Chapter Four: Living A Meaningless Existance
Jason woke up and noon two weeks later, his boxers clinging to his body. It was like a sauna in his bedroom. He peeled the covers off and pulled some pajamma bottoms on and went downstairs.
Bailey and Julia had taken up camp at the kitchen table, stuff was spread all over it. ''Well, hello, twin brother of mine. How'd you sleep? I'm guessing not well since I heard the faint sounds of a Britney Spears album well into the early hours of the morning. What's wrong with you? You don't even like Britney Spears.''
Jason shrugged and opened the freezer, looking for some ice cream. ''It's Kim's, it accidently got put into a box of my stuff. She's probably wondering where it is, but there's this song on it that I unfortunately am identifying with right now.'' Finding no ice cream, he shut the freezer and pulled a beer out of the fridge.
Bailey took the beer from him and put it back in the fridge. ''Jason, I am here to tell you that beer is not going to solve your problem. You've got to stop moping. You've also got to stop listening to the Britney music. It's not healthy. Listen to Nickelback or something. It's actual music, and it might make you feel better.''
Julia piped up, ''Fall Out Boy's not bad, either. They are also actual music. It might help you out, too. Just no country music. While it's got its purposes, if you listen to all the ballads, it's just going to depress you more. You also need to watch some dumb comedies. Like Dude, Where's My Car, Rat Race, Dodgeball, Animal House, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Revenge of the Nerds, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or any Adam Sandler movie. They're funny, and you don't have to think too hard to enjoy them.''
Jason backed up a bit. ''OK, whoa. You guys are acting as if Kim and I aren't going to get back together. We are. I'm just giving her the space and time she needs. I know she broke up with Zack, I saw him skulking around the park looking all depressed. Now she just needs time.''
Bailey said, ''Um, you haven't talked to Zack. He broke up with her. He told her that he knew she was always going to love you more, so he told her they'd just be friends. She hasn't called looking for you, so for all you know, she's still in like with him or whatever.''
Jason said, ''Bailey, I don't want to hear anything from you unless it's support. She said that she was upset about the whole Kat thing. I don't blame her. I did take it too quickly with Kat. That's probably the only reason that she slept with Zack at all. She was just trying to show me how it felt to have someone do that to you. She's going to come back to me. You'll see.'' He took the beer back out of the fridge and went upstairs.
While Jason was in his funk, Kimberly wasn't feeling too much better. But since she had to go to work, she wasn't hanging around in her pajammas all day long. She was sitting at her desk, trying to concentrate on her work.
As she was just trying to get her attention back on the order she was working on, one of her friends walked by. Roxie Walker. She said, ''Kim, are you sure you're OK? I'm sure that you guys can get back together. You turned him down at the time, but that doesn't mean that you can't change your mind.''
Kimberly turned to look at Roxie. ''I'm sure that I could. I just don't know if I'm ready to be OK with the fact that right after we broke up he slept with someone who is also supposed to be my friend. I didn't. I told Zack I wouldn't feel right about it until I had talked to Jason. Why couldn't he have done that? It wouldn't have been that hard.''
Roxie sat down next to Kim, pulling one of the chairs from the desk across from Kimberly's. ''I know, I'm sure that that didn't feel that good. But you love him. He loves you. He was with her, and he broke up with her so he could get you back. He told you that he was never going to love anyone like he loves you. I mean, he's your lobster, Kim. I haven't even known you that long, and I've already figured that out.''
Kimberly sighed. ''I don't know. What if I take him back, and everything's great. But only for a few years? What if, after we're married, he finds someone else? I couldn't take that.''
Roxie said, ''Kim, he may have had a crush on Kat Hilliard, but he's loved you since you were five. You told me that, and I believed you. Love like that just doesn't go away in a month and a half. You need to get him back. He's going to love you forever, and you'll regret it if you don't. OK, I've got invoices to get back to. I'll talk to you later.'' She got up and put the chair back. Before she left, she added, ''Not to mention, you also slept with someone that was supposed to be his best friend. So you're even.''
Kim watched as she walked away, and then turned back to her order. She couldn't think about Jason anymore. She had to get back to work. It was just going to be a little hard to do.
Jason was sitting on his couch, drinking another beer and watching Animal House. He had taken Julia's suggestion and decided to watch something stupid. He didn't see the point to this movie, and it used to be one of his favorites. He just didn't see the point of doing anything if he wasn't with Kimberly.
Charlie walked in, carrying his own beer. ''OK, Jason, let's talk. I know that you're taking this Kim thing hard, but you need to fight for her. She said she needs time to think, right? Well, you need to show her what she's missing while she's thinking. You need to be in San Fransisco, making sure that she sees a lot of you. Lots of bumping into her on purpose, stuff like that. Do you see what I'm saying?''
Jason looked at his brother. ''Charlie, Kim's smarter than a lot of your previous girlfriends. She's going to see right through that. I can't go up there and hang around her like that. It wouldn't work. She's gotta be ready. She's not yet.''
Charlie shook his head. ''I disagree with you. She's smarter than some of my conquests, as Bailey and Kirsten call them, but if you're up there, and she's seeing a lot of you, she's going to make up her mind a lot sooner. Trust me. She won't be able to see you and not have you. She's never been able to be away from you that long, and you guys have been apart for a month and a half now. I'm telling you, it's going to work.''
Jason turned back to the movie. ''No it's not, Charlie. Besides, if I don't give her the space she needs, she's just going to get even more pissed off at me. Trust me, I know her better than you do.''
Julia came rushing into the living room, dropping her jacket and bookbag on the floor in her haste. ''You guys, I hate to interrupt the brotherly bonding, but I saw Claudia.''
Jason and Charlie both turned to look at her. ''Where? Is she OK? What's she look like? She wasn't in a hospital or anything?'' Jason fired off these questions as quickly as his mouth could get them out.
Julia sat down on the armchair. ''She's fine, she's living in San Fransisco with Kimberly. She's a lesbian, dating this girl named Lauren. They live together, Lauren's trying to recruit Claud into becoming Wiccan, they work in this New Age store together, and Claudia's got blue and red streaks in her hair. She's got this punk and goth thing going on. I didn't get to speak to her, but I saw her. Kimberly told me that she hadn't known what to do. She didn't know if she should call us or let Claudia decide. She said that she was still deciding.''
Jason sat up a little. ''One of us should call her, see if maybe we can bridge the gap. Sometimes I still can't believe that it's been three years since we've talked to her. We used to be so close. I miss her a lot.''
Julia said, ''That's not the point. She's thinking that we don't love her or accept her or want her to come home. We do! Bailey's the one that was being all totalitarian on her.''
Jason said, ''I wasn't here, so I don't know, but I do happen to know my brother pretty well, and while he may have been trying too hard, he does love Claudia. He just was going about it the wrong way.''
Charlie nodded. ''You all woke up one morning to find her gone, right?'' He had been at a girlfriend's the morning that they had discovered Claudia had left.
Julia nodded. ''Yes. I wish that Bailey had listened to me. I tried to tell him that he was pushing her too hard. He obviously didn't listen to me. I think we need to go to San Fran, and tell Claudia that we still love her and whatever. Maybe call her, ask if she can come here.''
Jason said, ''I hope that I don't sound too selfish in saying that I really don't want to go to San Fransisco right now. I know that we need to bring Claudia home, but I'm sure she knows that Kimmie and I broke up. I bet she'll understand that I don't really want to be around anyone right now.''
His sister said, ''I'm sure that she'll understand. I don't know if it's the right thing to do if you stay home, but I understand. Maybe only one or two of us should go, anyway. Maybe too many would make her bolt. I think I might go, maybe take Owen or something. Bailey definitely shouldn't go just yet.''
Jason took another sip of his beer. ''So what were you doing in San Fran, Jules? Was there a job opportunity or something? What did Kim say about me? Is she ready to take me back?''
Julia sat down on the other side of Jason as Charlie got up, saying he was going to check on Owen. ''She asked how you were, and I was meeting her for lunch. She called me and asked me if I could meet her. She wanted to know what happened with you and Kat. I told her. She didn't really say much about it. She said she needed to know so she could finish up her thinking. She didn't look much happier than you do right now.''
Jason perked up a little. ''I know that that shouldn't make me feel happy, but it does a little. I miss her so much. Did she still smell like fresh flowers after the rain?'' He asked, smiling one of his little grins.
Julia laughed softly. ''I didn't get close enough to find out, Big Brother. I think that if I did, we'd be having a different kind of conversation about her. Anyway, I think I'm going to take Owen or Kirsten with me to talk to Claud. She always loved Kirsten.''
Jason nodded. ''Yes, that's perfect. Take Kirsten. Or take both of them. She was closer to Owen than any of us because she's the closest in age, and she did always love Kirsten. I'm going to take a shower. 'Kay?'' He kissed Julia's cheek and went upstairs, whistling.
Julia smiled to herself. She was glad that news of Kim had perked Jason up a little. He had been showering normally, but that was about all. She just hoped that they could iron out this stuff and get back together before his job started.
A little while later, Kat rang the Scotts' doorbell, hoping to talk to Jason. She had talked to his brother Bailey, and wanted to make sure that he was doing OK. She wasn't under any circumstances trying to get him back, she really just wanted to make sure he was dealing.
Charlie's wife Kirsten answered the door. ''Hello, Kat, come on in. I assume you're here to see Jason? He's in the living room, watching 50 First Dates, I think.''
Kat entered as Kirsten stepped back for her. ''Thanks, Kirsten. I've talked to Zack, and I thought that I might come over and see how he was dealing with the thing with Kim. I'm also supposed to see if he'll talk to Zack. He's missing Jason.''
Kirsten smiled at her. ''Well, that's a lot that you've got to hammer out. so I'll leave you to it. Good luck.'' She went back in the kitchen. She was making cookies with Julia.
Kat went into the living room. An Adam Sandler movie was indeed on, but it wasn't 50 First Dates. It was The Wedding Singer. Adam was onstage, saying how love was bad and whatnot. Kat said, ''Hi, Jason.'' She stood in the doorway, not sure if she should come in.
Jason looked up. ''Oh, hi, Kat. What's going on? I was told that I should watch Adam Sandler movies to make myself feel better. I should not have picked this one. It is just making me sadder. So, I take it you've talked to Zack, if you're here to see me.''
Kat nodded. ''I have. I'm not here to talk about getting back together. I can clearly see that you're sad about Kimberly. I came to see how you were, and maybe talk you into talking to Zack?'' She looked apologetic.
Jason looked a little panicked. ''He's not here, is he? I'll talk to him, I just don't want to right now. I'm trying to see if I can stand watching the rest of this movie.''
Kat peered at the screen. ''Oh, yeah, they end up together. He gets happy again.'' She joined him on the couch as Jason turned the sound down a little.
Jason looked at her. ''This is nice. I'm glad you came over. I want us to be able to hang out again.'' He laid back on the couch. ''The one thing that I regret about us breaking up is that we haven't really hung out that much. I've missed you.''
Kat smiled at him. ''I've missed you, too. I want to still be friends. I don't want to let this breakup cause us not to be friends.'' She settled back on the couch a little, trying to relax, since Jason had.
When he had showered, he had put on clean pajammas, some deordorant, and had spiked his hair up with some gel. It wasn't long enough for the spikes to be super tall or anything, just about half an inch above his head. He was meaning to give his hair a trim. But he'd also splashed on the smallest amount of Ralph Lauren's Polo, because if you put on too much, it's a tad overwhelming. He knew this guy at school named Matthew who had done just that. He said, ''I want to still be friends, too, Kat.'' They smiled at each other and turned back to the movie.
Kimberly let herself into her house at five-thirty that afternoon, carrying a couple of bags. She'd gone shopping after blowing off half of her work day. Her boss had sent her home, telling her that she had to deal with this Jason thing, and to stay home the next couple of days until she had gotten to feeling a little better. She had protested, but Roxie had been on their boss's side.
She sighed and took the bags to her room, kicked off her shoes, and got into her favorite sleepwear, a pair of Jason's boxer shorts and one of his old AGH (Angel Grove High) football jerseys. He had been on the team all four years of high school. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, put on some soft cotton socks, and headed into the kitchen.
She didn't want to pig out; she tried to stay as in shape as she could without going out of control. She decided to just fix some dinner, and got out some Stouffer's mac and cheese out of the freezer and put a hamburger patty in a pan on the stove.
The phone rang as she was just getting everything ready. She went into the living room to get the cordless and went back into the kitchen to put down a plate and silverware. She went to answer it, wondering who it was.
It was Kat. ''Hi, Kim, we need to talk.'' Kimberly swallowed a little harder than she meant to. She knew this had been coming, but now, she found herself totally unprepared for it.