Life's Fear

Chapter Five

Max actually yelped in astonishment.

I, on the other hand, had a little bit more dignity than that, though my erratic jumping presumably amused Jason more than the yelping. When we both turned around, having had the daylights scared out of us, Jason was smirking down at the newly-acquired contents in my locker.

"Pebbles from by the River Penelope," he declared.

Max, as discreet as a gigantic boulder in a road, snapped her head back to face me, eyes wide. Having more composure than her, I slowly returned my gaze to the pebbles and in as much of a neutral voice as I could muster currently, I asked, "When did you get them?"

"Last night," he said. "Right before throwing them at your window."

Max shrugged uncomfortably – a habit she tends to execute when she wants to squirm but is concealing her discomfort or physically can't squirm depending on her position. "Are they clean?" she quizzed. I had to admit, by this point, I'd excelled myself at keeping my voice nonchalant, because Max's came out as high-pitched and almost squeaky in comparison.

"Yes," Jason replied.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn from the pebbles to me, even though Max had asked the question and he was fully aware of that fact. I tried to keep my eyes on the pebbles, but curiosity got the better of me and I turned to him. His face was a lot closer than I had originally anticipated as he had been bending down between Max and I. His smirk lingered but broadened as I looked back at the pebbles.

"Why were you throwing pebbles at my window?"

"To be romantic?" he suggested casually as if the question would roll off his tongue frequently.

It made me wonder whether he had ever had a girlfriend before, because I don't think I've ever witnessed him even touching another girl in the corridors. Sports was a different predicament sometimes, though girls did tend to stare at him when he was swanking. He abruptly laughed which threw Max off as her head twitched to her right shoulder. Another indication of her discomfort, though it made me wonder if Jason was picking up on these hints.

As far as I was aware, I thought he was somewhat mediocre in his academic classes. Graphics design, on the other hand, he probably excelled with flying colours and received top marks in everything he did, especially when he was graffitiing monuments in our town. He didn't strike me as the academically clever type, though I could have been utterly inaccurate on that fact.

"No," Jason added once the laughter had subsided a little. "We got talking yesterday and I wanted to know a little bit more about you."

"You left before I made it to my window. And it was the middle of the night," I replied to him.

"It was four in the morning," he stated simply. "Night time strolls calm me down. Bell's about to go." And then he left. Just like that – leaving Max and I wholly baffled, and the pebbles still residing in my locker.

I quickly switched the necessary books before closing my locker. I didn't want to spend more time staring at those stupid pebbles than I needed to. It was just a creepy reminder of the past two days from photographing him committing a crime. Depending on how much he has graffitied in the past would depend on the fine he would receive – if he got caught, of course – and depending on the severity would depend whether he'd have to serve jail time or not.

"Check the news," I hissed to her the moment my locker had been shut.

As if a harrowing thought struck me, I turned to my right in the direction in which Jason had strutted off in to ensure he wasn't anywhere in earshot. Mercifully he was nowhere to be seen, so I turned back to Max to see her scrolling through something. After a moment, she raised her head, and just as she was about to declare something, the bell chimed through the corridors.