Helloagain! I'm really sorry that I haven't uploaded Chapter 2 of this series. Actually, I'm sorry that I haven't been active at all lately. I've been busy with school, homework, after-school activities, the Internet, friends, drama, and just life in general. Because of these things, I never really had time to write fanfiction, and I lost interest in it. I recently started getting back into fanfiction, though, and I've been inspired to continue. So here you go! Also, I changed Jasper's description in the last chapter. My original vision of him just didn't seem good enough.
The two female cats gazed at each other in awe, staying perfectly still. After a few seconds, the silence was broken.
"Nicole?"
"Barbara?"
"It's been so long!"
The women squealed as they broke into a run towards each other, hugging tightly as they collided into a large mass of two-tone fur. They made small talk while the other families looked one another up and down. They continued doing this until the dark blue cat stepped forward.
"Hello everybody. How are you guys doing today?"
The responses he received were just scattered mumbles.
"Well, my name's Walter, but you can Uncle Walter, or just Uncle. Or Walter. Whatever suits you."
What is this guy's problem? Gumball thought. He thought this because something seemed weird about his 'uncle'. Something seemed...off. He seemed too happy about the situation. I'll just try to be nice...
Richard stepped forward and stuck out his hand.
"Hi. The name's Richard. Richard Watterson. Pleasure to meet you."
Uncle Walter grabbed his hand and shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you too." He turned around to look at the person behind him.
"Don't be rude, Jasper, say hello to your cousins."
The person stepped out from behind Walter.
"Remove your hood."
Jasper reluctantly removed his hood, revealing his facial features. Gumball now had a better view of what he looked like.
The first thing Gumball noticed was his piercing green eyes. In a way, it kind of creeped him out. He felt a shiver travel down his spine as he surveyed the rest of Jasper's face.
He had dark blonde hair, swooping to the left of his forehead, partially covering one eye. His hair had a streak of striking dark purple, and his fur was a lovely shade of lavender. He wore a gray hoodie with a faded red skull graphic on the front, and a pair of black skinny jeans with rips at the knees. His shoes were royal purple Converse All-Stars.
Jasper shot Gumball a questioning look, as it seemed that Gumball was too caught up with staring at his hair.
It looks so soft...I wonder if he'll let me touch it...Gumball was almost in a trance.
"Hi," Jasper said in an odd tone, "I'm Jasper. Nice to meet ya."
Gumball snapped out of his dream-like state. He blushed as he looked away from Jasper.
"Hi," Gumball's voice was shaky, "I'm Gumball. It is a wondrous pleasure to meet you." He turned back to see Jasper still giving him a weird look, with his hand still out, waiting for Gumball to shake it.
"Oops, sorry..." Gumball's face turned redder as he awkwardly shook Jasper's hand, then quickly turned to walk up the stairs. But before he had the chance to go anywhere, Nicole turned to look at her children.
"Gumball, Darwin, you help Anais carry Jasper's bags upstairs." She turned to talk to her estranged sister.
"It's been wonderful to see you again, Nicole. We're very grateful that you agreed to watch Jasper for us."
Nicole had a confused look on her face. "Wait...what do you mean by 'watch Jasper for you?"
"Oh, Nicole. Still gullible and stupid as always." Barbara said this in a mocking tone. Her cheerful expression had suddenly turned sour.
"Walter and I are going on a vacation to the Bahamas for 9 months. We'll be leaving Jasper with you for the whole school year." Barbara and Walter turned and started to walk out the front door.
"Wait a minute! You can't just expect me to take care of another child when I already take care of 3 kids and a lazy father!" Nicole's confusion had turned into downright outrage.
"Hey!" Richard yelled from inside the house.
"Of course you can, Nicole. You always were such a hard worker." Barbara's mouth grew into a sinister grin.
"But I have to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week! I'm almost never at home! How will they feed themselves? Who will clean and cook and do the dishes and wash the laundry and-"
"Let's go, Walter."
Barbara rolled up her window as Walter stepped on the gas, speeding out of the driveway. In an instant, they were gone.
Nicole stood there in shock, staring at the empty driveway.
"Um, honey? What's wrong?"
She came back to reality as Richard placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll talk to you about it later, dear." She said this with a surprisingly content voice as she moved past her husband and back into the house. She slowly walked upstairs, careful not to lose her balance. Once she reached the top, she walked into the boys' bedroom to see Gumball and Darwin sitting on the floor, staring at each other in silence.
"Where's Jasper?" Nicole asked.
"He mentioned something about going outside. He said he needed some fresh air." Darwin answered.
~X~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~
Well, they did it again. Mom and Dad have left me by myself once again, without acknowledging my feelings. What the hell is their problem? Why can't they consider MY feelings, MY emotions, MY needs every one in a while?
I probably shouldn't be surprised, though. They do this all the time, but never for this long. I knew they lied to Aunt Nicole about our house flooding. They did it just to get rid of me so they could enjoy paradise for 9 months...I hope they eventually come back for me...actually, scratch that.
Sometimes I hope that they don't come back. I hope they never come back to get me, because I know that it'll just be the same cycle over and over again: they'll ignore me most of the time at home, then they'll get rid of me the first chance they get.
It's sickening. It's awful to know that they'd send you away without thinking of your feelings. I seclude myself from them most of the time at home. I can't stand to be around them, but at the same time, I feel guilty for avoiding them. I don't know why, though. It's not like they care anyway, so why should I care about THEIR feelings?
It's killing me inside. It's tearing my life apart (or had least what I'd call a life; it's not like I have one anyway). Sometimes I just want to-
"Jasper, honey? Are you out here?" Nicole called out to her nephew in the backyard.
Jasper stopped writing and looked up. He heard his aunt yelling for him.
He stood up and walked around from behind the tree he was sitting under.
"Yes, Aunt Nicole?" he answered.
"Hey honey, I didn't mean to bother you. I wanted to know what you wanted to eat for dinner." Nicole explained. "It doesn't matter, so you could have anything."
"You don't have to trouble yourself. A pizza would be fine."
"Okay, if that's what you want."
"Thank you, Aunt Nicole." He turned to walk back towards the tree. "Um, Jasper, would you mind coming inside with me? I'd like you to meet our family." Nicole asked.
"Sure, whatever." Jasper left his notebook on the spot he was sitting at behind the tree and followed his aunt back inside the house.
About half an hour later, the pizzas arrived. The Watterson family set the pizza down on the coffee table in the living room and set the chair from the dining room in a semi-circle around the couch, where Jasper sat on one side. Gumball sat on the other end of the couch, blushing whenever Jasper gave him a sideways glance.
"So, Jasper, tell us about yourself." Nicole was encouraging him to come out of his shell and engage in conversation with the family.
"Well, my name is Jasper Storm, I'm 14 years old, and I moved here from Seattle." Jasper did not mind talking to his extended family, but he wanted to reveal as little information as possible.
"Ooooh, a yankee," Richard gawked, "Tell me, Mr. Rebel, is the food really that different up North?"
"Mr. Dad! Don't talk to him like that! You might offend him!" Darwin was surprised at how inconsiderate his father could be.
"Nevermind them," Anais explained, "they're just a bit, ahem, slow"
Right," Jasper said, looking confused, "so, enough talk about me. Tell me some things about yourselves."
"Well, I'm Gumball Watterson," Gumball butted in loudly. "I like going to school, getting good grades, volunteering at old folks' homes, planting flowers, doing chores, and making the world a better place!"
The family rolled their eyes at Gumball. "Gumball, that's a lie, and you know it." Anais responded, giving him the Evil Eye.
Instead of making a comeback, Gumball turned red and buried his face in his lap.
"My name is Anais. Anais Watterson. I'm 4 years old. My hobbies and interests include chemistry, biology, quantum physics, trigonometry, calculus, being involved in religious and political debates, and brushing up on the 27 various languages I have learned and have become accustomed to."
Jasper gave her a blank stare.
"Okay...well, Darwin, how about you?"
"Well, I don't really have a favorite thing to do. I just do whatever I feel like doing." Darwin grinned.
"Awesome." Jasper smiled back at him. He thought Darwin would be a fun person.
"You know, your parents seem like such nice people. I bet they love you very much." Nicole still hated her sister with a passion after today's incident, but she respected her for being such a good mother to her nephew.
Jasper looked up from his slice of pizza and glared at Nicole. Tears started to drip from his eyes as he threw the pizza slice across the living room, jumped off the couch, and bolted up the stairs.
Everyone was silent. Then, the family jumped up and ran upstairs after Jasper, desperate to find out what was wrong.
Gumball was the only one to stay behind. Slowly, he got up off of the sofa, and made his way over to the kitchen, where the pizza was laying. He crouched down, slowly grabbing the pizza and putting it in his mouth in one piece.
