Things went on like that for several weeks. They never really got too personal, mostly just talking about miscellaneous things about themselves, but Hugh kinda liked it. It was certainly a different change of pace than he was used to, for sure. Hugh and Jack had talked on and off everyday, and Hugh found himself looking forward to the weird messages he got from Jack.

It seemed Jack had this odd power of turning a conversation 180* with no effort at all, and he did so whenever he felt uncomfortable. He would never tell Hugh he was unhappy or wanted to avoid a topic, he would just steer it away immediately. Whenever Hugh tried to talk about something more personal, like family, or really anything with personal emotions or attachment on Jack’s part, he would completely ignore it and move on to another topic. Same was true of relationships, Jack just seemed unable to talk about those things in any capacity. It confused Hugh, since he had always been told to share his feelings and talk about it with other people, but that didn’t seem like something Jack was familiar or comfortable with.

One of the few things Hugh could glean from Jack’s vague and dodgeful text’s was that he hated his job with a passion. The long hours in combination with the hard work and heavy lifting had worn down Jack’s body, and he seemed unhappy with where he was in life. It was upsetting, since such a problem could arise with anyone’s job, and Hugh felt like he had little control over it. However, he couldn’t afford to quit, since the apartment he lived in necessitated a higher salary. Such was the cycle of adult life, Hugh mused sadly. While Hugh was on the edge on true adulthood, he felt distant from the real problems Jack had to deal with, and as such, felt woefully inadequate whenever he tried to make him feel better. It felt half-assed, even to Hugh, and he was the one writing them after all. How must they look to Jack? He didn’t feel like getting his feelings hurt, so he avoided it.

Eventually, they found themselves in a familiar grove with their conversations; talking about work, Hugh about how frustrating college could be, games, and anything in between. However, they still gave any more emotional talks a wide berth; no need to rock the boat that was oh so comfortably sailing already. But Hugh couldn’t help but want to dive deeper into Jack’s life. It was a frustrating experience to get so close to something, some deeper part of Jack’s life, only to pull away. It was like trying to care for a wounded animal, one wrong move and they run away again, only to limp back later.

“So, what’s your plans for the future, Mr.roni?”

Hugh looked over his message, sent it, and put his phone back in his pocket. Having just walked out of his latest computer tech class, he felt a more personal question than usual would be interesting. Besides, getting another opportunity to call Jack by his nickname Jack-a-roni always made him feel giddy inside. Walking back to his car, he felt the familiar buzzing in his pocket. Setting his backpack loaded with textbooks inside, he sat down and checked his phone.

“I don’t really have any plans XD”

Hugh paused. Now, Hugh had some experience with the whole depression thing, so he knew what it meant. There was no reason to jump to conclusions though, that just makes problems.

“Nothing at all? No promotions or anything lined up?”

He waited, then;

“Nope :P Whatcha been up to today?”

Hugh understood what that meant. Whenever Jack did this, he was done with this conversation, and ready to move on. A rock sank into Hugh’s stomach. He had a bad feeling about this…

“Not much, just got outta class. Hbu?”

And the conversation went back to normal, but Hugh still felt uneasy all the way on his drive home. He knew that it never bode well when someone said such evasive things, it usually meant they didn’t want to keep going after a point not too far off in the future… Just the thought made Hugh shudder. He went to bed feeling bad about the whole situation, even if nothing else they said suggested such a dismal future could be waiting ahead. He wanted to dive deeper into this mysterious pool of a person, immerse himself into the world his newfound friend lived in. Because he couldn’t seem to ever get a good grasp on him, and feared he would let him slip out of his grasp if that happened…