Jasper and Poison

Five

"Since you closed the store without incident the other night," Josie paused as I choked on my carrot stick. She had no idea how wrong she was. "Are you alright dear?" I nodded my head and she continued, "I figured that you could close the store every evening you work if thats alright with you?" She asked hopefully.

I gulped. No, definitely not alright with me. Josie was about 70 years old though and staying until 10 to close the store was difficult for her to do every night of the week. "Of course I will Josie."

She looked visibly relieved, "Because you will be accepting more responsibility, I see it fitting to raise your wages accordingly. We make a modest profit here but I will be able to raise your hourly pay by 2 dollars... I hope that will be enough." She said sweetly.

"Josie, I wasn't expecting a pay increase. Thank you so much though, I really appreciate it." I said honestly.

I heard a car pull up outside, "Alright dear, I'm off. Thats my daughter, we are heading to dinner tonight." She said, wrapping her coat around herself to protect herself from the rain outside.

"Goodbye Josie, thanks for everything."

By 7:00 I had completely run out of food. Usually when this happened I'd run across the street to grab something from the corner store but since it was just me, I couldn't leave. My stomach gurgled in protest.

The chimes above the door rang, bringing an end to my math homework.

"I hope you like Chinese!" A very deep and overly happy voice called loudly.

Jasper came around the corner, juggling takeout boxes with the local Chinese food restaurant's logo printed on the side in large red letters. His wet white shirt clung to his stomach muscles as he placed the containers on the table.

My stomach growled again, dear God I was so hungry, I didn't care how much of a jerk he was earlier. "I actually love Chinese food."

He grabbed a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket pocket and began to write, "Loves Chinese cuisine. Is easily won over by food. Clearly enjoys the sight of gorgeous boys."

"Pardon?"

"What?"

I could feel my pulse speeding up, "Did you seriously just right down 'clearly enjoys the sight of gorgeous boys?'"

"Yes." He replied, smugly.

"How the hell would you know?"

"How about the way you eye-raped me when I walked in here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Wow, your are really polite. First you say pardon and then you say excuse me? You really are pulling out all the stops today aren't you?" He said as he popped a piece of chicken into his mouth.

"I did not eye-rape you. And did you call yourself gorgeous? Thats a bit conceded, don't you think?"

"I'm very self aware." His cockiness knows no bounds.

"Whatever. Pass me the food, I'm starving."

I smile crept across his face, just reaching his eyes, "Say please."

"Bite me." I said out of frustration.

He took a step closer to me, sucking all of the air out of the room with one simple movement. "Believe me Poison, it'd be my pleasure."

"Gross."

He tipped his head back laughing, "Sure, we'll go with that."

We sat and ate for a while making painful small talk about our classes. I broke the silence, "I want some answers." I stated confidently as I placed the empty container on the shelf beside me.

He looked confused, "For the project?"

I felt my eyes narrow, "No, for the other night."

I saw the muscle in his jaw ticking, "I thought I already told you what happened."

"You did but I want to know why it happened. People like you shouldn't be getting beat up in an alley and shot at."

He thrust his hand through his dark hair, "People like me? How would you know."

I let out a breath of frustration, "I just mean someone as young as you, thats all."

"You have no idea what goes on at the Ring. There are other young people. It's not just me."

My mouth fell open slightly, "Are you serious?"

He nodded.

"Why do you do it?" I continued, knowing I was pressing my luck. "I know you said for the money but why can't you get a part time job instead?"

His eyebrows knit together, "I do it because I have to. After my dad left we were so far in debt my mother had to work 3 jobs just to keep us afloat. I got my first part time job at a grocery store when I was 13 to help out. When I was 16 I heard about the Ring. I heard that the winner got upwards of a thousand dollars, depending on the fight. It was an opportunity I literally couldn't pass up. I told my mom that I got a new job that paid more so that she could work less."

I nodded, "So she doesn't know about the Ring?"

His eyes snapped up to meet mine, "No, she doesn't. I know that this project requires us to meet each others families and if you tell my mom about this I'll never forgive you."

I shook my heard fiercely, "I promise I won't say anything." I probably should have stopped the interrogation but I couldn't. I had to know more. "Who attacked you in the alley way?"

He sighed, "I already told you, someone who didn't like the fact that I won."

"I know that but who?"

"You don't need to know."

Frustrated, I decided to ask him one more, "How much was the fight worth?"

His eyes met mine, "Ten thousand." He shook his head as he let out a deep breath, "A lot of bets were placed against me last night. My opponent had never lost a fight, even I thought I'd loose."

"Are the people who attacked you still going to be after you?"

He thought about it for a moment, running his fingers over the slight scruff of his strong chin, "Maybe... I don't really know to be honest. They could be."

"Are you scared?"

"Honestly? Not really." He stated confidently.

I was certainly jealous of his bravery. I myself was scared of my own shadow. That and spiders.

"Do you want to know what does scare me?"

I peered up at him, "What?" I don't know why he was being so open with me. He didn't strike me as the kind of guy to spill his guts to a girl he hardly knows. Then again, he's probably only being so open because of the project.

"The thought of someone else getting hurt because of me. I don't think that the people from the other night will try something again but I worry about my families safety. I guess I'm scared that they'll use them to get to me or something. Or that they'll use you." He said sadly, looking at the floor.

"Why would they use me?" I asked, confused.

"Because I dragged you into this mess when I showed up here. They could have seen you."

I took a sharp intake of breath.  It was safe to say that his sentence scared me.