Deviant: Calla & Jason (The Billionaire Voyeur)

CHAPTER 3 - Jason & Calla

JASON

My visual and tactile inspection of the place turn up nothing. This joint is like a prison—there's no breaking out of it easily. I guess I could try to see where the vent leads, but other than that, things don't look good.

I know the guy behind the disembodied voice is watching us, and can probably get ahead of any move I make.

For now, I give up.

I can't even tell how the hell we got in—there's no sign of a door or anything.

Eventually I turn to Calla, who has been checking out the room, too.

"So obviously, this is awkward," I begin. "Looks like we've come up blank, and I'm not sure what time it is, but whenever you're ready for bed, feel free to take it—it's yours; I'll take the floor."

Calla seems to let out a breath.

"Thank you," she says, still not looking at me. She hasn't looked at me for a while now, come to think of it.

"I wonder what Scott's thinking," I say, and that gets her attention for a second.

"Yeah," she says. "I wonder what time it is, actually. How long were we out cold? How long have we been here? Either way, Scott will know something's wrong soon. We never go more than eight hours without talking to each other. Then again, he has that study group..." Her voice trails off and something in her manner changes. Something else is going on in that pretty little head of hers, and I can guess what it is.

See, Scott decided to go back to school to get his bachelor's degree. He got grants and loans, so money isn't exactly the issue—not yet, anyway—and Calla is done with it herself, so it's not like she's jealous he's getting a higher education and she isn't. The problem is that Scott is sort of jealous of her. As far as I can tell, Calla appears nothing but supportive and doesn't put him down in any way, but Scott confided to me that he has always felt judged by her. He's paranoid that she thinks she's better than him, so he started working on doing everything he could to improve himself.

But that only introduced more problems. I saw this particular one coming a mile away, and I figure Calla hasn't missed it, either. We're still young, so although Scott's going back as an older student, a twenty-four-year-old dude suddenly amongst a bunch of eighteen to twenty-two-year-old coeds...well. I think we all know where this is going.

* * *

CALLA

Jesse's going to be at that study group with Scott. Or was there, if the time has already passed. Jesse, as in short for 'Jessica.' But what do I care, right? Scott's in school and study groups are a part of it.

But the only reason I even know the name 'Jesse' is because he mentioned her before. Casually, of course. I try not to get jealous because, obviously, Scott's going to make a lot of new connections. He's going to take some of the same classes as other people in the same major, and probably have to go on class trips or whatever—that sort of thing. I don't expect him to be some antisocial weirdo.

It's just that...well, Jesse. Why did Scott bother to mention her name, right?

See, he didn't know this Jesse before starting school again, but eventually, sometime in his first semester, he mentioned a girl who obviously liked him that he had to make clear to he was taken. Then, the next semester he's all, "Remember that girl I told you about? She's in my English class this term. She sat next to me on the bus today. Jesse."

Something told me right then that Jesse had not taken no for an answer. Even when Scott was all, "She's harmless, though—I'm not even attracted to her, so don't worry."

I decided to take his word for it, but I don't know.

Now they're studying together? She's like some tutor now because she's smart and generous with her time.

Yes, I have a bad feeling about this, but what can I say without sounding all crazy? Scott already told me not to sweat it. The semester will be over before we know it, and he probably won't end up in a class with Jesse again.

Suddenly I feel very tired.

Usually, I read until I'm sleepy, but today has been quite harrowing. My emotions have been yanked all over the place, leaving me exhausted.

Thank goodness Jason and I didn't have to work out some awkward arrangement—although I guess it would only be right to at least offer to switch places with him sometime and take the floor. Who knows how long we'll be here before we can figure a way out? But for now, I'm sure Jason will be fine on the ground with a pillow. He's a guy; he can take it.