Odd One

Ch 5

Friday came around and Jordan was grateful. Her period was over and she was excited for the weekend despite the few pranks she'd endured over the week. She'd run into Zack at the liquor store on Wednesday and had to suffer through a casual conversation, him apologising for Garrett's behavior.

Now she was driving straight to her own house, giddy and nervous about her extra passenger. Jason was staring out the window, watching the buildings and the street signs.

He's memorising the way to my place, she realised, breathing fast and trying to calm down. What am I doing? she asked herself.

"I'll warn you now. It will probably be pretty quiet. I rent the house and I'm not allowed to have pets," she explained.

"That's okay."

"Do you drink beer?" she asked, glancing at him. "I can finish off a six-pack by myself, I'll admit."

"Yeah, I drink beer once in a while. I'll drink with you," he promised, smiling softly. She turned into her short paved driveway and parked, going to unlock the front door. Jason followed her with his backpack on his shoulder.

The place was average, a small entrance way with a living room immediately to the right with the kitchen in the back. To the left was a hallway with a bedroom on the left, bathroom and laundry room on the right. There were a few feminine touches around the place but not much furniture. The only piece that stood out was the grey suede couch in front of the TV with a deep seat. It was one of those couches that were easy to fall asleep on, with a blue throw-blanket draped on the back.

He checked out her collection of DVDs in the TV stand, surprised to find everything from "Underworld" and "Blood and Chocolate" to "Maid of Honor" and "I Robot". But there were lots of movies he'd never heard of too.

"You want some tea or something?"

"Sure."

To her surprise he followed her into the kitchen and searched the top cupboards for a mug, picking one out of the three that were there. "Make yourself at home," she remarked with a twist of her mouth.

"Sorry. I'll let you know right now that I'm a little...snoopy," Jason confessed. "I'm insatiably curious about drawers and cupboards."

"Just keep your muckers out of my panty drawer and we'll be just fine," she assured.

"I don't suppose I have to worry about that being in the kitchen," he figured, flashing a little smirk.

"Nah, you don't have to worry about that," Jordan had to agree, getting the electric kettle going. "Just remember to treat me the way you want to be treated. If you start digging through my bedroom, expect me to do the same to yours."

Jason swallowed nervously. "That's fair I guess."

They sat at the small round white table while the tea steeped in their mugs. Jordan figured she would give it a try, finding it was pretty good once it had cooled. Still needed milk and sugar though.

"I've been thinking about you lately. Something bothers me. You grew up being bullied by the guys all these years, but you stuck around. You even got a job in the same building, in the same office."

He pointed a finger at her. "That was an unfair coincidence when that happened. Mr Dykes was hiring people right out of high school to fill over half of his office spots. The office and business were brand new, and I knew it would be better than working at a fast food place somewhere. I applied, and so did everybody else. We were interviewed separately and not called into work until everybody was found. I came to work my first day to find all four of them, and they were equally surprised to see me," he explained.