CHASE HOME
Jason narrows his gaze. "What do
you mean? What giant problem?"
"It's
Alex ," Courtney says. "He called
a couple minutes ago. He won't go to the party."
"What? Why not?"
Courtney tosses up her hands. "I
dunno. Said he didn't feel like it." Her tone now grows more intense. "I'm
seriously worried about him. He has been acting so weird these last few
weeks."
Jason's sole response is a distracted
nod. Without realizing it, he begins rapping his knuckles on the bannister.
"So what are we gonna do?" Courtney
finally asks. "We can't just go to the party without him."
"I know," Jason says, abruptly snapping
out of his daze. Another moment passes before he adds, "Get me the phone."
Courtney scurries into the living
room to grab the portable off the couch. "You're gonna call him?"
"Yeah."
She returns and hands him the phone.
He takes it and begins punching numbers.
"Good luck," she says. "He wouldn't
listen to me."
Jason lifts the phone to his ear
as the ringing continues. Courtney hears Alex answer. "Hello?"
"Alex, it's Jason. You almost ready
for the party?"
"W--I ... Actually, I don't think
I'm gonna go," Alex says. "I'm not feeling so hot ..."
"C'mon, it'll be good for you, dude.
Whitney will want you there." Jason flashes Courtney a hopeful look as
he continues, "Besides, I haven't seen you in forever. It'll be
fun to hang out."
Alex is silent, but Jason can almost
hear the tide shifting over the phone line. When Alex speaks at last, he
sounds resigned -- but not entirely unexcited. "All right. I'll go."
"Awesome. Hey, you wanna come with
Court and me? We can swing by and pick you up."
"Uh, sure, yeah."
"All right, we're heading out now.
You better be ready! The Jaymobile waits for no one."
"I'll be ready," Alex says with a
chuckle that comes across the line sounding very muffled.
"Coolio. See ya in a few." Jason
clicks the phone off and hands it to Courtney.
She wraps her arms around his middle.
"What the hell was that?"
"What?"
"It took you, like, ten seconds to
get through to him. I was on with him for fifteen minutes before and he
wouldn't listen to a word I was saying!"
Jason plays it off with a shrug.
The truth is, he really does want to see Alex. He wants to make sure that
he's doing okay. Besides, he's missed him as a friend.
"I am impressed," Courtney says,
placing the phone down on a small table in the entryway. "You must have
some special powers." She grins wickedly and lifts her eyebrows. "Oh, wait,
I knew that."
He manages a smile but is thankful
that she giggles, because he thinks the tension would otherwise be overwhelming
for him.
"Let's get going," she says. "I don't
wanna miss too much of this party!"
She leads him out of the house by
the hand and he stands behind her as she locks the door. He hears her explaining
that her parents are out and will be back later, but it doesn't really
register.
"I hope it won't be awkward, with
Alex and Lauren
both there," she says as they head out to the car.
"Yeah," Jason agrees. But he can
feel the beginnings of a terrible headache settling in on him already.
This
is gonna be some night.
END OF EPISODE #223
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