Chapter 19: Intervention

Wednesday, August 18, 1982

Jasmine continued her tepid hug-and-kiss greetings. I’d done all the pressing I was going to do, so I could wait. Jasmine sometimes looked as if she was expecting me to say or do something, and ... I wanted to. But I needed to give Camille time, and ... perhaps ... the waiting game would work its magic on Jasmine the way it had with Jessica.

Not that things were resolved with Jessica and, in fact, I felt bad about having to put her off. I was quite curious about what she might reveal when we finally got together. That said, I couldn’t risk upsetting Jasmine, not yet.

The new Drama and Debate kids seemed to be jumping right in. In Drama, the sophomores had adopted the freshmen, the juniors adopted Darren, and the seniors adopted John. John had been hit on by both Debra and Charles by the second day, I’m pretty sure. It wouldn’t have surprised me if Darren had gotten even more offers. So far, the freshmen were probably safe, but that wouldn’t last, not considering how last year’s freshmen had been later in the year.

In Debate, Janice had Jeff pointed in the right direction, and the sophomores had adopted Stacey, Jaya, Ron, and Crystal. We juniors were all helping Darla, Eric, and Linda. The seniors pitched in where and when they needed to, but there was a certain amount of hesitancy among the new kids to bother Janet, Lizzie, and Callie, because of their status as Nationals veterans. Kenzie probably picked up some of Callie’s aura, and Brad was ... well, a bit more reticent than the juniors.

This led to two very interesting things for me. First, Eric seemed apologetic about losing touch with me and ‘the old gang,’ as he put it. We’d pretty much all split up, with Mike and me the exception, but he needed a little convincing that it was okay. I was pretty sure he’d fit in, but he needed to settle down and stop tripping over himself around me. Also, around Angie — I was pretty sure he had a crush on her.

Second, both Linda and Darla started to flirt with me. Linda would flip her hair just the right way; Darla would chew on her pencil with a hint of suggestion and a wink. Both wound up at our table more than you’d expect. Cammie rolled her eyes at Linda’s behavior at one point; Angie rolled her eyes at Darla’s. Neither of them noticed those little responses, I’m fairly sure.

Jasmine noticed, and ... I couldn’t tell what she thought. Storm clouds? Amusement? Both? Neither? I’d noticed other things about her. She was quieter in general, not just around me. Not raising her hand in History when I knew she knew the answer, for instance. It sucked that our relationship issues were affecting her that way, and made me even more hopeful that we’d get it fixed.

Tonight was our first Dance and Movement class since the summer. Our instructor had been on vacation until tonight. We’d considered going back to Karate two nights a week, but both Angie and I were having fun with this class, and one night a week worked for us with Karate. We’d be better with more practice, of course, but we were likely to use the dance skills from this class more than the skills we were learning in Karate. We both already knew enough for most self-defense situations, after all. Or, at least, I thought we did.

I’d started on my plan of learning to dance backwards. Ms. Renee got a kick out of the idea and threatened to teach all the boys how to dance backwards. That got a lot of groans and no-thank-yous, and a few murderous looks in my direction. Fortunately, she was just joking, or I might have needed those Karate skills!

Thursday, August 19, 1982

Another day, another underwhelming hug and kiss. Part of me couldn’t believe that people didn’t realize there was something seriously wrong; part of me was happy that few did, or it’d be all over the school in hours. They’d probably report that I was dumping Jasmine for Jessica, and that would be pure disaster. It would’ve been a mess under the best of circumstances, and these weren’t even close to the best of circumstances.

Jasmine was seldom saying anything but class-related comments to me these days, but she surprised me heading to first period.

“I’m not sure why you’re not pushing me more. I know this is awkward.”

“You need time, I get that.”

She sighed, deeply. “I don’t know what I need. I don’t ... I can’t ... ugh!” She stopped and stared at me. “When’s the last time you saw Jessica?”

“Saw? Yesterday, in History.”

She slugged my arm, and I do mean slugged. I’d probably have a bruise.

“You know what I meant!”

“August 4th.”

She blinked. “Seriously? Over two weeks?”

I sighed. “You put her on ‘the list.’ Not that I would have done anything covered by ‘the list’, but that was a red flag to stay away.” I hesitated, then decided to just say it. “This is a lousy time for me to just stay away, but priorities are priorities.”

“Phone?”

“Sunday. Brief and not about anything ... well ... in any way related to ‘the list.’”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “I just ... it’s ... I don’t...”

“Stop. I mean, I don’t know where that sentence is going, but it’s likely somewhere bad. Jasmine ... look. I am certain I’ve failed at communication, in some way, somehow, but I will promise you: I’ve told you the truth, I’ve told Jessica the truth, I’ve told everyone the truth, and I’m going to keep on doing it. I lov...”

I got slugged again. Other arm, and not as hard, at least.

“No. Not now. Seriously, not now.” She’d started crying. “I just ... fuck. I need to go fix my face. I’ll see you in class.”

“I’m sor...” But she was already heading at top speed to the girls’ room.

The rest of the day was ... quiet. That lasted until Debate.

Lexi surprised me with a hug and a quick kiss, just outside the room.

“Look,” she said. “I’ve been holding back. We all have. We know something’s wrong. We’re not on either side, but ... I’m not going to hold back. I like you. A lot. Maybe almost too much, but I know where the lines are, and ... well. If things go more wrong, we both know we aren’t the answer. Not for either of us. But I’m done pretending we’re not close.”

“Thanks, Lexi,” I said, hugging her.

“Welcome. I’d kick her ass, but I think that’d be counterproductive.”

“Almost certainly.”

I turned to find Jasmine looking daggers at both of us from the end of the hall. All through class, she kept giving me icy stares.

After class, I tried. “Jasmine, wait!”

“Fuck you! Shut up! That would’ve worked weeks ago. I would’ve ... it ... dammit! Why the fuck didn’t you just ... gah! Shut up and don’t say another word and do not follow me!”

I did, and I didn’t, and I didn’t. Each of those were among the hardest things I’ve ever done, or not done, as the case may be.

“What the hell happened?” Angie said as we got in the car.

“Apparently Lexi hugging me and giving me a quick kiss was a deep betrayal, or ... something. I don’t think it makes sense. It was just something that got her riled up.”

“Lexi? She set you up! She was with you two! This is just... nonsense!”

“At a guess, maybe she thinks I’m trying to jump to Lexi? She asked me when I’d last seen Jessica and I told her the truth. She very nearly accused me of lying to her. Well, after slugging my arm.”

“Slugging?”

“I’ll probably have a bruise. A real one. My fault — I answered more literally, though I made a point of saying that. I do see both of them every day in History.”

Angie rolled her eyes. “That’s worthy of a whap, maybe. Really, just a bit of a laugh. Again... Lexi?”

“She very nearly told me she didn’t trust me, or at least I think that’s where she was going. I cut her off. That’s in the category of things best not said.”

“Ugh. I just...”

“I think she wants to fix it, though. I do. She was almost herself this morning, before she went back off the rails. Something is just ... getting in the way.”

Angie bit her lip. “I think ... I’m guessing ... she’s let herself believe something that almost hangs together. What ... I don’t know. And it makes sense out of this, except it’s wrong. But in order to change her mind, she has to throw out the whole thing all at once, and that’s hard. It’s like me and Max. I convinced myself that he could change, could be a good person, could reform. Any little tiny bit of evidence that agreed with that proved my case. All the other things were just ... you know ... fixable with time. That almost everything was bad went over my head, because I was convinced that the bad was temporary and the good would be permanent. This is ... like ... the opposite of that. She’s convinced herself that anything good is an act and something bad is really going on, and that it’s just going to get worse. Anything the slightest bit ‘off,’ in her view, feeds that. Anything good is dismissed as an anomaly or an act.”

“I ... hmm. I like that, Sis. That makes sense. A lot of sense. I don’t know where it’s coming from...”

“Blue. Has to be Blue.”

“But why...?”

“I don’t know. Oh, there’s the long-distance idea, but ... seriously? But who else?”

I sighed. “The evidence seems to be there. If I don’t let myself see that...”

“You’re also being willingly blind. Yeah. It has to start with Blue. Where it goes, where it ends...”

“Maybe it ends with Camille. That’s my hope.”

“She’ll stage an intervention. But interventions only work if the person decides they want to fix things.”

“Then let’s hope she does, or can be convinced. She’s not herself, and it’s not just around us.”

Angie bit her lower lip, then nodded. “Okay, I see that now. I didn’t before. She is different, isn’t she? I was thinking she was just ... down.”

“She is down. Not clinically depressed, but down. I’m not sure that’s all of it, though.”

“Ugh. What a mess.”

“We’ll see what Camille says. I’m expecting ... hoping ... both ... to hear from her tonight.”

“Fingers crossed, big brother.”

My phone rang around five-fifteen. I’d just started dinner with the family when I heard it. I excused myself and ran for the phone, getting it just before the machine would answer.

“Hello?”

“Steve! I’m glad I got you.”

“Camille! Thanks for calling.”

“Jasmine is ... in a state. I don’t know what to make of it, but I know much of what to make of it, I suppose.”

I sighed. “I set her off at school.”

“I am not sure I believe that, not exactly. In any case ... would you be able to be here in an hour and fifteen minutes?”

“I could.”

“I am inviting you to dinner. Jasmine will simply know that I have a friend coming over.”

“That sounds...”

“Confrontational. I know. That is intentional. Without some confrontation nothing will be resolved, not well or soon. One of you will become frustrated and say something you shouldn’t. Most likely it will be her.”

“I ... can see that. And, yes, I can be there.”

“Good. I expect there to be yelling. I may even do some of it. In French, if necessary! As I said before ... I believe you are good for each other, and that she will realize that again once things have ... come out into the open.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Sometimes a confrontation is necessary, Steve. One of your strengths is enormous patience and calm. That is also, sometimes, a great weakness.”

“I ... will welcome the chance to learn from you.”