Sugar Rushes and Artificial Happiness

Max was glad to hear from Jonas. Not only had it been a while since he'd heard from him in general, since he'd been off to College, but he'd heard about Jonas breaking up with his girlfriend and that he hadn't been out for a few days. Thus, why he had chosen a sweet shop. Max was fairly certain that no one could be unhappy here, and if they disagreed with them... he was right, so he didn't care.

To be honest he hadn't heard much about the breakup. He was close to Jonas before but not so much since they weren't in a band, so he had no idea whether or not he should want to punch this girl in the face and celebrate the fact that she was no longer an anchor on Jonas' life, or if he should just focus on consoling him. He'd seen the girl around with Jonas some, but hadn't met her. He could really care less to, either. She looked like someone he wouldn't get along with. But he didn't get along with hardly anyone, so that wasn't a surprise.

The man waited inside, browsing but really just staring at the window an checking for a text from Jonas. He was worried on the inside, but he just looked annoyed. He'd tried to catch Jonas on campus, but he hadn't found him. So that probably meant he wasn't going to class, either. And that was bad. He was no poster child and could care-less if he was in school, but he needed to be out. Communicating with people.

He shifted his expression to one of more interest when he found a candy to his liking. Snatching it up, he paid and was enjoying the sugar rush as he watched the door, "C'mon man... making me look like an idiot here," he muttered. If there was one thing he liked, it was keeping up appearances. His appearance, to be exact. However, he really just sounded like an asshole. He actually cared for Jonas and if you knew him, you'd know that he was really worried. He was just horrible at explaining emotions.

"Ah, damn it. What was I thinking? I'm no shrink," Max cursed, sighing as he waited. Therapist or not, there was no turning back now.

Jonas really wasn't in the mood to go anywhere or do anything. It wasn't that he was super depressed, but he also wasn't happy, either. But when Max texted him, he supposed he'd go. It would be good to see his friend. He had been off Jonas' radar for so long. He didn't know what was going on with him and apparently Teddy didn't know much either. He'd gotten a letter a few weeks prior, but that was it.

So the young man got presentable. Did his hair. Dressed like he wanted to be out in public. Then apparated to the outside of the Sugar Shack. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Jonas felt a tad uneasy as he walked in the store. But he smiled when he saw his friend. "Hey, Max!" he greeted, not quite cheerful, but not unfriendly. To the untrained ear, his greeting might have seemed natural. "It's been awhile! How was Texas, man?"

He had a feeling that he wasn't going to get an answer to that question, but it felt right to ask. Jonas genuinely felt like he was going to get scolded. And Max's judgement was the worst kind. Max was the dad of the friend group and Jonas felt at times that he would prefer to get corrected by his father than by Max.

Max took another bite of his candy, munching as he watched Jonas. He looked extremely pissed off, but it was just because of the sour flavor. His default expression also seemed to be one of irritation, but this wasn't a true display of his emotional state.

Jonas' well-kempt appearance didn't convince Max at all, and despite his frown being mostly because of the sweets, it also became partly in response to him.

"Hey yourself, man. I've been dropping by your school the past few days and I haven't seen you. You haven't been going to class?" He asked in distaste.

Jonas' question of his trip home seemed to placate him, bringing a smile to his face, though to onlookers it looked rather frightening. "Texas was great. Being home and not having to do shit. Not to mention Texas feels better than here- the air, I guess," he shrugged. He then raised an eyebrow. "How have you been? I heard you and your girlfriend broke up. You want to... talk about it?" he definitely wasn't a shrink, but he'd come for this purpose. "Don't tell me that's why you've been skipping classes," he growled.

Oh yeah, he definitely had this caring friend thing down.

Jonas didn't comment on Max's school question. Max already knew he wasn't going and nothing he could say would make it better. If anything, it would just dig him a hole that he didn't know how to climb out of.

He nodded. "Sure. I'm excited to go home once school is out," Jonas replied. "And the weather has been awful here. Did you get back in time for the storm?"

Jonas rolled his weight onto his other leg and looked down. "Yeah. We broke up. And she... may be the reason I haven't been going to class. But it's not her fault. I decided to skip," he answered. "I don't know if there's anything left to talk about, to be honest. I'd rather hear about you. And we still have to talk about Teddy's graduation."

Jonas just wanted off the hook. He had royally screwed up. He wasn't happy now. He was doing the same things he did before, just alone. He knew Kat wasn't doing well. Greg had given him a report and a stern talking to when he got back from his visit.

Max grunted in distaste. There was nothing less that he despised more than storms. He'd hardly ever had to deal with rain, and it was sort of a pet peeve of his, though if he had an actual rain jacket and not a sweatshirt that could get soaked through it might change his mind.

"Yeah, I go caught in it. Was walking around trying to make sure your sorry ass wasn't out in the rain listening to emo music to try to get over the breakup," he smirked. He had actually gotten gone to the school and gotten caught in the rain because of it, but h didn't really mind, hence the teasing. He would've done it either way.

The older boy scowled. "Yeah, no shit. Unless she tied you down, she didn't stop you from going to class. And that's too bad, because about the breakup or not, I want to talk about you. You need to get back into class, or else you paying for school for nothing, and I a'int bailing your ass out of that debt." He then laughed. "We're going- done. And look, I'm not blaming you for anything, okay? You had your own reasons, but no matter if you feel bad about it or you feel like the most free person in the universe, you should tell someone. Keeping those feeling in will ruin you, man."

Jonas snorted. "Emo music. Like any of you would let me live that down." He could imagine Teddy now. Wow, Jonas. I didn't realize you were emo. When do you plan to bleach your hair with your own tears? Of course he'd be kidding. But Jonas' heart was in rock music. Just like the rest of them.

Jonas nodded. "I'm going back for exams. I just needed a mental health... week. I'll," he replied, very unconvincingly. He would go back, though. He'd hate to make his parents angry. Not that they would be missing much money, but still. "Well, duh. Of course we're going. I need dress robes. Mine are five inches too short and Head Boys and Girls have to be fancy. I guess that means anyone else can just come wearing two sickles and a leaf or something. I don't know," he joked. "And I think we should invite Parker. His band is in France right now. They're staying in Cheval, like, right down the street from me."

"Okay, yes. I had my reasons. But I couldn't even explain those reasons to you even if I tried. Every excuse makes me feel shallow. And Greg telling me how shitty Kat is doing hardly made me feel better. I'm literally the bad guy, Max," Jonas argued. "I'm basically fine and she got the shitty ending. She doesn't deserve a shitty ending. She deserves someone who can give her one hundred percent and that's not me. I felt like I've been lying to her all this time, which isn't true, but I felt so guilty around her, you'd think I was. It was... awful, to say the least."

Jonas admitted more than he was planning to, especially mentioning that Parker was staying so close to him. He hadn't told anyone, and it was actually a bit of a relief.

The older boy smiled at his friend and band-mate. "No, we would never let you forget even if it was just one time. Anyway, where'd you hole up during the storm? Did your power go out? I heard some areas are still getting fixed."

"And that's fine, too. I'm not saying you shouldn't take a break. That's well deserved after all that emotional crap. But you should go back." Max didn't really know why, as he hadn't taken any college classes. But he figured it was important. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he grimaced. "Shit, I hate that. Does that mean I have to, too? I really hope not," he grumbled, then laughed, his question being answered. "That's exactly what I'll wear, then. Anyway, Do you know somewhere we can get your robes adjusted or get new ones? That shouldn't be too hard."

"Parker? Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen him, too. That'd be great," Max replied. He had missed their old band, and hadn't done much since they'd broken up. He'd been looking for a job, but nothing had interested him.

Jonas' talk of Parker definitely peaked his interest. Their previous relationship and his current proximity made him very skeptical. "Girls are crazy, Jonas," he replied with a shrug. "And sometimes you have to go with your gut instincts. You have to trust that something is the right decision. And sure, I don't think either of you deserve a shitty ending. But you guys were really close friends before, right? She probably thinks you aren't going to be friends again. I hardly ever saw that chick except when she was with you, so she probably doesn't have anyone else to lean on. Maybe you should go talk to her."

"If you haven't been lying, you haven't been lying, and you shouldn't feel awful about that. But..." he shifted, "I feel like this is about Parker. id seeing him again make you start to feel differently? Did she know he was here?" He wasn't implying that he'd lied to her about that, but it could explain his guilty conscious.

"Yeah. The power was out. I stayed with my brother. His apartment is all run by magic, so we had everything we needed."

Jonas nodded at the school comment. He would go back. Then he laughed a bit too loudly. "We're trying to not embarrass the Head Boy of Éclairage, Max. Teddy would be pissed. He'd probably never talk to you again," he said. "And I think it'd just be easier to ask my parents. My dad and I are the same height now, but his shoulders are less broad. And I only have to wear them once."

"Well, that's not my fault!" Jonas replied. "It's not my responsibility to make sure that she has friends! She's a grown woman. She needs her own friends. And at this current moment, I don't want to be her friend. I want peace and to be alone."

That was a bit of a lie. He didn't really want to be alone. He just wanted all the affection that he could get. Physical, spiritual, emotional, he wanted it all and he wanted to give that out, too. He wanted all of those connections, all the time. And maybe he was just being picky or selfish. Or maybe he was doomed to never have that again.

"No, it's not just Parker. Though it certainly didn't help the situation. And I didn't tell her because I thought it would blow over. His band is doing a tour through France all summer, though. So he's basically here. I ran into him before one of his shows the first time. His band did an interview at the place I intern at and then we ran into each other at my brother's party, right after the break up," Jonas admitted. Now that he said it aloud, it sounded a bit ridiculous. It sounded exactly like Parker had messed everything up. But it really wasn't the case. Besides, Parker had a boy-thing. A really attractive boy-thing that made Jonas look like a seven-year-old in comparison.

"Well that's good- you were all cozy in your brother's place while I was cold out in the rain trying to look for you."

Max shrugged. "That wouldn't be the first time and it probably won't be the last. But I was only kidding anyway, so whatever." He then chortled. "W;re trying not to embarrass him? Bullshit. If we don't then we're not really his friends and there's no point in going."

When he discussed his father having a suit that would fit him, he grunted approval. That sounded better than going shopping with his friend. "Good point. That's a better idea. I'll find something decent to wear, so long as I can actually lift my arms."

"I didn't say it was, dumb ass," Max said calmly, frowning. "I'm not blaming you for her situation. Never talk to her again, see if I care. I didn't come out here to try to help you to get scolded for making a damn observation. You wanna be alone, you can tell me to go. But you're lying and you know it, or you wouldn't feel as shitty."

He nodded in response to Jonas' story, not knowing what to do about it. "Well only you know what he did to affect everything, so I can't tell you how to handle hat. But you should stop feeling guilty. You didn't cheat, and all you did was talk to him."

"You could have just sent me an owl or rang me like a normal person," Jonas said, refusing to feel guilty about Max wandering around in the rain to talk to him. "I would have replied."

Jonas smiled a tiny bit. "True. But he worked hard to graduate. I think we should be at least a little nice to him. He's like our child," he joked. "We could go shopping. I just don't know what I'd need to own a dress robe for ever again. A wedding or something, maybe?" Jonas didn't really want to own a suit, but he felt like he might need it again some day.

Max had a point. "I know I didn't cheat. But I feel like I did," he noted. "Is it possible to cheat with your head? Because that would explain the guilt better than anything else."

The older boy didn't expect him to pity him. However it had rather annoyed him. "You're sure about that?" he chided. "You look like this is the first time you've gone out in days. I doubt it. Still, it was my own stupid fault. I actually cared about ya," he joked.

Max couldn't help but smirk at his response. "He is rather like our child, isn't he?" He thought, then shrugged. "Eh, what the hell. Sitting stoically and waiting for our one friend is what I live for." He nodded at Jonas' contemplation. "Yeah, or a job interview or somethin'. You should probably have one." he grimaced at the suggestion. "I'll come if you want, but walking around those crowded malls sucks." In other words, he would complain.

"I mean, I guess it is. You can love someone else and just never expressly say it. Not acting doesn't mean you don't think about it. But really, that's you opinion, not mine. It would explain it, but only if you feel like that's what you did. If you seeing Parker made you love him again... well, I still wouldn't call it cheating. You broke up with the girl pretty soon afterwards, I take it? That's just you not wanting to hurt someone else rather than actually cheating."

Max wasn't wrong about that. "Well, I answered you today, didn't I? And shut up. I look fabulous," Jonas joked. He thought he looked pretty decent for an eighteen-year-old who had too many sleepless nights. "Well, I don't look like total shit. I could use a few hours of sleep, for sure."

"Hey, we get to be recognized for being Prefects. And I get to be recognized as a Head Boy. We won't be completely bored," Jonas commented. "It depends on where you work, I suppose. I don't dress nice at the radio station, really. I wore flannel and nice jeans when they interviewed me for my internship."

"And thanks, but I think I'll ask Isobel. She won't let me walk around looking stupid. I'm single now and will eventually need to attract someone new. I have to give it an honest effort so I don't look like I'm seven years old. You remember my fifth year, right? I still blame all of you."

He remembered when his friends let him walk around with the super dorky haircut he had in his fifth year. Ruby was the one who had pointed it out and she had salvaged it. She saved him too much that year. He thought maybe Parker would have said something, if Teddy (the official hair king) hadn't, but everyone kept their mouths shut. They were all useless when it came to giving each other fashion advice. Well, except Parker, but he was just the person you'd borrow a cool t-shirt from.

The crazy thing was that Jonas really hadn't stopped loving Parker, despite the shitty situation he put him through. "I did break up with her afterwards. It just feels... wrong, I guess. Loving them was different than loving the other. I was different with both of them. Kat's Jonas versus Parker's Jonas and they were trying to overpower each other. And Me-Jonas, trapped in the middle just wants there to be peace. I don't know. It sounds like poetry. Crap! Maybe I am emo," he joked.

Max chuckled, taking another piece of candy. The sour flavor yet again gave him an angry expression, but his humor remained. "Yeah- it's been too long, man. It shouldn't take such a shitty event for us to talk, but I'm just as guilty. Other people mostly just piss me off, so when I actually like someone I want to hang with them, but I avoid them the same as everyone else."

"No, that sounds like the definition of boring," Max disagreed in amusement. "Our names will be called and they'll say the same crap they say every other time. That's about as dull as it can get."

"Well that makes me feel better. I hate suits, myself. Though I look better in one than you do now- fabulous," he snorted. "You can only hope to be as fabulous as me," he joked.

He laughed. "Blame me all you want. I'd never deny it. But I wouldn't do that to you now (yes he would, especially if he dragged him around shopping)." He shrugged. "Suit yourself. She'll find you something just right to impress those snobs. Though I didn't realize you were so quick to move on. Trying to put the moves on someone already?"

"You've always been an emo, Jonas. That's a fact," Max smirked, slapping his shoulder. "I get what you're saying, though. But I can't help you there. You do whatever you feel is right. I know you're a good guy underneath it all, and no matter what others will think, your life is yours. Embrace adulthood. Do stupid shit. Make mistakes. Fall in love a dozen times. Ugh, now I'm a coach in a bad sports movie giving a motivational pre-game speech," he laughed.

Jonas laughed at Max's face and laughed. "Is it really that bitter?" he asked. "Do what Greg does: Roommates. He's got two built-in buddies. They have coffee together every morning and stuff. Can you imagine having coffee with Isobel Green every morning? I think I'd die. And she's one of my close friends, so that's saying something."

Jonas shrugged, "Fine. It'll be boring. But it's for Teddy! He needs us. And we'll get to see Ruby again! You know Ruby will also think it's boring. Maybe she'll cause trouble with us." Ruby was cool like that. She was a metamorphmagus. She could change her appearance at will and it was often the cause of many jokes. You'd just be sitting there and she's change her face to an animal's or a professor's or your own, to the amusement of everyone.

Jonas just shrugged. Max was definitely his type, and pointing it out would just make him uncomfortable. Jonas kept a list in the back of his mind of men he found to be unfairly beautiful and Max was on that list. One of the only reasons he never made a move was because he knew who Max was as a person. "Okay, but true," he said simply. He couldn't help but compare himself. It wasn't that he thought of himself as unattractive, he just didn't get the same attention as his other friends.

"Sure," he replied, seeing through his statement. Max would love nothing more than to have another reason to tease him. "There's always room for a summer fling," he said shrugging. He didn't really know anyone he'd be willing to date long term, but he also didn't really know anyone. There was a pretty intern at the radio station, but he was pretty sure she had a boyfriend.

Jonas pretended to be hurt by the emo comment. "Yes, and that's why we keep you around, Coach Wolfe. You give the best pep talks. And you can drive. That helps, too," he joked. "I'll figure it out. I have time. I'm eighteen, not forty."

Max scowled, though it was only partially because of the way Jonas laughed. "It really is, man! You want to try some? Don't judge it until you've tried it, he smirked tauntingly. Roommates was a good idea, though he seemed repulsed by Jonas' notion. "God, no. And like you said, she's a friend. Anyway, roommates are a good idea. You offering?"

"I know, I know. I want to go for him- I'm not saying I'm not going." He smiled at the mention of Ruby. "Hell yeah she will. And she'll be the instigator, too. I lied- this will be very fun."

Max glared. "Dumbass," he tsked. "You're supposed to relish in your greatness. You're not supposed to agree. Confidence, dude. Don't make me be even more than a shrink than I have to be." When he continued and talked about a fling, he smirked. "Definitely! A summer fling could be just thing you need."

Max laughed. "I'm glad I know my worth now." He listened to him continue and nodded. "Exactly. You shouldn't feel too bad this whole deal. You'll find someone."

Jonas laughed. "No thanks, I'm only slightly curious. And I forgot that you were a prefect during her reign of terror. I'm a little biased, I suppose."

"I mean, maybe, but I don't know if I'm going to stay in Pranktopia all summer. I might travel or something. And don't take this as criticism, because it's definitely not, but don't you think you ought to get a job before you move out? I doubt your family is going to pay for you to live with me," Jonas replied. His mom already had enough to deal with. Wiring money to France had to be annoying and at the very least, inconvenient.

Jonas chuckled. "That's the spirit!"

He just shrugged. He wasn't going to argue with his friend. He knew he had suggested a fling, but now he wasn't so sure. It was frustrating how long it took to know someone. He didn't know if he could even do a one-night stand. How could you make a connection with someone you didn't know a thing about? But did he even want to connect with some new person?

He wanted to change the subject. "Can we talk about you now?" he asked. Jonas wanted to disappear from the focus. Everything seemed to be all about him lately. He needed a rest.