Chapter 14

Christine P.O.V.

The walk from HQ going to my apartment was a long silent one. I would constantly look over my shoulder to make sure Jason was still following.

I wasn't gravely shocked when Jason decided to walk with me instead of taking his motorcycle. I would have been better if he had taken his motorcycle, but no, he's here walking with me to my apartment.

I took one last glance behind me to look at Jason but I didn't expect him to be walking next to me. Now the only thing separating me and Jason now is Hunter who didn't look bothered in the slightest that a total stranger is walking next to him.

Now that Jason's walking next to me, the memories all started to come back to me. I could feel my cheek tingle again.

I brought my hand up to my cheek and stopped midway when I remembered that Jason was walking next to me. He gave me a suspicious look before I put my hand back down to my side.

I mentally shake my head to get rid of the memories and started to walk faster. The night before wasn't even worth remembering.

We arrived in front of my apartment and took the stairs up to the 4th floor. I unlocked my apartment door and went in with Hunter following behind me.

I didn't even bother to take a second look at Jason since I had other things to do. Fast.

I went to the bathroom and grabbed my toiletries and threw all of them in my room. I checked the bathroom if I missed anything and when there was nothing I targeted my room next to fix my things.

I know that this is a bit overboard but better safe than sorry. After securely hiding away my private things I went out of my room and walked to the living room.

I saw Jason sitting on the couch with his duffel bag on the floor right next to his feet. I could see that he was looking at something. I diverted my gaze to wherever he was looking and looked to the picture frame of my mother which was hung next to me.

He got up and went to the fire exit. I watched him slip through the window and started lighting a cigarette.

I took this opportunity to look at my living room and check for anything private lying around. After I was done checking Jason came in through the window smelling like smoke.

He was walking to the door and I couldn't help but question him.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"I'm going to fetch my motorcycle," he said without looking back at me. "I can't leave it at headquarters with those guys, they'll sabotage it."

Jason went out and closed the door behind him. I started cleaning up my apartment, now noticing that it was a bit dirty.

I was done before I knew it but those are the perks of having a small apartment. I took a sit on the couch and started to check on what to watch on TV.

That was until I remembered I forgot something in the kitchen and was about to walk there when I suddenly fell face-first on the floor.

I looked behind me and saw Jason's duffel bag there, tipped over, and its contents spilling out.

I grabbed the clothes that spilled out and placed them back in. I was curious what was inside the bag, a gun, or maybe a knife, but I knew better than to snoop around into someone's bag.

I went to the kitchen and started making lunch when I heard a thud coming from the living room. I went to check and there I saw Hunter who had his head in the bag.

I shooed him away and looked at the mess he made. I started picking up everything again and pack it neatly inside. Well, so much for ignoring other people's privacy.

I didn't see anything out of the ordinary except for a gun and a pocket knife. Other than that, there wasn't anything irregular.

But I spoke too soon when I came across a small zipper just inside the bag. No matter how much I hated going through people's things, I opened the zipper.

Inside is a folded up photo tucked neatly inside. I unfolded the photo and looked at a picture of a young man with blond hair and a huge smile on his face standing right next to a small boy with black hair pouting.

I knew right away that the man with a smile on his face is Michael when he was young. And no matter how many times I try to blink, I couldn't believe that the pouting boy is Jason when he was a kid.

Michael and Jason looked like a father and son duo. Looking at Jason's pouting made me laugh and see him in a new light.

I wanted to look at the picture longer but then I heard heavy footsteps coming from outside. I started putting the picture back and keeping the remaining things inside.

I ran to the kitchen at the same time Jason came in with his black motorcycle helmet. He put the helmet down on a table and made his way to the living room.

It was nerve-wracking just peeking from inside the kitchen. He started walking to the kitchen and I quickly went back to where I was cooking food on the stove.

He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and started filling it up with water from the faucet. He drank the water and left the glass in the sink. I wanted to scold him for his actions but I could do that another time.

I went into my room and took a key from the small bedside table. I went back out of my room and look at Jason who was in the living room and Hunter was there snuggling up to him.

I walked to the living room and stopped in front of him. He looked at e curiously and I held out the key in my hand.

"This is a spare key to my apartment." I started explaining to him. "I'd figured that you'll need it whenever you'd need to get in. There's also a spare room there, just clean it up and do whatever you like with it. Do as you please in my apartment but I'm just going to tell you two things you can't do."

He looked up at me as I raised one finger in the air in front of his face.

"One, I don't want my apartment dirty." I raised another finger to his face. "And two, you are forbidden to enter my room."

"And why would I be interested in going into your room?" He asked me as he took the key from my hand. "It's probably filled with your clothes scattered on the floor and posters of pin-up girls on every side of the wall. Don't worry about me entering your room because I'm sure I won't be going in there for the rest of my time here."

I was glad to know he wasn't interested in my room but I didn't know if I should be glad or offended by what he said.

It's been a couple of days since Jason moved in and I'm quite surprised that we haven't ticked each other's nerves. Our everyday life consists of constant conversations and long silences but not the awkward kind. It's more like a peaceful kind of silence.

Whatever we'd say to each other is both followed without any complaints. Now that he's living in my apartment my work just lessened with him there doing the cleanup and being with Hunter.

Now I'm here now walking through the hallways of high school with Lin talking to me about how to sleep with your eyes wide open. It's kind of weird if you ask me.

But what's weirder is that even though it's been a few days since Jason moved in it feels like every time I go home I always expect him there and when I see him I feel my heart flutter.

When he talks to me I worry about what I say so he wouldn't think of me weirdly. When I pick out what clothes to wear I am always thinking of if I look good in the clothes I'm wearing. And when he chuckles, which is rare, I can feel my heart starting to beat faster like it might jump right out of my chest at any moment.

I've been having sleepless nights because of him. I knew perfectly well that I had a crush on him. I mean, I fell in love with a guy when I was 12 and I really wanted to reveal my gender to him but my mother said that it wasn't the right moment.

I didn't know what she was talking about then but what I've experienced until now, I figured out what she meant. She told me that when the right time came, I could reveal my secret to the world, but unfortunately, I'll be carrying my true identity to my grave.

I wanted to ask Lin some things, things that a girl would understand if they grew up as they should be, and since I grew up in a boy's life, might as well ask my only girl friend even though she's not like most girls.

I was thinking if I should ask her or not because she'd know that I'm up to something. I took several glances at her and at that moment we looked eyes.

"Is there something you want Richard?" Lin asked.

Well, it's now or never. I cleared my throat and tried to form the words I want to use.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked her nervously. "It might sound crazy."

"Ask away," Lin said as she diverted her full attention on me. "Don't worry about it being crazy, I mean, I hang out with you guys so crazy is like a second nature to me."

I led Lin to a hallway with fewer people and found the perfect spot where no one would hear a thing we say.

Now that I give a second thought to it, I think I'm already regretting my actions. But I can't escape from Lin anymore since I've awakened her curiosity. I could see it in her face and in her eyes that she's expecting what I'm about to say.

Here goes nothing. I took a deep breath in and let it back out. I faced Lin and she looked at me with her eyebrows raised in expectancy.

"Well, you see, I have this female friend." I started and I knew she has all of her ears on me. "And my friend has this roommate with who she wants to reveal her top-secret with but doesn't know how to tell her roommate. She doesn't even tell her family or close friends about her secret, so as a girl like yourself, how would you handle the situation?"

She looked to the wall next to us, thinking, and then looked at me.

"First of all Richard, I'm a bit surprised that you have another girl friend other than me, and what I personally think about this girl friend of yours, I think she's a coward. I mean if it's that a big of a secret then why share it, or better yet, why have a roommate. That roommate of hers would only figure out her secret one way or another."

I was taken aback at the last sentence she said. I knew what she was saying but hearing it come out of another person's mouth is more surprising than thinking of it.

"But since you're asking advice from yours truly, then," She continued "From my point of view, I might as well tell them already. It saves the hassle of how to tell them, the stress, and even the time."

"But this secret of hers is important, as important as life itself."

Lin gave me a 'are you serious' look. But I couldn't take it back now that I've already said it to her.

"I don't know what kind of girl your friend is Richard but that's her problem. What's more, if she keeps waiting on how to tell them and somehow they discovered it, then the friendship might as well go down the drain faster than Russell when he picks up girls."

I gave a small laugh at her remark and after a while, we started to laugh in the school's corridors. We left the corridors shortly after and we were walking onto a new section of the school.

My mind went to Jason shortly after we started walking. I wonder what he's doing right now.

I was about to think about it but shake the thought away. I didn't want my mind to be occupied by Jason all the time. I just thought of a conclusion that I was just worried if he might have gone into my room. I could already see him smoking his cigarettes outside the fire exit right outside of the apartment window.

I didn't know when but a smile suddenly stretched on my lips. I was about to put my small smile away but Lin beat me to it by pinching my cheeks.

"What the hell are you thinking? You were smiling like that Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland back there."

We ended up joking around and laughing until we reached our next class period.