Page 20 of Malaise
“Pfft.” He waves a hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it, Meg. Consider it a trade for my slack arse being too wasted to drive you home.”
“I heard the party got shut down.”
“Don’t they always?” he says with a chuckle.
I wouldn’t know, considering I never got invited before now. “I guess.” Not that it would have been of any concern to him. While all the other minors were being dragged over the coals, I’m sure Jasper would have been safe and warm in the back of daddy’s patrol car.
Jasper shuffles on the spot, turning his body so he faces me. His brow furrows and my head spins with not only the alcohol humming through my system, but all the things he might be about to say, none of which are good.
“So….”
I tip my head to the left and study him, my eyes burning from the struggle to focus properly. Guess the alcohol’s doing its job then. “So, what?”
“Brett Carver.”
Here we go. “What of it?”
“You know his whole family are a bunch of criminals, right?”
My face heats, the pressure in my chest immense. “Criminals that were the only ones to help me when I got second-degree burns to my hand and arm.”
Jasper’s gaze drops to the bandage, mostly covered by Den’s dark hoodie. “How is your arm?”
“Great. Thanks for asking,” I snap. “I’ve been told that if I take good care of the burn it won’t scar much, just change the colour of my skin, so yeah, I’ve got that to look forward to.”
He runs a hand over his face and then back through his forming dreads to push them out of his eyes. “I’m sorry, Meg. I didn’t mean to come off as an arsehole. I just….” He breaks away, turning his head to stare out through the far gap in the panels. “I didn’t like the idea that you were alone with that guy.”
“You made that pretty obvious at the time if I remember right,” I whisper.
Silence hangs heavy between us, only the sound of gentle rain peppering the rotunda roof saving us from complete nothingness.
“I should get going.” Jasper pushes up to stand and jams his hands in his pockets. “You need a ride home?”
“No. I’m fine, thanks.” I ignore the fact he’s staring down at me and focus on a rainbow-coloured tag opposite instead.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you at school during exams.”
“Yeah.”
He moves away, out of my peripheral vision, and it strikes me: how did he know where to find me? If he offered a ride, then he obviously wasn’t just strolling past. “Jasper,” I call after him.
He backtracks up the steps. “Yeah?”
“How did you know that I was here?”
His gaze dances over the rotunda floor as he rubs the back of his neck with one hand. “You’re always here when you’re sad, Meg.”
He jogs down the steps and strides over the grass to the park gates as I sit in shock, replaying his words in my mind. I guess I’m not as invisible as I thought, after all.