TITLE:FAYETTEVILLE
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"I love this place," Jasper said as he bit into
his 6-inch sub.
"It's okay," Evelyn chuckled as she sipped on
her lemonade. Her side of the table was
empty. She never really liked Subway. She
thought all the choices were too much to
handle. The sauces. The bread. The
peppers... She liked things more organized
and concrete. Sure, it was just a sandwich,
but she'd rather have a burger.
"Derrick is in some trouble with Natalie... that
night was crazy. Like, you could feel the
tension," Jasper rubbed a piece of lettuce
from his mouth.
"What was he thinking? And he had the nerve
to come to our house and scream at Zach."
"Hold on," Jasper put down the sub as if it
made a difference. "When did this happen?"
"Just the other day. I had to walk in there to
make them shut up. Something about Zach
telling Kathrine about him cheating."
"Oh, yeah, I guess she didn't know at the
time?"
"Definitely not. But she knew when she
walked through the door."
Jasper then changed the subject to something
a little deeper. He was always playful, but he
was always thinking too. "You know, it's so
sad how they treated Kathrine."
"Who?" Evelyn asked. She took another sip of
her lemonade.
"People in this town. They stare and look at
her. She said that some people even question
her. This is a serious thing! Like, Genni is
missing, and some people kinda act like it's a
game."
"I wish it was that simple... you're right. It's
really sad," Evelyn paused and looked deep
into Jasper's eyes. She knew his past. How
people used to treat him. Jasper knew how
hard things could be. In fact, Evelyn was one
of the few people that was nice to him in
middle school.
"Yeah, it can be tough sometimes." Jasper
looked back down at his sandwich.
Jasper was always so close to his mom. He
loved her like his friend. Was it weird? No.
That's his mom, and they love each other
unconditionally. You'd think a parent/child
relationship that strong wouldn't cause any
hurt. Any pain... but it did.
They spent so much time together while
Jasper's dad was always on the road that he
picked up her habits. He liked the shows she
did. He liked the music she did. She
influenced him in all the right ways, so he
thought. But to others, it wasn't an influence.
Jasper liked a certain type of music. He liked
certain shows. He talked with his hands. He
talked a certain way. He didn't drink alcohol.
He didn't chew tobacco. He didn't smoke. He
didn't party every weekend and hook up with
as many girls as he could. In the eyes of his
high school, that made him gay. He grew up
with that label: gay .
Because if Jasper liked girls, it didn't
matter... it was a lie to his peers that walked
the halls at school.
"Do you even have one?"
"Why does your voice sound like that? Don't
answer that... we already know."
"I see you looked at me, faggot. Don't even
think about trying to be my friend. Don't talk
to me."
The laughing. The pointing. The texts. The
looks.
Jasper wasn't like the typical person. He was
straight, but it didn't matter. He was different,
so he was wrong.
But after all of this, he always made the best
he could in life. And here he was in Subway
eating with a good friend. He didn't get near
as many looks anymore. Maybe he "grew out
of it." Really, it doesn't matter anymore,
because Jasper finally was treated the way he
should: like everyone else .
But maybe Jasper wasn't like everyone else...
because not everyone was on that scribbled,
hidden piece of paper. Jasper was on a list.
A kill list.
