Identity - Rewritten

Chapter Fourteen

October 2008

"You nervous, Jaz?" Hunter asks his friend, playfully pushing the taller man's shoulder.

Jasper snorts, "It's you that should be nervous, Hunter. I'll be breaking your record in no time."

"You keep dreamin'." Hunter laughs, and it's a loud, joyous thing that never ceases to amaze Jasper. He's not sure he's ever laughed with so much ease.

The two walk through the knee deep grass, toting shotguns over their shoulders. The air is warm around them and Jasper can feel it on his face like a second skin. The sun has just started to set, casting a golden glow on the field. A slow, warm wind whistles through, bringing a slightly charred, hot smell with it that distinctly reminds Jasper of New York pavement. But he pushes that thought away, gripping Hunter's spare rifle a little tighter. That was another time, and a place where he doesn't want to return. He knows that eventually he'll have to, and maybe that's why he tries to forget every reminder of the place he grew up.

A couple hundred feet away, Jasper finally spots the clearing they're headed towards, complete with a makeshift wall of rocks and a firepit.

The walk was long, and Jasper turns around only to see that from here he's completely lost sight of the trailer park. He catches what may be the sun glinting off a tiny tin roof, but it's so fast, he can't tell. They may as well just be in an endless field of tall grass.

"Hey, you guys made it!" someone shouts from the direction Jasper and Hunter are walking in, and Jasper wheels around with a smile on his face. He'd know that cute little southern voice anywhere.

"Mindy!" he shouts in reply, legs it toward the clearing. The second he gets in, she jumps into his arms, and wrapping them tightly around his shoulders. Though he hasn't seen her in weeks, her face, her smell, everything, it's all the same, and that gives him a greater sense of relief than anything else.

Eventually, he puts her down, and she plants a short kiss on his lips around the time Rand starts making noises of disgust.

"Hey, good to see you, man." Jasper pulls Rand in for a hug and a clap on the back.

Rand jokes, "It would be better to see you if the first thing you did wasn't suck face with my sister."

"The dude hasn't seen his girl in three weeks, Rand, chill," Hunter says, giving Rand a quick hug as well. Jasper smiles at his best friends, and wraps his arms around Mindy.

"Not my girl," Jasper mutters, under his breath, and Mindy just squeezes his shoulder.

Mindy whispers, "It's okay, Jaz. If they don't understand the concept of 'best friends with benefits,' then that's their problem."

Jasper nods. Hesitant, he asks, "So, how was the trip?"

His voice is loud enough for Rand to hear, and he pauses in his "hellos" to Hunter in order to scoff and turn Jasper's way. "Horrible. She was completely high the whole time. All Mandy wanted was money."

"We ended up ditching her after a while and spending some time in Frisco," Rand adds, crossing his arms. "Honestly, I didn't expect much else."

Jasper frowns. Mindy and Rand had gone to visit their sister Amanda in California, all the way across the country. She moved there when she turned eighteen, while they stayed in South Carolina when they both graduated– Mindy two years later, Rand a year after that.

Apparently, Amanda had gotten arrested for substance abuse only a few months after she left, once her career– no one's exactly sure what it was– failed to take off. A few months ago, she contacted Mindy and Randy saying that she was clean, so they took some time off a few weeks ago to go see her once they'd saved enough. Jasper was hoping it would turn out alright, but he'd had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn't.