Chapter 7: Moving Day

It was Saturday morning and Jasper was checking the room; making sure all his things were cleared out before the new tenant could move in. And whoever that new tenant was was due to arrive at any time. He gathered up his last couple of CD's, his keys, a small smooth copper-colored stone and an old heart-shaped valentine he got from Sam when they were little kids.

As he was leaving the room he attempted to claim for himself, he grabbed one final belonging – a photograph of himself and Sam sitting together in their favorite booth at Mabel's. He was just shutting the door behind him and making his way down the stairs when Alex started making her way up; catching Jasper by surprise. First at Mabel's Table with the french fries everyday and now here at his own home.

Suddenly there were several questions swirling through his mind. Who was this girl? That was the first one. Why was she here? That was the next. Why and how had she managed to invade his life? That was the last to fully form before…

"Excuse me", Alex said to Jasper as they met each other face to face on the stairs. Actually face to belly button. She struggled to look up at him.

"Um yeah." He moved to one side and watched her step past him. He noticed her carrying a back pack over one shoulder, a camera over the other and dragging a small suitcase on wheels. She continued on up the stairs and for the second time since first encountering her at Mabel's he was distracted by the subtle scent of her.

He forced himself to pull his attention back from her as she reached the door. "You're the one my Mom is renting to?" He asked her, wishing he'd found out before now that it was her.

"That's right", she answered him simply.

Jasper slowly nodded, but didn't say anything else. He finished his decent down the stairs and crossed the width of the driveway towards his house.

Alex, in turn, watched him until he ducked inside before entering her new digs and getting settled.

oO0Oo

Things were quiet at the Arnolds' dinner table that night. All that could be heard were the sounds of knives and forks clinking on plates, of glasses being set back down onto the table top after having been drunk from, and of the heater cycling on and off to keep the warmth constant throughout the house.

Despite the tension and awkwardness around the table there was still a slight air of relief coming from all but one of the table's occupants. At least Jasper was back home and eating dinner with his family. Those were the only cares of his concerned parents.

The silence was finally broken midway through dinner when Betsy commented, "Maybe we should have invited Alex for dinner on her first night with us."

This immediately pulled Jasper's attention away from his plate, at which he'd been starring throughout the meal. She can't be serious, he thought to himself, as he glared at his mother but still saying nothing.

She noticed his glare and choosing to ignore it, she continued, "Maybe Alex didn't understand when we talked about meals that she had a standing invitation."

"I'm sure you were clear, Honey. I'm sure she knows", Malcolm reassured his wife.

"She's not here anyway", Robin chimed in.

"What are you talking about, Sweetie?" Her mother asked.

"She left a little while ago. I saw her."

After dinner Jasper retreated to his bedroom, more or less sulking. He was lying stretched out on his bed when he heard a small knock at his door. Before he could answer, his little sister opened his door and came in.

"What d'ya want squirt?" Jasper sat up on the edge of his bed, with his head hanging.

"I'm glad you're back home Jasper."

He didn't respond to her at first. He didn't even look up at her. A sad little pout formed across her baby face, as she turned to leave. Before doing so, she told him, "I missed you."

He stopped Robin before she could completely close his bedroom door behind her. Finally speaking, he told her, "I missed you too squirt." Wiping away her pout and bringing a broad, happy smile instead.

She rushed back into the room. She threw her little arms around his neck and drew his head to her. Mimicking what her big brother always did with her, she gave him a peck of a kiss on the top of his head.

oO0Oo

"Damn it", Jasper muttered under his breath. He was opening the back door, trying to be as quiet as he could. He was almost out of it when the kitchen light blared on.

"Is that for not getting out of here fast enough or for getting caught?" Malcolm questioned his son before he could escape into the early morning hours. Jasper's heavy sigh was the only answer he received. "It's 3:00 in the morning", he continued from the kitchen door way.

"I know", Jasper responded at last.

"That's good. Do you also know how much your mother is worried about you?"

"Not too much obviously", Jasper quipped. His back was still to his father.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" His father demanded. His anger rising as he entered the kitchen all the way.

Jasper closed the back door and turned to face him. "Nothin'."

"No! You apparently have something you need to say."

Again Jasper sighed. He really didn't want to get into a shouting match with his father. Not now. So he resigned himself and simply responded, "Never mind Dad."

However, his father wasn't having a problem with it. Taking a seat at the kitchen table blocking his son's path back into the living room, he continued to push. Even though in the back of his mind he could hear his wife asking him not to. "You know", he paused. "Your mother keeps asking me when am I going to start trusting you again. And I have to tell you son, this is not helping. So what do you have to say for yourself?"

Jasper gave in to his father's persistence. "I was fine across the way. It wasn't like I went out and got my own place. I was just on the other side of the driveway."

"Maybe. And maybe your mother and I were not fine with you just on the other side of the driveway. You leave and disappear at all hours. Not even your friends know where you go. But that's beside the point. It's rented now."

"To this, to that Alex Jace girl. Yeah I know. First Mom rents it out to Richie Rich… Kelly." Jasper said with some disdain. "…last summer. Now her."

"She needed a place to stay."

"And it just had to be here. What was wrong with where she was already staying?"

"It was a room over a bus station, Son."

"Why is that our problem, Dad? We don't even know her."

"She apparently knows you from Mabel's."

"So!" Jasper replied angrily then stepped past his father and went back to bed. Before finally drifting off, his anger faded only slightly and once again he prayed for a dreamless sleep.

oO0Oo

Finally! A breather. The morning rush was over. First it was the parents that came in for their regular caffeine fix on their way to their jobs. Then their kids came on their way to their classes. Alex could remember when she was in high school just a scant couple of years ago; coffee was never her caffeine of choice. She and her friends always went for soda. When they discovered that one particular brand had more caffeine than all the rest, they were in their glory. Her switch over to coffee and all its incarnations came only when she started working. The sophistication of these high schoolers was already starting.

"Hey Alex."

"Hi Alex", greeted Pete and Vanessa as they came into Mabel's, followed by a stiff cold breeze.

"Hi Guys. Anywhere. I'll be right back", Alex directed them before returning her attention to her current customer. A customer she dreaded. He sat at the counter whenever he came in. And it always took him an hour to even get close to actually ordering anything. This day was no different and she really wasn't in the mood.

"Okay guy, you come in here every day. You look at the menu as if you've never seen it before. Then you keep me hovering nearby, to end up only ordering coffee. What are you doing?"

"Maybe I just like you hovering nearby. It's too bad I can't get you to hover by even closer", the guy said to her.

Alex stopped and cocked her head to one side. She brought both her hands up and put them on the counter in front of her customer and dropped her head to look him directly in his eyes. "You're hitting on me now?" She asked incredulously. He only grinned at her and shrugged. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she eyed the ceiling before leaving him and his silly grin behind. She had real customers to take care of.

"Okay you two", Alex said to Pete and Vanessa as she returned to their booth at the window. "What can I get for you today? You're not working the store today, Pete?"

"Naw. Day off."

"Got a nice day planned?"

"Don't ask", Vanessa interjected.

Alex raised an eyebrow as she noticed a sly smile on Vanessa's face. "Naughty, naughty", she teasingly shook her order pad at both of them. "So what are you having?"

Pete ordered first, a burger, fries, and a root beer float. Vanessa admonished him for that order because it was only 10:00 in the morning. She herself ordered a veggie omelet, no potatoes, no toast and a diet soda. Ten minutes later Alex returned with their meals. "Here we go, breakfast for you", putting a plate down in front of Vanessa. "And lunch for you Pete. Anything else you guys need?" Alex waited. "No? Good." When Alex turned to leave, Pete stopped her.

"Wait. How was your first night at the Arnold's?"

"It was okay. Quiet. Insanely quiet", she answered with an emphasis on "insanely". Having grown up in a large city, it was rarely ever quiet. She then reconsidered her answer. "Except for the cows in the morning. Me and them may have to have a little chat."

"Noisy huh", observed Vanessa.

"I don't know what's worse - the constant arrivals and departures of the busses and their engines or the early morning mooing."

"That's probably just Jasper", Pete offered.

Alex chuckled. "Jasper's into early morning mooing? Maybe I should be having that chat with him then."

"Yeah, good luck with that. Besides it's just him evacuating the cows. He does it first thing in the morning."

"Evacuating?" Alex was a little confused.

"Milking."

"Oh, okay. Never heard it put that way before." After a long pause, Alex mentioned, "You wished me luck just now about talking to Jasper."

"Yeah?"

"He doesn't talk much, does he? Is that normal for him?"

"I don't know how normal it is. He can get real quiet sometimes. But that's been getting worse ever since…" Pete trailed off having caught Vanessa's sideways glance. A glance that kept him from speaking about something undoubtedly private.

Alex didn't have a chance to finish her conversation with Pete. She was called away by her "favorite" customer at the counter.

"Alex, can I get the check?"

"You didn't order anything", Alex told him as she reached him from behind the counter.

"Didn't I? Well one coffee to go then."

"The usual then. Fine."

oO0Oo

Alex was so tired each step she climbed up to her room felt more like ten. It had been a long day. After her shift ended she went to the high school. She made arrangements with the photography teacher, Mr. Wellesley, several days before to use the school's photo lab to process her pictures. She spent several hours there developing the roll of film she shot just after she arrived in Putnam. The same roll she shot from her previous room's window across the street from Mabel's. The same roll she shot of Jasper - the dark, quiet, solemn mystery guy, who is now a mere driveway away.

Once she settled in for the night, Alex decided she wanted to check over the results of her evening's efforts. She laid out the finished prints all over the top of her bed. They turned out extremely well, as she suspected they would even as she shot them. She compared and contrasted each and every one of them. Though they were all taken from the same angle, in the same direction and at the same subject, they each showed a life of their own. She found that affect usually occurred with certain exceptional subjects. And exceptional certainly fits Jasper to a tee. The black and white film complimented his dark, brooding good looks and the smoldering hypnotic effects of his far-away seeing eyes.

As Alex continued to study the pictures, she found her focus fixated on those eyes. From several face-to-face encounters with Jasper, she had long confirmed his eyes were a deep brown, although somehow they managed to change their color on occasion. Caught frozen in time by her camera, his eyes spoke volumes all on their own. Of what Alex wondered. Of troubles, surely. Of sadness, of hurt, of pain? Of hate, maybe. Of love, most definitely. Certainly of conflict. She wondered if she would ever know for sure.

Falling asleep among his pictures and losing herself in his eyes, she allowed those eyes to follow her into her dreams.

END OF CHAPTER #7