure distaste, of a broken heart, her biting tone. The guilt of ruining that night overtook him. And he realised...

Jason Grace didn't have anymore friends.

Somehow that night he made it home. His watch read 8:45. The stars cascaded a white glow through the air. He jogged up the steps to his apartment, the keys already in his hands.

He wouldn't need the keys.

He wouldn't need to even turn the knob.

The door was open. Wide open. And everything valuable they owned, which wasn't much, was gone.

Jason fell to his knees. He let go for a moment. And he let out a sob. And this time when he went to cry, he didn't even try to stop himself.

He sat in the middle of the mess the robbers had made, he sat and he cried himself to sleep.