Freaks: Year Two

What Would Jasper Do?

"Dear Jasper, we need your–"

"Give me that." Ethan grabbed the pen away from Edgar who was trying to write, but was failing miserably. "It looks like a chicken wrote it."

Edgar shoved him. "It does not!"

"It does," Ethan said. He shook the pen, scribbled out what Edgar had written, and started over. "Dear Jasper...yeah I got nothing."

Edgar rolled his eyes. "We need your help?"

"That phrase would stress him out so much I don't think he would even finish the letter," Ethan said. He bit his lip, holding the pen an inch away from the paper. "How to help when your older brother is losing his mind?"

"Toby isn't losing his mind," Edgar snapped. "He is stressed."

"Yes, he is cracking from the stress," Ethan said. He turned to the paper again and wrote down, Dear Jasper, how do we help someone when they are cracking from all the stress?

Edgar stared at it. "I don't know if that is what we should say."

"Can you even read what I wrote down?" Ethan asked, irritated. "I don't think so."

"I still don't think that's what we should say."

"Well, what's your brilliant idea?"

Edgar was getting frustrated. "Maybe mention that Mum's been gone for three days, and Dad hasn't been around for two!"

Ethan sighed and turned back to the paper, glaring at it. "This is so stupid! We shouldn't have to be writing to an older brother about advice to give Toby because our bloody parents are who knows where."

"They'll have to be back...right?" Edgar asked, now quiet.

Ethan stared at the piece of paper. Would their parents coming home even do anything good for them? Maybe it was better they were both gone, but there was the other part of him that just wanted their parents to be here because it gave Ethan the sense that they cared enough. That they cared about them even if they didn't show it enough.

That, and he was still thinking about what their dad had said.

"I'm sure they will be home soon," Ethan told his little brother, trying to forget those words, and started to think about what to write in the letter to Jasper again when his bedroom door opened again, and Ethan turned, seeing Toby at the door.

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the piece of paper at the desk.

"Nothing..."

Toby scoffed, and went over to the desk to see that Ethan and Edgar were writing a letter to Jasper. Once his eyes scanned over the words, a scowl appeared on his face and he grabbed the piece of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it in the rubbish bin.

"What did you do that for?!" Ethan protested, about to pick it out of the bin, but Toby stopped him.

"I am not cracking under all the stress," Toby snapped. "Stop writing him about this, just go do your homework. I am fine, there is no need to write our brother. I am sure he is stressed enough."

Ethan stood up and rolled his eyes at this. "Stressed? He's probably not stressed at all! He's at a bloody magic school, away from here! He's lucky! He has no reason to be stressed!"

Toby didn't say anything in regards to that. How he wished he could be at Hogwarts right now, it just wasn't fair, but nothing in his life was fair. All he knew was that blaming Jasper was not the way to do things.

"Shut up and do your homework," Toby ordered. "You don't want it to be late, do you? Your teacher will be upset with you, so go do it!"

Ethan glared at him. "Whatever."