2/10/22
After dinner time, Jason ended up coming back to the creek to his dam. But when he climbed up on the dam, he was met with Craig Williams of the stump kids trying to get rid of the stick they tied to the dam to keep it perfect, like how Jason wished he was. "Hey! Hey you! What do you think you're doing, Craig?!"Jason shouted now up on the dam. "Jason?"Craig said looking up from the stick he tried pulling out the dam.
"Get out of here, this is my dam!"Jason shouted anger rising by the second in his voice. "It may be your dam, but this isn't your creek do really think a fossil is worth all this?"Craig fought back. Jason did a look like he was in thought but he still looked angry, "Ugh! If it gets me some respect!"Jason said back to his upset expression. "Respect?"Said Craig with his serious tone gone and replaced with confusion, respect? Why would he be damming up the creek for just some respect or praise?
"Yeah, respect!"Jason loudly said stomping his foot on the dam, he knew he could just extend his foot to make it stronger. But he didn't want to rat himself out as a half gem or destroy the dam he had a fossil to claim as well as the respect he deserved. "I try everyday to help everyone out, but no one cares...No one listens to me!"Jason cried as a tear started to form in one of his eyes and he started to heavily pant. He looked like a total breakdown now, Jason had never told anyone how he felt and his mental aches because he didn't wanna stress out the people around him and then they'll do what Pink did. He tried his best to fight back the tear in his eye so that it doesn't extend and all the contour he put on to cover the blue spots on his face would be gone. "Jason, maybe people would respect you if you were ever nice to them, instead of trying to show off and prove what an expert you are! Did you get those badges so that you could show off or did you get them because you wanted to help people?"Craig said no longer sounding angry or hateful with Jason but instead sympathetic and understanding with him.
Now that was what did it, those words made Jason actually rethink everything. He was doing the very thing that would make others abandon him, now that he was thinking about it not even he would wanna be with him if all he did was always yell at people to follow the rules, try and look like he had the status of a diamond from Homeworld. Then, Jason couldn't fight the tears anymore, the tears streamed down his cheeks and the makeup was slowly getting ruined but due to this Jason lowered his head. "No no no...Don't show your real self, your real self will get you in trouble people will go off like Pink..."Jason repeated in his head.
"Uh, Craig!"
Kelsey called out from the bottom, then the dam began shaking. "Oh no..."Jason thought to himself as his tears stopped coming from his eyes. Then, the dam couldn't take it anymore and the water came crashing out breaking the dam and the water came flooding out and the creek was becoming a creek again. But Craig, Jason, Jp and Kelsey weren't so lucky, they ended up getting hit with the water, luckily Jason and Craig could get on a branch in the creek but Jp and Kelsey were left stuck in the water.
Jason didn't notice a yellow stain on one of his gloves, the water from the creek when the dam broke ended up getting on his hair dye and a small spot of his natural hair on one side was showing but the rest was blonde. "Craig!"Kelsey and Jp called out as they struggled to swim out the creek. Luckily Craig didn't see some of Jasons hair dye and makeup was slowly coming off, he was more concerned for Jp and Kelsey. "Kelsey! Jp!"Craig called out climbing off the branch with Jason on it and started running after Kelsey and Jp.
Jason tried to get off the branch as well, but a wave of water came and knocked Jason off the branch. Jason wasn't seeing that his makeup and hair was getting washed away slowly by the creek water and one of his gloves got ripped on a sharp branch revealing his arm and blue spots on it. Jason stretched his arm out and grabbed onto something to help him get out the creek and he got out the creek without drowning. But as he was catching his breath, he turned and saw Craig about to trip and fall into the creek while trying to help Jp and Kelsey out the creek.
Craig, he was the one who could open his eyes to see his know it all attitude got him nowhere, he knew if his gem mother survived when his birth happened she would give him the scolding of a lifetime. Jason couldn't just let Craig fall in the creek and drown, so Jason rushed to where Craig was and just when Craig was about to fall in the water, Jason grabbed onto Craigs ankle last minute but it was just in time. "I got ya!"Jason said, Craig turned around in shock, did Jason just save him and his friends? "Pull!"Jason called out then pulled in Craig as Craig did the same with Jp and Kelsey.
Craig helped Kelsey out the water and Jason helped out Jp, "Jason, you saved us-"Craig said in shock, but when he looked to face Jason. He was filled with more shock, Jason was looking different. Craig felt confused, why did he look so different now? Craig stared at Jasons blue spots and two toned dark turquoise and blonde hair, he looked on his gloves and saw yellow stains on them and he looked at his glove that was ripped that was showing the blue spots on his arm, he saw there were stains on it the color of Jasons skin did Jason use contour or foundation or something?
Jason was too busy catching his breath to even notice the stump kids staring at him in shock. "Jason! I didn't know you had aquagenic urticaria, you look like you're having an allergic reaction!"Jp said referring to the water on Jason. At first Jason looked confused at Jp's statement, until he looked into the water and saw his face. Jasons eyes shrunk in horror, he was surprised he hasn't forgotten how he really looked because he has been hiding his real self since he was 8. He saw that his chalk hair dye was washed out by the creek, the contouring he did on his face was washed away and the stump kids were in the presence of how he truly looked. Jason turned back to the stump kids, the fact his disguise was gone overwhelmed him and he started to glow a pastel colors as Jason started to get more and more stressed out and overwhelmed.
He had never experienced this, he didn't even know why he was glowing these colours. But he viewed this as a sign of stress as his heart shaped ahoge changed shape into a tear.
"Jason...What are you...?"Kelsey said staring at Jason in confusion. Jason didn't know how to respond the slightest, how was he going to explain that the Jason they knew was never who he presented himself to be? "I-I'm..."Jason stuttered and struggled to speak more and more as his skin glowed pastel brighter. Unfortunately this kind of pressure wasn't something Jason could handle and he ran off in a second still glowing. "Okay I'm confused, does Jason have an alien twin or something?"Jp turned to his friends in confusion. "Should we go check on him?"Kelsey asked in worry, "No, you two stay here imma go see him alone"Craig said getting up from the ground, Craig quieted his eyes for any glowing to see where Jason could have gone but nothing.
As Jason ran, he didn't even know that Craig was looking for him. Jason eventually stopped running and kneeled down to catch his breath. He looked at his arms that were covered by his gloves that were ripped and slightly showed his glowing skin. "I won't be needing these anymore..."Jason mumbled throwing off his gloves and storing them in his gem the thing he hated. Jason stared at his exposed pastel glowing arms, he hated how his skin looked now and wished it could be a more human looking color. "Great...My cover is blown and mom and dad will kill me..."Jason sighed then kicked a nearby rock.
"Where am I gonna go now? The stump kids are most likely going to tell everyone what they saw and they'll chase me out this planet...No wonder Pink didn't take me with her, she knew people will hate me here and she and her new friends will too..."Jason thought to himself not knowing Craig was getting closer and closer to seeing him. "I'm so stupid! Why did I think Pinks planet was a good place to go?! I should've stayed at the garden where she wanted me dead!"Jason yelled kicking another rock then picking it up to throw it at a tree.
And for Craig, he was following the pastel colored glow he found until finally, he found Jason. Craig didn't really know what to do, he just walked in on Jason at his worse, he was a total breakdown now and that anger wasn't doing any good on his pastel glowing skin. "Ugh! Why can't anything go good for me?!"Jason shouted punching a nearby tree not even caring if he got a splinter. "What did that tree do to him..."Craig thought, until, he saw Jason extend the size and strength of his fist to punch a larger tree Jason didn't really care since he was too upset.
But, Jason ended up realizing that taking his anger out on a tree wasn't the best idea. As soon as the tree was punched it began to break and was slowly falling on Jason. Jason turned his fist back to normal and looked at the tree falling on him in pure fear. "Jason!".
Jason turned to where the voice came from and saw it was Craig, pushing him out the way of the tree falling on him. The tree landed with a loud, 'thump' but none the less both boys were okay. Craig wrapped his arms around Jason then got up catching his breath. "Craig...You saved me..."Jason said in shock, "It's the least I could do, you saved me and my friends so it wouldn't be fair if I didn't throw you a lifeline as well"Craig said sitting down besides Jason.
Jason let Craig sit by him and Jason tried to calm himself down, luckily it was working since the pastel glowing on his skin stopped. "H-hey, Craig...Thanks for saving me from that tree falling, I realized how I acted wasn't getting me to what I wanted, neither was lying..."Jason finally spoke. "Lying...?"Craig asked turning his head to Jason, what would Jason lie about? How he really looked? Being an expert of everything?
Jason sighed and helped up Craig from the ground, "I haven't been honest with anybody...For a very long time"Jason let the words roll off his tongue even though it didn't feel nice, he knew lying was going to catch up with him. "It's time to be honest and stop being something I'm not...".
If you're curious here's Jason reference sheet in this chapter: