In the kitchen, Jason Fox reached a cabinet. There was a small wooden chest with a keyhole in between, where Jason inserted the disfigured paperclip end. Once unlocked, he reached for the tiny bag of dust, making him cringe when studying it completely.

"Remain chill, Jay. It's going to be quick, it's going to be quiet, and most of all-" he talked to himself when pouring water from the faucet into a glass.

"It's going to be clean"

So much lament swam in his mind. At long last he came to believe what a monster he was underneath, one nobody could slay but himself.

The doorbell rang as soon as the water reached the glass's peak.

"Sigh, maybe they'll be the last thing I see" he said on his way to the door. He opened it without expectation.

"Hello?" screamed Jason at the desolation in front of the entrance, oblivious until four seconds later to the note taped near the door. He read it out loud.

"We need to talk, come to my house"

Jason shook his head at the implausibility of it all. He didn't know if it was her changed mind that irritated her the most or the cowardice behind it.

He put the cyanide back before heading away.

Upon making it, she opened the door thanks to the spy hole that allowed Eileen to wait for his presence. Jason saw her face and recollected the wave of guilt brought by that unlit classroom. The skin below her eyes was lightly swollen once more, let alone a little moist.

"Jason, you made it" she said, with a little excitement in her weak observation. Jason certainly thought it was.

"Yeah, you're the one who wanted to…were you crying?" he asked, though unsuitable for such occasion. He was already trying to get used to what she told him.

It was only because she said so herself; yet here they were, acknowledging each other again.

"No! Listen, I wanted to apologize, I know it was mostly my fault when I should've measured my wrath before acting that immature" she said as she leisurely rubbed her left arm. Even though it was easier to say this time, Eileen refused to give full on eye contact.

This agitated Jason, she could've at least pretended to care if they were to measure each other's feelings. All he could suspect was a bite at self-satisfaction.

"Just forget about it, okay? There's no use digging deeper into the wrong hole" he replied turning around, knowing she'd look at him then. She made him jolt when running to his side to place a palm on his shoulder next to her response.

"Wait! Jason! Don't do it!" she said, creating a reason for suspicion around him. He turned back around and returned a raised eyebrow.

"Don't do what?" he asked.

"I saw how you were going to poison yourself from the window. You've done a ton of stupid things in the past, Jason, but that would've taken the soufflé!" she yelled, the inflexible rage back on her face. This was the look she would've returned the day of the punishment, instead of the weak albeit hidden gaze of remorse.

Jason retaliated with one of his own along with the rebuttal.

"Oh! At least I wasn't cowardly enough to avoid doing it!" he replied, smearing her hand away from his shoulder.

"Figures you wouldn't even know the definition of cowardice if you wanted to commit suicide!" she yelled, treating this as a staring contest to no avail.

"Says she who arrives at my house without looking me in the face!" he exploded, pointing at her to let know she'd done more than agitate him. She succeeded in bringing this to personal heights. "I may have gotten you there but don't blame me if you're still butt hurt!"

"HEY! You started it! Do you have any idea how much you humiliated me back there?"

"DO YOU? The whole school, including Marcus, was laughing after you kicked me!"

"I wouldn't have kicked you if you hadn't poured your brother's cheap cologne all over me!"

"So I'm sorry for that? It would've been less agonizing on your part if you'd just told on me!"

"Oh yeah! Like another detention was intended to change your mind!"

"IT WAS, FYI!"

That last outburst left an explosion of silent perplexity behind. It was normal for Eileen whilst penitent for Jason after analyzing it.

"What do you mean?" she asked, forcing Jason to turn his back on her.

"Nothing…never mind" he replied, hoping that she would respect his weak wishes that was begging to be divulged into reality.

"Jason, what's wrong?" she asked, placing her hand back on his shoulder. She just wanted to see how confidential her sympathy was. Jason had undergone enough pity to know when to stand up again.

"You wouldn't understand, but…unlike you…I wanted to be expelled, I wanted to depart from that Nazi asylum straight out of a George Orwell novel!" he replied, leaving behind a fragment of an entire amplification Eileen only wanted more out of. She could see Jason wanting to skip a few grades, but leaving school out of delinquency was the perfect opposite.

"All because school wasn't fun for you? Jason, who doesn't?" she asked, set to sit down and gain his perspective better if he wanted. This was not the case as Jason closed his eyes to shield his own flawed conscience.

"I can't elaborate any more, not unless you're set to gloat about it" he replied. Eileen took her hand off his shoulder, gaining his attention at her frozen reaction. Already he could tell an angry outburst was on his way.

Only this time, he got less than what he knew he deserved.

"Listen to me, Jason." She began softly in spite of her insinuation of solemnity "You just downsized my self esteem out of existence in that classroom. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, you can say that'll change my mind of you"

She said this with resolve not even Jason's sister displayed. Maybe he could trust her after all, even if it might hurt along the way. He took an exaggerated amount of air in before giving out the most convenient words his stubborn mind had to offer.

"Okay" he began, looking at her. "If I was going to be expelled, I wanted you to be the one to kick me out"

Clearly Eileen would be capable of understanding it from there, but Jason didn't bother putting his faith on it. He'd thought about the recent events and how easy they fit together with a little effort. It went beyond trying to make it sound like a compliment.

"Why me?" she asked, not getting the real number around this colour quiz. Jason knew her well enough to help her fit the pieces together.

"Why not you?" he replied.

"I keep telling you, Jason, this isn't second grade. You can't just expect grownups to fix a problem themselves! You know that, you…" she said, before understanding what he did there. Her resolute glare vanished permanently before continuing whatever she found apt.

"…could've gotten…me expelled…if you hadn't…"

Jason nodded at her choice of words as they were the right ones. It took her too long for her to see things his way, so he couldn't help but smile.

Later was better than never.

"Exactly! No matter how high my GPA is, it'll never have anything to do with maturity" he replied, feeling almost reborn had it not been for Eileen's contrary emotion.

She thought Jason was only pig-headed when it came to the opposite gender, romantically detracted from them in other words. He couldn't be so shut down to give it a chance.

"Is it really that hard for you to change, Jason?" she asked, with real sincerity this time. She was fraught on the inside, a feeling Jason chose to ignore. He had opened his mind far enough, even too far for her to catch up.

For so long he didn't want Eileen to know this, unless she were to figure it out on her own. And now, as he looked into the eyes of the one person he always admired, she did.

"Now you know why we can't be together" said Jason, allowing a second to lapse before his own individual tear left him. Her reaction was more than he could take.

"Goodbye, Eileen"

He turned around and left, leaving Eileen to stand there. And with that same state of shock, unbeknownst of the identical loneliness, that troubled Jason after her castigation.

This is the first part a certain author requested me to write. I don't usually take ideas unless they're of this nature, so stay tuned.