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Jason barely looked up to see who asked if he was alright. When he saw who it was he threw his head back. The last person he should see right now was the girl he wanted the most to be at the party. An hour ago he might have been secretly delighted to hear her. Now he just realized it would be another thorn in his side. He just lifted his bottle with a deep sigh and looked how much there was still in it. “Not particularly.” He said with a truly careless tone. If he was sober, he’d realize that in his current he should probably let her move on. But there was a strange curiosity in his heart. He turned to look her right in the eyes and asked: “[color=9e0b0f]Have  you ever felt such a profoundly [i]stupid[/i] feeling that you wish you could cut your heart out?[/color]” It was a question that had to be posed. Though Jason had no idea why he asked Nadia.

Frowning slightly, the redhead studied him carefully. After a moment, she knelt down, taking a seat next to him. “[color=f7976a]Yeah. Worst part is when it happens repeatedly,[/color]” She replied, giving him a slight shrug. “[color=f7976a]The good thing is that most stuff blows over quickly, so it's easy to move on if you don't stay too hung up on it.[/color]”

Jason offered the bottle to Nadia. He let out a deep, defeated sigh. She was right, in a way. If you didn’t care then it always passes. But this had shaken him. He loved Catherine. But that kiss, that infernal kiss was burned into his memory. It wasn’t even the kiss that bugged him that much. It were the feelings that came with it. The moment of carelessness right after he realized it couldn’t have been Catherine. In his right hand he kept twirling his phone like he had some nervous itch. The guilt felt less heavy now, sure. Yet the sick feeling remained. “[color=9e0b0f]And what happens with the stuff that doesn’t blow over quickly? The stuff that can’t help but get hung up on?[/color]”

Taking the bottle, Nadia chose to take a swig. Once she finished, she placed the bottle down in the sand between them. “[color=f7976a]Alcohol helps,[/color]” She couldn't help but joke. She sort of wanted to ask what happened, but he was so down she wanted to cheer him up first. In truth she hated seeing anyone down, regardless of affiliation. “[color=f7976a]In all seriousness, spending time having fun and relying on friends is one way to go about it.[/color]” She said, motioning towards the party.

He couldn’t help but smile at her joke. It felt good to laugh just for a second. With Nadia nearby, he realized he was dancing on the razor’s edge. Too drunk to feel anything real, too sober to do anything too stupid. For a few seconds he kept quiet. His friends, yes they could help. Maybe not Penny, she’d be woefully bad in the same situation. But Santiago, maybe Santiago could help him. “[color=9e0b0f]Maybe[/color].” He answered. “[color=9e0b0f]Though right now I’m fairly sure I’d just bring the party down.[/color]” But the more he talked, the more he just ached to say what he did. Above everyone else, he wanted to tell his girlfriend but he couldn’t. Still, it had to be said. “[color=9e0b0f]So you probably want to know what happened.[/color]”

Nadia seemed pleased at seeing Jason smile, counting that as a small victory. When asked if she wanted to know, she paused for a moment, watching him closely. “[color=f7976a]Do you want to tell me? You don't have to,[/color]” She said, frowning slightly. The last thing she wanted was to make him feel worse. Her phone buzzed, though she pressed the volume button, silencing the call. First she would take care of him, then she'd see what her phone wanted. “[color=f7976a]Only tell me if you want to. It's none of my business.[/color]”

“[color=9e0b0f]Sol and I kissed.[/color]” And there it was. The truth. In all it’s disgusting glory. It felt good saying it. Like a weight lifted from his shoulders. But no two seconds later and all that weight returned. Like he suddenly fully realized what he did. Almost angry at himself he threw his head back against the dune behind him as he took another big swig from the bottle. “[color=9e0b0f]It was so stupid. I didn’t even think it would ever happen. Everything was perfect![/color]” he exclaimed, but then looked over at Nadia and realized that it was a lie. “[color=9e0b0f]Almost…perfect.[/color]” He corrected himself, with a calmer voice.

The redhead nodded, scratching her cheek for a moment. She hadn't been at King's very long, though at the very least she was familiar with matching names to faces. Marisol was sort of infamous throughout the school for being tough, so she could maybe understand why Jason was upset about it. “[color=f7976a]Not your type?[/color]” She joked, though she looked pointedly at the bottle he had. “That's what that does if you have too much, you go and do silly things like that,” She grinned, nudging him. “[color=f7976a]Well, if she didn't beat you up afterwards, I'm sure she'll just leave you be if you don't want anything out of it.[/color]”

The face of Jason was a strange mixture of confusion and disgusted. Did she really just say all of that. His brain couldn’t wrap itself around it. But then the gears turned. Of course she didn’t know. How could she. They never really talked. His confusion turned to laughter. It was a hopeless laugh though. After which he took a rather big swing from the bottle. “[color=9e0b0f]I don’t give a shit about her![/color]” he announced. There was a bitter irony in his entire situation. “[color=9e0b0f]But my girlfriend will if she ever found out what happened.[/color]”

[I]Oh[/i].

Nadia's jaw dropped slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed for only now understanding Jason's dilemma. This was quite the predicament all things considered. What do you even say to something like that? Wracking her head for some kind of answer, Nadia tried to stay positive. Though if she was being honest to herself, she had seen this situation happen too many times before to know it wasn't going to end well. “[color=f7976a]I'm sorry,[/color]” She apologized. No wonder he was such a mess. “[color=f7976a]That...really sucks.[/color]”

After a few seconds of thinking to herself on any way this could be remedied, she decided the best course of action was to focus on him. “[color=f7976a]Are you upset because you feel like you betrayed your girlfriend or is it because once you did it you realize that...it's something you wanted to happen?[/color]” She asked slowly, choosing her words carefully.

Jason opened his mouth to answer. But right then his phone went off. The tune, a happy one (will add link to some song), made him turn pale like a ghost. It went on and on as he kept his phone in his hand. Eventually he bit down on his tongue and answered.
“[color=9e0b0f]Hi sweety.[/color]”

“[b]Are you okay!?[/b]” Came from the other side of the phone.

“[color=9e0b0f]I-I am?[/color]” He sounded less than convincing. “[color=9e0b0f]Why are you asking?[/color]”

“[b]I got your text! It just said: ‘We need to ta-’. Like it got cut off mid sentence. Are you sure you’re okay?[/b]”

“[color=9e0b0f]Yes. Yes. I’m okay. Stupid phone must’ve… been stupid. Don’t worry, I’m okay.[/color]”

A sigh of relief came from the other end. “[b]Good. But you know you can always call me right? No matter what.[/b]”

“[color=9e0b0f]Yes. Yes I know. I love you, bye.[/color]” The second his thumb hit the red button he just dropped his phone in the sand. “[color=9e0b0f]Strike number too. Lying about it.[/color]” He threw himself back against the sand. “[color=9e0b0f]If you got a gun or something, you might as well shoot me now.[/color]” He joked, in the most defeated, hopeless tone one could use.

Listening to the call had been a little awkward, though Nadia stayed quiet. It was his own problem; he needed to handle it himself. Still, the conversation she heard only made her want to ask again.

“[color=f7976a]...It's a tough situation, isn't it?[/color]” She asked quietly, frowning slightly at him. “[color=f7976a]But you're going to have to face it sooner or later. So...why do you feel guilty about it?[/color]” She repeated her question from before.

“[color=9e0b0f]Because-[/color]” Should he just say it? What more was there to lose? No, there was always something more to lose. Still, he could not hold all of it in anymore. It felt like he was keep poison in his mouth. “[color=9e0b0f]Because I wanted… something to happen.[/color]” The second he said it he realized just how profound his mistake was. “[color=9e0b0f]I-I gotta go. I’m sorry. Forget… everything.[/color]” He almost jumped up and even left the bottle. Staying near Nadia, near anyone right now was just a big mistake. After a few taps on his phone his uber was already underway.