The girl behind her lies

- 6 -

Jasper raises the gun, aligning it with the squint of his eye, his mind focused on the target in front of him. He lets out a small breath before releasing the trigger. The sound of the bullet that clatters to ground breaks the silence and reverberates through the cold air. My mouth downturns into a smile, before I let out a chortle of laughter.

"You are so shit at this Jasper!" I slap his shoulder, my eyes clenched shut as my back bends forwards from my joy, "H-how did you miss all ten of the shots you had?"

He whacks my arm off, and begins to turn away, "I haven't had practise in a long time."

I yank his arm, turning him to face me once more, "Give me a chance, I'll show you how it's done," I nudge him in the side, "And who knows, I might even win you that big panda over there."

His cheeks redden and he turns his head turns away in embarrassment. I walk up to the stall kiosk and pay for another round, The gun in my hand raises, becoming parallel with the the small cans of metal that was lined on the wall. I release the trigger three times, and each round the cans fall to the ground. 

A triumphant smile etches my face, and I turn to him, "See, that's how you do it, maybe next time you'll get it."

I reach over to the panda, claiming my the rewards I had learnt. The distant sounds of the carnival were silenced the moment I turn to face Jasper, his eyes gazing deeply into my own, I push my arms out and shove the bear into his own. 

"Here, this is a token of my appreciation, also it makes up for the tulips you got me."

"Fine," He mutters, receiving the gift, "But I'll get better and give you something even bigger than that next time."

"I'll hold you to your word." I wink, before leaving the stall and making our way to the Ferris wheel.

-

My mind wanders back to our first date, how had he gone from someone who couldn't even fire straight at a target, to staring blankly at the lifeless corpse with a bullet wound between their eyes in front of him. Had he been lying to me back then? Was he deceiving me with his lack of skills?

I didn't think it was possible for me to feel even a glimpse of the pain I did last year, but here I was, slowly being dragged down by the weight of my own heart - once again. All the stories we shared, all the kisses we snuck, every memory, did it really amount to nothing? Was I the only one in the relationship? 

I couldn't find even a hint of remorse in his words, they were stoic, much like the expression that marred his face. I wonder what he went through in the past year. What changed him so much. He wasn't new to violence, no, in fact he encouraged it, but that satiated look he held as he pulled the trigger remained in my mind, there was nothing to prove it was an accident. He meant to pull the trigger, he meant to be the one who ended that mans life, and he was completely fine with it. 

I wasn't sure what scared me the most, his ability to act nonchalant about murder, or his ignorance to my feelings.

"So you are going to tell me what that was all about?" Sora asks, breaking the silence between us as we walk back to the car park.

He breaks me out of my trance, and I swallow. met hart feeling parched all of a sudden, "Oh, um... I know Jasper, from before, he came to my school last year."

"I had heard he'd been sent abroad," He raises his eyebrows, "What a weird coincidence it was to your city."

"Yeah." I lower my eyes, "Weird."

"Did you guys... date?" 

I look at him, taken aback by the straightforward remark, "Yeah, but, it was only for a few months and he left just before mum died, so I guess I never really got a chance to track him down and stuff. I-I don't know, it's just a bit weird seeing him."