Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Twenty-One - Jasper

Chapter Twenty-One – Jasper

"So I'm now living with Ross," I finished my recollection of the Friday night, as I chewed my salt and pepper tofu.

Rory nodded, shoving a forkful of noodles into his mouth. "Makes sense, I guess. Glad it all got sorted, but I'm sorry your parents freaked. Do you need me to get your things?"

"Yeah, that would help," I nodded. "I was going to go at the weekend, or send one of you guys, but I just didn't want to face any of it."

"Might be a bit awkward if you're there," Rory grimaced. "I'm fine going by myself - Cyri can help me, right Ri?"

Cyri was watching us both in complete astonishment. "How..." she began, trailing off for a moment before restarting. "How can you be so casual about this?" she asked, flummoxed. "You've been kicked out."

"I wasn't kicked out," I shook my head. "I left of my own accord. Well, after Ross offered to let me live with him. I'm pretty sure they will calm down though, and I'll likely be back on friendly terms with them after a bit."

"You're living with Ross," she managed to say.

I nodded. "Yep."

Cyri opened her mouth to speak again, but couldn't find anything she had to say. For once in my entire life, I'd managed to silence Cyri Baxter. Even when I'd come out to her, she'd had something to say immediately after I'd finished talking.

"Is it weird living with him?" Rory asked.

"Too soon to tell," I lied through my teeth. It was weird. I'd only been there for three nights and it had already been strange and tense. I had woken up feeling stressed every single day, and Ross was working intensely on a project he'd started up with the German branch of the company he worked for. I had tried all weekend to revise for my exams, and various other things that I really did need to do, but nothing seemed to settle me. I felt like a tiny little dot in the vast space that was Ross' flat. I knew it might settle down, but at the moment it was just weird. It didn't help that Ross had barely touched me since I'd started staying with him.

"So what are you going to do about your locker?" Rory asked, pushing more noodles into his mouth.

I frowned. "What about my locker?"

"Yeah," Cyri said, finding her voice as she asked, "What about his locker?"

Rory looked at me in surprise. "I thought you were acting shockingly calm about it. I mean, I figured it was Harry Richmond, but it turns out he's not in school today so it's got to be someone else-"

It didn't take a genius to figure that something bad had happened to my locker, so I got up immediately from where we were sitting and ran out of the dinner hall. My locker was at the other end of the same corridor, so it wouldn't take me long to get there.

"Jazz!"

Cyri was calling me, obviously running after me, but I didn't stop. I ran faster and faster, pushing people out of the way without thinking about them.

"Jazz, slow down!" Cyri called as I neared the end of the corridor, but I didn't stop because of her. I stopped because there was a tape and hazard signs cordoning off the locker area. One teacher was stood with Mr Collins, blocking the view to my locker, and various students were stood nearby, whispering to each other. Mr Collins looked over at us, and then wearily said, "Ah, Jasper. I was just about to send someone looking for you."

"What happened?" I asked, stunned. Cyri caught up to me and stared at the scene.

I glanced at it. Shock hit me so quickly I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe and I certainly couldn't speak. I exhaled sharply as I saw the inside of my locker, my notes and my files shredded and soaked beyond recognition. Relief flooded through me as I realised I'd handed in all my coursework electronically the previous week, so none of my marks would be affected, but tons of my previous work had been destroyed.