I lean against the wall and thin my lips.
“Why, you don’t agree?” Jasper asks.
I make a non-committal sound, because he’s right — Trinity is very pretty. “I don’t want to date her.” After the shitshow that happened with Michael, I don’t want to date anyone.
“As if you could,” Jasper says.
When I don’t reply, he gets off the bed and pulls on his grey Bonds briefs that show off his ass. Then he buttons up his school shirt.
“Stop staring,” he tells me without looking up from his buttons.
“You watch me every time,” I say. He always wears this look on his face too, like he’s won somehow.
“I do not.” He pulls on his pants and does the zipper while walking over to my open closet. I left it open this morning, and now wish that I made more of an effort to keep my bedroom tidy Then again, I didn’t expect him to visit.
Jasper looks at a cardboard box I’ve left on the ground.
“It’s the clothes you gave me,” I explain. After I took them home from Jasper’s, I dumped the box there and forgot to talk to Senior about it. Maybe I’m procrastinating.
“Is something wrong with them?” Jasper asks.
“Only the fact that you wore them.”
Something passes over Jasper’s face before turning into a frown. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was wounded.
“Can you imagine me wearing that stuff?” I continue. “I’d look ridiculous.”
“I think you’d look nice,” he murmurs.
“Ha ha,” I drawl. “Anyway, I’m going to tell Senior that I’m not taking them. You’ll get them back soon.”
“I don’t want them back.”
“Then donate them to an op shop,” I say.
“Why are you being a bitch about this? I’d wear your old clothes.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” I retort.
“I would. If I didn’t have a choice.”
I glare at him. “But I do have a choice.”
“It’s free and I barely wore them. I wore this like, once.” He leans down and pulls out a cream jumper with a crocodile logo on the breast. I don’t have to know the brand name to know it’s expensive.
I fight back a frustrated growl. “Fuck, Jasper. How are you this dense?”
He straightens up. I bet he’s going to blink at me, all confused, and ask me what I’m talking about, because he never understands anything. Or maybe he’ll scowl and insult me, and then I’ll insult him back and we’ll start fighting.
“I’m not trying to sound like a wanker,” he replies instead. “I wear most of my clothes regularly. My mum just buys me too many. You’re being stubborn.”
I close my eyes and rub the bridge of my nose with a hand. “I’m not being stubborn.” I snap my eyes open. “Come here.”
His brows jump up but he obeys, arriving in front of my bed, so we’re facing each other.
“I know what you think of me,” I say. “That I’m a burden that doesn’t deserve Senior’s generosity. I already feel shitty enough about it, so I don’t need another thing to feel guilty about. And even though I’m just some poor, public school kid, that doesn’t mean I don’t have any dignity. I’m not going to lower myself to wear some rich boy’s clothes,yourclothes no less. Understand?” I lean back against the wall.
Jasper’s mouth is a straight line. His eyes flash, and I think he will argue, until something in his expression dims. “Do you want me to take the box home?”
