Saturday, Niagara Falls
Jaye is in trouble. Which is why when she begged to get out of the house, her dad told her she could go run errands with Sharon, because at least then she was spending time with family. Jaye didn't have enough time to go into the bathroom and slit her wrists, so instead she was grocery shopping with Sharon.
And every time Jaye starts to wander off on her own, Sharon says something like "Nuh uh uh! Get back here," she Jaye's reduced to eyerolls.
"Do I need one of those kid leashes?" she finally asks somewhere around the dairy section.
Sharon looks up, considering this. "That's a really good idea. I don't know why Mom and Dad never thought of that before."
"What would you do if I just ran away right now?" Jaye says.
"Say adios and tell Mom and Dad you were kidnapped by circus freaks," Sharon answers easily, putting a couple items in her cart and starting off again.
"Funny you should say that," Jaye mutters.
"Did some circus freaks make you an offer? Take it. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful addition."
"Forget it," she says, shaking her head, and when they turn the corner, that's when she sees Jason. "Oh my god."
"What?" Sharon asks, examining the nutritional information on a box of cereal.
"That's the circus freak!" Jaye says, keeping herself out of sight behind a rack. "Or... aspiring circus freak."
Now Sharon looks disturbed. "Wait, what?"
"I met a guy yesterday who wants to give up on accounting to become a juggling clown."
Sharon drops the cereal box. "Why would someone do something like that?" she asks loudly. "That's like saying 'when I grow up, I want to be Freddy Krueger!'"
"Well, the alternative is accounting," Jaye points out.
"Still! Clown!"
"You can't say what's scary, you're a lawyer!"
"Clown!" Sharon insists.
That's when Jason looks over, and Jaye turns around really quickly so he can't see her face. "Nice going," she hisses. "Now he thinks we're calling him names."
"He should get used to it!" Sharon hisses back. "Why am I whispering? You're the one who should be embarrassed." And then she waves an arm at Jason. "Hello there!"
Jason gives a little, unsure wave back, frowning when he sees Jaye.
"What did you do to him?" Sharon asks.
"Nothing! I wasn't all 'yay clown'!"
"He's staring."
"Well, you're the strange person who said hello!"
"Hi," says Jason, right behind Jaye so that she startles. "I couldn't help noticing you waving and hissing at each other in my direction."
"Hi," Jaye says uncomfortably. "I was just... ah..."
Next to Jaye, the tiger on the cereal box says, "Invite him."
"Invite him?" she repeats.
"What?" Jason says.
"Oh. Um. My friend Mahandra, her birthday party's tonight. Though you might want to stop by." It's the only thing she can think of.
"...Why?" he asks.
"Because."
"I don't need to-"
Sharon sighs. "You're going to be an accountant. Don't expect to get invited to a lot of parties. Just go so I can get done with my shopping and have a cigarette."
*****
Ordinarily Jaye wouldn't have a problem driving to a party with her brother, especially since Aaron and Mahandra are actually friends. The fact that her family is trying to watch her to make sure she doesn't slip off again irritates her, though, and by the time they actually pull up to Mahandra's house, Aaron finally asks, "What crawled into your places I don't want to actually mention?"
"Nothing," Jaye says. "Yay party."
Aaron drives the car a little bit further. "What are you doing?" Jaye asks.
"Keeping you from getting out."
"You're going half a mile an hour, I can just open the door and step onto the curb."
"Hey, that's not safe."
Jaye sighs.
"Okay, Mom and Dad are worried," Aaron says. "You're acting like you'd rather be anywhere but here."
"I would," she says honestly.
"Yeah, you've kind of made that obvious. You ran out of the room when people showed up earlier."
"I do that sometimes."
"Okay, fine. They're talking about pulling you out of school, like it's making you antisocial-"
"I've always been antisocial," Jaye protests.
"Let me put it this way. If they take you out of school, you'll be back here. All the time. And then I have to deal with it. Me no likey."
Jaye frowns, and that really doesn't make her happy. "Party now," she says, and gets out of the car.
She tries. Kinda. Mainly she spends most of the party hanging out in a corner with an unfortunately-non alcoholic drink. When she checks her messages out of boredom, she debates scouring the kitchen to make her drink better.
At one point, Mahandra wanders over. "You are not allowed to come back here and not have fun on my birthday."
"I'm having fun," Jaye lies.
"Lies," says Mahandra, who is perceptive.
She really doesn't want to dump this all on Mahandra on her birthday, so she shakes her head. "Random weird family stuff."
"Yeah, except Aaron already told me."
"My parents suck," she says immediately.
"They'll let you go back," Mahandra tells her. "Don't worry about it."
"Yeah," she shrugs. "Getting rid of me probably works out better."
"That's emo. We're not having that on my birthday."
Jaye smiles a little. "No emo! I am better than that! I'm already signed up for classes, so I can't not go back for the rest of the summer, right? So I'll be back for that and the next stay in the cabi- OHMYGODIFORGOTABOUTTHECABINS."
"Seawhores?" asks Mahandra. Because she knows these things.
"Yes! We're moving in tomorrow night! And I'll miss out on Alec and Cute Sam and Dean and Cedric and Pretty Sam and okay, D'Anna was supposed to sleep with my date but I like her otherwise, and Jack if he's back, noes!"
"You just said noes."
"I mean noes."
"You're going back home tomorrow, right?"
"It was supposed to be Monday morning." Jaye frowns. "I'm going to hook the accountant up with a good... juggling... thing, get back there by tomorrow night."
"Oh, yeah, him," Mahandra says. "I think you were in the bathroom when he started entertaining the guests. He doesn't suck..."
"He actually showed?" Jaye asks, looking around.
"Yeah. Thanks for the warning."
"Happy birthday."
"Yeah."
"I need to get a clown to college," Jaye says. "I'll be back in a minute."
A minute is more like ten, when Jaye finally finds Jason outside, talking to Aaron on the front step. She probably should listen, or something, but instead she pokes Aaron in the back with her shoe. "Shoo," she says.
"Yes," she nods, "it is."
"Bye, Aaron," she says.
Aaron grumbles something that sounds like, "Remember what I told you." But he does leave.
Jason looks suspiciously enough at Jaye that she has to wonder what the hell was said about her. "Hey," she says.
"I heard you entertained the masses," she says.
"I have a talent," he says.
"You should go for it. Accountants suck," Jaye tells him, because the sooner she can get him to whatever decision he needs to get to, the sooner she can get back to where she wants to be.
Jason raises an eyebrow. "I saw the way you looked at me when I said what I wanted to do."
"So? I'm sure Aaron told you I'm psycho."
"Maybe a little," he shrugs.
"Does it matter what other people think? I'm some girl you randomly met yesterday and you're going to throw away a promising... juggling career because I'm a bitch?"
"You don't have to get the looks."
"I'm the crazy girl who talk to her purse," Jaye tells him.
"...And I should listen to you now?"
"Oh," says Jaye. "Good point."
"Doesn't matter," says Jason, standing. "I'm already set. Things are going to go however they're going to go. I'm going back inside."
Jaye lets him go back inside, and when she gets back in there, she doesn't seem him at all.
[NFB due to location, like radio isn't already up.]