The Weirdos

7

He passed the day wandering around the town. The library was closed on Sundays. Otherwise he would have stayed there, reading books or something. He slept in the church again and got ready for school the best he could. Next, it was off to school. He went to his classes and everything seemed to be going alright. Until lunch.
He could hear kids whispering and see their glances. They were talking about him, he was sure of it. Why, though? Did they know about his secret ability? Or was it his hair they were whispering about? Surely they didn't know he'd been kicked out of his own home due to some new magical ability. Or maybe it was because they knew he hadn't showered. Was his hair greasy? Did he smell? Did he have something on his back? What was it? Why were they talking about him? He wasn't anything interesting. Well, not usually. A girl came up and touched his shoulder, giving him a look of sympathy.
"I'm so sorry..."
That had him confused. Sorry for what? He was about to ask, but she had already walked away. What was all that about? The intercom sounded and a few jumbled words came out. He couldn't hear it over the sound of talking students. Though, he thought he heard his name. Just in case, he went to the office. When he got there, he felt his blood run cold. There were two police officers that looked at him when he came in. What were the police doing here? Were they here for him? Did they find out about his frozen ability? Did his parents call the police on him?
"Are you Jasper?"
"Uh..."
He took off running, out the office doors, down the sidewalk to the school's front gates. He could hear the policemen behind him, shouting at him to wait. They were giving chase! The adrenaline kicked in and he ran down the sidewalk, not sure where he'd be going, just that he needed to get away. He was about to cross the street when a car pulled out in front of him, the window down. He skidded to a stop and looked wide eyed at the woman inside.
"Evelyn?!"
"Get in, get in, get in!"
Jasper struggled with the door, then jumped into the car. The woman took off before he could even shut the door. He slammed it closed and watched the policemen stare after them from the sidewalk. One had his hands on his knees, the other was shaking his head.
"Whew!"
Jasper jumped and looked at his aunt. She chuckled as she stared at the road ahead of them.
"That was exhilarating! I've never done that before. Have you ever done that before?"
Jasper shook his head, then realized she couldn't see him.
"N-no..."
"Well, it's not the first illegal thing I've done today."
Jasper looked at her, petrified. What had he gotten himself into?
They drove out of Florence in silence. Eventually, Evelyn turned on the radio, changing the station from classical to 93.3, the alternative station. He could feel himself relax a little and the blood pumping in his veins was beginning to settle. He stared out the window, watching nature. He saw prairie dogs running about and hawks searching for prey. It took him a minute, but he looked at his aunt. Evelyn wore her chocolate brown hair in short curls. She got her blue eyes from her father and freckles from her mother. They stood out against her pale skin, like drops of rain on a window. There was so much he wanted to ask her, but he wasn't sure what to start with. He took some more time to think, staring out the window again. This was all so crazy. Frozen powers... Police chases... Aunt Evelyn appearing from the dust... His world didn't make sense anymore. And he felt this was only the beginning. Things were going to get a lot more hectic.
"Where are you taking me?"
He finally asked.
"First, shopping. You've got nothing as of right now."
She was right. He'd left his duffel bags at the church. The only thing he'd brought to school was a laptop and notebook. He'd left both in his classroom.
"Do you know why the police were after me?"
"Yes... Unfortunately."
Evelyn pulled off to the side of the road and gave Jasper a hard stare.
"This is going to hurt you. But, I need you to be strong. You have a very long journey ahead of you. Very long. There are gonna be things you don't understand, but you'll be alright as long as you remain strong."
Jasper gulped. Could he remain strong? What was this long journey? What was Evelyn talking about?
"Jasper... Your parents are dead."
It felt like he had struck a brick wall. His heart sank into his gut. He felt tears forming as he whispered,
"You're lying..."
Evelyn was silent, her head hanging low. He knew deep down that she wasn't. The tears began to fall and he covered his mouth with a shaking hand. Evelyn's gentle hand touched his back and rubbed it in circles while he cried and sobbed, becoming a complete mess in the passenger side of her car. When he was all cried out, she began to speak. He felt numb and the words barely reached his ears. He began to really listen when he heard one specific word.
"...murdered. The police were going to take you in for questioning."
"Questioning? They think I did this?"
"You're a suspect."
"I'm not a suspect! I'm their son! I didn't kill them!"
Jasper held his head and breathed heavily. How could all of this be happening? He threw open the car door and fell out into the dirt, vomiting into a bush. He heard the other car door open, then Evelyn was there, rubbing his back.
"I know this is a lot to take in. We'll go slow. I'll tell you everything I can."
Jasper panted and wiped his mouth, then stood and turned to face his aunt.
"Evelyn... What is going on?"