Dirt Lifter | Craig of the Creek High School AU

And change, change, change is gonna come now, now, now

(Chapter title is a variation of Townie by Mitski and it's the song jason's listening to.)

"Mm mm, n' smoke 'n my hair, I think 've had enough."

Jason brought the empty plates from the window to the sink, mumbling along to the song playing. He had one earbud in, and the other hanging down his shirt to keep an ear out for customers, and for coworkers that may not appreciate his performance.

"Nnnn finale n' I came prepared, and we're not, goin' ba-a-ack." He listened to Bury Me At Makeout Creek at Stack's incessant request, and it was pretty good as far as albums go. This song was his favorite, upbeat enough to keep him awake during dead shifts and not plain depressing like the rest of the album. It had the decency to hide its pain with rebellion.

"'N I've tried sharin' and I've tried caring-"

He heard the bell of the door chime. A customer was here, but they could wait until dishes were done. Random Thursday afternoons were always dead, and there were only four people besides him there (and two were Travis and Jonah). No regulars came in today, so whoever it was didn't matter.

"-and I've tried-"

He glanced out the kitchen window, and someone that did matter was sitting at one of the booths.

Craig made eye contact, and waved at him, smiling.

"Hey!" Jason cut himself off from finishing that particular lyric, yelling so Craig could hear him from the back room. "Uh, see you in a sec," he mumbled when he realized everyone else in the building could also hear him.

Once he finished rinsing the dishes and pondering why the hell Craig would be here, Jason came out to the front.

The teen had all his schoolbooks out, scattered on the table. Craig always took up space wherever he went, and so unapologetically. People actually enjoyed his presence, or at least it didn't bother them. Jason would be envious if he hadn't resided himself to his fate a long time ago. Now it was just another endearing trait of Craig's, which may have been worse.

"Uh, what would you like to order?" 'Uh'??? Did he just say 'Uh'??? He had said this exact phrase a million times, and now he was stumbling over it? Jason Bailey Robinson, pull yourself together!

"Coffee, please?" he asked, polite, as if he was ordering from some unnamed waiter instead of his friend. "With milk and sugar. That's it."

Jason said, mostly to make himself remember without his notepad "Coffee, milk and sugar. Got it." He just needed to check up on the two others in the diner and he'll get the coffee. "I'll be right back."

He checked up on the other customers (they were fine). He got one of the mini-milk pitchers out for Craig (the milk smelled fine) and he got the coffee (why is he double-checking coffee, it's fine, why would it not be fine).

He came back with the coffee pot, mug and milk on a tray. "So, what's up?"

Craig shrugged, staring at the table. "Nothing. Wanted coffee. Doin' homework. Wanted to see what you were up to. I mean, you're working, that's what you're doing," he corrected himself, looking up at Jason. "But I wanted to see how you were doing, 'cause we've barely talked at school lately, and I'm just..." Craig must have realized he was rambling, and summed himself up with "I wanted to see what's up."

Oh. Craig had noticed Jason avoiding him.

And he did something about it.

"Oh, I'm fine," he said, trying to sound casual. "Just been busy. You know, 'cause of work. School. All that."