Dirt Lifter | Craig of the Creek High School AU

She realized if she wanted conversation, she's out of luck for three more years!

(Syndrome Of Sorts In Our Bones pt. 1 on AO3)

Warm light radiated from the building. Jason had been here before, a few years ago for some kid's birthday party, and he had no trouble finding it again. It was smack in the middle of a strip mall, and the sign advertising it was the tallest thing on the block. It was incredibly gaudy, brandishing "Bolero" in red and yellow neon lights. It looked like it had been built in the 80's and never renovated.

The cold fall air stung Jason's face. He was actually pretty toasty otherwise, layering a sweater on a long-sleeved shirt, and thick jeans on his legs, so he didn't have immediate motivation to go inside. Which was probably not helping him.

He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, but there was anxiety burning his neck and shoulders that he couldn't shrug off. He'd hung out with Craig a couple times, and this wouldn't be any different. He'd also hung out with J.P. at least once before he left for college, though he couldn't recall when or where. He hadn't been close to Kelsey since at least middle school, probably longer. Craig had told him later that this was a reunion of sorts, since J.P. was back in town. Why did he get invited to their reunion? He was never part of their group. Besides Craig, nobody would really want him to be there.

Oh.

Well, he at least recognized the source of his nerves, even if sorting through his thoughts made him cringe. Hopefully he wouldn't seem as desperate as he felt when he went inside.

He wasn't planning on staying long, anyway. He could always leave early to go to Kennedy's if it was that insufferable. He knew it wouldn't be, though. They were all nice people. They would at least be polite about him being a complete waste of space. It would be fine. He would be fine. He was going to be fine.

He opened the door before he changed his mind about being fine.

Heat and grease hit his face as soon as he walked in. Even though the outside of the building was tacky, the inside was relatively well kept. Tables greeted him on a ledge where he walked in, the lanes lying down a couple steps.

There were a few groups scattered across the bowling alley. A few middle schoolers, yelling loudly about God knows what. A few adults around a table, several beers between them. A couple on a date, probably about to murder the middle schoolers next to them. A group of high school students, sitting just left of the center of the alley.

He walked closer to the high schoolers, and a hand stuck out and waved.

"Jason!" Craig held his hand high, even though Jason was only ten feet away. "Over here!"

He looked good, and not just because Jason thought he always looked good. He looked cheerful, a wide smile plastered on his face. Jason hadn't seen him like that in a while. Small smiles, sure, for greeting friends and in between classes, but this one was infectious.

Sitting next to him were two girls almost complete opposites of each other. The stocky one had fair skin and a bob of tied-up red hair. The other had brownish-black hair draped in front of her face, a lean build and deep tan skin. Jason recognized her from the school library, where they would bump into each other while hiding there during lunch. Well, he was hiding. She just liked to read. He just barely remembered her name, a pun on how she'd hide behind the piles of books.

"Hey Jason," Stacks said.

"What is up, Jason?" Kelsey said, banging the back of her seat when she said "up".

"Hey guys." Jason said. Christ, he hadn't talked with either of the girls since middle school. Why did he decide to come inside, again? "How's it going?"