Shutter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things I

XV: Cruelty

cru·el·ty

noun

callous indifference to or pleasure in causing pain and suffering.

"No, you did great," Jonathan assured Emilia as he drove her home. It was almost eight PM, but Emilia didn't care if she was home late. She'd had an enjoyable dinner with a family that was functional, especially compared to hers. It felt good, even if she had gotten a worried vibe from Joyce from the moment she stepped into the room. Jonathan's mother had been kind, thankful for dinner, and amazed when Emilia and Jonathan did the dishes and other clean up. Emilia had tried her hardest to be likable, talkative, attentive, and normal. She wondered, was Joyce ever-so-slightly cold towards her because she knew how Emilia was a flake? Was she worried about her son?

Emilia wouldn't be surprised.

Mothers' knew best, from what she remembered.

Jonathan pulled by the driveway of her "house" and smiled, "Can I walk you to the door?"

Emilia felt a chill run down her spine. If she had known Jonathan was as kind as he was, she would never had lied about her house. However, it was too late now to admit that she'd been lying about that. So she shook her head, "I'm already on thin ice for being late."

"I thought you called your dad?"

She had, but there had been no answer. Her hope lied with him being at the bar, but she would only discover in a few minutes. "I did, I guess he was busy."

Jonathan didn't want to leave it like that, he wanted to see her over the weekend. "Can we work on our project this weekend?"

"I'll call you," she meant it, too.

When Jonathan arrived home, he was welcomed with the sound of Joyce watching the television. She patted the seat beside her, and leaned back against the arm of the couch. She had a lit cigarette in her hands, and brought it to her lips. Jonathan took his seat, and quickly too advantage of her being too occupied to speak to get his own words in first. "Before you say anything, she's just my friend."

"That's how she feels," Joyce stated after she blew the cigarette smoke away from the both of them. "But you, Jonathan, you care about her."

He nodded; there was no sense in lying to his mother. "I do, but that's not the point."

"I don't want to see you getting hurt."

"I don't care if she doesn't care about me like I care about her," Jonathan argued, "I want her to be happy, to be better. I know she's capable of hurting me, but I'm not spending time with her because I want... Anything from her."

Joyce couldn't help but smile. Wrapping her free hand behind Jonathan's head, she pulled him close and kissed the side of his head. "How'd I raise such a good kid?"

--

"It's gorgeous out, lunch outside today?" Jonathan asked.

Emilia nodded, "Those photos we took this weekend are going to be amazing. We finished half the project."

The bell rang, and both of them looked beyond one another. "I'll catch you at lunch."

As Jonathan walked towards his class, which was history. Falling beside him in stride was, to his surprise and nervousness, was Carol. Her big hair bobbed as she walked beside him, trying to keep up with his long strides. She held her books in front of her, just below her breasts so that they seemed a little perkier. When she cocked her head to the side to look up at him, hoping he would start the conversation, she found herself disappointed. Jonathan might have had a lot to say to her, but he wasn't going to start something that would end up hurting Emilia.

"So," Carol beamed. "You're hanging out with Emilia Roth a lot these days."

Still silent, Jonathan wished his class was closer.

Carol seemed slightly aggravated that he wasn't saying anything that would give her any sort of leeway, anything to toy with and spin around so that she could spread another rumour. "I'm guessing you guys have already, you know, done it."

"We're not dating."

"Oh!" Carol laughed, a shriek of a laugh that was ear piercing. "I didn't think you were, no. That never stopped her before."

"What-" Jonathan caught himself; whatever Emilia's personal life, it wasn't his to ask about. It was not right for him to hear what Carol had to say about Emilia without Emilia herself present to defend herself. Whether she wanted parts of her life revealed or not was entirely up to her, and Jonathan just didn't want to hear it. Carol was bad news, Jonathan was surprised she was even bothering to talk to him about Emilia. What was she going to gain? "I really don't care, Carol."

"I just wanted to warn you, I mean, it's the decent thing to do." She said, a cruel tone to her voice.

"I don't care about what Emilia has or hasn't done, Carol." Jonathan could see the door to his class. One he, unfortunately, shared with Carol. But at least she wouldn't be putting thoughts in his head while the class was ongoing. "I really don't want to hear anything you have to say."

"I'm just saying!" She rose her voice, as if she wanted others to hear.

Jonathan stopped dead in his tracks before he reached ear shot of the classroom they were both heading towards. He faced her and stood a head taller than her, "And I'm saying I don't want to hear it."

Carol looked smug, as though she was just waiting for Jonathan to snap for her to unleash what it was she wanted to tell him. She'd been waiting to pounce like the vicious animal she was, and with their eyes locked together glaringly, she smirked. "She's an emotional wreck who grabs onto the first person who is nice to her. Just you wait, she's lured you in and she's going to spring her trap. And when she's done with you, you'll be broken. You're breakable, Jonathan."

"What did she ever do to you?" Jonathan shook his head in complete shock and disarray. He didn't wait for her to answer because he didn't want to know. If Emilia wanted to tell him, she would do it at the right time. The right place. He stalked off with a slouch in his shoulders, his head down as he swung into a seat at the back of the class. Even as he sat there, the rows filling up around him, he couldn't help but think about what both his mother and Carol had told him. Combined with the experiences he had with Emilia, it was hard to figure it all out. He forced the thoughts from his mind and tried to focus on the information in front of him, history.

Because with Emilia, none of it was history, it was all future. 

I am going to start asking questions at the end of each chapter, just for fun. So today's is, who is your favourite band/artist? Mine are Def Leppard (cause th 80's are amazing), July Talk and Mother Mother.