Shapeless

Ch 23 mistrust

Skyler stretched in a yawn. She had decided to sleep over at Jason's again.
Jason was still asleep upstairs. She spent another night on that green couch.
Getting to her feet, she let out another yawn.
The teenager had been too tired to take the long walk to the orphanage plus she wasn't really in a hurry to get back.

With a sigh, she made her way to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk. It had been awhile since she had consumed dairy, considering how little food her shelter had.
Kids literally fought just over bread crumbs in the orphanage!
She drank the cold liquid then stopped. Speaking of dairy... she turned to look out the window at the cows grazing in a nearby field. The ones that Peter had seemed deathly afraid of.
She frowned to herself.
Is he just lactose intolerant? If he is only scared of cows, why did he jump when the mouse ran by? All of this had happened after school. What had Jaimey done to the poor blonde to make him so jumpy? She puzzled at this.
hearing footsteps behind her She spun around in time for Jason to pull her into a good morning hug.
Skyler smiled hugging back. She pulled away. "Do you always go to school with messy hair?" She teased him fondly.
Jason shrugged. "Maybe. You are up early." He tilted his head.
Skyler smirked. "So are you."
"Only because you are."
The dark haired girl smiled with a shake of her head.
She glanced out the window. The sky was still a dark blue.
Jason blinked. "Slow down, what's the rush?" He blinked.
Skyler sighed trying to argue but she knew the brunette was right.
Drumming her fingers on the counter she narrowed her eyes in thought.
Jason noticed her concentration.
"What are you thinking about?" He prompted.
Skyler blinked, confused, still tired.
"I'm just wondering what was up with Peter yesterday." She explained, still half expecting Jason to tense up at the mention of their friend, but he didn't.
Instead he furrowed his brows. "Yah, he did seem a bit off-" Skyler gave him a look.
"Okay a lot off. I wonder what was bothering him?" He finished.
Skyler shrugged. "We need to get to the bottom of this..."
Jason interrupted her. "He is hiding something from us. But what?"
Skyler sighed. "I don't know. We are his only friends." she said sadly.
Jason straightened up. "Let's get some breakfast and then we can start walking to school okay?" He decided and Skyler nodded.
"I don't really eat breakfast though."
Jason was appalled. "Well that stops now!" He demanded playfully, pushing a bowl of cereal in front of her.
Skyler obeyed, digging into the food. Her eyes widened, shoveling in more. This was delicious! She hadn't realized how hungry she was! The answer; very!

***
A few hours passed. When waiting for something, it feels like days.
The two highschoolers walked out the door and into the chilly air. Jason shivered and Skyler smiled. "Do you need to borrow my jacket?" She teased. Jason blushed with embarrassment. "No that's my job." He mumbled. She laughed.
Skyler stifled a shiver as well. She had to admit, It was pretty cold.
Jason caught the movement and smirked.
"Hah! You are cold too!" He stuck his tongue out.
She rolled her eyes playfully, still walking down the road. He's been acting more like himself lately. I really like it.
A rabbit dashed across her path, briefly startling her but Peter's reaction would have been bigger. She frowned to herself yet again. Why had Peter freaked out over a few animals nearby? And why had he seemed so distracted at the meeting?

Her thoughts got cut off abruptly when the highschool came into view.
Wintergreen high had a shadow cast over it, making it seem eiry in the already dark morning light.
She shuddered, trying not to feel nervous. She threw anxious glances over her shoulder, wondering who was out there. Maybe they were watching her right now...

Without warning, her foot slipped into a crack in the sidewalk throwing her forward.
Lucky for her, Jason was ahead and he caught her.

With a gasp, the dark haired girl looked up at him.
"Careful Skyler cat! I won't always be here to catch you." Jason winked.
Skyler smiled. "Are you sure?"
That caught him off guard and Skyler took advantage of his frozen pose, slipping in front of him.
She made it to the door first gesturing for him to follow.
"Ladies first." She offered and Jason smiled, shoving her through the entrance.
With a yelp, they crashed to the floor.