Staples had left Jasy in his bedroom this morning with the instruction not to leave it, and to go hide in the closet if she heard someone coming up the stairs, and especially if she heard the door opening. His mom could not know about Jasy’s existence in the slightest. He had no reasonable explanation for her, no way to reason her existence that wasn’t completely ridiculous or untoward. 

So he tried to pretend that nothing was wrong, or suspicious, or wrong in the least, but he was already on semi thin ice considering the fact that he was still grounded from disappearing in the middle of the day and not coming back until far too late. This morning she was watching him closely over their breakfast of eggs on toast, but he couldn’t tell if it was just a normal intense-mom-stare or if it was specifically the I-know-you-were-up-to-something-shady-son stare. So he ate his toast in silence and eventually she went out to get the newspaper that she still had delivered to their front driveway despite the fact that she could read it online. Staples tried not to expire from stress. It was still August, he shouldn’t be this stressed. 

“Rescued that book from the recycling finally I see,” said his mother from somewhere behind him and Staples jumped a foot. He hadn’t realized that she knew about the book. 

“Ye-ep,” he dragged out the word, stabbing at his toast and egg and hoping to god he didn’t look suspicious. Oh who was he kidding, he probably did. Fuck. 

“Any particular reason why?” 

“Reason why what?” 

“Reason why you left a book in our recycling for three days and then removed it again.” And now she was raising an eyebrow at him. Fantastic.

“Well, I didn’t want it and then I realized there was something useful in it that I needed it for, so…” 

“What’s it about?” 

Fuck.

“Um, plants.” 

And now the other brow was raised. 

“…Is this book the reason why you were traipsing around the countryside for several hours last Wednesday?” 

“I…yes.” 

She sighed. “What on earth am I going to do with you?” 

“Unground me?”  

“Mmh. Don’t you have friends or, I don’t know, people you could be hanging out with? Places to be? Something to do, other than roosting all day in the library or a field someplace? Aren’t you lonely?”

And that was the bitter truth wasn’t it? The reason why he sought refuge in books and plants (and summoning demons apparently)… 

Some people, Staples figured, were just not meant to have friends or people of their own. Some people just couldn’t. Some people were just destined to be alone. 

“No,” he said. “I’m not lonely.” 

---

His mother had decided to unground him anyways, to allow him to better enjoy the last dregs of freedom that he had before junior year and preparing for college dragged away his freetime and general wellbeing. And he had decided to spend that precious freedom by taking Jasy to a mall because he figured that that was the fastest way to give her a crash course on human society in America as it stood currently. 

Jasy had arrived in his bedroom swathed in drapey robes of some kind, so he’d lent her an outfit for this outing, taking his allowance with him in the hopes of finding her something to wear of her own. So there he was, twinning in the mall with the demon he had summoned. Apparently Jasy could glamour herself, so gone were the reddish skin and horns and pointed ears; Human Jasy had burnished brown skin and full head of curly dark brown hair that she had pulled into a high ponytail with one of Staple’s mom’s hair ties. She had two curly cowlicks where her horns used to be, but honestly they suited her, lending her a fun, if vaguely elfin appearance with her smirking grin and still ever so slightly pointed ears. (Those looked human at least, unlike their demonic counterpoints, so Staples figured he’d take what he could get). She’d cuffed his jeans, tied up the end of his t-shirt, and had rejected his offer of a sweater, despite his protest that the mall would be cold. She already looked startling human, skipping ahead of him as they walked through the mall, grinning and laughing and soaking up his commentary like a sponge. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do with that information. 

So instead he gave her as much information as he could: smartphones, the internet, fashion, music, but also politics, gender, sexuality, the dire state of the environment. Some part of him hated the immediate sobering of her face at some topics, at the hate that was still present in the world, at the destruction that was wrecked, but Staples figured that if she wanted to live on earth, at least for the time being, she needed to know the full scope of it. She commented and interrupted with enough impassioned thoughts that Staples felt somewhat assured that at the very least, he hadn’t summoned a racist, or sexist, or homophobic demon, so, you know. 

It’s the small things in life sometimes. 

But interestingly enough, it was the concept of school that intrigued Jasy the most. She explained that she’d been summoned on a few occasions prior, but most demon summonings occured solely with the end goal of getting something: money, power, sex, revenge, sometimes all four. She understood the rough workings of the world. Society has changed some, but not so much. But teenagers don’t summon demons and school was not your typical summon-a-creature-from-beyond-the-veil motivator. Staples was the first person Jasy knew who’d summoned a demon without any explicit purpose in mind. 

“So…what? You learn a trade? Why are you not employed?” She gestured to the hordes of teenagers and young adults swarming through the mall. “Why are none of these people employed?” 

“Well, basically, with the way society is going now, you don’t need to get a job as soon as possible; at least, in first world countries. A lot of places in the world people can’t go to school at all. But generally, there’s just a lot more information that people are expected to learn. And some of it is really complicated and it takes years and years to learn it all. So the first couple of years are to make sure kids are well adjusted, and then the next couple are used to lay the groundwork, and the couple after that elaborate on that and get more specific. Then you’ve got highschool where things are a lot more complicated and regimented. It’s supposed to prep you for college or university, which is supposed to educate you in all the things you need to know for your job. It’s a lot more specialized. And you can get…certification I guess, if you complete your schooling to a specific standard, and the level of your certification typically determines what professions you’re eligible for and how much you get paid.” 

“Education has come a long way it seems.” 

“I mean, it definitely has. But it can also be really unfair. It’s so complicated now that sometimes students aren’t able to get the help they need, especially if they have mental illnesses or learning disabilities. Some people don’t have access to school, others don’t get as good an education. College and university, especially in America, is frankly exorbitant in cost, so much so that people go really deeply into debt just trying to pay, and a lot of people can’t afford it at all. At the same time, your degree tends to determine how much money you make, and the more degrees you get the longer you have to be in school and the more you have to pay. And that’s not even counting the fact that a lot of schools don’t have a fair system for accepting people, and there’s a lot of unfairness built upon racism or sexism or how much money you have.” 

“I take it back.” 

Staples shrugs at her expression. “It’s a complicated system. One of many. It’s not all bad, it’s not all good. And you know, some people are working to fix it so that’s good.” 

She nods. “So high school you said earlier, that’s where you are? And it’s starting soon?” 

“Yeah, we get a break for the summer months, but school’s starting up in a couple of days, actually.” Jasy remained quiet for a minute, idly flicking through a rack of skirts, while Staples stared off at a distant point, trying to mitigate the stress rising at the thought of his own future. He needed to figure himself out, research schools, start applying places…pick a major, a job, a goal. Something.

“I want to go.” 

Staples blinked at her, jarred out of his thoughts. 

“Go where?” 

“To school. To high school, with you,” she stated, resolute, dark brown eyes pinning him to the spot. 

“What, why?” 

“Because!” Her eyes lit up. “I want to learn! I want to meet people! I want to live! School is a, a, a formative experience for people. I don’t want to waste my days away hiding in your closet or your bedroom.” 

She looked so excited by this. So energetic, jumping all around, her hands popping open for emphasis. But… 

“How would that even work? Fifteen minutes ago you didn’t even know high school existed! You don’t, you don’t even exist as a person! Legally! Technically! You have no digital footprint, no documents, nothing to register, no one to vouch for you—I don’t count by the way. I—” 

She waved a hand dismissively at him, face still glowing. “I can create all that,” she starts. “I’m a demon, I have magic to use. I can create all the documents, maybe befuddle one or two people…I can absorb the knowledge I need from you—”

“Hold up, what do you mean—” 

“And then I can go to school! I can experience the world, your world, my world, arguably. You have to help me Staples, I don’t know what I need but you do, or you can take me to the people to ask, I’ll do the talking, or the befuddling, whatever it takes it won’t harm them—”

“Ok just, just chill for a moment.” Staple’s head was spinning.  Jasy was nothing if not determined. And emotionally strong arming Staples. It occurred to him that once he had summoned Jasy, he probably should have just sent her back. And it occurred to him that even if he didn’t send her back, he probably shouldn’t take her to school. But. 

“I can, I can take you to my school and you can speak with someone about admissions.” Her face lights up. “But. We are days from the start of school. I have no idea if they’ll let you in. 

She simply grinned in response.