Welcome to Highschool.

(Haha! Thanks )

Jason jerked away from his train of thought, lifted his head up and looked at her. She was staring at him intently and he wasn't exactly sure how to answer her question. He sighed, "Nothing really..." Then he added with a grin, "Your hair looks great today."

Ginger blushed lightly when he said that. "Thanks." she hadn't done anything different to it, but if he said it was nice who was she to argue? Sje looked back down at her food to hide her blush. how was she suposed to explain the blush to him? It's not like she could just say 'oh, I'm blushing because the guy I've had a crush on for years complimented me'. That would go over so well for her.

Jason nodded at her thanks and smiled at the light blush that spread across her face. He decided not to say anything else and settle into a comfortable silence. Unless Ginger wanted to break it he was cool with that.

Ginger finished her food and put her silver ware down. "We should get back to school soon." She commented softly. She didn't want to end this lunch with him, she enjoyed being with him.

Jason: I polished off the rest of my water. "Yeah, you're probably right," I said. It felt weird talking now after our lengthy silence. Truthfully I would rather not go back to school, I had History for my next class.

Ginger sighed and stood up slowly. "But...what would I know? We actually /don't/ need to go back just yet. Or at all the rest of the day." She had a meeting with her guidance councilor that she didn't really want to go to.

Jason: I eyed Ginger carefully. "Oh, so little Miss Perfect would skip school for a day? On the first day at that?" He stood from the table too and laid the napkin he had in his lap back on the table.

"I have a meeting I am trying to avoid." Ginger told him meekly. There was actually a lot of stuff later today she wished to avoid. Joing to work for 6 hours after school, dealing with her father, and trying to figure out her college situation.

Jason: I nodded. "A meeting? With who?" I asked.

"Gidance councilor. A meeting for my family problem. I really don't want to talk to him about it." Ginger mumbled. She had just realized what she had said to him. She hadn't told him about the fact her dad lost his job again and started drinking again. Or the fact her mom left them. Or that she has no college fund because her father spent it on whisky, whores, and gambled the rest of it away.
Ginger left the restraunt before he could ask questions and stood by the car. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn't want to cry around jason.
It took a lot to et Ginger to cry, but her life had reached that point. Jason had to know that she didn just cry without a proper reason...right?

(Poor Ginger )

Jason: I payed for our meal quickly then headed out the door to find Ginger waiting in the car. I went around to the driver's side, opened the door, and got in. "Ginger?" I asked. "Are you okay?" Her hand was lying on the arm rest between us and I put my hand on top of it. I hoped the gesture would be comforting to her. I didn't know how to help any other way. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong.

(I know...)

Ginger shook her head and held his hand. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she made no effort to wipe it away. She couldn't speak because she feared that only sobs would come out. She had held it together the whole summer, but she couldn't anymore. Her mom was gone forever, as well as her sanity.

Jason squeezed her hand gently. He didn't dare ask anymore questions, but he did reach over and wipe away the tear that was rolling down Ginger's cheek. He looked out the windshield, trying not to hear the sound of her crying that pained him so. He racked his brain trying to find some kind of answer as to why she was crying in the first place. She had said it was her family, but he was never around her family much and she never really spoke of them. He was utterly confused.

Ginger forced herself to calm down. She knew that he was probably confused at what she had told him and what she hadn't yet. "Dad spent my college money in vagas with whores and drugs and alcohol and gambled it away. Mom left us. Dad is drunk most of the time, has no job and I'm suporting the both of us with my Wendys job. That's all I'll be now, a girl at wendys. The guidance councilor was going to meet with me today to talk about my lack of options for the future. Unless I can pull in a full ride, I have nothing." Another sob came out of Ginger as she finished along win more tears.

Nat smiled and shrugged. "Already forgotten. So, where do you want to go?"

(Sorry I've been gone...Now where were we...)

Jason squeezed Ginger's hand, suddenly hating the arm rest between them. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry," he said tenderly. "I'm sure it'll all work out. You're smart. You'll get a free ride into college easy." He watched the tears roll fast down her face and wished there was something he could do to stop them. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

Ginger let her eyes close and forced the sobs back again. "Can we just skip the rest of classes?" she asked him softly. She needed to get away from what she was dealing with right now. Away from school and home and work. She needed to be able to hang out with him and calm down. She needed to take a breather from life and reality.
Tingled ran down her spine when he kissed her hand though. She knew that it was only to try to calm her and show he was there for her. But part of her wished that kiss meant something to him. Something more then just a friendly hand kiss to calm a hysterical girl down. But she knew it didn't. Not that it mattered right now anyways.

Jason patted the place where his lips has touched her skin and thought for a moment. "Ginger," he finally said, "how could I deny you anything that you could possibly want? If you want to skip school, then we're definitely going to do it."
He kept holding Ginger's hand as he backed out of the restaurant parking lot and out onto the hard road. They drove in silence for a long while before finally racing past their school. Jason looked over when this happened and smiled hugely at Ginger. She looked at him with still-watery eyes and a weak laugh forced itself out of her throat.

Ginger let a small laugh out as they passed the school. The first time she ever skipped and it was the first day. Something was wrong with her, but she didnt care. They past the high school and were soon at his house. She had to let go of his hand to get out of the car. She wiped her hands again and started to go into his house. She had been here so many times that it felt like a second home to her. She plopped her self down on his couch and curled into a ball in the corner of it.

I walked into my house after Ginger. I wasn't really sure why I had driven here, but it just seemed like the right place to go. I locked the door behind me and went over to sit cross legged on the couch beside Ginger. She looked so miserable tucked into the couch like that. I waited for her to move or say something but she never did. To occupy myself, I quietly got up and went into the kitchen to make a couple cups of coffee.

Ginger let the tears leak out of her eyes as she sat there. She felt so broken right now. "jason...I'm scared." She finally muttered to him when he went into the kitchen. She didnt know if he heard her or not. But she felt the need to say it. SHe was scared for what would happen in the future.

Red wrote:Lacey: I hit his shoulder playfully. "Yeah. I'm staying with my...uncle. In town, we got an apartment." I sighed. I missed Walter, pre-plastic-surgeon-job. "So." I said, trying to perk up again.

"So here we are. Don't get lost again, some people aren't as nice as me." Max teased her as they arived at the cafeteria. He held open the door for her and gave her a slightly dimpled smile.

(bout time XD )
Lacey: I walked through the door and then turned around and looked at him again. "I doubt anyone is." I said, smiling. Slowly, I turned away and started walking. I hated the first day, when no one wanted to sit by you. And to make it worse, we were late to lunch, so everyone was watching me.

Jason heard Ginger's utterance and stood looking out the kitchen window for a moment. He exhaled heavily and placed his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the counter. He stood there for a long while, listening to Ginger's quiet sobs, feeling helpless and not having a real thought in his head. For a split second he wished his father were here to help him out with this kind of situation, but he didn't dawdle in the idea long.

Max sighed as she went in by herself. He would offer to eat lunch with her, but he needed to go to the weight room for weight training this period. He sighed and waved good-bye to her before leaving the lunch room.

Ginger knew she should pull it together. But for some reason she couldnt. She wiped her tears again and took a calming breath. She should just think happy thoughts, think of something that would make her feel better right now. She got up and went over to jasons kitchen. She didnt say anything as she walked over to him and gave him a hug.