His Other Half

Prologue

The silence on the room was deafening. But inside of Jaspers head was a chaotic mess. He was constantly repeating the mantra in his mind "take a deep breath. Hold it. Count to ten. Let it go".
He had just learnt that today, on his eighteenth birthday, one which most would spend celebrating, buying their first legal alcoholic beverage, spending the night out with friends. Jasper learnt he would no longer have a roof above his head. The adoption centre that had been his home for the better part of six years are asking him to leave due to the shortage of beds.
He felt like just another number. He had no one left after his Mother passed away, and he was never adopted. Who would want a problem child like Jasper? One who required extra work? One who spent close to a year in physio learning how to walk and regain his strength again? Who would want a child who has seizures and has to wear a helmet to bed? Who would want a child that has panic attacks in a car and stutters through a conversation? Best not to even mention the memory loss he suffers and the autistic tendencies he has. The adoption centre put up with him because the government paid them to. They received a pretty hefty allowance for "caring" for Jaspers needs. When in reality they gave him a mattress on the floor, two pairs of clothing, one pair of shoes, one main meal a day, and A constant string of cussing him out and labelling.

Jasper knew deep down that this day was going to come sooner or later. And he knew he had his Mothers money to fall back on when he reached the age of 18. This should be a positive thing, right?

"Jasper your time with us is now over, we have prepared your bag it is waiting at the entrance with your pair of shoes, it is our centre policy to provide you with a bus fare to take you to the destination of your choosing, so here is $5 in coins. You may want to hurry up though, the last bus for the day passes the stop out front in 7 minutes"

That was the sentence that brung Jasper out of his thoughts. He scrambled up out of his seat, making sure to protectively hold onto his walking braces and hurriedly made his way to the entrance where a small tattered backpack was waiting for him. No one gave him a second glance as he made his way out the door, and onto the footpath. He limped up just in time to the bus stop to see the bus pulling up.
Very nervously Jasper stutters and slurs to the driver.
"C-c-c-an-n   I-I-I  p-p-p-l-e-eas-se goooo t-t-t-o  th-th-the Ci-t-t-yy?"

The middle aged sweaty, bald and overweight driver stared at Jasper in disgust as he stuttered out his destination. The driver just rolled his eyes, told him the price of his fare, and proceeded to pull away from the kerb before Jasper had even say down in a seat safely.

Jasper felt tears well up in his eyes as he shakily made his way to the nearest available seat, Receiving stares of disgust and whispers as he passed people. He struggled with his walking brace, on a moving bus in a narrow walkway, but no one offered him some help, in fact, he had people pulling their bags closer to their bodies. And unconsciously moving away from him as he passed, making it seem like he was a diseased, contagious animal who was unpredictable if approached.

He finally found a seat after several horrible jerky movements from the driver, stumbling twice, nearly falling once and he was one comment away from an emotional break down.

Jaspers last thought before slowly drifting off was "I need a fresh start".
And maybe, just maybe someone can make him smile for the first time in 6 years.