The Weirdos

59

Jasper was lying on the couch later that day, one leg raised and a book resting on his chest. He was staring up at the ceiling, bored out of his mind. He was thinking about taking a nap when his knee was slapped. He jumped and looked over, finding Narcolepse standing there.
"Hey, Snow. How old are you?"
Jasper blinked at him quietly. Snow? Narcolepse raised a brow at him.
"Seventeen, why?"
"Books said you should be taking classes with me. So... Get your ass in the library."
Jasper stood and followed him to the library. Books was standing in front of a whiteboard on wheels with an expo marker in hand. He pointed the marker at a desk and Jasper took a seat there.
"I'm gonna teach you guys about economics today. It's a pretty simple concept to grasp as long as you can multiply and divide. Basic maths. Some studying is involved, but it should be easy."
Jasper folded his arms on top of the economics textbook and leaned forward, watching Books and paying close attention. He missed school. As odd as it was, he really did. Learning could be fun sometimes. Especially when you were bored. After the lesson ended, Books assigned them a few pages to study in the textbook and said,
"Make notes and quiz each other. There will be a test tomorrow."
Jasper wrote down the information in the notebook beside him, then Books put up the whiteboard and left the two alone. Jasper looked at Narcolepse who was glaring at his textbook. Jasper tilted his head.
"Something wrong?"
"No, shut up."
"Can I ask you-"
"No."
Jasper chewed his lip, then looked down at his textbook. He turned the page of his notebook and started reading and scribbling down notes. After a few minutes, his mind wandered. 'I'm done protecting you.' If that were true, why did Narcolepse kill the target? Maybe he wasn't trying to protect Jasper... Maybe he wanted to protect Freak and Roderick. That was probably more likely... He jumped when a book slammed down across from him, then Narcolepse took a seat with his notebook and pencil.
"I'm shit at studying and note taking. I'd copy the entire textbook if I was doing this alone. This doesn't make us friends."
For the next few hours, they took notes and quizzed each other. When they were both burnt out, Narcolepse stood with his notebook and left the room. Jasper took his things up to his room. After putting them away, he left the room again and saw Narcolepse heading downstairs. He sighed and followed. Narcolepse went to the kitchen and started prepping for dinner.
"Hey. Do you want some help?"
Narcolepse shrugged. Silence fell between them and Jasper shoved his hands in his pockets. Narcolepse eventually sighed and looked at him.
"Wash your hands."
Jasper smiled, then came around to wash his hands. Afterwards, Narcolepse put a cutting board down and grabbed a knife and an onion.
"You ever chopped an onion before?"
"Honestly speaking? I don't spend much time in the kitchen..."
"Just try it out."
Jasper started to cut the onion and Narcolepse stopped him.
"Hold on, dipshit. You have to peel off the layers."
He moved Jasper's hands away and removed the layers until they had a white onion ready to be cut. Jasper looked at him for permission. Narcolepse raised his brows, so Jasper started. After making two slices, Narcolepse sighed and shook his head.
"Move aside."
"What? I'm trying!"
"You don't know what the hell  you're doing."
"So teach me. How am I going to learn if you don't?"
Narcolepse shook his head.
"Fine. Watch."
He took the knife and showed Jasper how to cut the onion, then let him take over.
"Don't rub your eyes when your done. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. And even then, don't rub your eyes."
Jasper followed the instructions. Soon, the onion was being thrown into a pan with oil and other vegetables. Narcolepse told Jasper how to make rice in the instapot and had him cut up chicken chunks. While Jasper cut the chicken, he started talking.
"Where did you learn to cook?"
"I taught myself."
Narcolepse didn't even look at Jasper. He kept stirring vegetables and putting them in a container.
"Why?"
Jasper asked. Narcolepse sighed.
"Because I needed to eat. And other people needed to eat. We eat to survive, idiot. You'd be dead on your own."
"Probably."
Jasper shrugged. Narcolepse looked at him.
"Why didn't your parents teach you? Aren't you from like... the perfect family?"
Jasper smiled, but his heart wasn't in it.
"Looks can be deceiving."
"No shit."
Narcolepse grabbed some chicken from the cutting board and threw it in the pan. He seasoned it, then started cooking.
"What made your family so imperfect?"
Narcolepse asked without looking at Jasper. He swallowed and felt his ears go hot and sweat bead on his back and neck. His stomach dropped and he cleared his throat.
"Uh. We didn't share the... The same beliefs."
Narcolepse didn't respond, keeping his eyes focused on the pan and his back to Jasper. So the Elemental kept cutting the chicken until there was none left to cut.