For once, Jasmine awoke feeling better about things. A dreamless sleep, she felt well rested and refreshed, ready to face a new day and whatever challenges lay ahead with vigor and vigilance. Glancing over at Tom, she didn't have the heart to wake him yet. She wasn't sure if he had to work today, but from what she'd observed of him so far, he was responsible, and he'd get himself up in time if he did.
Quietly, Jasmine tiptoed to the kitchen and poured herself some orange juice, gulping it down thirstily. She nearly jumped as the phone rang, and scrambled to pick up the receiver as she glanced at Tom, hoping it didn't wake him up. Grunting, he rolled over, but then remained still. Jasmine took in a quick breath of relief before pressing the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"
"Jas, its Caly."
"Oh, hi. Tom's still sleeping, I can tell him to give you a call as soon as he wakes up though."
“Actually, it’s you I wanted to talk to. It’s about, well, you know.” Jasmine’s brow furrowed slightly. Ugh, is that all anyone ever talked about? It figured anyway, right when she was trying to make some friends, she accidentally created a problem that made everyone constantly fight.
“What about it?”
“I’d rather, talk to you in person.”
“Well, can you at least tell me, if it’s something bad?”
“I’m not happy about it, I’ll tell you that much. I’m worried.”
“Then, let me bring Sarah with. She has a car anyway and we can meet you somewhere. She’s been worried too.”
Caly sounded puzzled. “Sarah? She’s the one who begged us to do it…”
“I know. But I think she regrets it now.”
“Alright, bring her with. How about, Starbucks, on the plateau by QFC?” Jasmine nodded softly, not exactly sure where that was, but she figured Sarah would know.
“Alright. Give us twenty minutes or so, I’ve got to get a hold of Sarah first.”
Jasmine promptly hung up with Caly and dialed Sarah’s number, quickly explaining to her what she knew. Sounding relieved that they might have another ally in this, she agreed to hurry over and pick Jasmine up.
Jasmine dressed and pulled her hair back as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake Tom. She scribbled a quick note for him and taped it to the fridge, the one place she knew it wouldn’t be missed.
Taking the extra set of keys off the counter, Jasmine quietly slipped outside and waited for Sarah’s car to arrive, not wanting her to honk. It was still fairly early in the morning, and she figured the other occupants of the complex, if not at work, were most likely still sleeping.
Climbing in the passenger side of Sarah’s car, Jasmine smiled weakly at her, trying to reassure herself that everything was fine. She really did have to try and stop this whole paranoid thing; it wasn’t good for her, or anyone else.
Arriving at Starbucks, Jasmine noted silently that Caly’s car was already parked outside, waiting for them. Hurriedly they scrambled out of Sarah’s vehicle and followed Caly inside. He looked relieved to see them, but slightly dissevered.
After ordering their lattes, the three of them settled down at a table. “Okay.” Jasmine said calmly. “What’s up?”
Caly shifted his weight, sipping his coffee before beginning. “I’ve always tried to think with logic and consider all possibilities of any situation.” He began. “But I’ve never thought so clear in my life. I mean, sometimes I think I might know what’s right, but it’s never written in stone. Nothing ever should be. But lately, things have been.”
“What do you mean?” Sarah asked intently, leaning forward to give him her full attention.
“I’ll give you an example. I was really bored yesterday, flipping through channels, and I came across this stupid Court TV show. And I knew everyone’s secrets, all the truth because it was plainly and clearly written on all of their faces, within like, a second. And everything I knew and thought, turned out to be right, and some stuff wasn’t even fully revealed but I still knew it was there.”
Sarah glanced uncomfortably at Jasmine. “Um, Caly, no offense but, sometimes that just happens. I mean, how hard is it to tell when someone’s a cheater, or a gold digger?”
“No, it’s more than that.”
“How?” Caly turns to Jasmine, a glance of silent apology gleaming in his eyes.
“You’re insecure, not only about yourself, but about your relationship with Tom. You came here completely depending on him, preparing to make him your whole world, and now you feel that the success or failure of your relationship with him will either give you the strength to survive, or be the cause of your death.”
Jasmine sat there for a moment, trying not to let her jaw hang. Of coarse, he was right, but hearing it out loud made it sound kind of, pathetic? And it hurt.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have, brought all that up. There’s more too.”
“No, I think we get the point.” Jasmine said softly, eyes lowered in slight shame.
“I- I know. I just meant, I have all this, knowledge, like truth, and it takes absolutely no effort on my part to have it in my head. Other stuff too. This morning I thought up this plan, it had to do with improving the economy. And it’s totally sensible, and will help a great deal. It just, came to me.”
“So, you’re saying,” Sarah started in fascination. “Your usual thinking patterns have increased and become easier?”
“A lot. But, that’s what worries me. Sarah, I don’t know a lot about your magic, but this is beyond something psychological. You simply can’t increase your mind capacity in the matter of a day, because you’re effected with the idea of a placebo-like stimulation.”
“I know. I admit, I didn’t do a whole lot of research before I pressured you guys into it. I’m sorry. I may have seriously gotten us into trouble.” Sarah hung her head for a moment, showing a genuine apologetic expression. Caly tilted his head, a soft look of sympathy embedded in his deep blue orbs.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll all work it out together, okay?” Jasmine shifted her weight.
“I don’t know if this has anything to do with the spell or anything but, Jim kind of, freaked out last night.”
“What do you mean?” Sarah asked, a new worry flashing across her face.
“He was over at Tom’s and they were going to watch a game but, Tom didn’t want to,” leaving out the details of that one, “and Jim got all mad and threw kind of a temper tantrum-thing. I mean I know I don’t know you guys that well, but even Tom was really surprised at his outburst.” Sarah blinked, unsure of how to take that.
"I’m not sure that it has anything to do with the spell, I mean we all get crabby sometimes. But, we’ll keep an eye on Jim, just in case.”
“What are we going to do?” Caly asked, turning to Sarah. Apparently, magic was one thing he didn’t have a logical solution for.
“I don’t know yet. Maybe this’ll all wear off.” Sarah said hopefully, but her words lacked conviction.
The three left Starbucks with the agreement to not to do any more spells, and also to keep an eye on Jim, and themselves as well. Jasmine was rather silent on the way home, occasionally glancing at Sarah, trying to imagine what she must be thinking and feeling. Guilt would be Jasmine’s best guess. She didn’t personally blame Sarah for any of this, but if she were in Sarah’s shoes, she knew she’d feel plenty guilty. Sarah was the one after all who made such a huge deal about the scroll, and about everyone joining her in her magical quests, and now things were confusing and slightly frightening, and it may have something to do with the magic that Sarah encouraged.
“Hey,” Jasmine said softly, before she climbed out of the car. “We don’t know that any of this weirdness has anything to do with magic. Don’t, um, let it upset you, okay?” Sarah turned to Jasmine with a kind, appreciative thankfulness in her eyes.
“Maybe not. But, if it does, I’ll do whatever I can to fix it.”
“Well whatever happens, it’s not your fault.”
“It’s not yours either.” Sarah said softly yet firmly, looking into Jasmine’s eyes. She shrank away slightly, a bit intimidated that Sarah could so easily see through her insecurities, just like Caly had.
“I know.” Jasmine responded, trying her best to sound convincing and genuine, more for her own sake than Sarah. Smiling for a brief moment, Jasmine opened the car door and headed back into Tom’s apartment, a whirlwind of thoughts blowing through her mind.
Tom was gone when Jasmine went inside, leaving the apartment with a desolate, lonely vibe. Frowning slightly with thoughts plaguing her mind, she plopped herself down on the couch and lazily flipped through channels, trying to find something interesting enough to keep her attention and distract her.
A knock on the door a moment later jeers Jasmine out of her trance, yet she couldn’t deny she was thankful for it. Hopping off the couch, she rushed over to the door and opened it eagerly, glancing up at Jim, and Beth.
After what happened last night, Jasmine wasn’t too keen on being alone around Jim. Temper on a guy was not only a definite turn-off, but it also made her generally uneasy. A faint hint of memory Jasmine had tried so hard to block out had to do with her father and yelling, and when she was a kid, of coarse her father seemed ten times bigger than her and it had been very frightening.
“Oh, hi.” Jasmine finally offered when she noticed they were staring at her oddly. Against her better judgement, she opened the door and reluctantly let them inside.
“Hey.” Jim replied back, Beth merely nodding her head in acknowledgement but offering nothing else. Jasmine pursed her lips in slight annoyance. Beth’s indifferent attitude no longer hurt her feelings, but it was still a bit rude.
“What’s up?” She asked them casually, trying not to sounds short with them. It was a bit offsetting seeing them come here together, since Beth was supposed to be with Caly. Then again, they were all friends and there’s no rule saying genders had to be separated unless they were dating.
“Not much.” Jim said, already on his way over to the couch. He stretched out casually and reached for the remote, leaving Jasmine standing there, unsure of what to do. Was this normal? Her friends never just came over and headed for the TV when she was growing up, but then again she didn’t really have many friends. Instead of commenting and feeling stupid, she just glanced towards Beth, hoping Beth would attempt to start a conversation, or offer an explanation, or say something that would fill in the confusing silence.
“It was so cool!” Beth finally yelled, making Jasmine nearly jump out of her shoes in surprise. Whoa, where did that come from? “Jim today, he could lift like, the entire thing of weights on the machines, and it barely even phases him! And then he boxed with a friend, totally kicked his ass without even trying, at all! It was so cool!”
Jasmine merely stared at Beth in amazement, her mind completely void of a decent response. Okay, she knew that there was nothing wrong with friends hanging out with friends, but Beth was looking at Jim with total lust and admiration while she talked, and that just wasn’t right. Jasmine knew things between Beth and Caly were rocky, nonexistent even, but that still didn’t make this right.
Looking away, Jasmine pursed her lips and walked over towards Jim. “Tom’s, working.” She offered matter-of-factly, hoping that maybe he’d care?
“I figured. But I got in a fight with my roommate, and Tom won’t mind that I’m over here.” Jasmine shifted uneasily, once again, feeling really out of place. She turned to Beth, hoping that she’d offer to hang out with Jasmine, or do something, but instead she brushed right past Jasmine and sat on the couch next to Jim with wide, hopeful eyes.
“That was so cool what you did today!” She exclaimed like a small amazed child. “I’m still totally in awe. Are you going to do it again tomorrow?” Jim turned his head towards Beth, a snide smile etching across his face.
“Sure, why not? Want to come watch me flex my powerful muscles?” Beth grinned, moving closer to him.
“Sure.” Jasmine couldn’t take this being silent thing anymore, she just had to ask.
“Beth, did you, get any heightened abilities the second go-round on that spell?” Beth turned to Jasmine, the look in her eyes immediately turning from awe for Jim into contempt and anger.
“No, I didn’t, thanks for bringing that up.” Jasmine shrunk inwardly at her harsh comeback, understanding falling into place. True, Jim was getting abilities and Beth wasn’t, so it was in a way understandable that Beth would turn to him, but what about Caly? He had his abilities of the mind that were growing. Why would she turn to Jim, instead of clinging more to Caly?
Maybe Jasmine didn’t know the whole story. Maybe Caly had been as honest with Beth as he had been with Jasmine, and Beth couldn’t take it, and they got into a huge fight? Maybe Beth was now fawning over Jim to spite Caly, or maybe it wasn’t even about Caly. Maybe it was just Beth’s immature, selfish way of desperation to make herself feel better, and since Caly rejected her, she turned to the next available person, one that wouldn’t be so quick to see her true motivation in being with them.
Jasmine couldn’t help but think of Sarah in all this too. How will Sarah feel when she witnesses Beth basically throwing herself at Jim? Jasmine may not have had a lot of experience with friendship, but she knew that in theory, friends were supposed to be honest with each other, care about each other, and not back-stab each other. These people weren’t behaving like friends to each other, if that was all true.
Standing there with nothing but the blaring TV to save them from complete silence, Jasmine had no clue how to make any of this better. And she was afraid.