‘It must be so hard. He’s not reacting at all and trying to keep a strong smile. So I’ll cry for you instead.’ Max thought, pushing up on his nose. Max wasn’t returning the gaze, but Jason didn’t know what to think. Instead, he expressionlessly held his hand back. There was a sweet, warm scent coming from the shorter teen. It was difficult to pinpoint what exactly it was, but it was certainly welcoming and comforting. Like the sun, almost—sunflowers? Honey? 

Max would sometimes think about Jason and hope he was doing well. Jason was tough to talk to, and a part of him felt like he was only a nuisance to the lavender-haired anyway. ‘Oh well, it can’t be helped for now, I should give him time.’ It had only been a week or so since the funeral anyway. The brunette walked out of his house with his school bag strapped, exhaling softly. He opened his eyes and nearly jumped when he recognized Jason standing squarely in front of his path. He was wearing his uniform as well and had his messenger bag.

“J-Jason?!” The teen stuttered, fighting a mild blush. “Um, was there something you needed…?”

“Aren’t you headed to school? Same.” Jason shrugged.

Right. They went to the same school. “Eh? Wait, you wanna walk together?” Max gripped the straps of his bag unbelievingly. This was like a dream come true! “Sure!” He gleefully caught up to the taller teen, and they began walking.

 As time went on, Jason’s mother also fell into the same trap. Depression, meds, alcohol now and then. It was just the two of them, and they had no relationship; no words exchanged between each other. Jason had just started high school, 9^th grade when his mother became even more dependent on her anti-depressants. Jason’s only complaint was that she was beginning to neglect her normal duties. A messy house, an empty fridge and no fresh-cooked meals were no surprise anymore to Jason. Sometimes he would come home, pick up a few things in his path, and take out the trash. Then he would go to the kitchen and find something to fix or eat. If there was nothing at home, he’d take some change from underneath a tea cup and use it to buy some groceries.

‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire…’ Jason exuded a troubled sigh. First his father, and now his mother.

Until one day, he found his mother’s pills on the countertop, and she herself was lounging half asleep on the couch. Jason was there to get a glass of water but inevitably stared at the pills. There was an alcohol bottle right next to it as well. Sometimes she had a drink in the evenings or late afternoons to help her sleep better.

The lavender-haired glanced back at his mom who might as well have forgotten he was even there. Hence, he slowly sidestepped until his body was covering the bottle. The teen quietly poured all the tablets into the alcohol bottle and let them dissolve before giving it a shake. He knew they would dissolve in another few hours anyway, and his mother wouldn’t even care to notice. Jason then nonchalantly went back to his room to finish his homework.

A few hours later, it was already past him until he heard a loud crash downstairs. The teen was spinning his pen between his fingers prior to that and had to place it down. He was tempted to check it out, but against his better judgment, he decided to wait a little longer. A good ten minutes later, he trotted downstairs to find his mother on the floor, and the bottle crashed and spilled a foot away from her. He merely stared at her lifeless body until the front door banged open and one of the neighbors walked in.

“I heard a loud—oh my gosh! What happened? Quick! I’ll call the ambulance!” The older lady cried.

‘Che. Meddlesome.’ Jason clenched his jaw, his eyes panning to the sky once. An unfiltered intrusive thought of smashing the back of her head with a vase while she was turned away occurred to him, but he knew better as he closed his eyes.

Soon enough, the ambulance was at their door and carried the woman away on a sketcher. The commotion and loud sirens evoked quite a few of the neighbors to stand around his house out of curiosity about what had happened. Jason feigned innocence and simply told them he had no idea; she was in the living room by herself.

His mother ended up in the ICU and survived the event but was left in a deep coma. Jason was outside the room in the row of seats, thinking hard. This was a disappointment. If possible, he really didn’t want to deal with her or live with her anymore. There had to be a way… oh.

“Excuse me, can I have the child protective services number?” The lavender-haired went to the nearest counter and phone stand to make an anonymous call. He wasn’t an adult yet; maybe he could have her taken away or something. He explained his living conditions with her and how irresponsible she was.

The ultimate decision was for Jason to pack up his stuff and be relocated to a foster home or orphanage. ‘Great. Not exactly the outcome he was planning, but... at least he could wash his hands from her for now.’ Maybe he could find some peace, and he was confident in himself to make it through. It was only a matter of time before he graduated and was eighteen. 

Jason went back home to start packing. He went straight to his bedroom and returned downstairs after tossing some necessities and his basic belongings, like clothes in it. The place was a mess; furthermore, it was dull, gloomy, and dusty, but he stopped caring about that a long time ago. Jason’s vision tuned most of that stuff out anyway. This is where he grew up, and he hoped it was the last time he would see it anyways. There was nothing left for him here, no family, no belongings, nothing.

The teen did notice a picture frame crashed on the floor; it was the four of them—his parents, him simply standing there, and his younger toddler brother in their arms. He tossed the picture on the table. He didn’t realize how long he had been standing until a hand on his shoulder startled him. Jason jerked away and elbowed the person, causing them to fall backwards. “Ow!” A familiar voice cried out from the floor.

Jason was shocked to find Max on the floor, holding his wrists; his palms were bleeding from the shards on the floor. “Ow…sorry I didn’t mean to startle you…why is there glass on the floor, that’s dangerous… I heard your mother passed out, are you okay?” Even in that moment, he was more worried about Jason. The lavender-haired teen helped him up. “W-what’s with the bag?”

“Nothing that you need to worry about right now. Let’s get this bandaged first.” Jason inspected the other’s palms, provoking a hiss as the blood oozed from one of the fine cuts. Something about seeing the brunette in pain bothered him. As if a part of him cared? Was he even capable of that?

That evening, Jason was introduced to his foster home for the first time. There were a bunch of kids, all younger than him, that resided in the place. He was taken to his room, which was a small, crowded square room with two bunk beds on each side of the room. ‘It’s cramped.’ Was his first thought, but then again, it could’ve been worse, he supposed. And it was better than his messy rotting house. Again, he would just have to deal with it for now, anyhow.

He placed his duffel bag on the lower bed, already planning to take the top bunk bed, whether it was already taken or not. He’d rather be high up there and have everything beneath him in his blind spot. The teen glanced at the window that was situated in the middle wall, in between the two bunk beds. There was a long glass cylinder that held two sunflowers in water. The teen studied the flowers. The window was open and there was a very faint scent reaching his nose as he stood close. The scent, the large brown center, and the soft golden petals all around that mimicked the sun. It all reminded him of a certain someone. 

For the most part Jason kept to himself in the room, mostly wearing headphones and occupying himself with his books. Despite being cold to the fellow children, he was all fake smiles and flattering good behavior in front of the elders or teachers.

He wasn’t here to make friends; he needed to get out of this shitty life, grow a business of his own, and then live above everyone else. He would destroy anyone or anything that came in his way. Yes, that was the goal.