The fact Steph was worried enough to come to Jackson for help, was a graver sign than any he'd recognised so far. Just how messed up was Jasmine's situation?
Steph didn't stay and chat long, but by the end of it, Jackson had accepted responsibility that Jasmine's global silent treatment was partially his fault, and had resolved to fix it. Now he just had to figure out what was really behind it.
How would he go about doing that? Well, he didn't have many options before him. At least he knew where to find her… kind of.
The slowest weekend of Jackson's life passed by, something most high-schoolers would've relished, but Jackson spent worrying and planning what to do on Monday. Despite the growing heat, his days were frigid, and though he filled them with training, he could feel those ever-delicate scales becoming lopsided. Even without the problems Jasmine's silence was causing, he needed to figure it out for his own good as well.
He tried not to linger on such a selfish motivation, and eventually Monday came, freeing him from a short, but torturous purgatory.
Though his stay was extended for just a bit longer, when he didn't find Jasmine in the halls before his first class. He did find Kenny, however, who approached him with eagerness in his step, for what would be the first in multiple distractions that day.
'Yo, Jackson, you got a minute?'
Jackson, still scanning the hall, stopped and nodded.
'What's this with Tommy's telling me about getting a team of guys together for something at the start of summer break?'
Jackson blinked, his focus completely pulled from his search to find Jasmine. 'What?'
'I don't know, he just told me I had to get five guys together who would be free for the whole day this Saturday. But when I tried to ask about it more he just said details would come later. Has he told you anything?'
'Uhh… this is the first I'm hearing of it at all.'
'Seriously?'
'Yeah. Sorry, I don't know what the hell that's about.'
'That's weird, man.'
It was… though maybe Tommy knew how important it was for Jackson to sort things with Jasmine, and hadn't wanted to put more on an already full plate?
'Uh, yeah, but I gotta find Jasmine, so I—'
But the bell cut Jackson off. Kenny patted him on the shoulder, and told him he'd find her during lunch. Jackson sighed but agreed, retreating to his first class. But he hadn't heard the last of Tommy's supposed new mystery plan. When he sat down for class, being just a couple of minutes late, Sachin leaned over, and asked him if he knew what drugs Tommy was on.
Marcus whacked Sachin's arm, and Eddie glared at the big shot-putter, but then he leaned over to Jackson. 'Seriously, do you know what this team stuff is? Like what are we doing? We're not playing a scrimmage game against your teammates, are we?'
'I don't know,' Jackson said. 'I haven't heard anything about any teams, or what he's planning. I'll ask him when I get home, then let you guys know when I figure out more.'
'My man.' Sachin reached over, bumping fists with Jackson.
'He said some stuff about needing one more, didn't he?' Marcus chimed in. The others nodded, looking at Jackson.
One more? Right, teams of five. But… if Sachin, Eddie, and Marcus knew about it, wouldn't they make five with Jackson and Tommy? Maybe Tommy was going to be the mediator? What the hell was he planning? It was all another distraction Jackson didn't need, but one he couldn't help thinking about.
Couldn't Kenny be the final teammate? Or maybe Jasmine could be. If he got back into her good graces, she'd probably be down to help him out with whatever Tommy's next whacky training idea was, especially if it was going to be a big thing. If not, there was always someone else from the Titans' receiving corps.
'I'll figure that out, too.'
Marcus and Sachin bumped fists, while Eddie patted Jackson on the shoulder. 'You're good otherwise, right?'
Jackson frowned. He couldn't give that question a straight answer. He met Eddie's concerned gaze. 'I will be. I've just got something else I need to figure out first. Something I need to do on my own. Thanks for being there for me anyway.'
'Always, man,' Marcus said.
***
Though lunch wasn't the best time to find Jasmine. She always just seemed to vanish, without anyone even having a clue where to find her. It would take hours to run around the school and check every possible hiding spot… and of course, if she was holed up in a stall in one of the girls' bathrooms, well, he couldn't do anything there.
Instead, Jackson visited Ms Cotton's office. Part of him hoped to find Jasmine there, knowing she liked to help Ms Cotton, but he knew that was unlikely. The real reason he wanted to see Ms Cotton was because he believed she'd have better advice than anybody… and maybe Jasmine had talked to her.
Unfortunately, not even Ms Cotton had seen Jasmine in a while, nor could she have told Jackson if they were talking—patient confidentiality and all that.
She did have some advice for him, however—wait.
Jasmine knew he cared, and would be waiting for her when she needed him. He'd told her multiple times through both words and actions. So if she wasn't responding, that was a clear message she needed space. Ms Cotton was sure Jasmine would talk to him when she was ready.
Jackson wasn't exactly satisfied with these answers, though it wasn't like he could refute them. He thanked Ms Cotton for the advice, and she promised she'd be on the lookout for Jasmine and ask if she needed to talk to discuss anything, then he left her office.
***
With half of the lunch break to get through, Jackson decided to find that final member for his team. Hopefully, the others wouldn't mind too much that he didn't know what the game was going to be; those he intended to ask were already familiar with Tommy's surprises thanks to dodgeball and arm-wrestling.
Jackson squeezed in next to Kenny, sitting with Shane, Rudy, Pete, and Freddy already there. 'You guys heard about this thing with Tommy?'
'Kenny was just explaining your brother had another surprise for us,' Shane said.
Rudy rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, and those are always awesome.'
'They're sometimes fun.' Freddy said. '…It won't be dodgeball again, will it?'
'I don't think it'll be dodgeball again, or arm-wrestling even. Definitely not arm-wrestling 'cause he said to make teams. Which brings me to my next question. Who wants to be on my team? I have one space left, supposedly.'
The others looked around at each other, then at Jackson, confusion writ large across their faces. 'We already have a team,' Kenny said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Jackson's jaw dropped. 'What? But Eddie and the others said we needed one more member for our team.'
Kenny shrugged, then gestured to the other four Titans at the table. 'Tommy told me us five were our own team.'
More questions piled up in Jackson's mind, but the most pressing was: 'What's Tommy doing then?'
'I wouldn't sweat it much,' Pete said. 'Tommy's prolly just gonna be the ref or something.'
'Yeah, either that or he thinks he's good enough to not need a team,' Rudy said.
'Are you sure he's not on your team?' Shane asked. 'With you, him, and your friends, that'd make five.'
'Why would they tell me to find one more member?'
'Did Sachin say that?' Kenny asked. 'No offence, but that guy's dumb as shit sometimes.'
'Most of the time, you mean,' Rudy agreed.
Jackson sighed. While not untrue, Sachin wasn't THAT dumb, and the others had backed up the claim, too. What was Tommy planning this time? Something big, and that worried Jackson for some reason. Did having to beat his teammates worry him? Or was it the possibility of losing?
'Uh, what if Tommy has a team of his own?' Freddy asked.
'His own team?' Kenny said.
'Puta madre. What is this? Five on five on five? That's not football, I don't even know what that could be.'
None of them did. It left them with a lot to ponder—none more so than Jackson—and none of them were any closer to an answer by the time the bell called an end to lunch.
What was Tommy's plan? Who was going to be in his team? And who would Jackson find as the last member of his own? He struggled with all these as he trudged back to class, though eventually had to push them to the back of his mind. He could worry about them later. Jasmine had to take precedent.
***
It wasn't until school was over that he finally found her. He waited by the gates for her, having hurried there right after the final bell.
He spotted her easily amongst the crowd, like she was five feet taller than everyone else. She didn't look at him, though he was sure she'd seen him. Her stride never changed as she continued past him as if he didn't exist.
It'd be a long walk home for her, though she didn't seem to be in any rush. He jogged up to her, rolling his bike alongside him. 'Can we talk?'
She didn't react to his question at all. Was her silence not enough of an answer on its own? For Jackson, evidently not. He let his bike fall to the wayside as he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.
'Seriously what is wrong with you, Jasmine?'
'What's wrong with ME?!'
'Yes! You're not talking to anyone and it's freaking us all out. We're worried about you.'
She shook her head and moved to push past him, but he grabbed her again. She glared at him. 'Let go of me, Jackson.'
'Not until you tell me what's wrong.'
Her bottom lip quivered once before she inhaled deeply, steadying herself. 'Fine, you want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you. What's wrong is I asked my boyfriend to do ONE thing for me. He was desperate to meet my parents for whatever reason, despite all my warnings, and how much I hated the idea, but I let him, because that's what you do, you make compromises and sacrifices for your loved ones. All I asked was that he didn't make a scene with them, and didn't tell them about my secrets. If he could've just held his tongue for ONE interaction with them. After all, I've done it my whole life just fine. But no. He couldn't even do that for me.'
Jackson listened, mouth agape. Others filtered past on the sidewalk, taking a wide berth around the arguing couple, though still watching intently, whispering to their friends. Jasmine shifted her glare to them, shutting them up.
'You blame me for that?' Jackson said.
'Of course! Why would I blame my parents for something I know they can't change.'
'But they're awful! I couldn't just sit there and let them say all that… all that bullshit! I had to stand up for you.'
'You had to stand up for me? Why? Who asked you to?'
Jackson was taken aback. 'Nobody asked me to, but nobody should have to ask me to stand up for what's right.'
'What YOU believe was right. I didn't ask you, Jackson. I didn't need your "help". You weren't standing up for me, you were standing up for yourself.' She went to storm off. Again, he stopped her tugging her back by her arm.
She whirled around, hand poised to slap him, though she didn't swing. 'Grab me again and I'll slap the shit out of you, Jackson.' Her eyes were full of pain and fury, both aimed directly at him, but beneath it all he saw conviction, too.
Wincing, he let her go and backed up a step. 'Okay, okay. Sorry. Just don't go, please.'
She remained, her face still pinched into a scowl.
'Look, you can blame me and hate me all you like,' he said, admitting defeat for the moment, 'but that's no reason why you should hate the rest of your friends, and go no-contact with any of them.'
Jasmine shook her head. 'My parents locked down my phone, deleting all my apps except this tracker bullshit, and they've forbidden me from that "devil's band". They've even put new locks on my door and windows.'
'Jesus. Can't you see that they're treating you like a prisoner in your own house? That's not right!'
'It wasn't like that until YOU stuck your nose into it Jackson.'
He sighed. How could she blame HIM for her parents abuse? Maybe Tommy was right. They should get CPS or something involved. 'Okay, fine. But just because you can't practice with the band anymore, doesn't mean Stephanie and your band mates deserve the radio silent treatment. They did nothing wrong, and if you really cared about them the way they do you, you'd find a way to talk to them.'
Her scowl didn't lessen. 'Fine. I will. But that still doesn't mean I want to see your face again.'
She walked off, leaving him to sit with his failure. He didn't try to stop her, even if it felt like she was walking away with his heart. Her last words were a punch to the kidney, and Jackson could feel the pain eating away at him like poison.
What was he going to do? How could he rectify this situation? He had no clue, and for a tragedy like this, he doubted Tommy or his dad would either.
How did I screw it up so bad? I love her… But how could he love someone who didn't want to be loved?