Feeling

Scott nods slowly, knowing that Dalton was right. He did need to take things slow. Just because he was out of Brookshire didn't mean he was perfect, and the last thing he wanted was a relapse.

"Yeah... you're right. I guess I just want to feel settled again... and it's going to take longer than I wanted." He sighs and looks around the office once more before his gaze lands back on his friend again.

"Thanks for, um... for keeping my place here open and... and still being my friend... after I treated you so poorly. I'm... I'm sorry."


Rocky enters the quaint little cafe and scans the room before noting that he'd beat Michaela here. Finding a waiter, he asks if it's okay if he takes the table for two by the window.

Getting seated, he puts his sunglasses up on his head and checks out one of the menus. He'd never been to the Tea Cup before, nor was he sure if he ever would have just stopped in by himself. It was kind of cute though, and it looked like they had some good sandwiches.


"...so then your brother dropped the toolbox and scared everybody half to death." Tal was still laughing as he opens the door for Ryan at the little diner. He rolls his eyes. "It was not our day. But... now I get to spend the evening with someone much prettier than Eli."

Taking her hand and heading for a nearby booth, he slides in across from her. It wasn't exactly an extravagant location, but it was good enough, and Eli and Scarlet were occupying the apartment tonight, so Tal had promised he'd keep Ryan out late.

Browsing a menu, Tal's mind wasn't only on food though. "So... after this, maybe a movie? Or my place?" An odd twinkle lights his eyes as he keeps his sights on the list of food options. He hadn't said anything to Ryan about this yet, but he'd been planning it for a while now. There were just a few more weeks left, so the timing was good. He just hoped she'd take him up on the surprise. "You still have to come over and pick out which puppy you want."


Alec's ears perk and he lifts his head as he recognizes familiar voices. Remaining seated in his booth, his grip on his napkin tightens. They were sitting right behind him. Both of them. Ryan and Tal. He'd come in here this evening for a quiet bite to eat with a few spare bucks, and now he had to be sitting behind the one person he wanted, and the one person he hated. Great.

Scowling, he nibbles on another french fry, opting to just stay put. He'd rather they not know he was here, and... it might be interesting to hear what was going on in their world anyway.


Jason pulls his pickup to the curb and cuts the engine. He hadn't been out and about too much lately - recovering and taking it easy seemed to be all he was doing, but he was starting to go stir crazy. Just wanting to get out and do something different, he'd taken a drive through town. Coming across the hair stylist shop, it had reminded him that he'd wanted to get a haircut for weeks now and needed it badly at this point.

Exiting the truck and giving his knee a moment to stretch out, he then locks everything before heading inside while favoring his right leg. Entering the shop, he has to squint a little to let his eyes adjust after being out in the sun.

"Hello."

He turns to the smiling middle-aged woman at the main counter, and nods his greeting. He hadn't been here before. He usually let Jen cut his hair or went to another shop that had closed a couple months prior. "Hi. Do you take walk-ins?"

"We sure do. What do you need?"

"Just a cut." Jason runs a hand through his thick hair. "Something with less shag than this."

The woman chuckles. "That, we can do. We'll have an opening in about five minutes if you want."

"Sounds great." Directed to the little waiting area, Jason hangs up his leather jacket and lowers himself into one of the chairs, leaning back to wait. Getting his hair cut wasn't exactly something fun, but at least he wasn't cooped up at home or at the office. It was a good distraction for a little while anyway.

"Okay, you can come over now."

Waved to one of the stations, Jason gets up again and ambles over to the chair. It's the woman at the desk who gets him settled. "Someone will be right with you," she informs.

Swiveling a little as he waits, Jason looks at himself in the mirror, wondering how many people noticed his scar. Was that a gray hair on his head? He squints a little.

"Good afternoon," a cheerful voice greets. A young woman with short reddish brown hair approaches, her eyes down as she fiddles with scissors and combs in her apron. "How are we today?"

"Fine, thanks." Jason settles back, waiting to be asked how he wanted his hair cut, but when the silence lingers, he looks back to the woman again. He finds her staring at him with wide eyes. Speaking of his scar... "You okay?"

She recoils slightly. "Jason?"

He studies her more closely. "Yeah...?"

Her eyes brighten as she smiles. "Oh my goodness. You don't remember me, do you?"

He tries hard for a moment, not having a clue. He knew a lot of people from a lot of different places. Then it hits him. "Sandy? Sandy......Morris?"

"Well, I'll be. You do remember." She laughs and gives his arm a little nudge. "Long time no see! How have you been?!"

Jason grins, still a little stunned. He hadn't seen Sandy since high school. "I've been okay." He rolls his eyes. "The way my life is, if I'm alive and walking, I'm doing great. And you? I didn't even know you were still living here."

"I wasn't for a while. Moved with my parents right after graduation, then I went to beauty school. Wound up back here though - I guess I'll always be a homebody."

Jason smirks. "I'm still here too, ya know."

"Oh, and you don't want to be labeled as a homebody?" Sandy laughs and swivels Jason around in the chair, looking at him in the mirror. "Don't worry - I would have guessed you were the farthest thing from a homebody anyway."

"And why's that?"

"Well you were never around, you know. I hardly ever got to see you. One minute you'd be in class and the next, you'd be gone. The bell hardly had enough time to cool off and you were out of sight." She thumps the back of his head. "Rumor had it you were with the CIA."

Jason can't help his laugh as he reaches back to swat at her hand. "Close, but no."

"What? Close to the CIA?"

"Well, in a way."

Sandy's eyes widen. "You're not kidding me, are you?"

Jason shakes his head. Pulling aside the cape, he reveals his badge on his belt. "We're the Elite now. Used to work under the law's radar but we eventually developed into a new branch of enforcement."

Sandy's eyes were still wide. "Wow. That's... I mean... in high school? That's what you were doing?"

"Mm-hmm. I was in training for quite a while - wanted to just quit school and work but my mom wouldn't let me."

"So like... undercover, top secret sort of stuff?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Sandy laughs. "Well, no wonder I couldn't ever find you."

"I didn't think anybody looked for me."

"You kidding? You were only the hottest guy in the school." Sandy rolls her eyes. "All the hotheads, macho guys and fruitloops were always easy to find. You? Never. After graduation, I thought for sure you just dropped off the face of the earth."

Jason can feel a little bit of heat in his face, though his smile remains. He remembered noticing Sandy more than once - especially on days when he'd see her practicing with the other cheerleaders. She was right though - he never did have time to stick around for anything in between or after school. He'd been completely immersed in TJY work. At the time, he'd loved it. Thinking back now, he maybe wished Austin would have let him have half a normal social life. "Yeah well... I guess I kinda did. Didn't think anyone cared, to be honest."

"Really?" Sandy furrows her brow, realizing he was serious. "I wish I woulda known that at the time. I woulda called you instead of waiting for you to call me all the time."

Was she hitting on him? Jason looks up over his shoulder at her, quirking another grin. "Me? Call you? You were so far out of my league I couldn't even see you."

"What?!" Sandy realizes she'd just spoken a bit too loudly and looks around, smiling her apology at the other hair stylists before turning back to Jason. "And what league was that?"

"The whole cheerleader... football... thing." Jason fishes for the right description, but now that he thought about it, it really didn't make much sense anymore. "Well, at the time I remember you being out of my league."

Sandy lifts her eyebrows and leans down closer to his shoulder, lowering her voice. "So you did notice me?"

"I..."

Seeing she'd rendered him speechless, she laughs and straightens again, patting his shoulder. "I'm just giving you a bad time. It's good to see you again, Jase. Before I get fired for yacking though, what is it you want me to do with this good-looking head of hair?"

By the time Jason's hair was cut, he'd relived all of high school, from Mr. Solowski's chemistry lab, to history with sleepy Mrs. Yelts, to the awful grilled cheese sandwiches in the cafeteria on Fridays. Jason hadn't thought about any of it in years, and only now did he realize he really had seen Sandy a lot during classes or in the hall. He'd just been so preoccupied with other things that he'd never taken the time to socialize. It was kind of nice to relive all of that today... to talk about old times and find conversation about something other than Texas or the Elite...

"JetStream? Really? I had no idea!" Sandy runs her fingers through Jason's damp hair one more time, checking for stray long strands. "I remember you being in the school choir and being one of the best but I didn't know you were actually that avid."

Jason shrugs. "I fell in love with the guitar and got some lessons but mostly picked it up on my own. Apparently I get my voice from my father. JetStream needed a lead singer at one point and viola."

"That is way cool. I've heard a song or two on the radio and I've heard about charity concerts and stuff but never had a real reason to go. Now I'm gonna have to."

"We don't have anything lined up for a little while yet but when we do, that'd be great." Jason looks in the mirror and looks at his hair, grinning. "I dare say that's one of the best cuts I've had. Pretty soon you'll be running this place."

Sandy laughs. "I actually do want my own salon sometime. Not sure what God has in mind though. We'll see."

Relieved of the towel and cape, Jason stands up, brushing off his shirt. "Yeah, He's got me baffled on my own future most of the time." Glancing down at Sandy, he catches the peculiar look of amusement on her face. "What?"

"I forgot how tall you were." She grins, her eyes twinkling. "Now I remember why I always thought you should be on the basketball team."

Jason returns the grin and shakes his head. "Me and sports never did get along." He looks over to the counter and sighs. "Guess I better go and let you get to your next waiting customer."

Sandy bites her lip, her expression one of disappointment. "Maybe we can get together sometime?" Seeing some hesitance on his face, she adds more. "You could bring your girlfriend. Or we could even make it a group thing. Will Kampton and Rusty Pultzer would love to see you, too."

Jason can't help a little laugh. He remembered Will - he'd been a nice kid. And Russel, whom everyone called Rusty, wasn't too bad either. He hadn't known them all that well, but if they were half as enthusiastic as Sandy, it might be worth a get-together. He finds himself saying yes. "That sounds good. Um..." Spying a scrap of paper and pen by the mirror, he scribbles down his cell phone number and gives it to her. "Here."

"Oh, cool. Thanks." Sandy tucks the paper in her jeans pocket before sighing but with a smile. "It was great to see you again. I'll call you soon."

Leaving the shop, Jason felt a little... different. Like a little bit of gloom had been lifted. Maybe God had helped him postpone a haircut until today for a reason. Getting into his truck, he just sits for a moment, trying to go through what he was feeling. Was he actually... feeling? It was sort of small... but... but it was definitely there. He'd just had... fun. And it felt... good.