The fries still tasted like victory, even after Craig barely got 4th place in the game. He had only been three points ahead of J.P., who threw four gutter balls in a row. His strike hadn’t even gotten him on the leaderboard.
Stacks also got a strike that round, to which Jason forked up cash for her fries.
“Woah, someone’s rich,” J.P. said.
“What? Oh.” Jason had pulled out a hundred buck’s worth of 20 dollar bills. “My dad gave me it. He didn’t know how much bowling was gonna cost.“
“That’s nice of him,” J.P. replied.
It was a lie and Craig knew it. Jason would never accept money from his dad. He’d rather steal it, and would have told them about it if so. It wasn’t like his distaste for his father was a secret. But why would he have so much cash in the first place? Bowling was under 20 bucks per person, so maximum he should have brought 40 dollars. Why would he lie, though? He had acted normal otherwise, the same amount of socially awkward he usually was. It was how everyone would act in a room full of people they weren’t particularly close with. Maybe inviting him was a bad choice, but it was a bit late for Craig to change his mind on that. Besides, Jason was chatting with Vanessa and Stacks now, and they all seemed to be having a good time. Their group was spread out over two tables, him with what remained of the Stump Kids, and Vanessa, Stacks and Jason at another right beside it. Craig couldn’t hear their conversation’s content, but they seemed invested in each other's words.
J.P. cracked up at his own joke that Craig didn’t catch. “Oh my God, you’ve gotta meet Kaitlyn, she’s hilarious. And she makes a better pumpkin pie than DuckMart, I swear to God.”
Craig spoke with his mouth full of now-cold fries. “Maybe someday.”
J.P. has been talking about his time at college all night, and frankly Craig was getting sick of hearing about how Kaitlyn made this, and Kyle did that, and Jeffrey got chased around by evil squirrels in the park for the fifth time this month.
It wasn't jealousy, he couldn't be jealous. Even if he had to go to college, he was certainly not looking forward to it.
J.P. continued. “It’s kind of annoying because classes aren’t super veterinary-focused yet. They make us take an integrated science course, and it’s such a nuisance! Why do I need to learn stoichiometry? Why can’t I just pet dogs for an hour every Thursday? It’s like, the same thing.”
Kelsey laughed. “I’m so glad I’m gonna be an English major.” She turned to Craig. “What are you gonna do, again?”
“Engineering, but I’m not sure what kind. Probably mechanical, but I may do civil engineering.” He had said this exact phrase twenty times at this point, and he had it memorized for when anyone mentions college.
“Wow. You guys are such nerds.” Kelsey pointed at J.P., then Craig. “You’re gonna save lives, you’re gonna invent shit, Omar’s gonna teach kids how to read-” She pointed at herself lazily, “-And I’m going to be writing smut commissions until I’m thirty.”
It was meant to be a dumb, self-deprecating joke, and Craig knew that, but he had been brewing in his own annoyance all night and needed an outlet. “I can’t believe he bailed.”
“He’s busy. Leave him alone.”
Kelsey had listened to him complain since they arrived at the bowling alley. Craig could tell she was sick of it, but he was still irritated. “Yeah, he’s so busy, while he posts about his stupid parties online instead of texting us. He can just say he didn’t want to come.”
“Maybe he promised go to someo-"
Craig jumped up from his seat. “We started planning this a month ago! If he was busy before, he could have said something leading up to it. Not the night before we’re all here.”
“Calm down, man,” she said sheepishly.
J.P. piped up. “Maybe he couldn’t travel ‘cause of the workload. I worked my ass off last week so I could take the weekend off.”
“I have homework too, and I still showed up. He only lives half an hour away! Nobody’s asking him to stay the entire weekend, just a few hours. He didn’t visit us during the summer, either. None of us have even seen him since spring break.” Craig sat down again, slouching in his seat. “Obviously he doesn’t fucking like us anymore, and you guys are in denial about it.”
They all got quiet at that.
Craig realized he got a bit heated, and muttered out a “Sorry.” He slouched lower, his chin resting on the table.
After a moment, J.P. spoke. “Well, screw him. I couldn’t wait to come back to Herkleton. Did I tell you guys how much the on-campus housing sucks? One of the dorm buildings flooded last month, and the administration didn’t do a thing about it besides give out towels. I’m thinking of renting somewhere with Felix.”
Felix was his current roommate and a massive party animal. Craig knew this because J.P could not shut up about him and his exploits. Who knew you could know someone’s entire life story without even meeting them? The last sentence caught his attention, though. He lifted his head up. “You’re going to get your own house?”
“Well, maybe in a year, I’d need to save up for it. But end game? Definitely.” He stole one of Craig’s fries and popped it into his mouth.
“I’m probably gonna live with Stacks when I’m older,” Kelsey said.
J.P. cooed. “That’s so sweet.”
“I know. Like, it’s probably really corny to say we’re gonna be together for that long, but I can hope.” She was staring at Stacks now, who was talking with her own group excitedly. Her gaze went soft.
“You guys have been together since you were twelve, I don’t think it’s gonna end anytime soon. You’re like, childhood sweethearts, it’s really cute.”
“Never-” she pointed a finger at J.P. “-call me cute.”
“Oh, is she only allowed to call you cute?”
“No, my Dad is only allowed to call me cute. She can call me smoking sexy, though.”
Craig zoned out at their bickering. He couldn’t will himself to care about their conversation, his brain still stuck on the topic beforehand.
So much for their reunion.
Vanessa and Jason got up from their own table, still deep in conversation as they walked. Stacks trailed them, listening intently.
Craig could hear Vanessa speaking when they came into earshot. “He would not shut up, even after Mr. Stevenson yelled at him. So I finally say ‘Can you keep it down?’ and he goes ‘Did I ask?’” She put her hands out. “Like, who does he think he is? I can’t believe you used to be friends with him.”
Jason nodded. “I know, right? He was a dick then, too.”
“No wonder you guys got along.” Her hands turn into fists. “God, I wanted to punch that fucking look right off his face. He’s such a dick.”
Stacks finally spoke. “He was always a dick. Remember when he took my copy of The Fault In Our Stars in middle school ‘cause there was sex scene in it? And then I saw him reading it a week later? He’s such a hypocrite!”
They continued the conversation, while Jason walked up to Craig. “Hey, thanks for inviting me.”
“No problem,” Craig replied. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Yeah, cool, thanks.” His eyes were on the floor. “I was gonna get going.”
“Do you have a ride?”
“I’m just gonna walk.”
Craig’s brain caught an excuse. “Hey, I can walk you home.”
“Uh, actually,” Jason said, looking past Craig at the group behind him. “Stacks said they were gonna play another round.”
“I’m kind of sick of bowling,” Craig said. “I got my strike.”
“You really don’t need to-“
“Wait, you’re leaving?” Kelsey asked, pulling away from the table the others had gathered around.
Craig saw her, and turned. “Hold on, Jason, I’ll be right back.”
He ran back over to their table. Kelsey looked annoyed. “If this is about-“
“It’s not about Omar,” he interrupted. “I have to go home early. I told my dad I’d be back by ten. I’m walking Jason home, ‘cause he was going to walk alone and it’s real dark on the way back. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow?”
“Why are you walking him home?” Kelsey asked. She hadn’t been mad that Jason was there, but Craig could tell she was confused as to why he invited him.
“I invited him, I should make sure he gets home safe. It’s the right thing to do. Right?”
“I guess…” She trailed off.
J.P. walked up behind them. “What’s going on, are we gossiping?”
“No,” Craig replied. “I’m leaving, but I wanted to meet up tomorrow.”
“I’m free after eleven, if that works for you.”
“Yeah, that works. Kelsey?”
“Yeah, I’m free.”
“So we can meet for lunch. Pasta la Vista work?”
The two nodded in agreement.
“Okay, great. See you guys then!”
He walked back to Jason, who was looking out the glass entrance. His face was in a sort of grimace.
Craig ignored his expression. “Okay, let’s go.”
Jason opened his mouth, like he was about to argue, but decided against it. “Fine.”
Craig turned around one more time before exiting. Kelsey was the only one looking at him, everyone else moving toward their lane again. Craig couldn’t see the expression on her face, he was too far away. Hopefully it wasn’t an angry one.
He waved a small bye to her, turned around, and followed Jason out the door.
Craig let out an involuntary breath when the cold hit his face. Jason turned to stare at him, but not harshly. His glance was a question.
“It’s cold,” Craig stated.
He shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re all bundled up, I just have a vest on.” Craig was wearing his vest and a long sleeved shirt. It’s not his old, sky-blue vest, he outgrew that one years ago. This one is dark blue. Of course, Jason was wearing his zip-up sweater, even though the fall weather wasn’t consistently cold yet. He hadn’t taken it off since school started, even when they were in geography with Mr. Davis, who kept the heater on high constantly. It's not incredibly worrying, but Craig’s mind clung onto tiny details wherever he went, whether in his house or the halls or on a barely illuminated sidewalk while he walked his friend home. The street was lit up fine, but it was a major road in their area, so they walked on the dark sidewalk that was half in the woods.
“Why’d you leave so early?” Jason asked earnestly.
Craig shrugged. “No reason. I just didn’t want to bowl anymore.”
“Liar.”
That one word got under his skin. He glared at Jason, but was met with nonchalance. “You seemed kind of mad earlier, but hey, it’s not my business. You have your own problems.”
Craig was disarmed by that. He was still mad, but not at Jason. He changed the subject to something else bouncing around his mind. “J.P. is gonna rent a house with his roommate.”
“Good for him. So you’re jealous?”
“No,” he answered immediately. “I’d want to live on campus, at least for the first year. That’s what most people do. I don’t know why he’s so ready to leave.”
He hummed.
They walked in silence for a while. Few cars were actually on the road, but they stayed on the sidewalk. Craig knew this route pretty well, it was up from the community pool he went to during summers. Craig’s house was only a fifteen minute walk from here, and Jason’s was a bit past his, so they would make good time.
Wait, how was he going to walk Jason home if he got to his own house first? He really should have thought that through before leaving. Maybe if he walked him there and walked back to his house? That may be overstepping his boundaries a bit. It wasn't like Jason needed a chaperone, anyway. Now he looked like a jerk, because he could have totally stayed and played another round, and anyone who knew where their houses were could see that. But he didn't know everyone would want to bowl more. Maybe if he did, he could’ve convinced himself to stay.
Jason had known, though.
“Why are you leaving so early?” Craig asked. “If you knew everyone wanted to play another round.”
“I wasn’t planning on staying long. One game is enough for me, too.” Jason didn't look behind him.
“You said your dad was having that work party. I didn’t think you wanted to get back home so early.”
“I'm going to Kennedy’s.”
It took a moment for that to process in Craig’s brain, and when it did he stopped dead in his tracks. He recognized the name from a round of gossip around Herkleton High, about some sophomore who saw a gym teacher there on a Sunday afternoon. “You’re going to a bar?"
Jason stopped, replied “I have an ID. They’ll let me in,” and kept going.
Craig was shocked at the confirmation. He walked faster to keep up. “Why are you going to a bar? And it doesn’t matter if you have a fake ID, you look sixteen."
“I’m almost seventeen, and what are they gonna do about it?”
He sounded so incredibly sure of himself that it caused Craig to hesitate. “They’ll kick you out,” he finally responded.
Or he could be let in, and they’d serve him until he couldn’t walk straight, and then he’d trip in the street and get run over while trying to make it home. Craig had heard horror stories from Bernard and his older family members, of people getting lost and beaten and worse. He didn’t want Jason to become one of those cautionary tales.
“Then I’ll go to a different one. You act like I’ve never been to a bar before. I’ll be fine.”
“This is why you left? To go to some seedy bar?” He knew Jason could be unreasonable sometimes, but not to this extent. “You ditched your friends just to get drunk?”
"They're not my friends, they're your friends."
“You were talking with Vanessa and Stacks, you guys were getting along. You can actually be friends with people, you don’t have to-“
“They’re your friends.” He whipped around, teeth bared. “They are your fucking friends, not mine, and they didn’t need me there.” He pointed at Craig. “You planned it, you invited everyone, and you left them to walk me home. You wanted to leave just as much as I did, so stop acting like you’re better than me for it.”
The words knocked the breath out of Craig. When he regained it, he snapped back. “At least I’m not leaving to get wasted. I just didn’t want to bowl anymore.”
“Sure.” He spat the word onto the pavement. “Whatever.” He turned around and kept marching forward.
The words echoed through Craig’s head. He knew Jason was just being a massive jerk, like he would always be when someone criticized him. But Craig couldn’t let him win the argument on this note, like they were no worse than each other. He needed to explain himself. “J.P. wouldn’t shut up about college and it was pissing me off. He’s going to live in a house with his roommate I haven’t even met. I’ve known him since I was six, and now he’s getting his own house? That’s insane. He has a plan for his life already. And Kelsey has a plan, and Omar has a plan, and his plan doesn’t even involve me, or any of us.” Craig felt himself get angrier with each word. He stopped walking. “And you’re going to a bar like it’s the most normal thing in the world, like we’re adults already. We’re not, we aren’t adults yet, so why does everyone keep acting like we are? Am I the only one that’s still a kid here? Why does everybody else know what they’re going to do with their life except me? How come I’m the one that gets left behind?”
He was out of breath, and it could be heard when he added “It’s not fair.”
Jason stopped walking. He turned his head around, gaze soft and on the floor. “You’re right. Life isn’t fair.” His tone was blunt, but softened as he continued. “I know you’re dealing with a lot of shit right now, and it sucks, and I’m sorry. But time’s not going to stop moving for you.” Craig’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and he could see Jason’s breath in the cold. “You don’t have to have everything planned through. Don’t even try to plan everything through, it won’t work. You just gotta trust that you’ll get there in the end. It’s a process, you gotta trust it.”
Craig found it a bit funny that Jason was giving out this advice when he was sure the boy didn’t follow it himself, so he laughed slightly when he said “‘Trust the process', where’d you get that from?”
“Myself, thanks for asking. And you need to do it.”
Craig knew Jason was right, but he had always been a nosy person. He couldn’t help but ask “Do you know what you’re doing?”
Jason thought about it for a while. The cold air revealed another deep breath from him. “Hopefully.”
They were on Craig’s street when he said “You can stay over at my house, if you don’t want to go back home.”
He couldn’t see Jason’s face, but heard hesitation in his voice. “Will your parents be okay with that?”
“They won’t care. It’s a weekend.” He added “I’d rather you there than at a bar.”
“That’s nice of you,” he responded, probably sarcastically.
But when they got to Craig’s house, Jason waited by the door as Craig unlocked it, and took his shoes off as he came inside. Craig took it as a yes.
His Dad and Jessica were watching TV. They had been binge-watching Breaking Bad for the past week, and Craig’s mom couldn’t stand the show, so she probably went to bed.
“I’m back,” he announced.
His Dad didn’t respond, but Jessica said “How was it?”
“Good. Jason’s here, too. Can he stay over?” Craig asked.
“Sure.” His Dad didn’t look up from the TV. “It’s a weekend.”
“Great.”
“Thank you Mr. Williams.” Jason said it slightly too loudly, his voice cutting through the room.
Craig’s Dad didn’t seem to notice. He broke eye contact with the TV to look at his guest. “You’re very welcome.”
Craig pointed up at his bunk beds. “You can pick your bunk. D’you need pajamas?”
“Uh, no, thank you,” Jason answered. “I can sleep in my jeans.”
Pushing his personal judgment aside for someone who would willingly sleep in jeans, he said “Alright then, make yourself comfortable. I’ll get changed in the bathroom.” He opened his drawer and grabbed sweatpants and an old T-shirt.
“Alright.”
When Craig came back into his bedroom, he realized what an absolute mess it was. There were piles of paper and random knick-knacks on his desk that he’d pushed to the side to make room for his notebooks and textbooks. There were drawers open, clothes spilling out of them. His bunk beds weren’t even made, either of them. He was planning to do the homework this weekend and possibly clean his room if his mom got on his case about it, but that wasn’t happening now that he had a guest. He really wished he’d cleaned earlier today, instead of being lazy and getting nothing productive done. If he had done his homework, he could've moved the books out of view.
Jason hadn’t noticed the bomb that went off in the room, instead focusing on the papers on his desk. He was holding one of them. “Is this all your art?” he asked, nodding towards the wall.
“Yep.”
“It’s really good.” Jason had taken his hair clip out, and hair had fallen into his face. He put down the paper, and Craig could see it was an old figure drawing, back when he was practicing anatomy. “Why don’t you take art at school?”
“I take double sciences, so no art.”
“Oh. That sucks.”
“I’d rather draw outside of school, anyway. Putting a grade on it kinda defeats the point, you know?”
He actually hadn’t made any art besides doodles on the side of his notebooks in a while. All the drawings on his desk were at least a month old, he just hadn’t moved them. The art on the walls was much older, and Craig didn't know why Jason commented on it. He didn't change around his room often, usually just adding stuff on top of what's already there, so it was a weird thing to point out.
Hold on.
“You’ve been in my room before, right?” He must have, they had known each other since elementary school. Craig would be a jerk otherwise.
“Uh, yeah. I slept over that one time.”
“Oh.” If he had remembered the circumstances, he wouldn’t have brought it up. “Yeah, you have.”
The room fell into silence. Craig stared at Jason, who avoided eye contact. He slouched down onto the bottom bed. “They care about me. I know you don’t think they do, but they do.”
Craig knew who he was talking about, but had no idea why he was defending them.
Jason continued. “My dad acts like he’s my babysitter. Like, he doesn’t want me to die, obviously, but it’s like I’m not his kid. I’m just his responsibility.” He sank lower, curling up into himself. “So does my stepmom, but that makes sense for her, at least.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“You get used to it. It’s not like I blame them.” He ran his hands through his hair, scratching at his scalp. “Imagine having to deal with me for sixteen years.”
Are you okay? The words die before reaching Craig’s lips.
Craig met Jason's dad once, and the interaction was weird, to say the least. Jason ignored him the entire time, and they maybe said ten words to each other altogether. Jason always talked with other adults incredibly politely, to the point of being a suck-up. He didn’t even try to impress his father or stepmother. It was like he was a completely different person. It freaked Craig out. The entirety of Jason freaked him out sometimes. He knew the answer to his own question.
“So, what’s up with Omar? You seemed really mad at him.”
Craig was brought back to earth with Jason’s question. “He bailed. He said he would be coming, and then he canceled this morning.”
“Damn.”
“He always does this. We’ll all meet up, and then he cancels last minute. It sucks. I know this isn’t true, but now it feels like he never liked us in the first place. Like, maybe we were his only option for friends here, so he hung out with us back then, and now that he has new friends, he doesn’t need us.”
Jason scratched his neck. “Sounds like you care a lot about him.”
“I do.”
No response from Jason, but his eyes darkened.
Craig slid onto the bed, bumping into Jason as he tried to get comfortable. He landed on crossed legs, his left knee touching Jason’s right leg, and continued talking. “I miss him. Why would he just ignore us like that? Are we not good enough for him? Because Kelsey and J.P. are great, I don’t know why he wouldn’t like them. And he’s probably living it up in college, having a great time, and I want to be happy for him, but I can’t do that if he pretends like I don’t exist. God, he pisses me off!”
He glanced at Jason, who was focused on the floor. “Yeah?”
“And now I’m worried that the same thing is gonna happen to J.P. It’s the exact same situation, and he talked about his college friends the entire night. And Kelsey just pretends like nothing’s happening, like everything is normal. I wish it was normal. I wish things were like they were a few years ago.”
“I see.”
“Am I making sense to you, or am I just being paranoid? Like, I’m acting like all of my friends are going to leave me, but J.P. literally wouldn’t shut up about college. It’s like I’m being replaced by all these people who are cooler than me.” He’s mad again, gritting his teeth. “Guess what? I’m cool, too! I still exist!” He got up, ducking to not hit the top bunk. “You get it right?”
“Uh, yeah.” He looked up at Craig. “I get it.”
“Okay. Great,” he replied, and realized he’d been rambling about this for far too long. “Thanks for listening, man.”
“You’re wel-“ Jason hit his head on the top bunk while trying to get up. Hard. “-OW!”
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
“Yeah just… Fuck,” He spat out. “I’ll be fine.” He flopped back down on the bed. “I’m not moving. I’m sleeping here. The bed has won.”
Craig laughed.
“Wow, I’m injured, and you’re laughing at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing at the bed joke.”
Jason turned his head to face him, still lying down. “It wasn’t that funny.”
“Yes it was.” He walked over to the door. “You’re funny.”
Before Jason could respond, Craig switched off the light. “Okay, goodnight.”
“Oh, goodnight.”
He walked over and climbed up into his bunk bed. Maybe he really was just a massive jerk, because he didn’t feel so bad about leaving his friends anymore. He just needed to clear his head from everything. He’d done so with a nice (albeit very one-sided) conversation with his friend. It’s a miracle that Jason even wanted to come here with Craig complaining nonstop since they left.
“Sorry for talking so much,” Craig said after a while. It always took him a bit to fall asleep, for the gears in his head to stop turning. Maybe an apology would help his head turn off.
“You’re fine.” Jason replied. “I don’t mind.”
That put him at ease. “Cool. Thanks.”
“No problem. Thanks for letting me stay over.” He added, “You really didn’t have to.”
He did have to, but Craig didn’t say that. He echoed back “No problem.”
Author's Note: If you want to read more of this AU, you can do so here! This and the rest of these fics are near and dear to my heart, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.