KING'S BAY PARK
The toe
of Jason's Adidas sneaker
scuttles around in the bark beneath him. He kicks the chips around lightly,
staring down into them as he holds onto the swing's chains and rocks back
and forth.
"Having fun?" The voice comes suddenly
and from behind, and it startles him.
He turns instinctively. "Court! What
are you--"
"I was driving around looking for
you," she says. "I figured you might be here."
"Oh my God. I was supposed to pick
you up, wasn't I? I'm so sorry. I just lost track of time--"
"Don't worry about it." She approaches
him slowly, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her jacket.
"How'd you know where to find me?"
he asks.
"I didn't, really. I checked a couple
of places before I came here. But I figured that with everything that's
happened lately, you might've wanted to spend some time here."
Jason is silent. Courtney sits down
on the swing next to his.
"Do you wanna talk?" she asks, trying
to sound as non-threatening as she can.
He shakes his head. "Nah. There's
no reason."
"You've been saying that for weeks.
To me, to your parents -- we can all tell how upset you are."
"Really, I'm fine."
"No, you're not." She catches herself
and takes a moment to calm down. "This whole
Tim thing is hurting you a
lot more than you want anyone to know, I think. And that not's good for
you."
A dead moment passes before he looks
up at her, wearing a look of exaggerated confusion. "Huh?"
"It's not good to bottle this stuff
up, Jay. I mean ... Jeez, I can't even imagine losing someone I loved like
that. I have no idea what it'd be like."
"No, you don't."
She wraps her fingers around his
hand. "But I bet it's better to talk about it than it is to just let it
build up. And people need you, Jason, especially your mom. She's so worried
about you."
"There's nothing to worry about!"
he protests with a vigorous shake of the head.
"Then why have we hardly talked about
Tim at all?"
"Because I'd rather not keep dredging
up the fact that Tim is gone, and ..." He drops his head into his hands.
Courtney runs her hand over his back,
hoping she can soothe him in some way. "I'm so sorry," she says. "I know
how close you and Tim were -- I know how much you looked up to him."
"Yeah," Jason says after a lengthy
pause. His voice sounds thinner now.
"Maybe by not facing it ... I don't
know, maybe you're trying to pretend it's not real--"
"It's plenty real."
"I know it is. But Jay, you haven't
been acting like yourself at all lately. It scares me."
He doesn't say anything.
"I love you," she says softly, running
her fingers through his short, sandy hair. "And I want to be here for you.
So please, don't keep running away like this. Don't bottle everything up.
I'm here to help you ... We can get through this together."
Seconds pass without a response.
A knot tightens in Courtney's stomach. How am I supposed to help him?
What if he won't let me?
The thoughts are swooping through
her head, but they are forgotten the moment Jason turns to look up at her.
His face looks so soft, so vulnerable, his eyes staring into her and his
cheeks stained with fresh tears.
"I love you, too," he whispers, and
he cuddles closer to her.
One .
Two .
Three .
Four .
Five .
Six
Main Page .
Current Episode .
Episode Archives .
Story Recap .
Characters .
Making Prints .
Interact .
Around King's Bay .
Links
