Addict With A Pen ✍︎

•1• Welcome to Lima

This was the last place Jasper wanted to be. He wasn't surprised he was here, he knew he would be but he still hated it. Sat in the passenger seat of his social workers beat up, gray 2003 Honda Civic. He was glad he was leaving that foster home but he wasn't happy about the fact that she was driving him into the middle of butt-fuck nowhere.

"It'll be good for you. Get out of the city and into the suburbs. New state, new you." his social worker, Selene, said. Her eyes focused on the road ahead of her. Her forced smile and attempt to lighten his mood backfired greatly.

"New state, same shit." Jasper mumbled under his breath as he shifted in his seat to look out the window. He watched the trees pass by in a green blur. 

"Give Lima a chance. If you don't you're probably going to end up in a group home." she glanced over at him, analyzing his annoyed look on his face and his pouted lip. He didn't respond to her. He knew she was right though, he needed to make better decisions. Teenagers were hard to place in foster homes because most people only wanted babies or little kids. Once Jasper turned eight he knew that his chances of getting adopted went from high to never happening. He had made his peace with it though, at least that's what he tells himself, deep down he knows that he will never be able to fully make peace with it. Note yet. There's still that little part of him that yearns for a loving family. He reached down to the ragged black backpack that was at his feet. The gray duck-tape the only thing keeping it from completely falling apart. He opened the bag and took out a notebook, a generic composition notebook. As much as he wanted a nice notebook to write his songs in he couldn't afford it so the black and white composition book will have to do. He gets a pencil from his bag and opens the notebook to a blank page. There weren't very many of those left. He began to write, eyebrows furrowing as he becomes more concentrated. This was his therapy, his way of venting, he wrote every fear and thought he ever had. Carefully crafting his words to illustrate exactly what he's feeling. 

He shook his head slightly and erased what he had just written, quickly replacing the word with a new one. He had been at this for nearly three hours. The car ride to Lima from Chicago is four hours. His writing process took time because he wasn't just writing the lyrics, he was also composing the song. Writing the exact notes the instruments should hit from memory. Jasper had learned how to play a vast number of instruments, mostly self taught but he was also trained on some instruments. 

"We're here!" Selene said with too much enthusiasm in Jasper's opinion. She turned into a gravel driveway. They parked in front of the run-down house. Jasper took in the one story house, the overgrown landscaping and broken railing on the steps leading up to the front door. He'd lived in worse, he thought as he climbed out of the car. He stretched, groaning as his back cracked. Four hours in a small car was not fun. Selene was already knocking on the front door by the time he got his backpack out of the front seat. Slinging it over his shoulder, he walked to Selene. We could hear loud, heavy footsteps approaching the door. An older man who Jasper roughly estimated to be in his mid to late fifties opened the door. He stood in the doorway dressed in jeans and a white wife beater. This was Jasper's first warning sign, they called it a wife beater for a reason. However, he was known to wear a wife beater once in a while so he couldn't really talk. 

"Hello Mr. Strunder, I'm Selene Whitcherson with the Department of Children and Family Services. I am dropping off your new foster placement Jasper Alexander. I just need to do a quick assessment of your house and then we will be good to go." Selene was always so formal. 

"Come on in." The man, Mr. Strunder, moved to the side welcoming them into the house. Jasper found his enthusiasm and eagerness unsettling. 

"Thank you. Now, if you would just show me the room that Jasper will be staying in." Again, Selene was getting straight to business.

"Right this way." Selene and Jasper followed Mr. Strunder down the hall. They passed the living room and Selene did a quick sweep of the place. It was clean. There was a nice leather couch and recliner pointed toward the television and a coffee table in front of the couch. There was a nice gray rug as well, it was old and worn but nice none the less. Selene found nothing out of the ordinary in that room. They continued down the hall finally stopping at the end. There was a door on the left and right side of the wall and one at the end of the hall, all near each other. It was a very cramped space.

"This is my room." Mr. Strunder pointed to the door at the end of the hall. "And this will be Jasper's room." He opened the door on the left wall. Selene walked in and Jasper followed. It was a very plain room. The walls were a dark gray and the bed frame was wooden, so was the desk and dresser. Those, along with a desk chair, where the only pieces of furniture in the small, depressing room. Jasper threw his backpack on the bed as he stalked over to the window. He open the curtains (also gray) and looked out the window. It was a view of the backyard, all he could see was dead grass and a fence. Great Jasper thought, another depressing room. He couldn't say he was exactly shocked. It fit the setting. A depressing room in a depressing house in a depressing town. 

"Well, everything looks good in here. If you would just show us the rest of the house, after that I'll get out of your hair." Jasper heard Selene say as he walked back over to where her and Mr. Strunder where standing. He wanted to see the rest of the house with Selene. 

"Of course." A man of few words Jasper thought snarkily as he followed him out of his new room. The door across from his room was the bathroom and then they made their way to the kitchen. It was a regular looking kitchen, clean, up to Selene's standard as she checked another box on the paperwork she had in her hands. 

"Mr. Strunder, you run a very pristine household." Selene compliments as she was walking to the front door.

"I try." He replies ducking his head a bit and giving her a small smile, like he was slightly bashful at her compliment. 

"Jasper, I think you'll like it here. Give it a chance, you've got a nice new house in a nice new town. You'll start school tomorrow, try to make new friends. Join a club or something. Remember, this may be your last chance." She gives Jasper a meaningful look.

"Will do." Jasper gives her a slightly sarcastic smile, but he knew she was right. With that Selene walked out the door and to her car, driving away and leaving Jasper behind.