Riley's Box

Part 41

The next time I saw Jason was the following morning at school. He didn't have Susie with him and apart from the fact that we were going to help Seven Deadly Sins literally send shadow spirits (bad spirits) back to Hell, it was almost as if the world was as it always had been. Normal. Back when it was just the two of them. 

I greeted Jason with a friendly hug. 

He tensed for a moment and then wrapped his arms around me. 

"Is Susie still sick?" I asked him. 

He took a step back from the hug and answered me with a shrug, 

"I honestly don't know," he said to me. "She hasn't texted me in a while. I feel as though something's going on with her, but..." his voice faded out. 

I reached out to grab his hand and then squeezed it in mine. 

"We're not official," he said. 

"I know," I said softly. 

"It just sucks, when I'm being ignored, by someone that I thought I could count on," he said. 

"I know," I said quietly. "I would never ignore you." 

He squeezed my hand gently back, then. 

I could never ignore a best friend and I knew that Jason intuitively realised that, too. 

"Fingers are for counting on, Jase," I said to him. 

His eyebrows raised at the statement. 

"Not people. Unless it's me, then people," I said. 

Jason released a gentle laugh. He came to wrap me up in a hug and his chest shook a little, as he continued to chuckle. 

I nuzzled my face into it. 

I had missed this. I had missed him. 

I didn't want to shut him out of anything that happened in my life, ever again. 

"He's so precious! Can you two just date already?" Adina asked. 

Oh, it was going to happen. I just knew that I was going to have to elbow her in the ribs. 

Jason's mouth twitched in response to the comment. 

"Let's get to class, Riles," he said. 

I didn't argue. 

The two of us made our way to class and soon sat down. 

That was when Jason turned to speak with me again. 

"I knew something was going on with you," he said. "I could never have imagined that it would be like this," he continued. "However, thank you for telling me, Riles. I forgot to thank you, in amongst all the craziness of it all." 

An affable expression appeared on my face again. 

Jason's eyes sparkled with something. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was something. 

"Thank you for being understanding," I said. 

A dimple appeared on his cheek, as he smiled again. I really, really loved Jason's smile. 

I always had. 

It was such a good feeling to know that I was the one that had caused him to be happy. 

At least, I hoped that he was happy. I knew that he had a lot of things going on, but Jason really did deserve to be happy. He deserved happiness more than anything else, even if his happiness did end up being with Susie. I couldn't continue to be envious of her. In life, there were wins and losses. However, I knew with certainty in my heart that even if Jason and I became a little more distant, our friendship would always be there. Call it intuition. 

"I want to help you, Riley. Of course, I understand," he said. "This is wild, but it's sort of cool." 

I felt the corner of my lip lift upwards. 

It was time to get to work on some actual schoolwork. I know. It sucked. Nevertheless, I had promised my mom that I would work harder and I intended to make good on that promise. 

Jason tried to get my attention through most of class, but I had to hide my head in my book. 

As soon as we were out in the hall at the end of class, we could resume our conversation. 

"What do you think the meaning in all of this is? I mean..." his voice quietened, as we made our way out across the school grounds. "Why were you picked to help the Sins? Why was your grandmother picked?" he asked. 

I nibbled on my lip, as I considered his question for a moment. 

Jason's gaze dropped to my lips and then back up to my eyes. For some reason, it made something in my stomach flutter, as if butterflies had emerged from their chrysalises. 

"I don't know if we were picked, per say. All I know is that my grandmother was gifted the box. After that, it was essentially her responsibility to help the Sins," I explained. 

In understanding, Jason inclined his head. 

"Maybe it's because you're just so cool, you had to live out an anime," he said. 

"This isn't an anime, Jason. This is real life," I reminded him. 

His dimple became visible again. 

"I know. I'm just thinking. Hey, are you okay? You look worried," he said. 

I exhaled. I felt like biting my lip again but I managed to avoid it. 

"We have two more shadow spirits to find. I don't have a clue where to start," I admitted. 

Sympathy flickered in Jason's eyes. 

"Hey, you're not in this alone," he reminded me. 

That was true. He was there. 

I took a moment to look around, in my best efforts to figure out where the Sins had got to. I couldn't see any of them, so I had to assume that they were out searching again. 

I was sure that I would see them again soon enough. 

I returned my gaze to Jason's and released a soft breath. 

Why did I feel so nervous? 

More to the point, why did he have to be so good at reading me? That matter alone made me more nervous. 

"I'm good at reading you, Riles. You're worried right now about what is going to happen, but I can promise you, for as long as I am by your side, everything is going to be alright."