After Life (on hold)

Unhinged

Jaren:

I sat shocked in my seat. The class had begun, but I couldn't focus on a word that the professor was saying. All I could think about was Lucas as he'd raced out of the room with out a backward glance. Had I done something to offend him? Cold dread washed over me. I wanted to grab my things and look for him, but I was a little scared that he didn't want to see me. I wiped my face with my hand and picked up my pencil. Maybe if I tried a little harder to focus, then I'd be able to stop thinking about the broken expression on his face as he'd sat there silently crying.

"-This is the age when people start to want to give life lessons. They could be a hermit for most of their lives, perfectly content with being alone, but around this point in their mental development, they start to want to--"

He'd looked like he'd lost someone. It reminded me of the first time I'd seen him in the cafe. He'd been crying then too. Had I done something to remind him of that person? I glanced at the clock above the dry erase board and grimaced. There was over an hour left before the class would end. I couldn't sit here any longer. As nervous as I was, I wanted to make sure that Lucas was okay. I stood, quietly gathered my things, then left as discretely as possible. As soon as I was out of the door, I ran.

*************************

Lucas:

"What are you doing here." Ashley scowled at me. "I distinctly remember that you're supposed to be in psychology with Jaren right now." I sighed.

"I... can't." I whispered. I slumped forward in the stool at the counter and rested my head on my fist.

She stared at me for a moment before disappearing. A moment later, she was standing in front of me with a slice of key lime pie. I immediately sat up in its presence. She'd remembered that it was my favorite. "Tell me everything, then I'll let you eat this."

"That's cruel."

"I'm a cruel person." I didn't rebuke her. "Now speak."

I told her about how I was ridiculously nervous around Jaren, about how I'd started to remember our past life together, and how I'd started to cry and ran out of the classroom. When I was finished, she set the cake before me, reached beneath the counter, and sat a flask down beside the cake.

"You need this."

"I don't drink."

"Don't argue." She grabbed a tea cup, poured some of the flask contents into the cup, and pushed it toward me. It was an amber brown, and the fumes coming from it made me suspicious. I picked up the cup and took a careful sip from it. Immediately, my throat started to burn and I coughed.

"What is that?" I grimaced at the tea cup. Ashley grinned as she took a swig from the flask and sighed.

"Whiskey." She took another gulp.

"How can you stand the taste?" I tried to drink it again, but it burned down the second time too. A bitter taste was left over, and I forked a chunk of the pie to help cleanse my palate.

"Eh, you get used to it." She shrugged, then drank again.

"...Are you supposed to be drinking?" I asked tentatively. Didn't she need to be sober to work with machinery and interact with her customers.

"No, she isn't." Ashlee appeared behind her. She held her hand out patiently. Ashley screwed the cap back on, stared at the flask mournfully for a second, then handed it over.

"Party pooper." Ashley pouted.

"You'll thank me later." She rolled her eyes before grabbing the tea cup too, then disappearing again.